(614) January | 2023

BIG PICTURE

BY JORDY MIDDLEBROOKS

PHOTO

� STAFF PICKS

Our staff picks

It’s our annual interview issue, where we sit down with some of the interesting and impactful people in Columbus to learn their stories. In honor of this, we asked our staff who the one person, living or dead, they’d most like to meet is. Here’s what they said.

I think Freddie Mercury would be pretty awesome, or Mac [Miller].

— Lizzy Saunders, Brand Manager, (614) Beer

Sir Walter Raleigh, I learned about it when I was a kid and haven’t been able to forget ever since: I NEED to know what actually happened at Roanoke.

— Jack McLaughlin, Editor-In-Chief

The mailman. The mailman. The mailman.

— Louie Attanasio, (614) Office dog

Mine would be my Grandfather on my mother’s side. He passed away when I was just a baby.

— Bryce Patterson, Creative Designer

I feel like that's impossible to narrow down to just one person!

— Austin Black, Videographer

I’d love to just chat Sean Evans from Hot Ones. He’s got to have interesting stories to tell from the show. I might pass on the hot sauce though.

— Atlas Biro, Creative Designer

I'm going with an oldie but goodieGeorge Strait! Love his music - seems like he'd be a cool guy.

— Meggin Weimerskirch, Advertising Director

ON the WEB

Do you check your news and entertainment updates on 614now.com? You should. Every day we’re posting Columbus’s top news, entertainment, and sports stories from throughout Central Ohio. Check out all the Columbus news online, including the new ones below at 614now.com and suscribe to our daily email!

→ After exactly a decade, this Short North taproom is closing North High Brewing opened its original taproom, located at 1288 N. High St., on Dec. 28 of 2012. Exactly ten years later, on Dec. 28 of this year, the Short North space will close for good.

→

Columbus Fashion Alliance partners with Hot Pockets to create shorts with literal hot pockets

In a playful nod to the age-old Midwestern tradition of wearing shorts in freezing temperatures, Columbus Fashion Alliance has partnered with Hot Pockets to create cargo shorts with literal hot pockets.

→

Wawa is coming to Ohio; Get the details here

This is not a drill: Wawa is coming to Ohio.The popular gas station chain that doubles as a grab-and-go food spot (similar to Sheetz) has announced that it plans an expansion into Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

Local university dorm housed future Serial Killer

By John M. Clark Story Design by Bryce Patterson

In September 1978, a tall, muscular high school graduate from Bath, Ohio, enrolled at Ohio State University. His longish blond hair and wireframe glasses did little to distinguish him from the thousands of other first-time enrollees, most of whom were assigned rooms in Morrill Tower, one of the university’s two high-rise, freshman dormitories. There, the typical arrangement was for four students of the same gender to share a common living space but have separate bedrooms.

It didn’t take long for the 18-year-old’s roommates in their fifth-floor “quad” to become tired of his antics. The quiet, young man showed little interest in either his

classes or social activities, preferring, instead, to drink beer or hard liquor hours on end and then pass out in his bed. One roommate was so unnerved by his behavior that he soon moved out.

The story of Jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer and cannibal, is well-known to millions of Americans. It has been told in countless newspapers and magazines, along with multiple movies and TV series, and even an award-winning graphic novel by his high school friend and classmate, John “Derf” Backderf. Most of the stories about Dahmer center on Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was born and where he returned in the 1980s to carry out all but one of his grisly acts. →

↓ Dahmer in a Milwaukee courtoom

But for much of his young life, Dahmer lived with his mother, father and little brother in a suburban, ranch-style house, a few miles northwest of Akron. Father Lionel, a research chemist, appeared to be the closest thing to a stabilizing force in the home. Mother Joyce was prone to depression and outbursts of anger, often fighting with her husband in front of their children.

Backderf, the high school classmate, told (614) that Dahmer decided during his senior year of high school to attend OSU in the coming fall and major in business. But he doesn’t remember seeing or speaking to his old friend past their graduation ceremonies on June 4, 1978. In fact, he said, by their senior year, Dahmer “was pretty far gone.”

Dahmer’s parents divorced that summer. His father moved to a nearby motel. And his mother, defying court orders, took little brother Dave to Minnesota, to be closer to her relatives. When Lionel discovered his older son living in squalor in the family home and deserted by his mother, he wasted no time in helping Dahmer enroll at OSU. In 1978, the university had no admissions requirements other than to be an Ohio resident with a high school diploma, and Dahmer met both – albeit the latter by the skin of his teeth.

As for that fall quarter at Ohio State, little is known about Dahmer’s activities beyond his heavy drinking and skipping classes. One former high school classmate who also attended OSU told friends she once saw Dahmer passed out on the sidewalk, just outside a campus bar on North High Street. He sold blood to buy alcohol so often at campus-area blood centers that employees were under strict orders to not allow him to “donate” a single drop more than was allowed by law.

Michael Prochaska, a Cleveland landscape architect who was one of Dahmer’s OSU roommates, once told the Ohio State Lantern that Dahmer would take bottles of beer or liquor with him to class and come back to his room drunk. Prochaska added he couldn’t remember Dahmer ever getting any mail or having any friends.

According to the Lantern, OSU police questioned Dahmer in mid-September about a watch, radio and cash that were reported missing from a nearby dorm room. Dahmer denied any involvement in the alleged theft, and no charges were filed. Prochaska said when he and the other roommates complained to dorm officials about Dahmer, they were simply told they would have to work their problems out among themselves.

Dahmer performed decently in a firearms class, earning a “B-“ at the end of the quarter. But his grades in other subjects were so low that his cumulative grade-point average at Christmas amounted to an abysmal 0.45. OSU told Dahmer he would not be invited back for the spring quarter. And when Lionel found out, the next stop for the future serial killer was the army.

Dahmer spent a little over two years in the military, mostly in Germany, before being forced out for excessive drinking and refusing to seek help for it. About a year after his honorable discharge, in March 1981, Dahmer moved to his native Milwaukee – living for a time with his grandmother, working menial jobs, hanging out at gay bars and drinking to excess.

His string of 16 murders in 13 years would begin in September 1987, nine years after flunking out of Ohio State University … and, thankfully, more than 400 miles from Columbus. ♦

← Morril Tower

Happenstance, and a lot of luck, helped this wildly-popular French bakery open its brand-new, and much larger, Reynoldsburg location

By Sarah Sole / Photos by Leonardo Carrizo

Story Design by Victoria Smith

he space next to Vieux Lyon French Bakery became available when Mohammed Halaoui and his wife, Manira Camara, needed it the most.

