The Yellowbird Foodshed co-founder Benji Ballmer

Mount Vernon, Ohio - The Yellowbird Foodshed

The Yellowbird Foodshed collaboratively collects food from Ohio growers, a foodshed is the geographic region that your food comes from. Where it’s produced, where it’s consumed, as well as the route that it takes to get there. The Yellowbird Foodshed is based in Mount Vernon, Ohio and they’re going into their 10th year this year.

Top 3 reasons Yellowbird Foodshed is better than a grocery store

• Their customers want to know where their food comes from. Who grew your food?

• The food speaks for itself, it’s fresher and tastier. Also, with Yellowbird Foodshed you know where your food comes from, it’s mainly from farmers they know in Ohio. If it’s from outside of Ohio they’ll let you know where it’s from. Each product they provide has been sustainably raised, harvested, and transported.

• Yellowbird pays a higher percentage to growers, for example at a major grocery store for every dollar spent on a head of lettuce the grower might see 6 cents but at Yellowbird Foodshed the grower sees close to 65 cents.

Top 3 Central Ohio Restaurants

High quality, farm fresh food makes it hard to go out to eat. Going out to eat can be very average especially compared to the freshest, highest quality, local produce and meats. 

1 Pizza Nerds in Newark

2 Ghostwriter Public House in Johnstown

3 Harvest Bar & Kitchen in Clintonville

Vegan meals vs. Meat meals and I’d rather have a B rated meat dish than an A rated plant-based dish.

Local food near me?

What defines local? Countless restaurants claim to be local but actually use food sourced from all over the world. A restaurant might say they’re local, but they’re using the same food from Sysco or US Foods. 

Film feast. The best representation of food in a movie or tv show. Benji’s answer is Meet Joe Black and the cake scene. Benji’s favorite snack is homemade popcorn. He’ll take Ohio butter and maple syrup and mix those together, pour it over local Ohio popcorn, and a little bit of salt too. Sweet and salty, sounds like a delicious snack to me. Top 3 Ohio popcorn producers are Shagbark, Till, and Clutter.

This was a really fun podcast episode. 614 feast podcast is available on my website, Apple Podcast, Spotify, and more.

Freedom a la Cart CEO Paula Haines

Columbus, Ohio based freedom a la cart

Paula Haines is the CEO of Freedom a la Cart. This podcast episode was recorded in November of 2021. Paula is an incredible person, she’s very smart, empathetic, kind, and she’s CEO of a great company that does a lot of good things. We recorded this right around the same time that my digital marketing business was getting busy, that’s why there was a delay releasing this episode. Better late than never.

Freedom a la Cart specializes in the long-term road to becoming self-sufficient.

Freedom a la Cart is a social enterprise non-profit that works to support and empower women that have experienced sex trafficking. We talk about management’s trauma informed training techniques. They have tons of resources and services available for survivors. For example, they help with obtaining a driver's license, getting an apartment, a job, etc. Freedom a la Cart also does a saving match program, which helps the survivors get their cars and other expensive purchases. Freedom a la Cart specializes in the long-term road to becoming self-sufficient.

I asked Paula how Freedom a la Cart deals with empathy fatigue on a personal level and a business level. She tells me about a three-year plan they’re working on to have a new Freedom a la Cart in another city. Catering, cafe, and non-profit all in the same building help serve the community.

Motivating stories of people overcoming adversity

Paula tells me about two different employees that overcame extreme adversity. Earning people’s trust and teaching them that people can have positive intentions. Provide them with valuable work experience, help support them while they figure out what they want to do and help guide them. Really motivational episode.

Freedom a la Cart feeds the soul, builds confidence, pride in creating a delicious dish, food is science and art. Food ticks the boxes for healing and learning. Paula tells me about her favorite dining experience at Rose’s Luxury in Washington DC, which her son in law worked at, none other than BJ Lieberman of Chapman’s. Paula’s unpopular food opinion is she doesn’t like pizza!

Top 3 Columbus, Ohio restaurants

Paula Haines Top 3 Columbus, Ohio restaurants are Chapman’s Eat Market, Veritas, and Bibibop.

