They may have the word “pub” in their names, but these hot new dining spots serve more than just pints and wings.
Restaurants serving inspired upscale bar food have certainly made a mark on central Ohio over the last year. A good-sized handful of them have joined the Columbus area’s dining ranks, along with plenty of other options.
Here are just a few of the most interesting places to debut over the last 365.
The Crest Gastropub
You’d hardly recognize the Crest Gastropub if you compared it to its predecessor.
The Crest Tavern, 2855 Indianola Ave. in Clintonville, was a neighborhood dive bar. The Crest also places an emphasis on being part of the neighborhood, but for the sustainability-minded gastropub, the similarities end there.
The Crest opened in mid-April 2013.
“Our company really believes in sustainability, fresh food, eating the way you’re supposed to eat,” says Dustin Brafford, executive chef.
Brafford came to the Crest from a gig in Beirut. He brings a Mediterranean influence to the kitchen, taking typical American food and making it more healthful.
Among the Crest’s top sellers are the lamb burger, with house-made tzatziki, feta cheese, car
amelized onions, cucumber and fresh mint on a brioche bun; the honey-glazed cheese balls, flash-fried goat cheese dipped in honey with almonds and microgreens; and the fish tacos, filled with weekly fresh fish, pico de gallo, black bean corn salsa, cilantro sour cream and charred tomato coulis.
One of the secrets to the appeal of the Crest’s menu, particularly its salads, is the restaurant’s 600-square-foot rooftop garden. The items being grown change frequently, and have included everything from peppers and rhubarb to shiso (an Asian culinary herb with a cinnamon hint to it, good for pestos and drinks) and lemon verbena (the leaves of which go well with mussels).
“That just lets us do anything we want with fresh ingredients,” Brafford says.
Its network of local suppliers also keeps the list of ingredients diverse.
The Crest’s menu changes seasonally. To ensure a robust supply of innovation in the kitchen, Brafford emphasized drive over experience when hiring chefs.
“When you start with passion, skill can come easily,” he says.
Beer is a big part of the bar menu. The Crest has a constantly-changing line-up of 62 craft beers on tap, of which about 30 are local brews.
The cocktail menu, like the food menu, changes seasonally depending on what’s growing in the rooftop garden. The Cucumber Crutch – a summer drink with muddled cucumbers, St. Germain, Watershed vodka and agave – was a big hit, as are barrel-aged Manhattans and margaritas.
Copper and reclaimed wood are key components of the restaurant’s décor, and many pieces of the place come have older origins, such as the 100-plus-year-old windows and bathroom doors from an old school.
Wolf’s Ridge Brewing
Running a brewpub is a new experience for father and son Alan and Bob Szuter, but their experience with brewing and with hospitality in general goes back years and years.
The Szuters are co-owners of Wolf’s Ridge Brewing, which opened in late September at 215 N. Fourth St. in downtown Columbus.
Alan has been into home brewing for about eight years and has been a craft beer fan for longer than that, so opening a commercial brewery made sense for him.
“I’ve been interested in good beers for a long time,” he says. “I wanted to take it a step further and start brewing at home.”
Bob has a finance degree from The Ohio State University, but his background includes exposure to a variety of interesting restaurants and foods during a period of time spent in Chicago, as well as familiarity with the hospitality industry from his time working at a hotel in college.
The house-brewed beers are, of course, a big part of the Wolf’s Ridge menu – and not just the drink section. Chef Seth Lassak combines his French and Asian influences with creative ways to use beer in the food as well.
“You’ll see a lot of our menu items incorporate either the beer or the ingredients of the beer into their recipes,” says Alan.
Among the beer-inclusive menu items are the IPA-steamed mussels with chorizo, onions, garlic, parsley and lemon; stout-braised venison, served osso bucco-style with parsnip puree, root vegetable salad and Knotty Brown glaze; and duck confit tacos, with stout barbecue sauce, corn and black bean relish, red onion, cilantro, Cotija cheese, and tortilla chips. Other items incorporate beer ingredients, such as hops (dry hopped cider braised pork belly), while others still utilize beer sauces, such as porter cheese sauce (nachos, toad in the hole) and sto
ut syrup (bacon French toast, butterscotch bread pudding).