The bakery the couple and co owners opened at 1774 Brice Rd. in Reynoldsburg in 2019 was wildly popular, so much so that there were often lines of people outside the storefront. Halaoui and Camara dreamed of what it would be like to have the spot next door.

“Out of the blue sky, it became available,” Halaoui said.

After a challenging prep time during which Vieux Lyon closed for eight months, the couple celebrated a grand opening Dec. 3 at 1792 Bryce Rd. The new space boasts ample seating, a cozy tea room, and a mini market that features French and European foods and souvenirs.

“I’m very humbled and very grateful,” Halaoui said.

The new location marks a milestone in a project that has been a long time in the making. When Camara first arrived in Reynoldsburg in 2011, she knew she wanted to open a French bakery, Halaoui said, because she didn’t see one in town.

But it wasn’t until 2017 that Camara obtained her home baking license and got to work. Two years later, the couple opened their storefront at 1774 Bryce Rd., selling bread, brioche, tarts, and French pastries. The name, Vieux Lyon, translates to Old Lyon, a spot Camara had taken Halaoui to when they first met. →

La Plaza Tapatia's house salsas

“Our history started in Lyon, why not represent that in what we’re doing?” Halaoui said.

Though the couple met in 2009 in France, the two had been talking to each for a year before seeing each other in person. Halaoui, who is Lebanese on his father’s side and African on his mom’s side, immigrated to the U.S. in 2000 from Guinea. Camara was born in Guinea, but grew up in Lyon, France in a town called Saint Genis Leval.

While visiting family in central Ohio, Halaoui came across a family friend who told him that she knew a young lady who lived in France who would make the perfect partner for him. Recently divorced, Halaoui was lonely and interested to learn more. An aunt of his who lived in Belgium followed up on the family friend’s suggestion and connected Halaoui with Camara.

On the pretext of visiting his sister in Brussels, Halaoui visited Europe in 2009, including in his itinerary a stop in France to visit Camara and her family. Four days later, the couple married. They would spend the next two years living apart before Camara moved to central Ohio, and now the name of their bakery serves as a sweet reminder of their origin story. The spot was sorely missed by customers when Halaoui and Camara shut their storefront down to begin working on the new space. →

↓ Co-owners Mohammed Halaoui and Manira Camara with family

↓ Assorted pastries at Vieux Lyon

Customers called Camara begging for treats for events. Camara, with her big heart, obliged. Baking the items out of her home, she drove to hand deliver them to customers, or met customers at the bakery for pickup.

“We have some kind of connection with almost everybody,” Halaoui said. “We don’t see them as customers, we see them as family and friends.”

The couple never intended for Vieux Lyon to close for eight months, but the inspection process took longer than anticipated. The whole project was a lengthy one, requiring them to address plumbing, electricity, and more, working from the ground up.

“This is the most challenging event we have ever faced in our lives,” Halaoui said.

But despite the hurdles involved, the couple has successfully crossed the finish line. Now that Vieux Lyon is open once again, Halaoui is very much looking forward to reconnecting with customers.

“It feels like a dream come true,” he said. ♦

To learn more about Vieux Lyon, visit levieuxlyonfrenchbakerycafe.com

← Chery Sher, inside the Bliss in a Bottle Shop

By Jack McLaughlin / Photos by Aaron Massey

Story Design by Atlas Biro

For years, Chery Sher had the idea, she just wasn’t sure how to present it.

The owner of a Columbus wine and chocolate shop called Sher Bliss in the late 1990s, she began pairing the two together, something that wasn’t revolutionary by itself. It was a unique riff on this classic pairing that broke things open for her, however.

“I would always sell the wine next to chocolates, and I kept thinking that there had to be a way to combine them,” she said. “That’s when I thought of actually dipping the bottles in chocolate.” →

The story of Bliss in a Bottle, the Columbus company that helped popularize chocolate-coated wine, and its recent central Ohio rebirth

At the time, Cher didn't have much experience in writing business plans, or at least plans for original business ideas like hers. This meant the original wine-andchocolate concept stayed–pardon the pun–bottled up in her head for years.

“I had been learning more and more about it, but at one point, I just got tired of waiting. I had to go for it, and that’s what I did,” she said. “I started dipping wine bottles in the chocolate I was pairing with it, making them a single unit. I think I was the first person in the country to do it.”

In 2013, she opened Bliss in a Bottle, first as a kiosk at Polaris Fashion Place, which featured a variety of wine bottles with a coating of paired chocolate. Many bottles also include toppings as an additional compliment, like sprinkles, raspberry dust or peanuts.

At first, the concept blossomed, launching a number of new locations, and even multiple franchises in other states. Then COVID came, hugely impacting the business, causing all of its brick and mortar locations to shutter.

In late October–a year and a half later–Sher and Bliss in a Bottle peeked their heads above the rubble, opening a retail storefront for the first time since the pandemic.

Serving as rebirth of sorts, but also as a continuation of the brand which existed online after COVID came through, Bliss in a Bottle has found a new physical home, located adjacent to the Grand Stairway at Easton Town Center. And this time, Sher believes, it’s here to stay.

Using Sher’s Downtown Columbus “chocolate studio,” Bliss in a Bottle handdips all of its bottles. The dipping process starts with quality Belgian chocolate, which is melted before being tempered, a process that gives the candy a shiny gloss and reinforced firmness, ideal for coating, and able to withstand melting when held.

"BUT AT ONE POINT, I JUST GOT TIRED OF WAITING. I HAD TO GO FOR IT."

Patrons at the new Easton store can grab bottles like a pinot noir dipped in dark chocolate and dusted with raspberry powder, or a chardonnay dipped in milk chocolate with toasted toffee pieces and a peanut butter drizzle.

“For every type of wine, whether it’s a merlot or chardonnay, I like to have a milk, dark and white chocolate option,” Sher said.

The Easton store also offers beer bottles–like an imperial stout from Epic Brewing coated in chocolate, peanut butter drizzle and espresso powder–spirit bottles, and non alcoholic options, like a glass Coke bottle dipped in Belgian chocolate with vanilla bean and cherry powder.

No matter what you choose, you can rest assured all the flavor pairings offered in the Easton store have been personally vetted by Sher.

“I sample every single wine, and every single chocolate, and [pair them all based on flavor and texture,” she said.

The Easton storefront, which is open 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. five days a week, offers local deliveries through Doordash. Customers in many other states can order online from their website.

To learn more, visit blissinabottle.com

In a rapidly growing Columbus food and drink scene, the city’s service industry creatives are fast becoming a new class of local celebrities. Over the next few pages, enjoy a snapshot of some of Columbus’ top bar and restaurant pros. Dig in and drink up.

