This Food Fight! for carb lovers dives into the complimentary breadbaskets served by local restaurants. If you’ve ever eaten your fill before your meal, this is a fight you’ll enjoy.
Choose your butter, spread or dip and dig in!
The need for (flax)seed
Lindey’s Restaurant & Bar, German Village
Lindey’s breadbasket overflows with sourdough and flaxseed crackers. The dough is coated with an egg butter wash and flaked with parmesan seasoning, while the crackers are sprinkled with rosemary flaxseed.
“The complimentary breadbasket is so popularly requested when dining at Lindey’s Restaurant & Bar that we have made it available for carryout as well,” says Lindey’s manager Grant Cassidy. “It’s probably the crackers that are most popular.”
Garlicky goodness
Café Napolitana Pizzeria & Bar, Downtown
We’re knot even kidding, these garlic knots might be the best in Columbus.
“We make it every single day with the same dough we use for our pizza,” co-owner Palmo Aracri says. “We put extra virgin olive oil in the dough, which a lot of places don’t take the time to do.”
Aracri has been using the family dough recipe for 40 years. Originally from Italy, he moved to the U.S. with his family when he was 10 years old.
“Growing up, after school, kids in my neighborhood would go home and eat potato chips,” he says, laughing. “Me? I went home and ate homemade spaghetti sauce and bread. As far as I can remember, my father never bought a loaf of bread because my mom baked some every day.”
Rollin’ in the dough
Spaghetti Warehouse, Downtown
Spaghetti Warehouse is a whole vibe: the stained-glass lamps, the iconic trolley car dining and, of course, the famous sourdough bread with to-die-for homemade garlic butter.
The loaves are baked in-house and pair perfectly with the soft butter for a warm, mouthwatering, forget-about-your-diet kind of appetizer.
Chipt the script
Local Cantina, Grandview
While Local Cantina doesn’t offer complimentary bread, we had to switch things up a bit by including them in the mix for their house made corn tortilla chips and salsa, which are some of the best in town. The chips are never greasy, flaked with salt grains and infinite.
Donut kid around
Bareburger, Short North
Bareburger brunches bring a different kind of complimentary basket to the table. Even before you even order, you’ll be treated to an overflowing basket of donuts, house-made and dusted with powdered sugar. It’s the beginning of a beautiful breakfast and a sweet way to start the morning.
“I judge a restaurant by the bread and by the coffee.” – Burt Lancaster, American actor
Naan of your business
Yemeni Restaurant, Downtown
Prepare for spice at Yemeni Restaurant, where Middle Eastern flavor is abundant and naan is served hot with tea. The naan is crispy, flaky and the perfect medium to eat chicken or lamb fahsah. It’s baked in a clay oven called a tandoor to preserve the natural aroma and to create a faster bake.
Olive you, olive oil…
Café Istanbul, Dublin
Nothing beats Cafè Istanbul’s house-made Turkish bread served with a mouthwatering sun-dried tomato olive oil dipping sauce with a blend of spices and herbs like garlic, crushed red pepper, paprika and oregano.
“When you sit down right away, the freshly made warm bread and dipping sauce – we don’t even wait for your order. We just deliver bread and oil as soon as you sit,” says chef and owner Serdal Gunal.
Cameron Mitchell's Triple Threat
Hungry for homemade
Cap City Fine Diner and Bar, Dublin, Grandview Heights, Gahanna
“Cap City bread has been the same since day one,” CEO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants Cameron Mitchell says. “These are dinner rolls that we made from scratch every day that are light and fluffy and it just becomes a cornerstone of the restaurant. Everybody looks forward to them.”
Pro Tip: Weekend brunches feature the dinner rolls rolled in sugar and cinnamon!
The great dough debate
Mitchell’s Ocean Club, Easton
While most places offer one kind of dinner roll, at Ocean Club, it’s a tale of two breads.
“At Ocean Club, we’ve always had our pretzel bread along with our cracked sourdough wheat, both of which are warm out of the oven with butter. It’s just fabulous,” Mitchell says. “It gives our guests two different flavors. And it’s an ongoing debate, because some people like the pretzel bread better and some people like the cracked sourdough wheat. They get their choice of both and people like that a lot.”
Fresh and flaky focaccia
Marcella’s, Short North, Polaris
Marcella’s bakes house-made focaccia bread. Dip it in oil and balsamic vinegar for full effect.
“It really makes it light and fluffy and really makes for a tasty focaccia,” Mitchell says.
150 years of buns
Bun’s of Delaware, Historic Delaware
It’s hard to miss the Bun’s neon sign hanging over West Winter Street. It’s even harder to walk by without stopping inside for a famous bun burger. Prior to your meal, a bread board is delivered to the table with homemade loaves of white bread and sunflower seed bread with herb butter. It’s the place to be for delicious bread, no buns about it!
It’s a little corny…
Pecan Penny’s Bar-B-Q, Downtown
If you’re in the mood for Texas-style comfort food, Pecan Penny’s offers cornbread served with maple pecan butter, says Marritt “Mars” Vaessin.
