The YUM Club celebrated it's 50th outing at Knead on High; a new retro diner that brilliantly expands on the notion of farm to table dining. I'm not a big fan of pork but that seemed to be what was in season at Knead's supplying farms. Instead they were very accommodating and were willing to put local organic chicken in anything I requested. I ordered the housemade whole wheat farfalle pasta with roasted butternut squash, smoked bleu cheese cream and they substituted chicken for the homemade sage sausage. I had the half order which was more than enough food and left some room for the oatmeal cream pie. Two giant homemade oatmeal cookies with fresh whipped cream in the middle. I could barely let Rodney take a picture of it before eating the whole thing it was so good.

Other diners had the Hanger Steak Tacos made Indian style with curry and loved them. Rodney also liked his beet and arugula salad and curried butternut squash soup. The Jinkie is Knead's take on a twinkie and was disappointing to the group. The shape and cake were spot on, but there was no cream in the middle. Did they forget? Always a giver, I offered some of my fresh whipped cream from the oatmeal cream pie to the Jinkie complainers. By some I mean a tiny bit. 

Just writing this makes me want to head back. Local comfort food on an icy day sounds perfect!

Our party of ten sat in the "formal" dining room but were given the option of ordering off of the dining room menu OR the tavern menu. The dining room menu looked delicious - for grown ups who eat real food and like fancy things. Lobster, quail, rabbit, filet and halibut rounded out the dining menu. Thankfully the tavern menu included a roasted chicken dinner, two beef dishes and some vegetarian fare.

I ordered the herb dusted roasted chicken with crisped potatoes, fingerling carrots and chicken sausage medallions. I could have done without the chicken sausage but the roasted chicken was cooked to perfection and the potatoes were crispy like a crab cake. Several tried dessert and we all agreed that we would gladly return to DeepWood again. Hopefully the jinx of the space has been lifted since Abracci was such a dismal experience!

For YUM Club XXXV we wandered outside of our usual downtown locale and headed to Bexley. Still inside the beltway, thank you. The word ritrovo has many meanings in Italian and my favorites are a place where people come to eat and drink and a gathering of friends, family and colleagues. YUM Club XXXV was canceled in September because of Hurricane Ike's power outage and rescheduled for October.

Our group of 7 had a great round table - I wish all YUM Clubs could be at a round table since it really encourages conversation among the whole group. Several enjoyed the soup and I had a delicious salad to start. Rodney and I shared a bottle of excellent Riesling and I ordered the asparagus ravioli for my main course.

The service was excellent and they were more than happy to split the check. Given the relative ease for most to split our checks, I'm still surprised at how many places give us a hard time! It's no wonder why Giuseppe's has been a successful mainstay in Bexley next to the Drexel movie theater.

The prices at the Black Olive are surprisingly reasonable, given the swanky feel of the white-table cloth restaurant. Their cocktail menu is eclectic and I recommend the cream soda - vanilla vodka, rootbeer liqeuer and soda water.

The service was great and they were nothing but helpful as our numbers changed right up until dinner. I hope the Black Olive does well and maintains the restaurant anchor on the sad west side of High Street. The powerhouse trio of Betty's, Rigsby's and RJ Snapper's need something to keep them humble!

I'll be darned if I knew what Dragonfly's "renowned jardin potager" was (it's a kitchen garden), but it produces some darn good food. YUM Club XXXIII was at Dragonfly Neo-v, an organic restaurant in Victorian Village that specializes in vegetarian cuisine. Their website claims that they feature fine local produce, luxury imports and heirloom vegetables. As a historian, I'm all about anything that's heirloom.

Excited to try something new and hang out with our fellow diners, I have to admit I wasn't entirely enthused about the food when I looked at the menu beforehand. There was one dish that I thought would be doable and I left it at that. Much to my surprise, the menu changed and I was forced to think outside of the potager and choose something new. We started the meal with drinks and I had a delicious white sangria. The second round he made with Chambord and it was the best sangria I've ever had! Then the kitchen sent out individual samples of a spicy orzo and sea bean dish that was topped with a single blueberry. The entire group agreed that this was delicious. Jennifer and I shared an appetizer - Beans three ways. There were pureed beans on the bottom topped by marinated beans. Then on top of those were beans stuffed in a delicious puff pastry and drizzled with truffle oil. It was our favorite dish of the evening. We also shared an entree which was the pizza of the day. On top of a wheat crust there was a red sauce, ricotta, zucchini, green peppers and tomatoes. It was really good, but I wouldn't order it alone nor would I take the left overs home - I don't think it would reheat well.

Three others had the pizza, Sam and Farrah had the calamari and Sam said it was "to die for." Jeremy had the grilled and tempura tofu and I can't remember what Laurel had. The kitchen also sent a sample of a dessert and they agreed to split the check without difficulty. Add to that a clear kayak hanging from the historic tin ceiling and strung with lights and this is one of the coolest restaurants we've found in the city! We declined dessert at Dragonfly and headed instead to Jeni's in Grandview. I tried the gold-medal winning Cherry Lambic sorbet and my regular favorite Gravel Road. There really isn't ice cream that's better than Jeni's!

