Binge Watching “Chef’s Table: Noodles”
Plus, Polaris is home to a new Japanese omakase restaurant.
Where to Satisfy Your “Chef’s Table”-Induced Noodle Cravings
By Erin Edwards
Who else is enjoying the audacity of a “Chef’s Table” season focused solely on the artistry of noodles?
Dropped earlier this month, the bingeable Netflix’s docuseries “Chef’s Table: Noodles” highlights four types of noodles—Italian fresh pasta, Xi’an-style noodles, dry pasta and Cambodian noodle dishes. More importantly, the series shares the stories of the craftspeople behind them.
The season left me wanting more than four episodes and craving a bowl of slippery noodles.
I particularly enjoyed Episode 2 which tells the story of chef Wei Guirong, a London-based chef who grew up poor in Shaanxi Province in northern China and has remained committed to spreading the word about her family’s regional cuisine. Today, Guirong runs multiple restaurants including her first restaurant, Xi’an Impression, which introduced North London to Shaanxi fare. (Xi’an is the capital of Shaanxi Province.)
Rice is the staple that comes to mind when many people think of Chinese cuisine, but Xi’an cuisine is known for its wheat-based dishes featuring noodles and flatbreads. While I haven’t had the pleasure of dining at Xi’an Impression, I immediately recognized Guirong's signature dish: biang biang noodles, named after the sound these lengthy hand-pulled noodles make when slapped on the working surface.
The allure of these noodles was, of course, captured in the only way “Chef’s Table” knows how: with extreme slow-motion shots set against classical music. Picture: the sexy spring of belt-like noodles being suspended and then dropped into a bowl; the slow-motion drizzle of sizzling hot oil from a ladle.
Suddenly, I had the urge to order dinner.
We don’t have a direct flight to London yet (please, someone get on this), but we are lucky to have a solid Columbus stand-in if you need biang biang noodles stat. Their home is Jiu Thai Asian Cafe—an unassuming Chinese restaurant off Bethel Road that specializes in Shaanxi cuisine.
Episode 2 explores other Xi’an delicacies, and you can find those at Jiu Thai as well—namely liang pi (steamed cold noodles), lamb dumplings with black-vinegar dipping sauce and Xi’an “burgers” (aka lamb sandwiches at Jiu Thai). All wonderful.
Looking for some other great noodles in Columbus? Here are four more recommendations:
Episode 1 of “Chef’s Table: Noodles” focuses on master pasta-maker Evan Funke of his eponymous restaurant Funke in Beverly Hills. Columbus has its fair share of Italian restaurants doing this painstaking work, including Powell’s Novella Osteria, where Dublin native Matthew Phelan celebrates handmade pasta and seasonal ingredients. You can get a great overview of chef Phelan’s art during Novella’s pasta tasting, which takes place every Tuesday and changes every month. (Rome is October’s theme.) The dinners include three pasta courses plus dessert for $65 per person.
Over the weekend, I visited Cobra in the Brewery District for its one-year anniversary. I can’t get enough of chef Jack Dale Bennett Jr.’s take on dan dan noodles: a mound of joyously long mafaldine ribbons topped with pork ragu. May we have many more years with these noods.
At the recently opened Kung Fu Noodle on Godown Road (formerly YF Chinese), you can find a more traditional version of Sichuan dan dan noodles. Kung Fu, which got its start in Kettering, Ohio, hand-stretches its noodles and adds spicy ground pork and string beans.
Finally, be sure to check out Kamil’s Uyghur Cuisine, where you can enjoy hard-to-find Uyghur dishes featuring toothsome hand-pulled noodles. Kamil’s is located next to Dayou International Market on Bethel Road. You can read more about Kamil’s here.
Co-owner Arzumatt Kamil at Kamil’s Uyghur Cuisine (Photo: Bethia Woolf) Notes
Around the Columbus Food Scene
Haru Omakase, a Japanese fine-dining restaurant, has replaced Fukuryu Ramen at 2027 Polaris Pkwy. The exciting new concept from Fukuryu’s Jeff and Yenny Tsao features a multicourse sushi experience curated by chef Yudi Makassau. The chef joins Haru after developing the omakase experience at Dozo, a kind of sushi speakeasy located alongside Dayton’s excellent cocktail bar Tender Mercy.
The 698 Restaurant is now open at 698 N. High St., formerly home to Cameron Mitchell’s El Segundo. The Pan-Asian menu includes sushi as well as hot dishes such as bulgogi, udon, laksa and more. The new eatery and bar is part of a growing restaurant family that includes the Short North’s 1126 Restaurant and Dublin’s Song Lan Restaurant.