Story Design by Atlas Biro

THE GOAT

The Goat’s Andrew Welenken has returned to central Ohio just in time to oversee the Gahanna eatery’s new and improved menu offerings

By Sarah Sole / Photos by Austin White

Andrew Welenken never really left The Goat.

After spending a year in 2015 opening the Louisville location as kitchen manager, he continued to stay involved with the LC’s restaurant brand, working on menu design and new store openings on a consulting basis before ultimately returning to the Goat full-time as Corporate Executive Chef this past August.

“I kind of always envisioned coming back,” Welenken said.

Welenken picked an exciting time to return. The Columbus-based brand is rapidly expanding outside Ohio, with locations in North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee and more on the way in Texas and South Carolina. But the brand hasn’t forgotten its central Ohio roots. Locations in Dublin, HIlliard, New Albany, and Riversouth (on South High Street) continue to do well, and the Gahanna location is set to open in 2023.

↓ Andrew Welenken, Corporate Executive Chef

“We’re really excited about it,” Welenken said.

The Gahanna location at 6400 Preserve Crossing Blvd. is undergoing a complete remodel. The location was one of the first of the Goat’s locations, and it will reopen with a hybrid menu that features old favorites and new finds.

“We don’t want to take away everything,” Welenken said. “We’re just rebooting it. We’re leaving the classics.”

To that end, Welenken focused on the eatery’s house-made tots, along with mac and cheese, pizzas and other very snackable items. There are the Southern Short Rib Tacos with braised short rib, pimento cheese, onion straws, and house homemade ranch, and avocado crema, and the Baked Potato Tots, featuring bacon, cheese sauce, white cheddar, onion straws, BBQ, and MoonShine Sauce.

“We’re going to blow the competition away,” Welenken said.

An avid sports fan, Welenken has always viewed the culinary arts as akin to athletics, with lunch and dinner rushes as a sort of competition.

“When you overcome that, it’s like winning a game or something,” he said.

In high school, Welenken would often compete against his best friend in the kitchen: Both attended The Ohio State University’s Lima Branch their senior year and would cook lunch together every day after their classes were done. Inspired by the Food Network, the two decided to take a year working in restaurants before taking the plunge to attend culinary school.

Welenken worked at Tony’s Italian Restaurant and The Elevator in Columbus before ultimately attending Sullivant University in Louisville, Kentucky for culinary school. And while he no longer

spends as much time in the kitchen as he once did, Welenken enjoys the ability to design menus for multiple regions across the country. Menus across the locations bear many similarities, but each location features a bit of local flair: Nashville has its Hot Chicken Thighs, while the Texas location will feature the Short Rib.

Welenken, who avidly follows menu trends to stay ahead of the game, even created a Brussels sprouts dish with gochujang sauce, toasted peanuts, and cilantro that was so good it was duplicated in other eateries across the country. Welenken said he gets a fuzzy feeling when he thinks of people in a variety of states eating the meals he’s dreamed up.

“I’m so proud of that,” he said. “It’s just getting better and better.”

To learn more, visit lcgoat.com

↓

Welenken applying sauce to taco trio

Offerings at The Goat Gahanna

VITTORIA

Twin brothers Jamie and Javier Guitierrez reunite in the kitchen to create from-scratch Italian classics at Powell’s Vittoria

By Jack McLaughlin / Photos by Jordan Posner

At Vittoria, the Powell eatery serving a range of authentic, old-world Italian dishes, customers are getting two for the price of one all the time.

Only it’s not a deal on food we’re talking about, it’s the restaurant’s pair of top chefs, Jamie and Javier Guitierrez.

The Guitierrez brothers, now both Columbus restaurant veterans, are twins, and they work together to prepare the toptier Italian-inspired dishes Vittoria is known

for, with Javier serving as Executive Chef and Jamie as Sous Chef.

The two carry on the eatery’s from-scratch ethics to craft everything from Arancini Di Risotto to Bone-In Ribeye, New York Strip, Tiramisu and much more.

“Everything we make is homemade, down to every sauce,” said Vittoria owner Nick Lalli. “We don’t serve anything we don’t make ourselves.”

↓ Javier Guiterrez, Executive Chef (Left), Jamie Guiterrez, Sous Chef

Even the eatery’s cornerstone pasta dishes like its Rigatoni Bolognese or the Chef’s Gnocchi feature noodles that are made entirely in-house.

For the Guitierrez brothers to end up where they are today, the duo took an interesting–and circuitous–path, one that wove its way through another classic Italian eatery: La Scala.

Owned by Nick and his late father WIlliam “Willi” Lalli (who also served as La Scala’s top chef), the twins learned the ropes of authentic Italian cuisine from careful study of Willi and his technique over the years.

“My father hired them originally, Jamie in 2003 and Javier in 2005, and he taught them a lot about Italian cooking,” Nick Lalli said. “And you can see that in Vittoria today: They really try to preserve his legacy, and all his teachings; everything shared with them. They’re preserving all of it.”

While the twin chefs began together at the classic Columbus-area eatery, their careers took them on slightly different paths, as one left for Vittoria when it was originally purchased by Willi and Nick Lalli in 2019, and the other stayed put at La Scala, which eventually closed in October of 2020.

But after this, according to Lalli, the pair are back together again, bringing authentic Italian fare to Powell and conveying Willi’s approach to the next generation of Columbus chefs as well. It doesn’t hurt that they’re doing it all from scratch along the way, either.

“They’re reunited here, and it really is great,” Nick Lalli said.

To learn more, visit vittoriacolumbus.com

↑ A pan with flames in the Vittoria Kitchen

Vittoria's dining room ↑

↑ A One-Pound Lasgana

Chef's Gnocchi ↑

The 2023 Interview Issue is presented by the OhioHealth Capital City Half Marathon

DR. ERANDI DE SILVA

T ONNY TANNE R SHANNON HARDIN MANDI "BIRDY

" CA SKEY DR. MELANIE COR N

GREGORY STOKES

It's January, which means it's our annual interview Issue. This year, we sat down with seven of the most interesting and influential people in Columbus to hear their stories.

Cover Section Design by Bryce Patterson

↓ Dr. Erandi De Silva

By Jack McLaughlin / Photos courtesy of Forge Biologics

From a massive 200,000 square-foot facility in Grove City, Dr. Erandi De Silva is helping create life-saving medical treatments so small that tens of millions would fit on the head of a pin.

No, this is not science fiction. This is central Ohio.

De Silva is the Co-Founder of Forge Biologics, a Columbus-area company that specializes in creating gene therapies through viral vectors, which provides critical treatment for a variety of congenital illnesses.

