BEST HOMETOWNS

Nation, which was making its first forays into local real estate. While visiting a shuttered property about a block from the Logan County Courthouse, he saw potential.

The building had once housed Johnson’s Deli, a local favorite that had operated from 1950 to 1983. So, Rammel and his friends Jeremy Fitzpatrick and Brian Wall brought their love for craft beer to Bellefontaine.

Brewfontaine opened in 2015, and today it’s just part of this city of 14,000 residents’ rich food-and-drink scene. Six Hundred Downtown, a gourmet pizza spot that opened in 2011, was a pioneering piece of Bellefontaine’s revival. The city is also home to Flying Pepper Cantina, 2 Gs Barbecue, Kiyomi Sushi Steakhouse, Roundhouse Depot Brewing Co. and Don’s Downtown Diner.

Brewfontaine focuses on curating a lineup of great craft beers and ciders from other breweries rather than making and serving its own. The food menu features a variety of salads, sandwiches and wraps. (For those looking for a higher-end dining experience, the ownership group’s The Syndicate restaurant is located next door.) A core of the Brewfontaine concept is having just 16 taps, which adds to the sense of curation that comes when browsing the list of what is available.

“They’re changing consistently,” Rammel says, “which is what people want: fresh.” 211 S. Main St., Bellefontaine 43311, 937/4049128, brewfontaine.com

Stitched Together

The Dairy Barn Arts Center offers a destination to explore works by local and international artists and a window into what art means to Athens.

The Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens represents the intersection of the arts and rural living. Built in 1914 as part of the Athens State Hospital Dairy Farm, the structure was set to be demolished in the late 1970s until the Hocking Valley Arts Council rallied local support to turn the barn into a nonprofit arts center.

The Dairy Barn presents three to four exhibitions in its main 6,000-square-foot Sauber Gallery each year. But its most notable event happens every two years, when the “Quilt National” returns. (The 2023 installment is on display through Sept. 11.)

“For many quilting artists, getting into ‘Quilt National’ is their lifelong dream,” says Leah Magyary, executive director of The Dairy Barn Arts Center.

The exhibition was conceived in the late 1970s, when quilt artists were struggling to find proper recognition in the art com- munity. The Dairy Barn became one of the first places to celebrate this art form. Now, it is considered the most renowned contemporary quilt exhibition in the world. These are not the same quilts your grandmother made, though. Many of the contemporary versions rebel against the traditional patterns most of us associate with quilts.

The Dairy Barn Arts Center is just one example of how the arts are part of the fabric of life here. So are Ohio University’s Kennedy Museum of Art and Passion Works Studio, an arts center for people of all abilities.

“Everywhere you turn in Athens,” says Magyary, “you have the opportunity to encounter art.” 8000 Dairy Ln., Athens 45701, 740/592-4981, dairybarn.org

On the Menu

Silas Creative Kitchen in Versailles serves hyper-seasonal and hyper-local dishes shaped by what’s available from its farm located just a few miles away.

When your 85-acre farm is 3 miles down the road, the trip from the field to the kitchen to a diner’s table takes on new meaning. Silas Creative Kitchen in Versailles has had the benefit of that sort of arrangement since it opened in late spring 2022.

Executive chef Aaron Allen helms the kitchen at the fine dining spot located inside the rebuilt Hotel Versailles, which is owned by Midmark Corp. The company has a strong presence in Darke County, and it also owns Sycamore Bridge Farm, which supplies much of the restaurant’s ingredients under the care of farmer Katie Bensman.

“I change two to three dishes a week based on what’s coming from the farm,” Allen says. “The menu will rotate entirely with the seasons as they change.”

Diners can expect loads of fresh vegetables during the spring and summer months, and pickled and fermented preparations as the weather gets colder. Local meats (such as Berkshire pork and Black Angus beef supplied by Winner’s Meats) cheeses, wines and beers are among what’s available here as well.

Allen, who has a pedigree that includes stints at Rue Dumaine in Dayton, Daniel in New York City, Nemacolin in Pennsylvania and Hotel Covington in Kentucky, also draws on what inspires him when turning the bounty of the farm into a cohesive menu.

“It’s that childlike curiosity about cooking,” he says. “Chefs are just obsessed with food, and I want to cook food that people want to eat.” 22 N. Center St., Versailles 45380, 937/526-3020, hotelversaillesohio.com