Sorry, dear Wineaux… when the Minx starts touring, it takes a few weeks to get oriented… and this new road job happened so fast… at any rate, who cares, let's get to it!I find myself bringing the magic that is Kinky Boots to the fine people of Columbus, OH this week. When I tour, I try and make the most of my ONE free evening (Monday, our travel day,) and find a restaurant I can actually dine and sip at -- hopefully a fine foodie find in each city.
The Short North neighborhood of Columbus has always been a welcome haven and tonight I stumbled across another new fave; the original place my friend and I had hoped to visit was closed for a private party — our second choice had a 35 minute wait, but the third -- and glorious -- choice was THE PEARL.
We were seated immediately amidst modern yet rustic decor (the beer-bottle chandeliers are sublime and perfect.) Our waitress was like a good friend, steering us gently or firmly as the occasion or question demanded toward choices we felt we were destined to make. I had the spinach salad with Humboldt Fog cheese and candied almonds with a bacon vinaigrette. Perhaps the vinaigrette was a little heavy-handed, but I ate every single bite while my friend Tom slurped down a trio of delicious oysters.
He loved his Arctic Char entree (my bite, with the roasted cauliflower and cauliflower puree, was scrumptious,) and I had to smack the table numerous times in rapture over my tuna crudo appetizer (that I had with the homemade tater tots as my entree.)
We split the "crack pie" -- it's not officially called that any more for trademark reasons (!) -- I can't really remember exactly what was in it, but I'm still coming down from the rapturous sugar rush 5 hours later. Soooo gooood.Our wine was a 2012 Pio Cesare Arneis. I love love love Arneis! And it was perfect; good acidity and interesting flavors of celery and quince, balancing citrus, nice mid-weight -- it paired well with all of our dishes, and was super-quaffable in its own right.
Good wine, good meal -- a good start to our week in Columbus!
Cheers.