“There are over 10,000 genetically rare diseases known in the world today, and many of them are caused by a single mutation or change in a person’s DNA that causes that disease; it’s usually caused by one defect,” she said. “So what we’re doing with gene therapies is using a viral vector to deliver a working copy.”

For De Silva, the mission behind Forge is a personal one.

“I’m a scientist by training, but what motivates me to fight disease is the fact that I’ve seen epidemics first-hand,” she said. “I was born in Botswana, and lived through the HIV epidemic in Africa. Seeing doctors and scientists coming in, implementing policies and strategies to fight back really had an impact on me.”

She would later immigrate to the United States and receive a BS in Biological Sciences at Stanford, before earning a Ph.D in molecular Biology from Princeton.

Following a stint in the Bay Area, De Silva landed in Columbus, where she served as as a Director at The Drug Development Institute at the Ohio State University, where she would hone her skills to develop treatments for serious diseases.

According to De Silva, the birth of Forge in 2020 was a confluence of her being situated “In the right place, at the right time and with the right team.” Since then, less than three years ago, the company has experienced a meteoric rise, growing, she likes to say “from 3 to 300 people,” just like that. →

How living through the AIDS epidemic in Botswana inspired this central Ohio scientist to tackle disease while on the cutting edge of science

YOUNGER PEOPLE ARE THE MAJORITY OF OUR PATIENT BASE, AND WE’RE FOCUSING ON THE MOST SEVERE FORMS OF THESE DISEASES THAT ARE REALLY LIFE THREATENING,”

↓ The Vanrx Microcell Vial Filler

“We’ve been building and hiring ever since we started, really,” she said.

Now, decades after the scientists and aid workers in her native Botswana impacted her so profoundly with their ability to tackle seemingly insurmountable issues, it’s she and Forge staring down so many previously-untreatable illnesses, making a serious impact on so many others.

It was for good reason, after all, she was named 2022’s Fiercest Woman in Life Sciences by Fierce Pharma.

Today, one part of Forge deals with the manufacturing of gene therapies, a complex process involving cutting-edge equipment and ultra-precise technical skill from a variety of employees. The company is also developing its own medications.

Currently, it has a medicine in clinical trials intended to combat Krabbe Disease, a rare, inherited neurodegenerative disorder that typically affects children. In fact, as Forge deals with genetic disorders, the lion’s share of their therapies are used to help younger patients.

“Younger people are the majority of our patient base, and we’re focusing on the most severe forms of these diseases that are really life threatening,” De Silva said.”We’re tackling those ones first, and then as the field matures, we might consider branching out.’

And for all of her passion toward medicine, De Silva is also a fierce champion of central Ohio, and the area’s huge potential. Not only has she and others within Forge regularly commended the company’s home base of Grove City, Ohio, De Silva believes the area can become a true hotbed for medical biotech.

“Central Ohio has a lot of access to talent, we knew there a lot of folks experienced in Gene therapies here. It’s also a place where money can go a little bit further; It’s cheaper to rent space, also in terms of being really attractive to the people potentially moving here from expensive cities like Boston or San Francisco.”

Other gene therapy companies are also staking their claim in the Columbus area, with the Massachusetts-based company Sarepta Therapeutics opening a gene therapies center here in late 2021, and Andelyn Biosciences, an affiliate company of Nationwide Children’s Hospital that’s turned out an array of novel gene therapies.

And according to Dr. Erandi De Silva, this growth isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon for the area.

But then again, neither is she. ♦

To learn more, visit forgebiologics.com

TA NNER

By Jack McLaughlin / Photos by Sarah Pfeifer

In 2014, Tony Tanner sat holed up in a turkeyhunting blind with best friend, Rob “Earl” Young, a man who would be dead before the end of that year. And they both knew it.

Young was suffering from late-stage lung cancer, and the duo spent a significant portion of their trip just talking. According to Tanner, it wasn’t any sort of grand realization or cosmic questioning that stuck with him from their conversation, it was what his friend had to say about food.

“He was an IBM guy and was always doing research, and he started telling me about how so much of the food we eat is processed, and the consequences that has on our health,” Tanner said. “It’s not that he was saying processed food causes cancer outright, but he believed it at the very least didn’t help at all.”

Years later, this conversation would be on Tanner’s mind when he launched The Butcher & Grocer, the hugely-impactful artisan butcher shop and marketplace, and became one of the driving forces in a farm-to-table renaissance for Columbus.

Immediately after his conversation with Earl Young, however, Tanner was worlds away from running a butcher shop. He was serving as the Chief of Staff for Dave Yost during his stint as State Auditor. Tanner was a busy man, so at the time, he hadn't given much more thought to what his friend had told him about food.

“I slowly started looking into it myself, though, and I pretty quickly learned that this is kind of disturbing. The fact that we’re injecting animals with hormones and with a regular antibiotic regimen, how we’re spraying Roundup on crop fields,” he said. “We learned at about five years old that we are what we eat, but for some reason that never extended to what the food we eat eats.” →

The unlikely origin story of the artisan meat shop, The Butcher & Grocer, and its owner, Tony Tanner

And while Tanner admits he “isn’t the pillar of health,” he says eating more naturally-sourced foods that aren’t loaded with additives or hormones continues to benefit him to this day.

When he first began eating more consciously, Tanner would have an enormously difficult time finding Ohio beef, and he learned quickly that he couldn’t trust some of the larger sources who said they were providing it. Sure, farmers markets had it, but sometimes vendors sold out quickly, or sometimes the farms he would buy from wouldn’t show up to the market on a given day.

“So one day, after trying and not being able to buy anything, I had the crazy idea of opening my own butcher shop,” he said with a laugh. “So in 2016, I put a business plan together, went down to Huntington [Bank], and put everything I owned into opening the store.”

And people loved it.

The first iteration of The Butcher & Grocer opened in Grandview in 2016, and it still stands today as a hub for conscious consumers and many more. Last spring, the Butcher & Grocer opened multiple food stalls inside The East Market, offering everything from prime beef cuts and fresh Ohio milk to madeto-order food, and Tanner even opened a wholesale arm of the company, called TB&G Meats that has operated on the east side for several years already.

According to Tanner, the concept’s most profitable year was 2020, followed by 2021 (he believes pandemic protein shortages played into this). And while 2022 has fallen to be on par with 2019, and he’s had to pause for now a pair of new locations, the concept is still alive and well.

Part of the reason is due to Tanner’s insistence on Ohio sourcing. Tanner, a life-long Central Ohian–who claims that since he was five years old he has only lived on streets that have a direct intersection with East Broad—has only on one occasion ever considered straying from this model and sourcing processed beef, before wholeheartedly rejecting it.

