Category: Cuisine (page 1 of 7)

Originally published in the August 2020 issue of (614) Magazine

Restaurant margins have always been thin, and the costs are often hidden. Manufacturing has materials, restaurants have ingredients. Retail may have slow days, restaurants have expiration dates. Factories don’t slow down at the clap of thunder, and shopping malls sometimes see a boost. But if your business is built around a bustling patio, between staffing and spoilage, you might actually lose money when the weather turns. It rains on everyone eventually, some more than others. And when it comes to a pandemic, it’s been raining on restaurants for months and the skies seem to be getting darker by the day.

Katalina’s epitomizes everything folks love about the Columbus culinary scene. The original location turned an abandoned gas station into a heralded Harrison West haunt, and the eponymous café in Clintonville transformed a vintage fountain pen store into something worth writing home about. Quirky and clever, it’s a kitschy kitchen that elevates each dish into art you can eat, and Instagram posts from her patrons are practically as pervasive as her signature pancake balls.

“I think restaurants are one of the safest places to be right now because they are monitored more than almost any business,” noted owner Kathleen Day, whose seasonal seating offered essential expansion for both locations. “I take all of my feedback from people like the Ohio Restaurant Association, the CDC, and the Columbus Health Department. And what we know now is that outdoor seating is safer than indoor seating.”

Not unlike curbside pickup or the serendipity of a drive-thru window, patios have become even more coveted in recent months for those who have them, and a bureaucratic hurdle for those hoping to add or expand one. For now, Katalina’s is focusing on takeout and delivery, which wasn’t even an option until it likewise became essential. But delivery services come at a high cost beyond just the percent of sales and added packaging expense for food that typically leaves the kitchen on a plate instead of in a bag. Concerns about quality control and the brand implications are sincere for restaurateurs already struggling to retain staff and remain open.

“A national chain doesn’t have the same kind of social media following at the local level, so they’re probably not under as much scrutiny as I am, especially with the new cancel culture. I will be under a microscope immediately,” she explained. “The restaurant industry has one of the lowest profit margins already, and I have extraordinarily high food costs on purpose because I use local, organic, and ethical food. If people want to go back to an era where we only have chain restaurants and large conglomerates, they may see that soon.”

Though the capital city is home to a number of notable national names, there is still a fierce loyalty to local businesses and brands. However, the fear of blowback is just as real as the added operating expense and emotional toll of potentially watching a lifetime of work slowly slip away over a matter of months. There are beloved local restaurants that simply will not survive, and for those that do, that price is also largely hidden.

“These are new costs for a lot of restaurants—take-out containers, paper menus, delivery services. They had to invest in new signage and if you’ve been inside restaurants lately, you’ve seen the decals on the floor and new signs. Stand Here. Don’t Go There,” explained John Barker, president and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant Association. “Availability of gloves and face coverings add even more pressure. Hand sanitizer is up to around $39 a gallon, which is triple what it would have been a year ago.”

The Ohio Restaurant Association has emerged as a lifeline, offering advocacy informed by a century of insight among its membership. (Really, the organization was founded in 1920.) The present pandemic has upended the industry more fundamentally than any crisis or cultural shift since prohibition.

Among their most visible initiatives are the Ohio Restaurant Promise, a pledge posted for patrons outlining steps taken to ensure their safety, and their Employee Relief Fund, offering financial assistance to those struggling during unprecedented times. From navigating complex government programs to securing necessary cleaning supplies, among the most pressing concerns facing restaurants are the specialized sanitizing procedures required after a positive case of COVID-19 is confirmed among guests or staff. The cost of cleaning, depending on the size of the restaurant, is typically several thousand dollars, and exceeds the standard expected of most businesses.

“We’re not seeing grocery stores closing down, or hardware stores closing down. In many cases a deep cleaning by the restaurant is all that’s required,” he noted. “But we have seen restaurants close, out of an abundance of caution, and we help them understand their responsibilities and to follow health department guidelines. Safety is always our first concern.”

Trust comes from transparency, and businesses like Stauf’s, Barcelona, and Katalina’s have set a new standard for being entirely open with employees and their clientele about interruptions, added procedures, and the extra steps they’re taking to continue serving customers safely, despite the current crisis.

