Right Now Downtown

CHAMELEON IN THE ALLEY

Who cares if Ellen DeGeneres loves them?  Who cares if their brownies issued a humiliating defeat to the ones concocted by a Food Network chef?  Lewis Center is pretty far to drive to buy a brownie.  Even if the brownies are fresh-baked daily.

Even if the Lewis Center bakery is the very first match on Google when you enter “gourmet brownies.”

Even if it’s the very first match for “sumptuous brownies” too.

It’s too far to drive because Sugardaddy’s Sumptuous Sweeties has set up shop at Pearl Market on Tuesdays.  After four years in operation (both online and out in the ‘burbs), the bestest brownie bakery has arrived at the city’s core.  For co-founder Mark Ballard, the timing is just right.  “It’s a great way for us to do a little research… and it’s also a good way to bring our brownies to a downtown audience.”

As it turns out, the Pearl Market-place is a chameleon.  While it’s a useful arm for the Sugardaddy Empire, it’s the foundation for Guillermo Perez’s business.  Perez launched his Si Senor Sandwiches & More to rave reviews at opening day of the Market.  The vendor didn’t arrive with hype or with a cavalcade of press releases; he arrived armed with something much, much more powerful: Peruvian Beef Sandwiches.  In his case, those sandwiches (and their new fans) spoke volumes.

Best of all?  These two stops are stationed within shootin’ distance, which makes finding lunch and dessert easy as PIE (and the Pearl Market’s got some killer pies too).

Pearl Market is open every Tuesday and Friday, 10:30am to 2pm, through October 30. www.downtowncolumbus.com/pearlmarket

On May 7, Alive published a terrific section entitled, “What Columbus Needs.”  A response to the question, “What’s the one thing that should be done to improve the city’s future?” caught my attention.  It read, “Parking in the Short North - lack of it sometimes causes me to go elsewhere.”

I have news for this commentator.  The Short North will never solve its parking problem.

That’s not to say the neighborhood won’t add some parking spaces.  The Ibiza project includes public parking.  On-street parking policies will probably change to increase availability.  A few hundred additional parking spaces, however, will quickly fill, and the Alive commentator will continue a frustrating search for parking in a neighborhood that generally refuses to accommodate cars.  That’s OK.

People visit the Short North precisely because of its density.  An attempt to accommodate demand for parking would diminish this essential quality.  The built environment in the Short North is designed for walking, transit, bicycles and taxicabs.  Perhaps it is time to begin using them.

This week we meet Joan Richmond of Meadow Rise Farm. She talks about her lovely farm in Bellville, Ohio:

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

We grow vegetables sustainably and naturally on Meadow Rise Farm. We’re in our 7th year of growing, and this year is our first at Pearl Market. We’re really excited about participating. Reed and I both grew up in small Ohio towns, moved to Texas for 20 years, and then knew that it was time to come home again. We grow on 1.5 acres, and use practices such as cover crops, crop rotation, compost, and more. We grow more than 35 varieties of lettuce and a dozen kinds of tomatoes, including large, luscious heirlooms like Brandywine and Old German, and much, much more.

Can you tell me a few things that inspire you?

I’m on the board directors of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, and I am so inspired by the farmers that I meet in that organization. Many of them are new farmers, and many more are experienced with innovative techniques and creative approaches. Another element of the growing experience that inspires me are the people we grow for. Two years ago, one family bought vegetables from us weekly. The mother was recovering from breast cancer, and their 8-year-old daughter also had a form of childhood cancer. The government can offer all the regulations in the world, but nothing brought home to me the real meaning of “organic” like growing for Emma. I knew that it truly mattered how we raised each bright radish, each leaf of blue-green kale, and the sweet cherry tomatoes she loved so much. Her continued reports now of being cancer free make me feel like what we do makes a difference. And I have so much fun getting to know our customers, who are really interested in what we do and how we do it, and I learn from them as well. Their positive feedback keeps me excited all season.

Can you tell me the good and bad about working for yourself?