Ray Ray's Hog Pit James Anderson

James Beard Award Semifinalist, owner of Ray Ray’s Hog Pit

Food Network Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

James Anderson and I talk about his experience on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Here is the Delish article that I site in my podcast.

James is very successful but one of his concepts, Ray Ray’s Meat and Three failed, he tells me potential reasons why that happened. He tells me about the updated concept Ray Ray’s Supper Club where they have a guest chef each week. He was generous enough to offer me and a plus one complimentary tickets. It was incredible, it was $120 per person, 7 courses paired with 7 wines. It was quite the experience, it was at a community table, the chef came out between courses and explained each dish. It was awesome. 

I asked him if he prefers casual bbq or fancy high end cuisine. I also asked him if because of his popularity and success if he feels pressure to perform at a high level and he was very vulnerable and talked about his former anxieties and how he deals with pressure nowadays.

Top 3 restaurants in Columbus, Ohio

James Anderson’s top 3 restaurants in Columbus, Ohio are Meshikou on Bethel Rd, Los Pinos in Reynoldsburg, and Veritas for a fancy feast. His favorite barbecue besides his own is SHOCKING you won’t guess his favorite Columbus, Ohio BBQ. Listen to this podcast episode to hear his answer.

James tells me about being a semifinalist for a James Beard award, as a BBQ food truck guy. Barbecue people rarely get that nomination, food trucks are even more rare and he’s possibly the only food truck BBQ person to ever be a semifinalist for the James Beard award. 

He raises hogs and provides some hogs for Ray Ray’s Supper Club but he doesn’t supply all the hogs for all his locations. He states that he’s a hobby farmer with hundreds of hogs and the quantities needed to source Ray Ray’s is in the thousands.

How to make the perfect smoked brisket

Ray Ray’s James Anderson tells me how to make a perfect brisket. Wrapping is crucial, wrap around hour 8, he prefers paper but says foil is almost as good, respecting the rest is more important than the wrap.

James is a self-taught pit master, when his father passed away, he started to practice smoking meats with his brother. His brother liked it more as a hobby, but James was quite taken with it and started to master his craft. He read books, practiced, tons of trial and error, watched documentaries, and traveled the country to teach himself how to smoke meat. 

BJ Lieberman 2023 James Beard Semifinalist Best Chef Great Lakes

BJ Lieberman Chapman’s Eat Market podcast description

BJ Lieberman is a semifinalist for the 2023 James Beard award! Best chef: Great Lakes category. That’s a huge award that recognizes chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. He tells me his culinary origin story. He went to the Culinary Institute of America in NYC, helped open Husk in Charleston, South Carolina with Sean Brock, Bon Appetit named Husk the best new restaurant in America and reservations were quickly booked up for 2 years in the future. Later, he moved to DC to help open Aaron Silverman’s Rose’s Luxury.

In this podcast episode we talk about leading by kindness and respect as opposed to rudeness and intimidation. Culinary school vs real world experience. When BJ came to town Cameron Mitchell was very helpful and allowed BJ to audit Cameron’s pre-opening things like vendors and operations. 

How does BJ Lieberman manage his time?

He has a very popular, busy restaurant, Chapman’s Eat Market as well as his jazz lounge Ginger Rabbit and he’s working on another Columbus, Ohio restaurant called Hiraeth slated to open in June 2023. Hiraeth is a Welsh word that basically is a feeling akin to homesickness but a positive, familiar way, something you’ve been looking for your whole life. A sense of belonging as well as something they’ve been searching for.

BJ Lieberman’s top 3 Columbus restaurant’s

Comune, Joya’s, and Rooh. His go to munchies is store bought sushi. Naturally, we talk about how great Tensuke Market is.

How to get a reservation at Chapman’s Eat Market

Chapman’s reservations book up very fast, for example on March first, April dates open up for reservations. You can try your luck to get a reservation, or you can come to the bar which is first come first serve. Husk won best new restaurant and was booked 2 years in the future. Then at Rose’s Luxury they took no reservations and 300 plus people would wait in line in the hopes of getting a table. He feels Chapman’s method is the most fair.

