|
New Columns appear each Tuesday. 13JUN06 Doral Chenoweth writes about the business of restaurants and the food industry in the Columbus, Ohio, Metro area. Reader comments are welcome by telephone. 614-538-1822. Email the Grump: thegrumpygourmet@wowway.com Send food stuff here: iPLATE@grumpygourmetusa.com Send weird stuff here: alferd_e_packer@wowway.com E-mail messages must include name and telephone for a reply. |
 Pimp My Pizza Parlor: Yerkes is shopping his favorite decor store for colorful goodies to post in his new Grandview area pizza joint. Decor dollars may be scarce. So.......his new old Superfly topper cost all of $1.50; the Bill Cullen game, 50 cents; and the elephant clock, with the elephant wearing a tutu, $2. Yerkes calls the latter his "gay Republican timepiece."  Past Patrons Pen Plaudits: When your registered mail brings in a notice to vacate, whats to do? Bill Yerkes blew up his death knell notice, posted on the wall of his bonoPIZZA in Kilbourne and let nature take its course. More than 75 regulars penned their own sweet goodbyes. Yerkes plans to post what he considers his best ever review on the wall of his new soon-to-open place in the Grandview area. |
13JUN06 Yerkes Posts bonoPIZZA Eviction Notice; 75 Patrons Jot Goodbyes When pizza man William Yerkes lost his place of business, he didn't keep it a secret. He enlarged the eviction letter and posted it on his pizza shop walls. After more than two years in downtown metropolitan Kilbourne, Ohio, (Pop: Oh, say 45), his bonoPIZZA went dark. It was a small moneymaker from the first day. But in two years the place gained a cult following. When he opened in November, 2003, Yerkes had about six bucks in his change drawer, a cigar box. On his first business night he recalls that he, probably, made and served 10 pizzas. He opened without a sign, advertising or much word-of-mouth gab. Yerkes took in about $1,500 his first month. He paid $400 rent that first month of his one-year lease deal. All the while he was doing little things such as painting the gray walls, adding a few donated chairs and adding his Goodwill décor. One thing Yerkes never did was to install a lock on his front door. "This was Kilbourne," Yerkes says, as if that was a testimonial.
What Yerkes served in Kilbourne was, in his judgment, the "perfect pizza." He credits the military. In the mid-1970s he was discharged while in Naples, Italy. What better place to become a student of pizza culture, the perfect pie - Neapolitan pizza (for centuries there known as oil cake). Neapolitan to Yerkes means: Thin crust cooked in a wood-burning oven, preferably one built by himself, at 1200 degrees - or more. He likes hickory which burns hotter than other woods available hereabouts. He delivers his pies in 60 seconds. Yerkes crusts are served crisp. More on Yerkes perfection: Yeast - Budweiser fresh, never use dry yeast; flour - 00 (double zero), a fine, hard milled flour; cheese - only Grande fresh from Wisconsin which is a mozzarella (he disdains shredded block cheese from anywhere else); olive oil - only extra virgin from Italy, explaining, "not what they call olive oil in Greece or Spain or someplace." As for his tomatoes - only the Stanislaus brand which uses San Marzano tomatoes named after the region in Italy. Salt is from France, only the La Fluer du Sel. Yerkes, an early riser, does his daily produce shopping at Meijer. When the new edition of bonoPIZZA opens at 1323 Holly, Columbus, about 100 feet south of Brazenhead pub on West 5th avenue, one may need a compass to find the place. Yerkes doesn't waste dollars on signage. His new landlord, Mark Crosby, over the weekend edged out Goodwill by donating what will be an entrance sign. It is a 9-foot awning with a two-foot high script A. For art Yerkes has painted three smaller letters - hhh - in bright orange. Ahhh is to be mostly takeout. Yerkes does have four chairs from his Kilbourne stock. As for any sit down plans, he says,"We'll see." Yerkes Perfect Pizza will be served from 5 p.m. to midnight, Tuesday through Sunday. by Doral Chenoweth 614-538-1822 |
| home |
Click on a Date
|
29nov05 Tis the Season 06dec05 Da Vinci's safe 13dec05 Disney Chef 20dec05 Tom Johnson 27dec05 Maisonette 03jan06 05' Closings 10jan06 White Castle 17jan06 Whole Foods 24jan06 La Tavola 31jan06 Cast Iron 07feb06 Chili Champ 14feb06 Slyder Vows 21feb06 Gourmet Galaxy 28feb06 Café Demos 07mar06 Galaxy Story 14mar06 Culinary Team 21mar06 Handke's 'Dinner 28mar06 New Orleans | 04apr06 Kosher Bakery Motherland Grille 11apr06 Richard Otte 25apr06 Pork Show Aardvark Cooking Lesson 02may06 Reads Website Cocktails Da Vinci Cleanest Kitchens 09may06 Credit Scammer Hobo BBQ Classy Mexican Crave Time 16may06 Vegetarianism Sushi 23may06 Yahoo Butch's 30may06 Handke Rolling Rock Vic Foreman Big Foot Coffee 06jun06 Pistachio Bill Sapp Paul Liu Kindness |