Reader Q&A + Our Primer on Skewer-Style Hot Pot
One reader asked us to hunt down muffulettas, plus we paid a visit to the new Chinese hot pot restaurant Gold Cudgel.
We recently asked readers to submit their Columbus-related food questions, and we received some interesting ones including the two below. Thank you to the readers who played along! If you have a question about the Columbus dining scene, please email them to us along with your name.
Reader Q&A: Muffulettas and More
Q: Where can I get a muffuletta? —Shawn
Great question, and one that sent us down a fun and unexpected rabbit hole!
The sandwich was created in the early 1900s by a Sicilian immigrant, Salvatore Lupo, who was the proprietor of the Italian-American grocery Central Grocery Co. in New Orleans. The grocery still stands in N’awlins today.
We love a good muffuletta, and once upon a time we satisfied our yen at Flatiron Grill, way back when it featured a creole-influenced menu overseen by Kent Rigsby. When the sandwich dropped from the menu, we assumed that the Sicilian-by-way-of-New Orleans specialty was no longer available in Central Ohio.
Incorrectly, as it turns out. A quick Google search now shows four Central Ohio spots serving them, and we checked out two: old timer Gallo’s Kitchen + Bar in Upper Arlington and newcomer The Hive Coffee & Cafe in Grandview (formerly Basic Biscuits, Kindness & Coffee).
Both options delivered on the expected Italian cold cuts, provolone and olive salad, but neither used the traditional, round sesame roll.
Between the unconventional bread choices, we preferred Hive’s light and salty focaccia over Gallo’s cheese-crusted curiosity. We also enjoyed Hive’s olive salad; it was heavier on the olive and lighter on the salad (pickled vegetables), but reasonable people could disagree with that.
Other promising leads include Creole Kitchen and Jason’s Deli. If you try either of them, let us know!
Though they’re not muffulettas, we also found several sandwiches for lovers of mortadella, and housemade focaccia seems to be the bread of choice around town.
Here are three to seek out:
Check out the mortadella panino on Speck’s lunchtime menu, featuring stracciatella, pistachio, arugula and mortazza.
At Piazza Pelino, order the Il Top focaccia sandwich, with mortadella, pistachio pesto, stracciatella and pistacchio granules.
Finally, Frascati Market, inside The Little Grand Market, offers a standout sammie that features a duo of mortadella and Leoncini ham topped with pistachio-olive gremolata, basil pesto, stracciatella and arugula.
—Andy Dehus, Bethia Woolf and Erin Edwards
Q: Where can I find banket? —Tricia
If, like us, you weren’t familiar with banket, it’s a traditional Dutch pastry featuring a sweet almond paste filling wrapped in a flaky, buttery crust. It’s most often served during the Christmas season.
Call us stumped, Tricia! Although you’re more likely to find banket in the Midwest, especially in Iowa and Michigan, we haven’t found banket in Columbus. (Someone should remedy this!)
However, we do have some recommendations for other almond pastries and treats.
For almond croissants, we recommend Pistacia Vera, Dan the Baker and Littleton’s Market Bakery. For Italian cookies, the $1 almond cookies at Auddino’s are a bargain, and Angie’s Rainbow Cookies are a fun and colorful almond-flavored treat.
If the above are simply no substitute for real-deal banket, you can order them via Goldbelly from the famous Jaarsma Bakery in Pella, Iowa.
Do you have a secret local source for Dutch banket? Let us know in the comments.
—Erin Edwards and Bethia Woolf
A Primer on Skewer-Style Hot Pot at Gold Cudgel
By Bethia Woolf