Winter is comfort food time. Here are 5 dishes to warm you up at central Ohio restaurants
No matter how cold it is outside, I start to feel warm just walking through the parking lot toward Mi Li Cafe. The steamy windows this time of year at the Vietnamese restaurant in Northland always remind me of the big bowls of hot soup they’re serving up inside.
Soup — whether it’s chili or pho or, for me, a cup of New England clam chowder with lots of black pepper — tops the list of winter comfort foods for many of us. That’s despite the fact soup is popular in hotter climates for the exact opposite reason: It triggers the body’s cooling-off response.
But comfort food doesn’t have to come in soup form, and it doesn’t have to be hot, either. The comfort, experts say, comes not only from the physical reaction our brains have to tastes that we enjoy (particularly if they come from sugar or fat), but also from our psychological reaction to the memories or nostalgia they trigger.
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Here are five comfort-food suggestions to get you through whatever weather heads our way this winter.
Manhattan at Der Dutchman
“We do offer a lot of comfort food, and it is very popular on cold, dreary days,” said Vicki VanNatta, a spokeswoman for Dutchman Hospitality Group, which owns Der Dutchman restaurants in Plain City, Bellville, Walnut Creek and yes, really, Sarasota, Florida.
So pick your comfort from its Amish-inspired menu. There’s fried cornmeal mush served with warm syrup or homemade biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast. There’s broasted chicken, meatloaf, roast beef and roasted turkey for dinner, or you could double your carbs with Noodles Over Mashed, the restaurant’s Essenhaus brand noodles served over mashed potatoes.
Our choice: the Manhattan. It’s a hot roast beef sandwich covered in gravy and served with mashed potatoes.
PastaSalvi at Delaney’s Diner
Delaney’s Diner, which has restaurants in Westerville, Grandview Heights, Groveport and Reynoldsburg, serves a full breakfast menu of eggs, omelets, pancakes and French toast. There’s also a breakfast casserole (eggs, sausage, mushrooms, cheddar cheese and croutons) and a breakfast platter that includes a breaded and fried pork tenderloin served with sausage gravy, eggs, hash browns and a biscuit.
One of the treasures of the Delaney’s menu, though, is PastaSalvi, revived from the former B.G. Salvi’s restaurant where co-owner Jeff Miller once worked. The dish has been compared to deep-fried Fettuccine Alfredo; it’s egg noodles in cream sauce, coated in breadcrumbs and fried. You have the option of ordering it with marinara sauce and provolone cheese.
Wonton soup at Mi Li Cafe
Most people order the pho at Mi Li Cafe, 5858 Emporium Square. And it’s worth ordering. The beefy broth is made deeper with spices such as cinnamon and star anise. You can add steak, meatballs, tripe or tendon, and your bowl comes with a side plate of basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, jalapenos and lime to add as you wish.
Don’t overlook the wonton soup, though. Its chicken broth is much simpler but still full of flavor. The pork and shrimp wonton are plump but delicate-looking; the folds of wrapper look like the fins of fish.
You can order wonton soup with or without egg noodles.
Matzo ball soup at Katzinger’s Delicatessen
Dietitians and doctors have vouched for the ingredients in chicken soup as truly beneficial when you’re fighting a cold or flu. For centuries, home cooks have, too.
Matzo ball soup has been called Jewish Penicillin, and Katzinger’s Delicatessen in German Village and Dublin sells it by the quart. You can buy the chicken broth by itself, with noodles or with matzo balls. It’s also served by the bowl.
Jeremy Thorpe, area manager for owner City Brands Management, said matzo ball soup “definitely fits the bill of comfort food,” although he offered a few others for consideration as well. His other favorites include the classic potato knish, the Katzinger’s Rueben (its traditional version of the sandwich with corned beef) and a pastrami Reuben.
Grilled cheese and soup at Katalina’s and Katalina’s Too
When it’s snowy or cold outside, Kathleen Day’s go-to meal is her grilled cheese and soup combo at Katalina’s in Harrison West and Katalina’s Too in Clintonville.
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“I’m eating it now,” she texted Thursday afternoon.
The grilled cheese is made with Amish cheddar and grilled sourdough bread, and it’s elevated a notch further with Cooper’s Mill Peach-Habanero Jam. The soup is Holy Tomole, made with roasted Roma tomatoes and Katalina’s Mole Spice. It’s garnished with queso fresco and roasted, spiced pepitas.
Day’s restaurants also offer vegan versions of both.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Winter comfort foods at central Ohio restaurants
