Road Trip: Hello, Columbus

Known as a headquarters city for chains, Ohio’s capital city is developing a distinct culinary presence.

By Lisa Bertagnoli, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 5/1/2007

Columbus, Ohio, is home to Ohio State University and its fabled Buckeyes. It’s also headquarters for more than its fair share of chains: Wendy’s, Bob Evans, White Castle, Max & Erma’s, Steak Escape, Damon’s, Donatos Pizza, Bravo Cucina Italia and its sister concept, Brio Tuscan Grill.

“That’s $10 billion in chain-restaurant sales a year,” says Cameron Mitchell, president and founder of another Columbus-based company, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, a multiconcept operation with 29 restaurants in eight states.

Mitchell agreed to take us on a culinary tour of Columbus, a market he describes as not unsophisticated, but not totally grown-up, either.

Columbus, population 800,000 and the capital of Ohio, lacks the national presence of its bigger siblings, Cleveland and Cincinnati. But Ohio State University and a handful of Fortune 500 companies lend a certain cachet, not to mention economic stability, to the city.

“Between New York and Chicago, we’re the most upscale restaurant community in the Midwest,” says Gail Baker, executive director of the Central Ohio Restaurant Association. Baker mentions Handke’s Cuisine, owned by culinary Olympian Hartmut Handke; and Michael Reams, owner of the upscale Burgundy Room and G. Michaels restaurants, and The Refectory, a fine-dining establishment with a nationally known wine list.

A lease-negotiation meeting for a new restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz., kept Mitchell occupied for some of the morning, so Carolyn Delp, operating partner and vice president of marketing at Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, serves as tour guide for the first part of our Road Trip.

Under the Arches

Around 11 a.m., we begin driving north on High Street, the road that bisects Columbus. CMR is headquartered in a low, industrial building on the south end of Short North, a warehouse district packed with art galleries, cafes and specialty retailers.

One of Short North’s landmarks is North Market, the city’s only remaining public market and a busy maze of restaurants, ethnic food shops and cookware stores.

Driving north, we notice a dozen or so iron arches over High Street. Similar arches spanned the area at the turn of the 20th century, giving Columbus the nickname Arch City. The new arches, erected in 2002, mark the city’s growing arts district.

As we drive, Delp explains that Columbus is growing mostly to the north and east; notable sites include Polaris, a 3-million-square-foot shopping mall on the north side that houses 100 restaurants.

One popular destination is the Arena District, home to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the city’s professional hockey team. Gordon Biersch Brewery, BD’s Mongolian Grill and Ted’s Montana Grill all have locations there.

Our first stop is Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse, which has three units in Columbus. “They talk about this steakhouse and ours,” Delp says, referring to four-unit Mitchell’s Steakhouse. An expansive patio with two-story-high black drapes and granite tables looks like something you’d see on the West Coast, not in the nation’s midsection.

Our next stop is the space that, come late May, will be CMR’s newest concept: Marcella’s. Inspired by Quartino in Chicago and Pastis in New York, the small-plates concept will offer salumi, antipasti and stone-oven pizzas, with no entree priced more than $15. “See the tin ceiling? And there will be booths over there,” Delp says excitedly as we tour the half-built restaurant.

College Town

Further north on High Street, the Gateway, a retail-restaurant development, marks the beginning of the OSU campus. We see Eddie George’s Grill, named after the famed OSU running back. Chains abound including Potbelly Sandwich Works, Panera Bread and Caribou Coffee.

On our way to Polaris, we stop at Rusty Bucket, a casual bar and grill at Lane Avenue Shopping Center, an upscale strip mall. CMR handles back-office work for the fledgling chain and takes a management fee in return.

“It’s a neighborhood bar—fun, friendly and fast,” Delp says as we survey the dining room and prominent bar. The decor is limited to neon signs and sports photos and memorabilia. “The economic model is great,” Delp says; the bars cost $900,000 to build and average $2 million in annual sales. By the end of this year, there will be 12 Rusty Buckets in operation, all in Ohio.