“I remember it was our first Christmas and we were about to sell out of rump roast. For a minute, I entertained the thought of buying some regular Ohio factory beef. I slept on it, and then I came to my senses, and realized there’s not enough money in the world to make me go back on something we really believe in,” Tanner said.

And that, if you ask us, is why Columbus is eating it up. ♦

To learn more, visit thebutcherandgrocer.com

SHANNON HARDIN

← City Council President Shannon Hardin

By Jack McLaughlin / Photos by Sarah Pfeifer

On a cold afternoon overlooking the Scioto River from his City Hall conference room, Columbus Council President Shannon Hardin recounts the story of why he entered the world of city government.

It’s a story that goes back, if you’d believe it, to before he was even born.

“For thirty years, my mom was a front desk clerk of the Columbus City Council, and that’s one of the reasons I’m here today, ” said Hardin, who was appointed to the Council in 2014 and took over as President in 2018. “I remember when I first joined, a story ran in the newspaper with a headline like ‘Son of City Hall Executive Appointed to Council,’ and that’s always stuck with me.”

With a grin, Hardin says his mother’s position has also afforded him a unique distinction among City Council representatives.

“I’m pretty sure I’m the only Council member ever to have been breast-fed in City Hall.”

Hardin, who hails from the Columbus neighborhood of Southfield, now has a son of his own, but he’s also, in more ways than one, a son of Columbus. And as the first Black gay man to serve as City Council President, he’s leading all of us into an exhilarating and unprecedented new era.

Motivations aside, the first time Hardin actually got his first taste of city government was when he was 15, and a student at Columbus Alternative High School. At the time, his school had an internship program, and Hardin pursued this through the City of Columbus.

A predecessor to the City’s 311 call center, he began working in what was known then as the Mayor’s Action Center, fielding calls about missed trash pickups and assorted day-to-day issues. This might sound mundane to some, but for Hardin, it served as an enticing gateway into civil service.

“There were a lot of people who weren’t expecting to get their issues solved, they were just hoping to log their problems, to make the city aware of them,” Hardin said. “But a lot of the time, we got their problems solved. What was intoxicating to me, and what still is, is the ability to hear someone’s issue, and then be able to connect them to someone–usually not me–that can then solve things for them.”→

The child of a former City Hall staffer, Shannon Hardin has Columbus in his blood, and he’s preparing to face down one of the most dynamic and unprecedented periods in its history

WE’RE GOING TO ADD 500,000 TO ONE MILLION PEOPLE TO THIS COMMUNITY IN THE NEXT 10 TO 15 YEARS, AND THAT MEANS WHAT WE DO RIGHT NOW WILL IMPACT ALL OF THEM IN THE FUTURE. WE WANT TO BE BOLD WITH THOSE CHOICES; WE HAVE TO BE.”

Hardin later came aboard a 2008 income tax campaign with Mayor Michael Coleman, and while this taught him many of the finer points of government work, he credits his political career just as much to the late Mary Funk, a longtime Community Liaison who was recently inducted into the Columbus Hall of Fame.

“A lot of people know Mayor Coleman was a mentor of mine, but Mary Funk was like a second mother to me,” he said. “She was this little older white woman from southeastern Ohio who never wanted her name out there, but she taught me about serving selflessly. Sometimes, people would call with problems in the middle of the night, and since city employees would be sleeping, she would run out to the store for them, or see if she could help by herself.”

Just like Funk or the former call center employees he worked alongside, Hardin understands how important that closeness–actually working with and talking to Columbus citizens–is for him.

Not only does he make time to talk with people at business ribbon-cuttings and restaurant openings, he opens himself to friendly encounters nearly anywhere he goes.

“People will come up to me all the time at the gas station or the grocery store to tell me how I’m doing. Who needs a poll when you have the Kroger caucasus,” he said with a laugh.

And while Hardon values this closeness, he recognizes that Columbus has its own big-picture issues that need to be faced as well.

He notes that the city is the largest in the country without an advanced transit system, and the importance of preparing Columbus residents to compete for the wave of new jobs on the way (he was instrumental in introducing the program that affords free Columbus State tuition to Columbus City School students). Hardin will also pound the table for Columbus needing more, and more affordable, housing options.

Ultimately, the Columbus City Council President acknowledged that most of these issues point toward a single larger one: growth, and how we handle it. Because Columbus is poised for a season of enormous growth, and the son of a former City Hall staffer understands that. He understands what his decisions mean for himself, for his own son, and for each of us.

“The city we live in is beautiful today. But that doesn't have as much to do with the last 7 or 8 years I’ve been on council; it’s because leaders 25 years ago were strategic and prepared us for this,” Hardin said. “We’re going to add 500,000 to one million people to this community in the next 10 to 15 years, and that means what we do right now will impact all of them in the future. We want to be bold with those choices; We have to be.” ♦

To learn more, visit www.shannonhardin.com

From massive public projects to flaming murals, local artist Miss Birdy’s work is heating up the art world in Columbus and beyond

↑ Mandi “Birdy” Caskey

By Jim Fischer / Photos by Sarah Pfeifer

Sitting in her studio at The Fort, the renovated-and-still-being-renovated former warehouse space on Columbus’ South Side, Columbus muralist Mandi “Birdy” Caskey is perched (pun intended) on a tall office chair, legs crossed, omnipresent nose ring in place, long, dirty blonde hair tousled but only slightly, and half the things she is saying make her giggle, snicker or outright laugh.

So you know she’s up to something. →

Especially because the other half of the things she’s saying, she’s not laughing at all.

In the past six years, Caskey has painted murals across the country and around the world, often the result of formal invitation due to her burgeoning reputation as a muralist who makes beautiful and thoughtful images on a grand scale. In addition to outdoor walls in the American South, Southwest, Midwest and beyond, she’s painted in Spain, Australia and Israel, just to name a few.

Asked about her thoughts on this, Caskey defaults to talking about a ritual she practices.

“I do this thing where I’m on the boom (she’s painting massive walls on the sides of buildings, remember), and I extend it as far up and out as it will go, just to see how far I can see, and I sit there and dangle my feet over the side,” she said. “And I’m there in [Lleida] Spain and I just start crying.”

This is one of those times she’s not laughing.

“Of course, I didn’t know I was even capable of any of this until I just did it,” she added.

Caskey left Lima to attend art school in Columbus because she figured small-town Ohio was no place to learn how to become an artist.

She found community among a cadre of street artists, which, yeah, that’s people making graffiti, most often on unapproved surfaces and spaces. But that proved the beginning, she explained, of the “until I just did it” thing she had mentioned earlier.

