Return to Ohio - Food

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

~ Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

On our last trip to Ohio we were surprised by the food and fell in love with many of the people who waited on us.* So, of course, we wanted to go back and visit some places we had enjoyed and find some new spots as well. We shopped at the same places, ate at some of the same restaurants, and found a pretty good alternate.**

Many of our meals were provided by our hosts for the Wildflower Pilgrimage. The food was good and the company wonderful. We had wondered about other members of Arc of Appalachia - who also loved these preserves and hikes. And I must mention the fabulous chicken salad (I will dream of it) and the chocolate/cashew topped bars. The menu always included a vegan option as well. No one went hungry.

But more of our time was spent at cafes and restaurants, as well as, at our own little kitchen (where we mastered (?) the French press), made oatmeal and enjoyed freshly baked bread and pretzels from the Mennonite Bakery nearby. We also had a few groceries we picked up in Chillicothe and some from JR's Store (just down from the road from the bakery). I think, maybe, JR owns both stores, but I could be wrong - whatever, we weren't going to starve.

Here goes:

R Kitchen on Paint Street, Chillicothe, Ohio.

Pretzel appetizer with cheese sauce. DH said, "These are the pretzels they serve you in heaven." I agreed until I tasted the pretzels at the Mennonite bakery. The are both great and very different. Maybe they serve both in heaven. One can hope.

Crab cakes. DH had them last year. It was a sure bet? Yeah, I ate the broccoli.

Scallops over cauliflower puree with kale and carrots. I made DH eat some carrots (but- of course - no kale).

Mama's West Main Street Cafe, Hillsboro, Ohio.

     Breakfast (we would have breakfast here on Friday and Sunday) --

There are loads of choices.

Simple, but good!

     Lunch Friday --

Mac & Cheese Burger with mashed potatoes and gravy

What was I thinking? Fried fish (it WAS Friday), hash brown casserole, friend mushrooms, and broccoli. The sauces were wonderful.

     Dinner Saturday --

No, DH. You cannot have that burger again!

This was the beans and biscuits served with every meal on Friday and Saturday night.

Pork chop, tots, and (surprise!) mac & cheese

Fried fish, sweet potato fries, and brocolli

When we went back through Chillicothe we discovered that R Kitchen is closed on Mondays. We had to make another choice. We decided on a barbecue-ish place - Old Canal Smoke House sounded good and was just around the block. We would just have a couple of burgers for Monday lunch.

Old Canal Smoke House, Water Street, Chillicothe, Ohio.

We thought we would just get a burger...little did we know...

DH had the buffalo burger and, surprise, mac & cheese

The Smokehouse Burger has smoked bacon and cheese and is topped with three enormous onion rings coated with a coconut batter.  It was clear I'd be skipping supper...and maybe breakfast too.

YUM!

I don't know about DH, but I'm on soup and salad for the foreseeable future...

NOTES:


*https://walkinthepark-padimus.blogspot.com/2018/05/ohio-adventure-miscellaney.html

** We liked a quirky little place called Doc's (Bainbridge, Ohio) last year. Doc's closed. There is another diner/cafe in town. I'm not a fan.