For the month of June, the YUM Club dined at Alana's Food and Wine on North High Street in Clintonville. With only six in attendance, we enjoyed a quiet dinner on the patio of this funky little house restaurant. It was good to find another house restaurant to help ease the pain of our loss of Taverna Opa on South High Street.

Alana's is self-described as having an ambiance of French brasserie with flare and they serve "Food of Love" with an emphasis on fresh and delicious foods prepared in styles from all over the world. The menu changes frequently and several seasoned Yummers were surprised to find the dishes they chose online were no longer available once we arrived.

The drinks are just as special and fresh as the food, though RJ wasn't too thrilled with his watermelon cocktail made with fresh watermelon juice. Apparently it was too much like real watermelon and not enough like the uber-sweet watermelon liquer he's used to.  I had an unfamiliar white wine that our server described as "an interesting little beast, but pretty good" as well as a pasta and vegetable dish that was delicious.

During our dinner, Alana came around the restaurant twice with samples of new dishes she was trying. Both were excellent and I love the cozy notion of our chef (and the restaurant's namesake) flitting about among her loyal patrons offering samples.

We were a small but mighty group tonight - the tried and true Yummers who join for the benefit of group interaction and to broaden our horizons and try new cuisines. The staff of Diaspora was fantastic. They were eager to help us understand what we were about to order and were patient with our indecisiveness and rapid-fire questions. RJ had a citrus-spiked beef dish served with rice that was pretty good. Jessy had a delectable spicy pork dish served with rice that was amazing - and I don't even like pork! Samadu and I had the dolsot bimbimbop which was steamed rice topped with vegetables and an egg, served in a crazy hot stone bowl that cooked the egg and kept the food warm. Some I recognized but most of the vegetables were new to me - cucumber, zucchini, carrot, white radish, mushrooms (blek), bellflower root (weird tuber type thing), as well as spinach, soybean sprouts, and bracken fern stems (these looked like tiny octopus tentacles). CoCo had a bowl that contained nearly two gallons of spicy red broth with noodles, octopus, squid, oysters (or clams?), shrimp (with the eyes and shell) and half a crab. I threw up a little in my mouth when I saw this dish. But if seafood's your thing - this is the dish to get.

The lemon cocktail was delicious (tasted like Sprite and vodka) and came in a bong-type jar with colorful shotglasses. My pals who lived in Korea were disappointed that it wasn't made with Soju which is apparently illegal to sell in Ohio. Not to be confused with Soulja Boy.  

Sam and I each got a "side" with our meal and we searched all over the menu for the sides we could choose from. As it turns out, they bring you a whole tray of sides that compliment whatever entree is ordered. The potatoes soaked in sesame oil, soy sauce and sugar were delicious. The broccoli salad had crab meat so I declined, but everyone loved it. Coco and Jessy were all over the kimchi and I liked the Italian squash. The fish cake wasn't my favorite either and the egg-wrapped seaweed was, um, interesting. 

Diaspora was cool. The interior reminded me a bit of Pinkberry and while the food isn't my favorite, I'm glad I can say I gave it a shot. Maybe we'll have pizza or something tame for the next YUM Club to reward ourselves for being so open-minded and adventurous!

Thanks to Lisa S. for the interior lights photograph from her review on Yelp.com

"What Betty's lacks in fine dining and class they certainly make up for with character and amazing food." This is typically my pre-dinner speech when I take out-of-town guests to Betty's. The 70 year old woman from the west coast loved Betty's, as did my conservative Uncle in his mid-60s. My college friends loved the food and the prices and said they felt like they were seeing a cooler, hidden side to Columbus.

Nevermind that the ceramic statues look like they're coated in nicotene, circa pre-smoking ban; the air filters in the wall sit lifeless and sad; and the seats often wobble dangerously. It doesn't matter, there's always a line out the door and often people at the bar are two or three deep.

My favorite dishes are the surly girl salad and the tortilla soup. I always have those together with a couple of Betty Fords (Pink lemonade and vodka). Steve's Afternoon Delight is a great appetizer to start with and I recently tried their brunch on a Saturday afternoon. Before becoming a Betty's regular, I would rather have died than eat a breakfast dish called Huevos Rancheros. But now, it's my newest favorite dish for brunch. And to be fair, because I was with a conservative Uncle, I even ordered plain lemonade minus the Betty Ford treatment and it was almost just the same. And I could drive home right away!

My only complaint with Betty's right now - they're re-doing the women's bathroom and have removed all of the funny pictures with women from the 50s spouting horribly modern and uncouth things like "I'll have a cafe mocha vodka marijuana latte, to go please."