That experience and resulting confidence earned her increasingly larger and higher-profile gigs, including painting a mural on the top floor of the Rhodes State Office Tower. How much more “inside” could you get for a painter who still occasionally found herself running from cops late at night?

Locally, Caskey subsequently garnered attention for her giant mural at Franklinton high-rise condominium development Gravity and, in 2020, for her “We Are Stronger Together” mural, a 400foot work on an abandoned highway overpass near Scioto Audubon Metro Park near downtown.

“I was depressed. We were all so isolated. I was asking how I could reach out to people when I can’t be with them,” Caskey said. “And it started out about COVID, but it ended up being about the protests (that followed the death of George Floyrd while in police custody), of making a statement of support for all of those out there on the street who were trying to be heard.”

Caskey recognized that she was fortunate to have found first a community and then a path to be able to make those kinds of statements. Her intent – and one of the things she’s up to – is to create a space in which every local artist gets a chance to do the same.

“Contemporary muralism isn’t going away. Artists – everywhere but I’m talking here in Columbus – are ready to create. No one wants to be alone on this journey,” Caskey said. “We need to identify and strengthen that community.” →

Caskey recently turned 30. That, combined with a recent break-up, convinced the artist she needed to take some time to clear her head. Figuring a projectless, deadline-less month on the road would help, she spent most of November visiting old friends and making new ones in a meandering drive out west.

“I was giving myself some space,” she noted, adding, in a tone that suggests mixed blessings, “This (muraling) has become everything I am.”

Following a brief back-and-forth with her interviewer about whether 30 is still “young,” Caskey hints that, perhaps it’s less about age than something which she’s always known about her chosen path.

In August, she created a combination mural project/performance piece in which she painted murals on the sides of two condemned homes in Whitehall, then set one on fire (yes, the fire department knew this was happening and was actually using the houses as a controlled burn for practice). The murals, close-ups of a woman’s face, were a way for the artist to grapple with the Supreme Court’s undoing of Roe v. Wade and what that said about agency over women’s bodies.

“This piece was very much about cause and effect, about how what you do impacts the future,” Caskey said.

But it also addressed something fundamental Caskey has always known about muraling and street art – that it’s ephemeral.

“You know this about street art, that it’s going to deteriorate and die,” Caskey said. “There was something about exercising control over that process, about burning a place down and telling a thing the old line, ‘I brought you into this world and I can take you out.’”

While you’ll still see Caskey painting murals both in the city and around the world, she’s got other ideas you might have to pay a little more attention to notice. An awards show by artists for artists, an insider magazine highlighting the city’s independent artists (inspired by a publication in Denver called “Birdy,” if you can believe it) and a bail fund for graffiti artists are just a few of the things knocking around inside Caskey’s head.

“A city that paints itself loves itself, she said. “If you don’t have a thriving underground culture, you’re strangling a part of your people.”

And if her snickering and laughing is any indication, Caskey intends to remain part of that underground culture, even as her own career has taken shape.

“I could stand to spend some time being chased by cops again,” she said, with a look in her eye that suggests she’s not joking despite the laughter. “If I had never worked illegally, I would have no idea what I’m capable of.” ♦

To learn more, visit www.birdyco.com

Birdy's artistic process

ISSUE IS PRESENTED BY THE OHIOHEALTH CAPITAL CITY HALF MARATHON

DR . MELANIE CORN

Dr. Melanie Corn ↑

By Molly Hammond / Photos by Sarah Pfeifer

If you haven’t heard the name Melanie Corn yet, it’s time to get a pen and paper to jot it down. This won’t be the first time you hear it.

A Chicagoland native who dropped a career path in art history for academic administration at Columbus College of Art and Design, Corn is now where she believes she belongs, and it’s hard to fault her: Under her tutelage, the fifth president of the college has helped catapult the name and image of CCAD from regional arts hub to national name.

Just make sure you don’t ever call it a hidden gem.

“My goal is to never hear again what a hidden gem CCAD is,” Corn said. “I don’t want us to be the hidden gem. I want us to be the treasure in the center of Columbus.”

When Columbus College of Art and Design started in 1879, it did so as an add-on of the Columbus Art Museum. The school allowed community members to come in and take different art classes on the weekends. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that CCAD started teaching traditional college courses. The school separated from the Columbus Art Museum in the 80’s and along with the separation, became a degree-granting, accredited university.

Dr. Corn, for her part, became president of the college in 2016 after moving from administration at an art school in California. And while she was on track to become a professor, it was a different type of involvement in education that brought her to the arch city. →

Swapping art history for academic administration, Dr. Melanie Corn is making it her mission to make CCAD a national name

“I grew up with a dad who was a college biology professor and my mom was a highschool guidance counselor. Education was always a part of me. I felt like home when I was in a place where myself, along with my peers, had a chance to learn and grow,” she said. “I’m always inspired by being around a perpetually revolving door of talented, young people. Having the chance to see the impact that my students have made on the community is the most rewarding aspect.”

For Corn, the beauty of arts education has to do with the hands-on nature of it, with the fact that every day she’s meeting students, seeing their growth, and witnessing their artwork develop before her eyes.

Where Corn begins to separate herself from previous generations in her fields, though, is through her desire to make art more than simply a niche specialty. In a world where marketing is king and the visual aspects rules, artists are in a unique position to take back vocational power. Dr. Corn realizes this, and she’s full speed ahead to this end.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that a lot of big businesses here in the city, banks, stores, places like that, employ a lot of CCAD alumni, and they’re driving the creative engines that are driving these companies,” Dr. Corn said. “In our economy here in the United States, creative content and design, that's the differentiaor. When you walk into a grocery store and pick up a box of cereal, what really sets them apart to most people is the way they look.” ♦

To learn more, visit ccad.edu

Sebastian La Rocca ↑

By Jack McLaughlin / Photos by Sarah Pfeifer

Before Sebastian La Rocca and I sat down to discuss his life, career, and one the most exciting Columbus eateries, FYR, that he’s the face of, he tells me a quick story with the same mixture of vivacity and nonchalance that makes him the most magnetic personality in a room that's already mostly full of people.

“I just sold my restaurants in Puerto Rico,” he said without a shrug.

This, he explained, was the group of renowned eateries (one of which was named one of San Pellegrino’s “50 World’s 50 Best Discoveries”) that he invested years of his life into, and moved with his family to be near.

But for La Rocca, what matters is in front of him, and right now that’s the American Midwest and a hotly-anticipated new fine dining concept already raking in rave reviews: FYR, the flameinspired eatery located in the new Hilton Columbus Downtown Tower.

“I’m not going to be in two places at once,” he said. “I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to.”

