Get a taste for freshness, locally grown ingredients in new foodie column
I’m proud to be a new columnist with Flavor in the 419, a foodie section that will profile the local food scene. From Sylvania to Bowling Green, and from Swanton to Oregon, I will feature food trucks, restaurants, technologies and innovations shaping our modern food culture.
My focus will be on freshness and locally grown ingredients, along with local purveyors of organic, free-range, grass-fed and humanely butchered products, where quality and craft combine.
There will be stories about food finder apps, reddit resources, commercial kitchens, food safety, recipes, importers, wholesalers, caterers, private clubs and the rules and regulations that ensure a healthy marketplace.
We are excited to profile our local multinational companies, too! Did you know Smuckers and Pillsbury have factories in Toledo? We are also excited to showcase a diaspora of food catering to tastebuds near and far!
I’m not going to write like a critic in the traditional sense, criticizing and lauding final dishes, but will strive to feature restaurant owners and their stories behind the products. I want to connect audiences with tastemakers who craft quality food and lead people along a journey of exploration, more than tell them what I think.
In full disclosure, writing for the Toledo Free Press is my first foray into journalism. I found this opportunity with the nonprofit newsroom while reading Sean Nestor’s weekly email, This Week in Toledo, which mentioned Lori King was named editor-in-chief.
I grew up in Sylvania and graduated from Southview High School. My first corporate job was learning to make pizzas at Marco’s Pizza on Central and McCord. After high school, I waited tables at The Cooker on Monroe Street, before transferring to Columbus’ Lane Avenue location to work while attending OSU.
While pursuing degrees in economics and international studies, I worked part-time in restaurants, learning more about food and wine. 55 on the Boulevard was a fine dining establishment that used exotic ingredients, like arugula and escarole, porcini and shiitake mushrooms, and gnocchi and bucatini pasta.
To better inform our customers, we were invited to taste new dishes, and sample wine and spirits. Tasting Remy Martin’s Louis XIII cognac at $5000 per bottle was the highlight of my education.
One of my favorite jobs post-college was at Kitzinger’s Deli, where I grazed on grilled pastrami sandwiches and garlic half-sour pickles while slinging baked treats to hungry guests. I was also fortunate to work at Columbus’s North Market, where I honed my palette at Barrel and Bottle, learning the differences between pilsner and pale ale, merlot and gewurztraminer.
The tastemakers and artisans at the North Market curated a safe space for exploring eccentric cuisine. Who hasn’t eaten an ostrich egg or slurped oysters on the half-shell?
For my first column I will introduce Jikoni, a local food truck bringing East African cuisine to the masses. So, catch us every Thursday in the Flavor in the 419!
