ThisWeek Community Newspapers Dublin Villager
December 23, 2010
Page C1
Beloved Bexley Italian still hitting its marks It’s not a fluke that Giuseppe’s Ritrovo is a local institution. Located in the heart of Bexley — next to the Drexel and across from Capital University — the upscale casual Giuseppe’s can convert newcomers into regulars after a single visit. A fun and lively place where suited gentlemen enjoy wine and pizza at the granite bar next to big tables of cocktailing ladies close by families smiling over bowls of their all-time favorite pastas, this big windowed restaurant exudes true neighborhood charm. No wonder it’s almost as packed on a cold and crappy Monday evening as it is on a Saturday night. A gaze at Giuseppe’s rustic brick walls and slick modern art is a clue into its way with a menu. In other words, the place manages to simultaneously embrace and transcend classic ItalianAmerican cooking. While the basic pasta-loaded
MENU by G.A. Benton food document hasn’t altered drastically over the years, there are always-interesting nightly specials. And recently, a few new and exciting developments have been introduced: a terrific happy hour and a short list of ambitious cocktails. On the happy hour front, most of Giuseppe’s glasses of wine, terrific handmade pizzas and snazzy appetizer dishes are sold for about half off. This means that between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. — at the bar only — great deals await those who show up early. That was me recently, as I sipped some food-friendly vino ($5 per glass) and dug into the pretty Prosciutto Crudo Antipasto ($13, or $6 at happy hour).
By Jodi Miller/ThisWeek
Six-Cheese Ravioli and Insalata Favalosa at Giuseppe’s Ritrovo in Bexley.
Sheets of soft, supple, sweet and succulent Parma ham were placed atop a chopped salad of kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, fresh mozzarella and marinated arti-
choke hearts. I liked how the creamy cheese helped direct the focus onto the delicate meat amidst bolder elements. High-quality mushrooms (lots of shiitakes), plenty of racy tomato sauce and a very attractive thin and crispy crust delighted mightily in the Al Funghi pizza ($15, or $9 at happy hour). What’s more, the wide pie was large enough to feed two to three for dinner or serve as an appetizer for a huge table. (Pizzas are also available in whole wheat or gluten-free crusts.) About 20 pastas make up the bulk of Giuseppe’s menu, and ranging from the killer $10 Spaghetti and Meatballs to pricier, seafood-laden varieties, they’re all good. Like the extravagant Gamberi Di Sicilia ($22). Lots of garlicky, good-quality shrimp were matched with fine mushrooms in a spicy and lavish cognac and heavy-duty cream sauce. Perfectly
Giuseppe’s Ritrovo 2268 E. Main St., Bexley 614-235-4300 Web: giuseppesritrovo.com Cuisine: Italian Price: $$$ ($20-$30 per person) Patio: Yes Hours: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 5-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 5-12 p.m. Saturday al dente linguine soaked up the richness. The Six Cheese Ravioli ($15) were a half-dozen firm pasta pillows filled with a ricotta-forward dairy blend. Making the dish extra special was a light, herby and acidic tomato sauce bountifully flecked with delicious mushrooms and chopped chicken. For dessert, the Blueberry Bread Pudding ($7.50) was a good choice for those (like me) seeking something with a restrained
sweetness. Drizzles of creme anglaise played beautifully with the plentiful fruit. If you’d rather sip dessert, pick one of Giuseppe’s specialty cocktails — they use enticing ingredients like grappa, Aperol and rhubarb bitters. From these, the “Sidebar” Sidecar ($9) — its brandy and Grand Marnier leavened by citrus — will carry you home in style. Correction: The hours for Spiro’s Plaza Cafe was incorrect in the Dec. 16 review. Hours for the restaurant are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. To read G.A. B e n t o n ’s blog, visit ColumbusDiningGuide.com
Polaris adds another dash of Indian spice with Cumin The closing of Bayleaf India Bistro left a serious hole in the lunch buffet scene in Polaris. That’s going to change on Friday, when Cumin takes over the vacant restaurant at 1025 Polaris Parkway. Owner Ved Prakash, who also goes by Vince, has completely revamped the interior, installing stone, tile and white Italian marble while building a 4-foot-tall border around the lounge area. “I want to give the impression it’s not the same restaurant, it’s a new restaurant,” he said. The transition also includes a new menu, which is about 25 percent bigger, with a large assortment of seafood, including spicy mango shrimp, lobster lababdar and Malai halibut. There are plenty of standard plates, as well, such as various styles of tandoori, biryani and vegetarian dishes. Most entrees from the a la carte dinner menu are in the $8 to $12 range. Still, the all-important lunch buffet will be served daily. On the weekends, it will include the chaat station, as Bayleaf had. Anyone who’s witnessed it firsthand knows that Indian buffets are extremely
The extra space will allow Prakash to pursue his burgeoning catering business, which now serves 700 lunches per week. “Once I open up (Cumin) then I could add 500 easy,” he said. Cumin will be open for lunch and dinner daily. For more information, call 614854-0775.
Ved “Vince” Prakash, owner of Cuisine of India, will soon open Cumin inside the former Bayleaf India Bistro site at Polaris.
