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23FEB07 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 USA restaurant questions to: USADiningNetwork@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. |
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23FEB07 Sonia Modes, for you... after 55 years... All the Things You Are, from the 1939 Broadway musical, Very Warm For May, doesn't get much play these years. But, pianist Sonia Modes keeps the faith with this Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern classic at least two nights a week in Columbus. Monday eves she plays Bexley's Monk; Wednesdays and Saturdays are for The Top. In between those firm gigs, she still does private parties. For people now receiving Social Security all is not lost to today's disc jockey-automated music. Modes has a unique CD out with 23 standards...Irving Berlin's Always...You Go To My Head...Long Ago and Far Away...The Shadow Of Your Smile....and the all-time closer in the real saloon era in this city and country...Henry Mancini's Two For the Road. The Sonia Modes years at the ivories, 55 and still going, is a night life slice of history. She grew up in a wonderful era when a piano was the centerpiece of musical entertainment in the finest hotels and restaurants. In the 1950s this Bexley girl scored gigs as a single across Ohio and later ventured as far out as Washington, D. C. But her fame claim is in Columbus. She played opening night when Benny Klein's Steak House brightened Downtown Columbus. She formed her trio and played all the major hotels. From 1972 to 1980 her gig was the Neil House. She's played all the big names - Desert Inn, The Kahiki, the Southern Hotel. Many of her gigs merely floated around the city - the Press Club in different locations. In a unique manner Modes is thanking her fans. Her "...for you..." CD, produced by Steven W. Samuelson, doesn't have a price tag. A small cover note notes: A Gift - Not For Sale. She credits 11 of the 23 selections to her trio of Samuelson on bass and George Millwater, percussion. The jacket photo is by Michael Ramirez. All together they have produced a keeper for the ages - the music ages I like to remember. Like the Neil House, Kahiki, Desert Inn and a half dozen other good names to recall, I want to remember the fine music forever to be linked with names such as Hammerstein, Berlin and Mancini. Advantage Sonia Modes. |
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He's called the restaurant undertaker... If one needs a reason to call auctioneer Paul Delphia the restaurant undertaker, here are a few reasons. Over the years in hammering down flops, failures and just plain old closings for other assorted reasons, here's a partial list of his on-site auctions. Former Tee Jaye’s site Westerville, OSU Student Union Cafeteria and Food Court; McYao Buffet; OSU Harding Hospital Cafeteria; Finest Hour Catering; DaVinci’s at Reed and Henderson; Kroger's old catering faciity at Cleveland and Rt. 161; Slim’s in Johnstown; Rofini’s Pizza; and Golden Eight Ball. Quality Franchise (2005); Café Orient; Pickerington Ice house; Red Lobster Philippi road; Medeteranio; Salvi’s, Brice Rd.; Pizza Guy’s, Granville; Jitterbug Café; Four Bakers Bexley; Evergreen; China Coast, Eastland; Quality Franchise ( 2002); and Flour Mill Bakery. Columbus Square Banquet center; Grandview Inn (originally Ollie's and other short term names); Fifty Five on the Boulevard; Isaly’s. German Village; Lazarus Westland; Schmidt’s Sausage Haus, Schrock Rd.; Counterfeit Heist; Knight’s Ice Cream; Landmark Square, Somerset; Four Bakers, Pickerington; and Aardvark Café. Firdous Deli in Kingsdale; Flicker’s Cinema Café; Circone’s Pizza; Gottliebs; Rich Blend Coffee; Hickory House, original site; Fred’s Bread, Bexley; Olivia’s, Dayton; Hunan Express; Niki’s Restaurant; Stan Evans Bakery, Bethel Rd.; Tabu Bar; B-Street Grill; The Blue Goose, Buckeye Lake; Bryn Mawr, Granville; Monte Carlo; Schmidt's Upper Arlington; and Bill Knapp’s on Bethel Road. Valerian's, Short North, 700 N. High St.; North Fork Bar; Quality franchise Development (1993); Country Jubilee; Wright Stuff, Fairborn; Dock Street; Village Junction; Reggae Cuisine; Anatolino Pizza; The Depot; Blue Lotus; Land & Sea (original Fisherman’s Wharf on Morse Rd.) and The Score Board Sports Bar. |
by Doral Chenoweth
614-538-1822
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