“It speaks to our simple ways of simple food done well,” says the general manager of Pecan Penny’s.
• Did you know? •
Pecan Penny’s is the latest concept from the owners of The Walrus, Olde Towne Tavern and Corner Stone Craft Beer & Wine.
It’s getting saucy
Figlio, Grandview Heights & Upper Arlington
Figlio’s warm focaccia bread is made in-house and served with olive oil and herb dipping sauce, poured fresh at every table. While Peter Danis, owner and founder of the restaurant, says people rave about the focaccia, the dipping sauce often steals the show.
“I think the dipping sauce is really the star,” he says. “I mean, we love our focaccia. It’s fresh, it’s flavorful, we bake it with rosemary. But it’s the dipping sauce that when we dine in our own restaurants, I always ask the server to put extra herbs into it because it’s so good.”
The focaccia takes a full two days to prepare in the restaurant, and it’s always served fresh. The blend of herbs in the dipping sauce were meticulously chosen by Danis and his wife, Laurie, after being inspired by a restaurant in Sarasota, Florida 25 years ago. The Danis’ special ingredient? A special sun-dried tomato air-shipped from a particular farm in California.
Seasoned to perfection
Giammarco’s, Westerville
Giammarco’s’ bread sings – you can hear it in the crackle the browned crust makes
right before you take a bite.
“We have been told our bread is addicting,” says a rep from Giammarco’s. “The bread is fresh and hot, but it’s the seasoned olive oil that puts it over the top.”
• Did you know? •
Giammarco’s co-owner Tom Bernardo was raised in Westerville, but spent four years in Italy playing football and studying the country’s food and wine.
Not even salty about it
Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant, Easton
Cooper’s Hawk pretzel bread is served as a hot loaf with buttery goodness.
“As amazing as the main courses are, the pretzel bread is one of the best things ever,” says Cooper’s Hawk regular Dale Jaxx.
In one of Cooper’s Hawk’s daily Instagram Live posts, Chef Matthew McMillin revealed a brunch recipe made from the famous pretzel bread.
“Get some carryout from Cooper’s Hawk and make sure you don’t eat all of your pretzel bread,” he tells viewers. “Turn that pretzel bread into an awesome brunch.”
Pretzel bread baked French toast
- 4 eggs, whisked
- 1 cup sugar
- Dash of cinnamon
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1 tbsp. vanilla bean paste
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 Cooper’s Hawk pretzel bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 6 slices thick bread like challah of brioche
- 2 oz. cream cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and set aside. Heat heavy cream with sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. The liquid should be hot, but not simmering.
Remove from heat and whisk eggs into the hot mixture. Pour that through a fine mesh strainer and discard solid that are caught.
Put all cubed breads in a medium bowl and pour over the hot mixture.
Allow bread to soak in custard for 10 minutes. Then, pour into a 9x13-inch baking dish. Dollop cream cheese and evenly disperse it in the bread.
Place dish in a large pan, then fill with about one inch of hot water. Place in oven and bake for 60 minutes.
Best of the Chain Restaurant Breads
Results are in from a CityScene online poll:
WINNER: Texas Roadhouse
Their sweet butter takes the rolls from good to great!
2nd: O’Charley’s Restaurant & Bar
3rd: Olive Garden
4th: Bravo! Italian Kitchen
A Spirited Battle
We asked some of Columbus’s favorite distilleries to submit their fiercest competitors to face off in this battle of the spirits. Vote for your favorite at www.cityscenecolumbus.com.
Watershed Distillery
Winter Sun 101
- 1.5 oz. Watershed Four Peel Gin
- 0.5 oz. Aperol
- 0.75 oz. fresh orange juice
- 0.25 oz. fresh lemon juice
- 0.5 oz. rosemary orange oleo*
- Tonic
Shake all ingredients except tonic over ice until well chilled. Strain over new ice in a chilled Collins glass and top with tonic. Garnish with orange peel.
To make rosemary orange oleo, use the peels of two oranges, making sure not to include the pith. Place in a mason jar or anything with a sealable container. Add one large stem of rosemary and cover with sugar. Set on counter overnight, shaking every so often to release oils. Once sugar is dissolved, strain out solids.
Middle West Spirits
Gimme S’more
- 2 oz. Middle West Spirits Bourbon Cream
- 1 oz. smoked whiskey or peated Scotch
- 0.75 oz. honey liqueur
- 1-2 dashes Xocolatl Mole Bitters
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir. Double strain into stemmed glass and garnish with toasted marshmallow.
“With the fall release of the bourbon cream, I was inspired by the memories of bonfire smoke and marshmallows with the perfect char,” says Beverage Director of Service Bar Kyle Nelson.
High Bank Distillery
Smoked Old Fashioned
- Whiskey War
- Angostura
- Orange bitters
- Demerara Syrup
- Orange peel
“Though it’s not the most elaborate cocktail, our Smoked Old Fashioned is a mainstay on our menu and features our original Whiskey War,” says Founding Partner and Director of Business Calvin Jones.
Mallory Arnold, Rocco Falleti, Brandon Klein and Sarah Robinson are the editors. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
