Score one for Park Creek Kitchen

I'd like to welcome Park Creek Kitchen to the neighborhood of Upper Arlington, Ohio. Because it they certainly did welcome me.

I hit up the Columbus Clippers game last night and on the way home my brother in law suggested a beer on the way home at a new place that just opened this week. My arm doesn't need to be twisted for another beer. So off we went.

Columbus has quite a few culinary gems, but the location we were going is a small boutique shopping area stuck in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Many spaces have sat vacant for a long while, and we actually kicked around the idea of opening a small pub there.

We arrived around 11pm to find the chairs up and the lights low. The closing time read 10pm, but the door was open. Behind the bar we met the owner and chef, Jeff Headley.

Chef Jeff was extremely accommodating. He told us the story of Park Creek, where he had come from, where he was going, his struggles to open a restaurant with a liquor license in a residential community with just a 5% commercial base.

He demonstrated genuine hospitality. We sampled from among his large craft beer list and salivated over the eclectic menu consisting of organic and local ingredients. Though I have not tasted from the menu just yet, I will return based on the experience. Even if its just for another beer.

Here are a couple of link to the website and Facebook pages.

www.parkcreekkitchen.com

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1064913159&ref=ts

Pizzology - Your New Favorite Hang Out

Upon entering Pizzology on Friday evening, two thoughts came to my mind.

The first was, "Where is the restroom?" After crawling through traffic up Keystone Avenue, I had to go if you know what I mean. But more importantly, when checking out new spots to dine, here is a handy tip: How clean a restroom is can generally equate to how clean the rest of the restaurant is, including the kitchen where your food is stored, prepared and cooked. Let me tell you, the men's room at Pizzology was spotless and rather inviting. I literally could have eaten off the floor. I chose to wait for a table instead.

Second thought: As a lady was dragging her two kids out the door I overheard her say "We are not waiting an hour." At the point I told my wife it was her loss and our gain. One more person we do not have to wait behind! You see, the hype for Pizzology has been overwhelming and I have been wanting to come here for months. I would have waited two hours without hesitation, as long as I had a tasty Upland Wheat to keep me company.

We actually only waited 15 minutes before being squeezed into a 2-top in the bar. Seating is tight in this gem of a pizzeria, but the cramped quarters contribute to the experience. The crowd was tremendous this night.

I stuck to my favorite Indiana brew and my wife, ever adventurous, ordered an immaculate Budweiser Light. Our server Jay was on point all night at table 43. For starters we had the Mushroom Risotto and bread sticks (not on the menu). Sticking to our devout Catholicism Lenten practice of no meat on Friday, we had the Margherita pizza.

A-MAZ-ING!

The food was delicious and lived up to the hype. The service was excellent and fast. The pizza is completely different than any place you have tried in town. Owner and Chef Neal Brown has created my new favorite pizza place in Indy!

Criticisms:

Only one I can think of is to pump up the volume on the music. While enjoying my restroom inspection I had some nice eighties music pumping my eardrum. While at my little bar table 43, it was barely audible. I need some jams while throwing back a pie!

Favorites:

Every single person had a smile on their face, made eye contact and said hello. EVERYONE. Very inviting.

Watch out though! If you wear Chuck Taylor's on your feet as I did last night, they just might make you bus a table or two. The entire Front of the House staff is required to wear these as part of the uniform as one enthusiastic staffer told me.

Overall, great experience!

Turkey Chili and Surround Sound

Without a doubt, Braden Alexander loves me more when I am in the kitchen than at any other time. This is quite often, as I am always preparing new and exciting meals, as well as old favorites, on nearly a nightly basis. I like to think this love is due to his unwavering devotion and loyalty to me.

But the truth is, Brady, as he is commonly referred to by friends and family, really is just hoping to get a taste of my newest concoction. And considering today is my first attempt at a new and unique version of Turkey Chili, Brady is right by my side.

You see, Brady is my 90-pound Chocolate Labrador Retriever. As well as the Chief Tasting Officer of Barrelhouse Group. No dish goes untasted before leaving the kitchen or being perfected.

I've been making my traditional chili for going on 10 years now, and it is nearly untouchable. I've come a long way since scraping burnt pans of chili that actually more resembled dog food than people food. Even Brady would have turned his nose up at those early versions. Though I don't foresee Turkey Chili to be much different, the point is to perfect it and today was the first step.

One of the exciting things about my cooking adventures today was it is my first time with newly added surround sound in the kitchen. There are few things I love more in life than music and cooking. But actually having surround sound wired into my area is truly awesome!

I put on The Killers and got to work. As I type, the Chili is simmering and should be ready just in time for the Rose Bowl. Initial thoughts are that it tastes pretty good, but needs to be a little thicker. But I'll save final judgement for the official tasting, currently projected for 2 hours from now.

In the meantime I'm going to work on a little shrimp concoction as well as the menu for a new concept I came up with this week. Shrimp would be a new one for Brady, so we will see how it goes!

Have a happy new year everyone. I predict 2010 will be a great year!

Till next sign,

Ryan

Where to Locate?

When one opens their own business, there really are two questions to ask: what and where?

Over the last three years in deciding to open restaurant, the question was never so much what, but more so where? In building one independent restaurant, or many concepts, I want to be in good company. I want to open where people want unique and original, not uniform and cookie cutter. Indianapolis is not exactly known as being fertile ground for independent restaurants, and has more than its fair share of chains.

So my wife and I sat down to discuss where we might like to move, that would be an ideal launching point for the Barrelhouse concept. A few cities I like that she dismissed almost instantly for various reasons - Portland, Austin, Seattle, New York, San Francisco, Denver.

But, there were so fantastic finalists in the discussion -Chicago, Charlotte, Louisville, Columbus, Charleston, Savannah, Pittsburgh. All unique in their own right and desirable for entrepreneurs and aspiring restaurateurs. All could be considered restaurant towns and have great support for local business. All could potentially be home to a Barrelhouse concept.

But, my thinking kept bringing me back to Indianapolis. Sure, there are A LOT of chains here. And, to be honest, there is not a lot of support or encouragement for local business as other cities have. (Louisville, Columbus, Charlotte for example). Also, there are some great local restaurants in Indianapolis, and some fabulous restaurateurs such as Craig Huse, Scott Wise, Neal Brown, Martha Hoover, Brad Cohen, Hal Yeagy, and others I am leaving out.

My thought is, that together with these other great visionaries, Indianapolis can be a great restaurant town. First, we need great restaurants and great leaders. Second, we need a strong campaign supporting and promoting local business.

Independent restaurants should feed off of each other, not compete. The real competition that threatens our existence are chains and lack of education for our citizens who spend their money in the community.

For this reason, I am choosing to stay here to launch my first restaurant. I challenge all takers to try us our when we open, as well as to try someplace local that you've never been. I recommend this blog - http://indyrestaurantscene.blogspot.com -as a guide if your curious of local dining destinations.

Till next sign,

Ryan