The good is knowing we’re making healthful, delicious food available to the downtown Columbus community. The bad is probably those hot, humid days that are so draining. But I just take a few more breaks on days like that. I’d rather be outside anyway!  We scaled back a bit to what we could handle ourselves with a tiller and lots of hoes. It has worked out very well, and we feel much more self-reliant.

I am ready for some big salads! I am headed over for some lettuce on the first day! Please go check out Meadow Rise Farm
and tell them the Market maven sent you!

Amy Sharp with son Blaise at Opening Day

Hello there Pearl Market lovers!

How exciting is Spring and what it brings to the downtown urban landscape? The market sprung into action yesterday with produce, food, and art and I am ready to take you through the market weekly to visit the lovely vendors and learn a bit more about this wonderful city we call home.

My name is Amy Turn Sharp and I am a local small business owner,mother, and blogger.

I am so excited to be your market maven.

I will be at the market each week and would love to meet you.

What would you like to know about the amazing Pearl Market?What are you most looking forward to seeing at the market?

See you at the Market!

Y-B-YP

It’s impossible to avoid the YPs these days.  Senior citizens, adolescents: they can’t compete.  The YPs (that’s Young Professionals) are organized, coordinated, and they have plans for us, yes they do.

Sounds scary?  You bet it does.  But never fear, they like downtown and they like old people too.  In fact, lots of us are YPs, and don’t even know it.

The Columbus Chamber of Commerce defines YPs loosely as a “self-selected” group who feel like young professionals.  Based on its research, the Chamber says that they typical member is between the ages of 21 and 45.

Robbie Banks’ job at the Columbus Chamber of Commerce is to manage the young professionals group, and she’s got great aspirations for downtown’s YPs:

“I would like to see YPs exercise their Midwestern values by inviting their new-to-Columbus colleagues to lunch or coffee at one of their favorite local spots.  Shop and dine at the local businesses downtown, including the Pearl Market.  Take advantage of the activities such as the downtown kickball, bowling and corn hole leagues and the Downtown Live summer concert series.  Support the arts.  Visit the parks.  Bike, walk or ride COTA to and from work, or at a minimum, do not hop in your car to get places that you can easily bike, walk or ride COTA.”

Whew!… and that’s just part of Banks’ list.  She also encourages YPs to sign up to receive her newsletter, which highlights events happening around town that appeal to the YP crowd.

Not a YP?  Old Pro’s are on her radar too.  Banks prefers the term “seasoned professionals.”  She sees them as mentors for YPs – and lists Mayor Coleman and Cleve Ricksecker as some of her favorite “seasoned professionals.”

Seasoned Cleve?  We knew he was saucy; turns out he’s spicy too.

Got a better pun?  Your turn, post it here…

Like many people in Columbus, I struggle with the tension between staying in Columbus and moving to a city that better accommodates my lifestyle.  Portland, Oregon, for example, appeals to me because it is a Columbus-size city that has made radically different choices than central Ohio for more than 30 years.  The result is a compact, transit-oriented city with a healthy core and vibrant downtown.

Columbus, however, offers something far more special: the opportunity to make a difference.  For a person with an entrepreneurial spirit, Columbus is a gold mine, whether one channels that spirit into business ownership, advocacy or community organizing.

In Columbus, entrepreneurs are heroes.  Witness Liz Lessner (Betty’s Family of Restaurants); Pete Scantland (Orange Barrel Media); John Angelo (Short North Business Association); Adam Brouillette (Couchfire Collective), to name a few.  Someone who might go unnoticed in Portland can be a meaningful agent for change in Columbus.

Portland may have its act together.  But tell me another city besides Columbus where, if you are competent, hard working and imaginative, people think you are a genius.

ALPHA AND OMEGA

Every year, Race for the Cure honors the fight of millions of mothers and daughters.  The race itself is an honorable tradition: it’s not about speed or time, but about a common cause, ending breast cancer.