53. Hoggy’s BBQ a Columbus, Ohio underdog story

Brisket queso: black angus brisket, smoked gouda queso, bacon jam, bacon, red pepper butter, Martin’s potato roll.

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Hoggy’s bbq an underdog story

Social media stunt food

TikTok stunt food videos: really big, over the top, silly food. Example the dino bone burrito, huge cheeseburgers, mac and cheese on sandwiches, and wasting food for social media. Hoggy’s bbq in Columbus, Ohio is focusing on food quality instead of quantity. Kyle Turner (owner / operator of Hoggy’s) is down to get silly on social media DO IT FOR THE GRAM! Porkchop is Hoggy’s BBQ’s silly mascot, really it’s a pig mask that anyone can wear. Anyone can be Porkchop.

Lifestyle changes

Kyle is now gluten free and has been eating healthier these days. To Kyle, balance is very important in diet and life. I, however, have guilt free eating regardless of what I eat. We talk about Americans and our huge portion sizes. Kyle tells me how to redesign a menu to make it as clear and effective as possible. He also talks about restaurant hiring challenges, spending money on hiring sites with no result, scheduling interviews with no result, etc.

Polarizing food opinions

Overrated food truffle oil and underrated food pie shells. Burgers should be wider, not taller. Simple food is often the best. Follow Kyle Turner at https://www.instagram.com/hoggysbbq/

830 Bethel Rd, Columbus, OH 43214

52. Founders of Wario’s Beef and Pork, Wizard of Za and more

The best restauranteurs in Columbus, Ohio and more!

Jeni Jeni’s Ice cream, Brad Lion Cubs Cookies, Chimdi The Pit BBQ, Cameron Fontana Good Day Columbus, Ian Coast to Local Seafood, Fartley Farms, Devour Power, Matt Preston’s, Bac Ninja City Kitchen, Kyle Hoggy’s, Valter Valter’s at the Maennerchor, Roger Mooking Man Fire Food, Damon Third & Hollywood, Stephan Wario’s, Samantha The Cheesecake Girl, Joe Hot Chicken Takeover, John and Anne Black Radish Creamery, Drew Talbert TikTok, Spencer Wizard of Za, Breakfast with Nick, Columbus Pizza Connoisseur, Josh Waddle Improv. One year mixtape please listen to all of their full episodes. Thank you so much!

Highlight episode

51. Sad whimpers of a cookie vs super thic cookies

Pineapple on pizza isn’t a personality. LA food sucks compared to NYC. Sad whimpers of a cookie vs super thic cookies. Danny says there IS ranch for your b*tt hole. Danny ate 24 raw jalapeños on Facebook live. Nyc is so hard that it kinda has to become part of your personality as a coping mechanism. Columbus food is amazing but can’t compare to nyc purely based on volume alone. Pro tip: Gramercy Tavern order a vegetarian and a meat tasting menu and share each bite! Fine dining attention to detail is the X factor. 11 Madison Park is the best meal he’s had. When spending a lot of money the experience is the most important part. Coffee shop in LA that has handwritten notes in all the drawers. Air fryers are the key to successful munchies. Top 3 LA restaurants. Feast or pass and more!! Comedian, podcaster, foodie Danny Vega:

https://www.instagram.com/dannyvegagram/

50. The Wizard of Za founder Spencer Saylor

Polarizing pizza and staying positive in spite of harsh criticism. Dealing with anxiety, needing a thick skin, and focusing on his great team and food they create. Wizard of Za origin story. The reasons behind the initial long waits and their current ordering system. He tells me about his special domed oven and its limitations. His Sicilian pizza is very authentic and it’s not for me, we talk about that. Spencer is very kind and handles feedback with grace. His best selling pizza and personal favorite of his own pizza. He tells me why he started selling pasta. LISTENER QUESTIONS: eatdrinkcbus: inspiration for sesame seeds and hot honey, eaterandchef: where did you get the oven, how hot do you cook the pizzas, what is dough hydration %. best dining experience, go to munchies and more!

https://www.instagram.com/wizardofza/