Soon we arrive at Polaris. CMR has two restaurants there: Molly Woo’s, a full-service Asian concept named after Mitchell’s wife, and Martini Italian Bistro. The decor at Molly Woo’s, which is 7,800 square feet and has 250 seats, is Chinatown-worthy, with red paint, black lacquer and Chinese lanterns.

It’s almost 1 p.m., and Delp orders spring rolls to go. While we’re waiting we check out Lindey’s, Bravo Development Inc.’s casual-upscale bistro. BDI’s founders, brothers Chris and Rick Doody, went to high school with Mitchell; the three remain friends.

Still Vanilla

1:30: Lunch at last, at Columbus Fish Market, Mitchell’s first seafood concept. Lunch is a Shang Hai Seafood Sampler, a Harpoon Shrimp Salad, Asian salmon, and penne pasta with roasted vegetables and marinara. Mitchell, who joins us at the restaurant, begins lunch with a cup of gumbo.

During lunch, he talks about OSU’s influence on the city. “All the sports teams, recruiting, entertaining, general business,” Mitchell says. “The school keeps the economy stable, as does city government.” And the students “make a nice youthful work-force base,” he adds.

Until the mid-’ 90s, Columbus “was a boring meat-and-potatoes town,” Mitchell says. Several factors helped change that, including an influx of executives from New York to work at companies such as Limited Brands. “Those people wanted style,” he says.

Despite the efforts of Mitchell, the Doody brothers and other entrepreneurs, Columbus remains “vanilla,” Mitchell says. “It doesn’t have any kind of ethnicity.” Figures from the 2000 Census back him up. Columbus’ demographic makeup is roughly 68 percent white, 24 percent African-American and 3.55 percent Asian. Cleveland, for its part, is 41.4 percent white, and Cincinnati, 53 percent.

“We don’t dumb down our food, but we are cognizant of the taste profile of our locations,” Mitchell says.

What’s Cooking in Columbus

After lunch, we take a look at some of the city’s percolating chains.

First up is City Barbecue in Upper Arlington, an upscale suburb northwest of the city. This was the first of what now is an 11-unit chain, with five Columbus-area units. The shack-style decor is simple, with plank walls and a case full of packaged sides and desserts. The counterman slices barbecue under a red heat lamp, and the aroma of smoking meat wafts through the restaurant.

From there we head south on High Street, to Northstar, a concept Mitchell calls the “organic Panera.” Owned by Katy Mulhane, formerly a manager for Mitchell, Northstar has an interior that exudes calm, with slate tiles, blond wood furniture and high ceilings. But the patio is bustling, with waiters carrying plates of flatbread, veggie burgers and salads. The menu is limited to 13 items and skews organic and vegetarian. “It’s an educated, eclectic crowd,” Mitchell says.

Our next stop is Pistachio, an upscale bakery in a strip mall just off of High Street. A display case features beautifully decorated cakes, while unusually flavored sweets such as fig-oat cookies and sweet-wine tea cookies are arranged on display platters.

Pistachio’s chef-owner is Spencer Budros, formerly pastry chef at The Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, and a son of Jim Budros, one of City Barbecue’s founders. Budros greets Mitchell and tells him that the bakery is moving to a 5,000-square-foot space in German Village, one of the city’s older, established areas. The new space has greater visibility—and more parking.

Last stop is Jeni’s Ice Creams at North Market. The collective Columbus palate might be vanilla, but Jeni’s ice cream is not. It has unusual flavors such as Salty Caramel and Strawberry Rose Petal. We end the day with buttered pecan in a cone and scoops of Cold Rx (it tastes like a whiskey sour) and Bartlett pear-Riesling sorbet.

Unique concepts such as Jeni’s are helping transform Columbus’ restaurant scene. “There’s not a whole lot to do here, so eating out has become a big source of entertainment,” Mitchell explains.

“There’s pretty good competition,” he says. “The strong survive.”