For central Ohio’s hottest (get it?) new chef, this tendency to double down on what really matters to him–even if it means winnowing out a part of life that feels deeply ingrained–is nothing new. →

The world-renowned Argentenian chef–and the face of one of the city’s hottest new restaurants–talks food, family and doubling down on his passions

MY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN COOKING OVER OPEN FIRE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME. IT’S IN MY BLOOD. IT’S IN MY DNA,”

Before La Rocca truly dedicated himself to cooking–believe it or not–he was a model, and a damn good one, at that. While the profession for him was lucrative, his heart wasn’t fully in it. And he learned quickly that wasn’t the way he wanted to operate.

“I remember another chef took me aside and told me, if you want to make it as a chef, you have to cut out everything else,” he said. “So I did.”

Cooking, for the Argentina-born chef, comes naturally, something he credits to his upbringing. La Rocca recalls fire-roasting food with his grandparents at the age of just five, and how that has informed his culinary work today.

“My people have been cooking over open fire since the beginning of time. It’s in my blood. It’s in my DNA,” he said.

And it shows. La Rocca has cooked alongside some of the world’s most refined chefs and restaurants, including work that helped Barbecoa London by Jamie Oliver and Zodiac UK by Michael Roux both awarded two AA Rosettes and the Michelle guidebooks distinction.

While it’s tempting to rest on impressive laurels like this, La Rocca is keeping his eyes ahead.

La Rocca, who moved to Ohio with his family in May, has taken the reins at FYR, the sleek, open-flame concept where all dishes are touched in some way by one of six different flame-related cooking techniques. The restaurant dovetails beautifully with his familial history of cooking, but it also pushes the boundaries in exciting new ways.

“I don’t want people to think about this as a restaurant. We’re trying to tell a story; to create an experience,” he said.

Smoked cocktails are served alongside unique variations of duck breast, which is prepared using indirect heat, smoking and direct ember cooking. Likewise, the clarity and simplicity of Wood-Oven Roasted Tomato shines through, with a bold concision that’s likely new to many

The dishes prepared at FYR become a catalog of not only flavors, but techniques, of the Age-old processes La Rocca learned seated around a campfire with his family.

These dishes may represent new flavors and techniques to Midwestern diners, but now that he’s here, in Columbus, Ohio–fully present–he wants us to know them, too. ♦

To learn more, visit fyrshortnorth.com

STOKES

Gregory Stokes ↑

Master sommelier candidate and new Bottle Shop owner Gregory Stokes is the man behind Columbus wine

By Melinda Green / Photos by Sarah Pfeifer

Gregory Stokes, owner of Accent Wine and The Bottle Shop, is poised to bring Columbus up to a new level of wine appreciation with exciting inventories, a wealth of knowledge, and a drive to share it all with the city.

Stokes, originally from Westerville, went to college intending to go to law school, but he realized that law wasn’t going to be the career path for him. “What does one do with a liberal arts degree? You start waiting tables,” he said.

Eventually, he found himself working in a wine bar and knowing nothing, really, about the wines. One day, he saw an interesting job description that required a Level 3 Sommelier certification. “Okay,” he thought. “That’s what I’ll do.”

And he never looked back. “Wine is this really great cultural artifact,” he said. “It can be viewed as art, and if you like to view it as art, it’s an odd art that only exists in the moment of its destruction.

“I studied history and philosophy, and I think wine is a really great intersection of those things. Particularly when you talk about Europe, so much history and culture is tied up in it. That is really exciting. And, at the end of the day, wine is just a lot of fun.”

So he signed up for a two-day program. “It was two days of drinking from a fire hose—so much information. It was blowing my mind,” he recalled.

“At lunch on the second day, everyone’s furiously studying. I was like ‘What are you all doing?’ and they said ‘This was all review. There’s an exam at the end.’ Like ohhhh, I didn’t know that.”

But Stokes says he’s a good test taker, and he passed. “That was how I started down the Som thing: I accidentally passed the first part of the sommelier exam,” he said, laughing.

In 2017 he sat for the Advanced Sommelier exam—an exam with about a 25% pass rate.

Chris Dillman, sommelier at The Refectory at that time, mentored Stokes and told him “the best way to study for Advanced is to study for Master.” But Ohio doesn’t have a lot of access to Master Sommeliers, so Stokes had to rely on hard work rather than a broad base of mentorship.

He ended up passing that exam on his first attempt, earning the top score in the group. That score also earned him a scholarship that put him on the fast track into the Master Sommelier program.

He started moving up in the Columbus wine scene. Eventually, he landed at Veritas—and then 2020 hit.

When Governor Mike DeWine ordered restaurants to shut down, Stokes and Veritas owner Josh Dalton had an idea. “As soon as the press conference was over, I walked over to my computer, sat down, and started setting up a website to liquidate the Veritas wine inventory, to get whatever cash we could to survive.”

They ended up selling the entire Veritas wine cellar in two weeks. They then continued with the online store, making half a million dollars in wine sales that year.

That sales program, coupled with virtual tastings, eventually led Stokes to the opening of a high-end brick-and-mortar presence downtown last year: Accent Wine →

“

Gregory Stokes ↑

Today, Stokes is the only candidate in Ohio “on the clock” in the Master Sommelier program. The program has three examinations— Theory, Service, and Tasting—and once a candidate passes Theory, they have a “clock” of three years to pass Service and Tasting.

The Theory exam is an hour-long, oral exam covering the entire world of wine. Questions could include “What’s the minimum amount of time that a wine must spend in oak for a Gran Reserva level in Rioja?” or “What’s the soil type in Cahor, France?” or “What’s the blend on Eben Sadie’s Palladius?”

Service is a practical business examination, and Tasting is, well, tasting. “They give you six glasses of wine, and you have 25 minutes to completely and accurately identify the grape, country of origin, growing region, and vintage,” Stokes explained. He plans to tackle both of these exams in September 2023.

“The Masters exam is as hard and as granular as you want it to be. But at the end of the day, it’s just booze, and it’s fun,” he said.

How does one prepare for this? “It’s a lot of multitasking,” Stokes said, laughing. “The theory exam, it’s a lot of flashcards. Maybe you’re sautéeing something, and in your other hand is a flashcard.

“It’s a full time job. You have to put hobbies aside for a while. Instead of watching the football game, you’re studying.”

He considers himself “very, very lucky” to have a partner who understands the demands. “Last year, when I was studying, my wife would be like ‘It’s time to get up. Before you get your coffee, here's a flight of six wines. Do it.’ We did that pretty much every day for almost six months.”

Buying The Bottle Shop when it went on the market this year was a no-brainer for Stokes. “Barbara [Reynolds] had started doing this renovation and really swinging for the fences. I remember walking through the shelves and thinking, ‘This is the best selection of wine in Columbus.’

