Right Now Downtown

GET IT HERE – BUY LOCAL

What, no Nordstrom’s downtown?  Big deal, most of us can’t afford it anyway.

Sure, we have some vacancy issues downtown, but there are a lot of people working on that.  Given the fact the economy took a nose dive a while back, it’s impressive that people are opening up shop anywhere, so it’s great to see independent entrepreneurs making a go at it downtown.  Before anyone grouches about the stuff we don’t have, check out the diverse mix all within a short walk.

Start with bagels and pastries.  Check and check.  There’s plenty to go around from Broad Street Bagels to Dunkin Donuts to Einstein Brothers, and now local businessmen Joe Spinelli and Bill Ward are preparing to dish out some great deli fare at a second Spinelli’s location soon to open on High Street.

Fill your weekly grocery bag at Pearl Market on Tuesday and Fridays and support the toasty business incubator as folks test the downtown market.  Food is always a favorite, and have you tried the crepes yet at Leslie’s Creperie?  Forget the moon, the savory French pancakes will send you to Toulouse.  The Market also hosts vendors who craft handmade soaps and moisturizers and unique casual clothing that will keep you sporting through the day.  Cleaned and coiffed, cash in on the organic cheese, meat and meatless products, bread and fresh produce that all make shopping fun and save you loads of time.

Need to compare prices in the Market, but your arms aren’t long enough to bring the price tags in focus?  Rinkov Eye Center has walls of trendy frames.  Once you can see beyond the nose on your face, walk on over to Chet’s Jewelers, Flowers on Orchard Lane or the Peanut Shoppe, which ante up ample gift choices, and the Peanut Shoppe even provides a nice afternoon tide-me-over snack to boot.  For the record collectors out there, buzz on over to Spoonful for a vintage good time as your peruse through the vinyl offerings or play a quick game of pinball.

You’ve got groceries, snacks and gifts covered, but did you know downtown is the place to be for hardware and office supplies?  Zettler Hardware has been family owned and operated since 1844, and around the corner the folks at Graham’s Office Supply will help you find everything you need to keep your business running smoothly.  Don’t forget to ask them about their price-matching policy.

Has your kid nearly depleted your checking account with all the texting fees he’s accumulated, but you don’t have the energy or time to deal with the automated customer service line?  Talk to a real person at the downtown Sprint and Verizon stores.

Put your cell phone down when you go to talk to the guys at B1 Bicycles on Long Street and they will hook you up with a rockin’ new set of wheels that will make all your friends drool in envy as you whiz by.  And, just think of the money you’ll save if you opt for this green mode of transportation – surely enough to buy a round at the Elevator.

Shop here, buy here.  Keep it local.  Let us know your favorite stores to frequent and what you would like to see in the future.

Once upon a time, people sat on front porches and in cafes and argued about the great and not-so-great issues of the day.  They discussed politics, art, religion, government, sports, events and other topics.

As is the case with many interactions, much modern conversation has moved from the flesh to the cyber world.  Blogs often serve in lieu of porches.

Ruth Milligan baffled me when she asked me to write a topical blog several years ago.  I had not read any blogs and did not understand the function they serve in modern discourse.

I can never anticipate the response to a blog entry, but always appreciate comments from Bart, Geoff, Columbusite, Walker Evans, Eric Martineau, Eric Davies and others.  Comments not intended to offend sometimes offend.  At other times, I prod and get some pretty emotional responses.  People seem to get particularly defensive about lifestyle choices.

I will keep cranking out these blogs, but invite you to submit an entry to information@downtowncolumbus.com.  Start your own argument.  It’s fun.

Market Days in the fall are coming!  That always means a change in produce, a change in the smells surrounding the Market.  You can almost smell the cooler air coming.  More farmers are bringing apples, which I love and so do the kids.  I’ve been waiting for it to get cooler so I can make some warm cider with local apples.  The miles that these apples travel are less than one hundred from tree to your table.  The miles that apples from a typical super market travel can number closer to thousands and thousands.  By coming down to the Market and buying our apples, you are saving the world from all that extra pollution.  You are also single-handedly helping our local economy by keeping your money here.  It’s just another reason why the Pearl Market is such an outstanding place.

Another thing that comes with fall, customers are starting to look for Christmas presents!  I saw on Facebook recently that there are quite a few vendors at the Market that will take custom orders for their work.  If you are looking at a vendor’s work and want something that you help control the design, ask them!  We have been asked for quite a few pieces of custom work over the summer and we have obliged every order.  It’s a wonderful option to mix your own creativity with someone else’s know-how, and it’s such a lovely idea for a gift.

Now that the days are gorgeous and cool, come help save the world and buy local with us!

We’re so excited about what the future of Pearl Market might be.  Check out this video where Cleve Ricksecker dreams big and our vendors share what they love about selling their wares a the Market.

TAKE A TOUR AND ENJOY A COCKTAIL

It’s hot and humid, and while Columbus may not offer up salty ocean breezes to lower the mercury on the thermometer, downtown antes up plenty of ways to cool off with frosty mugs and chilled cocktails all over town, all times of day.  Besides, it’s gotta be 5 p.m. somewhere in the world, right?  So, take a tour via one of these local hang outs.  But it’s not all-inclusive so let us know your favorite get-away.

Bartenders at Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails get the party started within minutes of arrival, and if you have any doubts, try one of their signature drinks like Commit to be Lit.  After a little bit of this concoction made with orange, vanilla and raspberry vodkas mixed with cranberry juice and a splash of 7-Up, you may never need to sit seaside again.

Sans the Manolo Blahnik’s and the four sassy chicks of Sex in the City, the Caucus Cosmo at the Double Tree Caucus Room provides a perfect way to relax after a long day at the office.

