Right Now Downtown

ZEN-CHA CHA CHA

It’s time for some brain exercise.  Here’s the challenge: tie together Latin music, yoga, martial arts and gourmet treats.  Need a hint?  They all involve one big downtown project.

1.  You can find Merengue music in a Latin dance class upstairs at this new destination; you might find meringue downstairs in a fancy dessert.

2.  The address will host two kinds of chops: karate chops upstairs and chopsticks can be used downstairs to eat Chai waffles.

3.  Zen will flow everywhere.  Anticipate the Zen of yoga and the Zen of a particular local tea stop…

Zen Cha Tea Salon is setting up shop on the ground level at 51 E. Gay St.  According to developer Tom Fortin, the second floor of the building “will be used for local instructors of salsa and Latino dancing, yoga, Pilates, martial art classes, meetings and other fun and leisure activities.”  All of which sound like a great way to work of Zen Cha’s famous brunch pancakes and waffles.

PS  This week we’ve got tickets to… the Land of Cleve.  Cleve Ricksecker is one the THE most colorful figures in Columbus, and he’s keeping his blog of rants n’ raves here with us at DowntownColumbus.com.  Find out what makes Cleve tick (and what ticks Cleve off) right here starting August 12.

HEY! Who moved my STUFF?

We all know what NEW and IMPROVED means.  It means NEW Coke.  Better yet, it means Breyer’s new and improved ice cream packaging (now, with 25 percent less ice cream).

And now, after a couple weeks of testing, we’re pleased to announce the new and improved DowntownColumbus.com.  We’ve upgraded the Web site, relocated all the useful content and replaced it with pop-ups and the new Downtown Dancing Chicken.

Just kidding.  Change is scary, but this upgrade rocks for you AND for us in five ways.

1.  Really: no pop-ups.  And no music or gratuitous animation.  We reserve only the right to an occasional Rick Roll.

2.  Look, there’s the Downtown Blog on every page!  It’s there, at the bottom of every frame.

3.  A new section, Find It Downtown, can be found on every page too.  Click through the categories to find everything from Art galleries to Zen experiences.

4.  Right next to Find It Downtown is a listing of current events, activities and downtown diversions.

5.  Worse case scenario: you still can’t find stuff.  It’s not so bad, there’s always the search button in the upper right corner.

Come poke around the new site, and give us some feedback.  It’s working great for us; how can it work better for you?

Eyes wide open on ears well roasted.

It’s All Good Farm representative David Stuart shares his All Good secrets with a visiting tour of chefs.

SOUP NUTS?

Ever heard of the phrase, “from soup to nuts”?  Out of context, it’s hard to place.

The phrase is an old-school way of saying “we have everything.”  It’s a reference to a formal meal with all the fancy courses from the beginning (soup) to the post-dessert munchies (nuts).

Downtown’s soup business kicked into gear last month with the debut of the Original Soup Man at Broad & Hight.  The soup stop earned its claim to fame by featuring a famously bossy clerk, the “Soup Nazi” on the Seinfeld television series.  We’re happy to report that the local downtown clerks have better dispositions.

And there’s nuts in our future too: doughnuts.  Dunkin Donuts has also inked a deal to set up camp at Broad & High.  According to restaurant developer Michael Bruno, “We’re really excited to bring this downtown.  It’s a great market and the Casto organization has been incredible to work with.”

Bruno’s been busy with architects, designing the Dunkin spot to dish out the famous coffee and donuts – as well as bagels, sandwiches and all-day hash browns.

And if you can’t wait ’til Dunkin arrives for some nuts, there’s always The Peanut Shoppe at 46 N. High St. where you can grab all kinds of non-dough-nuts right now.

Downtown’s got it: everything from soup to nuts!

THE PROBLEM

The statistics are sobering.  If you were born between 1950 and 1990 and live or work within 20 miles of Downtown Columbus, then it is a virtual certainty that you or someone you know has OCSDD: Obsessive Compulsive Shoe Dependency Disorder.

You know what we’re talking about.  Things can be just fine, but once the idea of a particular shoe enters the consciousness, all non-footwear-related activity must cease.

Together with Todd Cronin, STRS Security officer Damon Mosley wrote a book to address this very serious disorder.  The book is called I’ve GOT to Have Those Shoes! It’s about a little boy (whose name happens to be Mosely too), his sneakers and the price tag that kept them apart (that’s actually the official tagline for the book).

Granted, it is a children’s book, but Damon Mosley has been stunned by how much grown-ups have taken an interest.  “There is something about ‘Mosley’ that people are really responding to.  I don’t know if it’s the pictures or what, but people from all walks of life – young, old, men, women, black, white – seem to love it.”

Perhaps it’s the fact that the book also features background photos of Downtown Columbus icons.  It’s a very cool merging of cartoons and photography.  Check it out and see what you can spot.  Don’t get the shoes… Get Mosely! www.getmosley.com