“By and large, I think, what we’re doing here is giving people a new introduction to dining,” Bob says. “We want them to be able to feel comfortable and eat really high-end food in a casual environment.”
The brewpub’s nine beers on tap include Little Red Riding Ale, an amber; Canis Lycaon (“The Latin term for the eastern wolf,” Alan says), a stout; Knotty Brown, an English brown; Clear Sky, a cream ale; and Howling Moon, an imperial IPA. A handful of guest taps, a variety of bottled and canned beers, a short wine list, and a few cocktails round out the drink menu.
The Szuters wanted the atmosphere to be focused not just on the food and beer, but also on conversation, which is why Wolf’s Ridge is laid out with long tables and a substantial amount of open space. It also takes advantage of some of the 1919 building’s pre-existing features.
“(We have) the original tin ceiling, the original hardwood floors,” Bob says. “We sanded them down to bare wood and refinished them.”
“We take food and beer seriously,” says Bob.
Westies Gastropub
The locavore and the sports fanatic will feel equally at home in new Brewery District addition Westies Gastropub.
Westies, 940 S. Front St., opened in mid-January.
Among Westies’ top priorities is its commitment to local and organic foods and ingredients; all meats, for instance, come from Ohio farms, and as the weather gets warmer, the restaurant will grow some of its own produce.
Popular menu items include the Village Salad, which has European cucumbers, tomatoes, Kalamata olives, green peppers, cilantro and red onions tossed in olive oil and red wine vinegar; the grilled turkey and arugula sandwich, which also includes European cucumbers, white wine vinaigrette and a Dijon mayonnaise horseradish cream sauce; and the Porkbelly B.L.T.E., slow-roasted pork belly with Bibb lettuce, Roma tomatoes, applewood bacon, a fried egg and Cajun mayonnaise.
“We also have a stone-fired and gas pizza oven that we are doing eight specialty pizzas in,” says bar manager Lisa Cole-DiMinno.
A lengthy beer list – 24 rotating crafts and imports on tap, 68 crafts in bottles and cans – is one of the highlights of the bar, as is a variety of hand-crafted cocktails.
“We’re all about local here, so we have Watershed Distillery products in here, we have OYO, we have Four String (Brewing), we have Seventh Son (Brewing Co.),” says Cole-DiMinno.
Co
cktails include the Westies Manhattan, which is bacon-infused Woodford Reserve bourbon with maple water, Tuaca and coffee pecan bitters; a bourbon cider with Woodford Reserve, house-made cinnamon simple syrup and Angry Orchard cider, garnished with a cinnamon stick; and two pepper infusions for Bloody Marys.
The influence of owner Tony Selimi is evident in the décor; Selimi comes from the construction industry, not the restaurant industry, and that’s where he gave himself a chance to shine.
“He actually built all the tables by hand,” says Cole-DiMinno. “He did all the tiling in the floors, (and) he built all the bar tops as well.”
It’s also where the restaurant’s commitment to game-watching comes in. A total of 16 80-inch high-definition TVs are scattered throughout; one booth even has a TV built right into it.
The four-season back patio has a custom-built fireplace in the center, surrounded by custom-built couches and a coffee table. Three of the patio’s four walls are garage doors that can be opened once the weather warms up.
Garth Bishop is editor of CityScene Magazine. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
More Newcomers
Other additions to the dining scene over the last year include:
-South of Lane, Upper Arlington; opened May
-Plate, New Albany; opened July
-Superchef’s, downtown Columbus; opened September
-Bakersfield, Short North; opened October
-Jerry’s Galaxy Café, Hilliard; opened November
-Melt Bar & Grilled, Short North; opened November
-Red Brick Tap & Grill, Merion Village; opened December
-Bar 145, Grandview Heights; opened January
-Strongwater Food & Spirits, Franklinton; opened January
-Ethyl & Tank, University District; opened February