This tradition honors downtown by making it the Alpha and Omega of the race – we are proud to host both the official Start and Finish lines.  And someplace between those two lines, the ground will shake beneath the racers’ feet.

That’s not an allegory; that’s a cold, hard Richter Scale fact.  Every year, a thundering contingent of Harley Riders comes out to honor the racers themselves.

While you can’t actually measure the ground-shaking power of a motorcycle with a seismograph, you can count the revving engines.  Organizers are expecting more than 100 Harley Riders to amass together on the sidelines of the race route.  That sort of raw horsepower really does make the ground shake, literally speaking.

It’s now an annual gathering for the bikers.  Sarah Irvin Clark, who works to promote the event, says that the tradition started four years ago by A.D. Farrow in order to honor riders who have fought breast cancer.  Its team includes a male breast cancer survivor, and he’s a powerful reminder that the disease can hit anyone.

The impact of all the power of those bikes and big hearts is awe inspiring.  Clark said it best:  “It gets everyone pumped.”

And revved up too.

Bike to Work Week launched yesterday with an early morning ride from OSU to the Statehouse for a kick-off event.  Mayor Coleman announced the City’s new Share the Road initiative to encourage greater safety for bicyclists and motorists.  And cyclists enjoyed a morning of music, food and fun.

Cleve joins the B2WW crowd, donning biker duds with a unique flair.

Cyclists enjoying Bike to Work Week with a ride from OSU to the Statehouse for the week’s kick-off celebration.

Mayor Coleman channels his inner Rocky and celebrates the City’s effort to make Columbus a more bike-friendly community with the new Share the Road initiative.

TEETHERS NOT TETHERS

If you glance without a sharp eye, you might mistake Ms. Amy Sharp’s crafts as lovely children’s rattles and tethers.  Tethers?  Sure, it’s likely that some people would love to tie up the wee wigglers.

But it’s not tethers; it’s teethers.  She makes wooden chew-toys.  The wood element is important.  Plastic reigns supreme in the toy room these days, as do recall notices about the toxic effects of plastic colorants and leeching chemicals.  Stuff happens.

For Sharp, it’s not about living in a world where stuff just happens to you or your kids.  She uses active words like create and connect.  Sharp is sharp enough to pen a popular blog, fill a store with beautiful wood creations and start a super-secret new project.

Project Maven:  We’re pleased to announce that Sharp is the official Pearl Market Maven.  The maverick, who left a conventional career to create and celebrate her own lifestyle, is celebrating Pearl Market with us this summer.  She’ll be blogging updates about her Market Finds here at downtowncolumbus.com.

The Maven is excited about all the things that the Pearl Market will be connecting its patrons to.  For herself, Sharp will be hitting the vegetable department first, “I am dying to get some fresh produce.  I am also looking forward to checking out some fresh flowers, as I like to treat myself with flowers – they make the workshop feel girly.”

And yes, her rattles and teethers will be at the Pearl Market too; her “child-controlled” toys are heirloom quality.  Although her business is expanding this year, those who seek plastic or tethers are out of luck.

Five miles of High Street offers one of the best walks in the United States.  On High Street or within a “stone’s throw” of High Street between German Village and the University District are 20 movie screens; more than 30 live performance venues and dance clubs; 4,000 hotel rooms; 300 restaurants; 200 retail stores and boutiques; and 40 art galleries.

The area includes four city parks, a developing riverfront park system, and an NHL arena.  There is a baseball park, a public market, and three farmers markets.  Six historic districts line this stretch of High Street, as well as the historic Ohio Statehouse, three historic theatres, and two historic parks.  The walk would take you past the country’s largest university campus and the Wexner Center.

High Street offers Gallery Hop, ComFest, the Columbus Marathon, Greek Festival, Gay Pride Parade, and a host of other events, races and parades.  You can sit at outdoor cafes, listen to street musicians, browse in bookstores, and easily hail a cab.

There are some gaps to be filled, for sure.  But if you work or live downtown, you are in the middle of a very special place.