Eco Cookie!
ECOVORE: http://www.theurbn.com/category/feature/ecovore-feature/
Columbus offers great greenways for hiking and biking. Photo by Robin Tierney.
There’s a little outpost where eco-consciousness meets decadence just north of Ohio State University in Columbus, a city highly evolved on the food front. I pedaled upon this nosher’s haven after visiting the Scioto Audubon Nature Center, a serene bird-filled brownfield redevelopment of reclaimed riverside industrial land. I easily got the zen equivalent of a yoga session rolling along the well-paved Scioto Greenway and southern portion of the 14-mile Olentangy Trailuntil lunchtime munchies lured me off-trail.
Rad Dog food cart meatless goodness. Photo by Robin Tierney.
Which brings me to that outpost. It’s on North High Street in the Clintonville neighborhood; look for the Pattycake sign. If your timing’s right, you’ll also spot the Rad Dog Gourmet Meatless Hot Dogs cart out front. It’s often there luring lunch and dinner crowds. Cart-tender Michael McCoskey quelled my hunger with a Tofurkyfrank (from the people who baked up the cruelty-free, meat-free Thanksgiving turkey alternative) topped with sauerkraut on a locally baked whole wheat bun.
Pattycake Bakery's dairyfree cheesecake. Photo by Robin Tierney.
Next, your intrepid Ecovore entered the den of decadence known as Pattycake Bakery. Turning my back to racks of temptations, I talk with baker-owner Jennie Scheinbach about the health-giving bonuses of compassionate, cruelty-free food and “communitarians.” That’s Jennie’s term for Columbus social entrepreneurs committed not only to excellent eats, but also eco-friendly practices and supporting area food producers.
One of Pattycake's vegan chocolate chip varieties. Photo by Robin Tierney.
Jennie hands me an oatmeal cookie wrapped in Modern Baking magazine’s “package of the year.” Pattycake’s 100% biodegradable packaging integrates locally sourced eco-friendly Terraphane, recycled-paper labels and MagiGlue hat uses no animal or chemical products.
Pattycake Bakery's vegan cupcake. Photo by Robin Tierney.
What about the vegan goods? The confections baked with minimally refined sugars, flax, hemp, spelt, dates and the like taste even more phenomenal than they looked: a perfect dark chocolate cupcake, several varieties of chocolate chip cookies, a live “cheese” cake with a tantalizing tart accent. Seasonal treats include a pumpkin whoopie pie and animal-shaped cookies iced with messages such as “Born To Be Wild.”
Cookies with a message...and healthy ingredients. Photo by Robin Tierney.
Sufficiently fueled, I hop back on the bike and continue north on the Olentangy Trail to Worthington Hills, passing solitary strollers and couples jogging with their dogs. This is truly a bike-friendly city with its greenways and relatively wide, safe city roads. Other evidence: low-cost bicycle rentals, including helmets and locks, at the Crowne Plaza, a very nice hotel downtown. for details about rides, bike culture and bikeway plans, check out
Consider Biking and Yay Bikes.
I had a decadent-tasting nutrient-packed dinner down the street from Pattycake in the rustic dining room of Alana’s Food & Wine. It’s not all veg, but chef Alana Shock has mastered vegan cuisine. She shares the credit for her literally sensational creations with central Ohio farmers, telling me the origins of the squash, cilantro, pumpkins, fennel, cauliflower, baby lima beans, tomatoes and other edibles flavoring her korma, salads and gingered carrot and apple with apple-pecan relish soup.
For more casual fare, great beer and cool tunes, go south of downtown Columbus to Hal & Al’s. There you’ll find all-vegan pub grub from sushi with green beans and some local favorites such as fried avocados. I’m not a fried-food fan, but I recommend the veggie-powered dipping sauces. I hear the dairy-free pizzas are tasty and that the IPA and Bourbon Barrel Stout from local Neil House Brewery are superb. So is Neil House’s Cranberry Hard Cider. Good indie music too. Though warned that the neighborhood was rough, I felt safe biking around there mid-evening.
The food scene is also exploding in Columbus’s Short North district, so I’ll cover that in a future post. Same goes for the cool spots and green business incubator I found in that brownfield site. Stay tuned.
Riverside reverie in Columbus OH. Photo by Robin Tierney.
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