Travel on down to Barrio and pitchers of house-made white and red sangria, half off during happy hour from 4 – 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.  Grab a few tapas to share and you have created a vacation celebration without leaving the city.

Take the Elevator to kick the party into full swing with their $2.50 handcrafted pints from 3 – 7 p.m. every Monday through Friday, but don’t watch your clock in this historical building – their menu of beer and cocktails will make you forget the time, which is the point of resting seaside.

If you are still in need of a history lesson while you toss back a cold one, visit the Jury Room.  This neighborhood tavern has been serving up food and spirits since 1831.  You don’t even need to crack open a book to take advantage of the free appetizer buffet on Wednesdays and Fridays during happy hour, but you might want to grab a napkin.

Get Uncorked with half-price bottles and champagne at Due Amici on Monday nights and be-bop to live jazz beginning at 6 p.m.

Michael O’Toole’s continues the family tradition of the first O’Toole immigrant who settled in Southeastern Ohio serving up frothy cold ones to the miners who labored long days in the foothills of the Appalachians.  But you just need to head down to Nationwide Boulevard to take advantage of this Irish-style pub, or walk on ever to The Flatiron for a Chocolate Martini.  Heck, the night is young so check ‘em all out.

Wrap up your summer cocktail tour with the high-spirited Drunken Chunky Blonde from Sugardaddy’s, but don’t worry – you can even drive home after munching on this one.  The dense, chewy blonde is like a chocolate chip cookie on steroids with its premium chocolate chunks and toasted pecans.  A splash of bourbon essence mixed into the batter will have you jonesing for more.

Let us know your favorite place to kick back, take a break and cool off.  Cheers!

The Columbus High Five looked pretty good last weekend.  I took my 11-year-old daughter, Lilly, to a sold-out WICKED at the Ohio Theatre on Friday night.  Before the show, we ate at Tip Top.  Gay Street was full of sidewalk diners at Latitude 41, Plantain Cafe, Tip Top and Due Amici.

Speaking of Gay Street, the cast and crew of WICKED are staying at the Residence Inn.  Chandra Lee Schwartz, who plays Glinda in WICKED, says that she is enjoying her stay in Columbus and has flattering things to say about the “town.”

The Gay Softball World Series clearly added energy, with 2,500 athletes staying in downtown hotels.  As Lilly and I walked to the Ohio Theatre from Gay Street, we passed a rooftop party at the Renaissance Hotel and a surprising number of other pedestrians.

After the show, we encountered gridlock on High Street as we approached the Short North.  We turned on Vine Street to head west toward Neil Avenue and encountered more traffic as we passed Park Street at 11:30 p.m.  Vine and Park streets had hundreds of people walking from club to club.

As I sat in traffic, all I could do was smile.

It was a fantastic day at the Market!  Somewhere around the beginning of August, when it gets so unbearably hot and humid, the Market starts to drag a bit for the vendors.  It gets stuffy and the new fall vendors haven’t started coming in yet.  Tuesday had finally cooled down and it was a lovely day to stroll around looking for fresh produce and fancy little gifts.  And (this is where I would insert a drum roll) we were blessed with a new food vendor!

The other food vendors at the Market are still delicious, but it is nice to have new options.  And boy, what a new option!  Leslie’s Creperie rolled their cart down the alley and everyone got excited.  And I, being nosy, ran down immediately to see what they are all about.  I ordered a spinach, egg and feta crepe.  It was huge and amazing!  They have all sorts of crepes, from savory to sweet.  If you want to come and check them out, I suggest you come early because they had a line of people for three solid hours.  They will be at the Market every Tuesday and Friday until the end of the season.  Come on down and find out what all the fuss about!

There are so many delicious spots to pick up your lunch at Pearl Market.  You really could eat your way right on through.  Get the deets on what’s so good right from the vendor’s mouth.  Then decide between the samosas, po’boys, corn, granola and bread.  Or have one of each!

IT’S ALL GOOD, ALL FRESH

If you haven’t made dinner yet this summer using only fresh-from-the-farm treasures found in Pearl Market, you are missing out.  But the good news is you still have time.

Grab some tomatoes, melons, peaches, corn, zucchini and meander on down Pearl Alley where you will discover savory meat and bread before heading home tonight.  If that isn’t enough to fill you to the brim, stop by and pick up one of the yummo dessert options found in the Market.  It’s all here, all fresh and all GOOD.

Here is a great video of last week’s Tasty Tuesday.  When you’re done watching and your mouth is watering, click here for the recipes for the delicious goodies that were sampled.  Let us know what you think.

Another tasty sample day at the Market!  Seeing Adam, our Market Manager, strolling down the road in his chef hat always means good things are going to follow.  Today we sampled some tomato bacon tart, which tasted like pizza and the kids loved it.  My favorite was something I wouldn’t normally try because it’s weird and I’m still like a six-year-old as far as trying new things goes, but it was delicious!  It was a watermelon and tomato salad with peaches and basil.  The flavors were combined just right and it was refreshing at the same time.  I can’t wait to go to a cookout and take this salad with me.  You can find this and other recipes on the Pearl Market Website.  The next sample day is August 31 when Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails will cook in the Ohio Proud Kitchen.  I can’t wait!

I’ve been seeing this booth from afar all summer and I decided to make my way down to see what sorts of things they sell.  Luxboheme has some gorgeous things!  They are very green and organic.  They had small handheld purses, shiny and cute, that upon further inspection were made from pop tabs!  They make things out of recycled materials in a way that makes it seem brand new, which is something I love.  I love recycling and being green, but sometimes it’s nice when things are brand new.  And they have all sorts of things:  shoes, clothes, jewelry, etc.  Definitely worth checking them out.  Although, really, it’s all worth checking out.  Stop by on your lunch break and come have lunch with us!