In other Indian news from Polaris, Masala BBQ has opened at 8939 South Old State Road. Aqil Khan’s new restaurant specializes in Indian and Pakistani cuisines. The menu is by no means extensive. Instead, it is primarily focused on tandoori, often described as Indian barbecue, and biryani dishes. Most entrée prices are in the $7 to $10 range. Masala BBQ is open six days a week, closed Sunday. For more information, call 614-433-0108.
popular on the Far North Side. Prakash laid the foundation at Cuisine of India, 8475 Sancus Blvd. That was followed by Bayleaf and then Maanas, another large space off Polaris Parkway, west of South Old State Road. “People noticed my success,” said Prakash, who opened Cuisine of India in 2004. But the space is smaller by comparison, seating 68. Cumin, meanwhile,
The father-and-son team of Yiagos and Stratis Kostoglou are putting the finishing touches on Greek to Me, a breakfast-and-lunch locale at 4697 Reed Road on the Northwest Side. The restaurant, set to open the first week of January, will take over the space that was home to a slew of pizza shops, most recently Pizzano’s. The Kostoglous say the menu will be
By Adam Cairns/ThisWeek
will seat 140. Where Cumin will offer a wide assortment of fare from the northern part of the country, Cuisine of India’s menu will be transformed to include only dishes from the south, such as dosa, medu wada, sambar, idli and chicken chettinad. Prakash said the conversion will allow the restaurant to differentiate itself from the others.
a mix of American and Greek fare. They will work from family recipes for avgolemeno soup, pastitsio, lamb, baklava, galaktoboureko and other classic Greek dishes. They have applied for a beer and wine license.
■ Sign up for the Food & Wine enewsletter. Recipes, beer and wine reviews, dietary advice and much more. Best of all: It’s free. Details are at www.ThisWeekNews.com/foodandwine.
Recipe of the week
Pheasant terrine, courtesy of Richard Blondin of the Refectory.
Father-daughter writing team turns to famous crimes which is also based in Charleston, S.C. “The way it came about, interestingly enough, after the prisons book came out I was contacted by The History Press and they said would you pitch a book to us,” David Meyers said during a recent interview. Father and daughter didn’t have to do a lot of casting about; they had the subject matter at hand. “We already,
By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote the classic “Crime and Punishment” in 1866. For the modern father-daughter writing team of David Meyers and Elise Meyers Walker, first it was punishment, now it’s crime. The Clintonville residents collaborated on last year’s “Central Ohio’s Historic Prisons,” another of the photo-driven entries into the Images of America series put out by Arcadia Publishing of Charleston, S.C. This time around, they’ve come up with stories about some of the people whose exploits landed them in those very prisons. “Historic Columbus Crimes: Mama’s in the Furnace, The Thing and Others” was published last month by The History Press,
in the process of researching the prison book, had come up with some interesting Columbus crimes,” Meyers said. “We’re both very interested in history, and we’ve always had an interest in sort of the darker side of humanity,” Elise Meyers Walker said. “For us it was just a very natural progression.” They both felt the subject matter of famous crimes would be more interesting to most people than the development of the prison system that dealt with these criminals, according to Walker. “They want to know the exciting part, not what happens after,”
she said. The first crime dealt with in the new book dates to 1839, and involved grave-robbing by professors and students at a medical college in Worthington. The most recent took place on Dec. 8, 2004, when 25-year-old Nathan Gale ran onto the stage of the Alrosa Villa and shot six people. Four of them died, including Damageplan guitarist Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott. “I like the stuff that I can remember,” Walker said. “I like the older stuff, too, but it all kind of becomes a blur.” A decade before the Alrosa Villa
shooting, she recalled, a friend’s band was playing at the North Side Club and she asked her father for permission to go. “He said, ‘No, people get shot there,’ ” Walker recalled. Then, people got shot there, and Walker said she thought: “Shoot, my dad was right.” Another contemporary crime among the 16 touched on in the book occurred in the neighborhood Meyers and Walker both call home, Clintonville. That was the May 17, 2003, slaying of female impersonator Gary McMurtry in See FATHER-, page C4
Jumbo Loan Special! Construction
l
Purchase
Refinance
l
Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM)
3/1 ARM 5/1 ARM 3.99% Rate 4.875% Rate 3.638% APR* 4.028% APR** The State Bank and Trust Company 109 South High Street
l
Dublin, OH
l
614.336.7779
• Over 25 years experience • Dependable Rheem High Efficiency A/C & Heating Systems • 24 hour emergency service
www.thebank-sbt.com/columbus-ohio-lenders Annual Percentage Rate is effective 12-01-2010. Rates and terms may vary based on credit quality, loan amount and property type. The APR is based upon a refinance, 20% down payment, property taxes and insurance are not escrowed, no Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) and $1,626 in closing costs. Must borrow at least $417,100 but not more than $1,000,000. *Borrow $500,000 at 3.638% APR for 30 years and your monthly payments would be $2,384.19 for 36 months. Then your rate will adjust to 3.50% and your monthly payments would be $2,256.07 for 323 months with one final payment of $2,128.97 **Borrow $500,000 at 4.028% APR for 30 years and your payments would be $2,646.04 for 60 months. Then your rate will adjust to 3.50% and your monthly payments would be $2,294.48 for 299 months with one final payment of $2,174.39. Subject to credit approval.
614-851-0099 www.AmericanAirHeating.com