“Accent is more of a wine gallery; Bottle Shop is more of the everyday. It’s funky, and I like that. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel over there. I love really fine wines, but I also love dive bars.

“I think that wine can feel very snooty, and I do everything I can to dispel that,” he continued. “I’m a curator and a teacher. What I’m doing here is what someone did for me at my first wine shop. I was working with so much wine that I didn’t know what it was, and I got excited to learn. Part of what I’m trying to do is show people things they’ve never seen before.”

Not only that, but Stokes is passionate about helping the next generations of sommeliers and wine experts. “I guess in my own small way, I think what this world needs is more sommeliers. Anyone who’s willing to put in the time, I’m willing to work with them to further their wine careers,” he said.

“When I passed the Advanced exam, I could have gone anywhere in the world and gotten a job,” he admitted. “But I decided to stay in Columbus. It’s a young city. I always felt that energy, right on the edge, and rather than move, I decided to stay and make Columbus the city that I wanted it to be.

“There are really, really exciting wine scenes around the world, and I want Columbus to be one of them. I’ll do whatever I can to make Columbus into that.”

To learn more, visit accent.wine

Run, Party, Repeat

The OhioHealth Capital City Half and Quarter Marathon and 5k blends block party vibes with tons of local fun to create one of the country’s best race experiences

A13.1 mile block party complete with 30 live musical performances, a 12,000-person pizza party and a craft beer brewed in its honor.

No, we aren’t talking about a multi-day music festival (but we can understand why you might think that). We’re talking about the OhioHealth Capital City Half Marathon, Quarter Marathon and 5k. →

“The atmosphere is like a 13.1, 6.55 and 3.1 mile block party, and after you finish, we have the best postrace in the country,” said race director and founder David Babner.

The event, which will be celebrating its 20th year this spring, offers both half and quarter marathon courses (13.1 and 6.55 miles), in addition to a 5K (3.1 miles).

If you’re interested in being a participant, you’ll want to start your training soon, as the Cap City Half will take place on April 29. The earlier you sign up for the race (which you can do at capitalcityhalfmarathon. com), the sooner you can begin receiving training tips, event information and more from organizers, all intended to help you have a remarkable experiece. This is truly a New Year’s Resolution Solution.

And if you’re the type that’s just in it to have a good time, The Cap City Half is the place to be. While the course supports a healthy competitive scene, it’s equally open to runners and walkers, who care more about enjoying themselves on the course than winning.

This starts with the Cap City Half course itself. With musical guests lining its entirety, the race hits a handful of iconic Columbus landmarks, making it perfect for a first-timer to central Ohio, and equally entertaining to a Cbus veteran looking to take in the City from a unique new perspective.

“You start at the Columbus Commons, see German Village, The Short North, Campus, High Street, Neil Avenue. and then catch the North Market on the way back,” Babner said. “It’s the best tour of Columbus on two feet.”

And once you’re done, a beer and pizza party with 12,000 of your closest friends is waiting for you at the finish line. Did we mention that Land-Grant Brewing Co. regularly creates a totally unique beer in honor of the race every year? In past years, Land-Grant has produced beers for the race including 13.1 Wheat and 13.1 Recovery Haze Pale Ale. The style of beer produced changes each year, but it’s always inspired by (and created for) Cap City Half runners.

According to Babner, a Columbus lawyer who now serves on the board of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, the race was initially inspired by an of early2000s PSA touting the benefits of an active lifestyle.

He thought Columbus was ready for a celebration of those pursuing an active healthy lifestyle. He had seen several other cities launching destination races, and knew that central Ohio was capable of pulling off its own unique event.

“I knew we had something special, and we wanted to highlight Columbus as the best running city in the country,” he said.

Coming Inn First

Continuing to rake in prestigious awards, Granville’s Welsh Hills Inn is a winter getaway gem, and one of central Ohio’s best-kept secrets

By John Clark

Photos by Jordy Middlebrooks Story Design by Atlas Biro

t’s simple,” said Bobbi Noe. “People come here as strangers and leave as friends –sometimes, almost like family.”

That attitude toward guests helped Licking County’s Welsh Hills Inn to be named TripAdvisor’s #1-rated B&B/Inn in the United States - twice … and #4 in the world - twice. In fact, the inn has ranked in the top one-percent of TripAdvisor’s traveler reviews each of the past 10 years. Not bad for a 12-yearold property that offers no skiing, boating, white sand beaches or ancient ruins. →

“I

“We didn’t even know about the first number-one ranking until a former guest alerted us,” said Jeff Noe, who, with wife Bobbi, has operated the Granville-area inn since 2010. The Noes had no experience in the hospitality business, but had shared a dream about running their own B&B for several years, while working as engineers at nearby Owens Corning.

"PEOPLE COME HERE AS STRANGERS AND LEAVE AS FRIENDS"

The opportunity finally presented itself about 15 years ago, when Bobbi’s mother expressed a desire to buy the couple’s Buckeye Lake home. About this same time, the Noes discovered a large, modern, farmhouse and 15 acres of wooded, rolling hills near Granville was for sale. Bobbi’s mother got her home on the lake and the Noes made the big plunge.

↓ Bobbi and Jeff Noe, owners and operators of the Welsh Hills Inn,

Immediately, the couple began re-shaping the 1980s house to accommodate five guest suites, several common areas, a huge dining room and private living quarters for them and their 10-yearold daughter, Emily. Outside, the swimming pool and pool house were already in place. The Noes added porches, an outdoor fireplace, bocce ball court and gardens. Jeff stocked a spring-fed pond with fish, created a walking trail and sprinkled the property with hammocks and rope swings.

When it came time to move, the long-time art lovers took their huge collection of paintings and sculptures by Ohio artists with them, and they continue to add to it. Works by Paul Hamilton,

↓ Interior shot of the Welsh Hills Inn,

Emerson Burkhart, Alice Schille, David Hostetler, Aminah Robinson and others –hundreds of pieces, in all – grace every wall. As many guests have noted, “It’s like walking into a museum.”

Now, the Welsh Hills Inn, named by the Noes for the area that was settled by Welsh immigrants, stays almost completely booked. Many of the guests are parents of Denison University students. But social media and word-of-mouth have drawn visitors from all 50 states and 30 foreign countries. The Noes estimate 40-percent of their business is from return guests.

Of the inn’s success, Jeff said, “We’re very lucky.” But it’s clear from the inn’s online testimonials that much more than luck has contributed to their success. ♦

To learn more, visit welshhillsinn.com

↓ Interior shot of the Welsh Hills Inn ↑