“Katalina’s is Katalina’s because I have more long-term employees than the average restaurant, and I have the most amazing customers in the world. So right now, I’m going to do takeout and delivery,” Day noted, but confessed the future remains uncertain for her restaurant and the entire industry. “My customers are so loyal, they will sit out on my patio in the snow, and it amazes me and inspires my employees every time. But whether you have a patio or not, for small restaurants struggling to survive, it’s going to be a really rough winter.” ▩

For the latest on Katalina’s, follow them social media and at katalinas.com
For more on the Ohio Restaurant Association, the Ohio Restaurant Promise, and their Employee Relief Fund, visit ohiorestaurant.org

Originally published in the July 2020 issue of (614) Magazine

Between intrusive construction and coronavirus concerns, the retail disruption of the Short North has been interminable, if not untenable. But when your faithful clientele are still willing to fight for parking during a pandemic, you must be doing something extraordinary.

Deborah Quinci’s tiny Italian market may seem modest from the street, but one step through the door is in many ways a world away. Featuring imported provisions and authentic accoutrements for adventurous home chefs eager to up their game despite a crisis, the term emporium hardly sums it all up. What started four short years ago as a culinary boutique has evolved into a community kitchen for prepared fare, hands-on classes, and wine tastings. It’s an immersive retail experience defined as much by the passion of its patrons as the exclusivity of the selection.

“It reminds me a little bit of Dean & DeLuca, before they became so big. They were a grocery, a neighborhood store,” explained Quinci. “Italians love to gather together and share food, so our kitchen and cooking classes became an extension of that. We call it ‘convivial’ and it’s just part of our culture.”

Remote learning is all the rage, but teaching someone how to cook a time-honored recipe is where the internet still tends to fall flat. Technique is tactile and even the exact same ingredients don’t guarantee the same results. But she soon found her close-knit classes were becoming their own community, with students connecting socially beyond the space that initially brought them together. Suddenly, Quinci Emporium became much more than just a store.

“We wanted to explore more original recipes in Italy, some that are not even well known to me,” Quinci confessed. “I’m from Sicily, from the west part of the island. I don’t know everything they’re doing on the east or the north part of the island. They have recipes that I’ve never heard before.”

That curiosity resonated and soon became a destination, a week-long culinary excursion to Tuscany for a contingent of students to learn first-hand from masters of their craft, helping preserve experience easily lost over time. But with recent travel restrictions and uncertainty indefinite, Quinci Emporium’s latest instructional adventure has been more local and entirely online. Despite the inherent limitations of the format, enthusiasm and rapport closed the gap.

“We prepared baskets of ingredients already measured for everyone. They came and picked them up, or we delivered them so everyone was prepared,” she noted. “Everything was extremely detailed. We all knew each other, but I was still surprised by how well it went.”

The kitchen is the heart of any home, and that’s also true of retail stores that suddenly become restaurants essentially overnight. The shift from showcasing preparation skills and their edible inventory to serving prepared meals to-go wasn’t without its challenges. Supply chain concerns for imported items and limited availability from local vendors required some keen insights and novel negotiations to stay stocked.

“Sometimes, we used to give away the bread or the focaccia leftover at the end of the day. Now people are buying more than ever. I remember the first week of the pandemic, I had people coming in and buying up wine. They were worried we might sell out,” she revealed. “I called all of my purveyors and asked if they had any closeout wine, ones I could sell for up to $10 and have, you know, a pretty decent bottle of wine. They’ve become huge sellers and people are buying them by the case. Maybe they only used to buy really expensive bottles, but they’ve discovered a $10 bottle can be really, really good too.”

From sauces and spreads to spices and sweets, the staple for comfort food is still Quinci’s impressive selection of pasta. Cavatelli with porcini mushrooms for four is also $10, as is their risotto with porcini and white truffle oil for three, among more than a dozen pastas and “one-pot” dishes, ready for easy pick-up or nearby delivery—as well as all of the ingredients for those who prefer to hone their own skills.

“It’s a lot of pasta, but not just pasta. Salmon has proven very popular, and they can get buffalo mozzarella and our dough and make their own pizza at home. We haven’t noticed anyone avoiding carbs lately”, Quinci chided. “We’re here to preserve and celebrate traditions, but we also know this hasn’t been an easy time for everyone. We’ve learned to adapt, something Italian immigrants, all immigrants, have done for generations.” ▩

Menus and online ordering for pickup and delivery available at quinciemporium.com