Southeast Ohio Magazine Family! Winter Issue 2009

Left to Right,

Top Row: Samantha Pirc (Writer), Ben Thurman (Web Editor), Anna Williams (Web Editor), Ellen Gerl (Faculty Advisor), Annie Beecham(Writer), Robin Donovan (Associate Editor), Greg Gallant (Writer, Copy Staff), Shane Holtzman (Copy Staff), Will Cooper (Writer, Designer), Sarah Binning (Copy Chief), Brittany Perrine (Business, Copy Staff), Jaclyn Boland (Writer, Designer), Carolyn Miller (Designer, Photo Helper), Steve Zeisler (Writer, Photographer), Sarah Kyriakedes (Designer), Jessica Will (Writer, Designer), Danielle Kees (Design Director

Second Row: Emily Hubbell (Associate Editor, Writer), Dani Purcell (Designer, Copy Staff), Allory Williams (Associate Editor), Kristin Majcher (Managing Editor), Lisa Gumerman (Editor in Chief)

Third Row: Rachel Godward (Designer, Copy Staff), Brigitta Burkes (Business, Copy Staff), Susannah Sachdeva (Writer), Erica Blocher (Writer)

O2 Coffee House and Cabaret

by Anna Williams

Web Editor

As I walk down N. Market Street in downtown Waverly, Ohio on a brisk November afternoon, I’m overcome by nostalgia. I’ve never been here before, never even seen a place like this, but somehow I can’t help but imagine this small town as it had been in its heyday.

Advertisements painted on brick buildings are chipped from decades of weathering. A few neon signs light up the otherwise dim stretch of establishments. Above the door of the Emmitt House Restaurant, a well-known historical landmark in Ohio, hangs a sign that it has closed. Temporarily, I soon learn, but I immediately get the sense that this town is going through some economic hardship, like most of Southeast Ohio.

I continue down the street a sign catches my attention. It reads “O₂ Coffee House and Cabaret.” Intrigued, I learn more.

O₂ Coffee House opened in June of 2009 and despite the surrounding economy, it has thrived since day one. This gourmet coffee shop is a first for Waverly, offering espresso, gourmet coffee, deli sandwiches, soups, and it’s most popular item, Crispie Crème donuts. Crispie Crème is a local bakery out of Portsmouth, Ohio and delivers fresh dozens to O₂ daily. You name it, they have it. Cinnamon rolls to the traditional glazed donut, customers order them all. The best part, they’re just 80 cents a piece.

The coffee and espresso are also from a local company called Silver Bridge Coffee out of Gallipolis, Ohio. Blends brewed fresh throughout the day include Jamaican Me Crazy, Sumatra, Colombian, Hazelnut, and a variety of flavored coffee. Co-owner Jennifer Farmer suggests trying the espresso; “They say it’s the strongest in town.” It’s also one of their best sellers.

“Before us, Tim Hortons was the closest thing to gourmet coffee in Waverly,” says Farmer. She and her friend and co-owner Ashley Henson originally opened O₂ Coffee House and Cabaret serving only donuts and coffee, but expanded their menu due to demand. It is easy to see why this place rarely experiences slow days.

Located at 115 N. Market Street, the building has previously housed a bank, a post office, a gyro shop, and a Christian bookstore. And it is hard to forget this past, considering a pivotal part of the café is located inside the building’s old safe, built in 1951 by Waverly State Bank.

Inside, the walls are now painted black and covered with hundreds of silver signatures from visitors. One clever scribble reads, The safest place we’ve ever been! After just reading a few, you get the sense that this town is truly grateful for the atmosphere this place provides. Two comfy chairs, a pub table with stools and a dining table are cozily arranged inside the safe against the black walls.

Art hangs from the main room’s cream-colored walls, which feature a different local artist every month. Not one of the couches, lamps or tables is the same. But the mismatched-ness just adds to the comfortable atmosphere that channels the jazzy 1920s.

At least five times a week around lunchtime, O₂ serves as a venue for local and regional musicians.

The meaning behind the name O₂ Coffee House and Cabaret has much to do with this inviting and pleasant atmosphere. O₂, being the elemental symbol for oxygen, functions as a metaphor. Farmer says that we need oxygen to live, and similarly, we need the Holy Spirit to live; “It’s just there and you don’t have to force people to breathe it.” She admits that the original purpose of the coffee shop wasn’t about the coffee at all, but rather to serve as a non-threatening place for people to go that’s not a church or a bar, but an in-between of them both.

Comfy and affordable, the cafe attracts both young and old from around the region. Its hours are 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, and 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Stop in for a cup of hot coffee, freshly made chowder, or just to chat with one of the owners. Whatever brings you here, it’s likely to make you want to come back.

Ye Olde Lantern Restaurant

by Ben Thurman

Web Editor

The restaurant and tavern Ye Olde Lantern has a long and detailed history. The building itself was built back during the Civil War and a variety of businesses have called the old brick structure home since then. As I arrive, driving through winding roads into Portsmouth, none of that matters. A restaurant’s history can only serve as an interesting side dish to the delectable main course of delicious food. If the meals don’t stand the test of taste, then it might as well have opened yesterday.

The interior of the building is a bit of a dichotomy. In the front, elegant glass windows overlook the street. The tables are like those you’d see at a fancy restaurant you’d take your date out to, if you had the money. Toward the back the décor changes into the bright reds of a sports bar dedicated to the Buckeyes. Memorabilia bedecked the walls and the restroom doors were painted into bright murals of sports figures in action.

The walls were eclectically decorated with nods to the antiquity of the building. Old license plates, antiques and a curious bust of a sea captain were scattered about the place. I took my seat in a leather booth towards the back and prepared to feast.

The menu was a little pricey. Not too bad, but low double digits for the main entrees. Being the self-titled sultan of slurp, I was disappointed to find they had no soup options. The menu was small, but diverse. Traditional steaks and salads rubbed shoulders with liver and egg rolls. I ordered some Cajun wings for an appetizer and fettuccine alfredo for the main course. The wings were excellent. Large and juicy with just enough heat to tickle your nose hairs, but not enough to broil your tongue, ruining the taste buds for any food to come.

The salad I didn’t know was coming came next. The greens were nothing special; your standard iceberg lettuce, carrot and cabbage affair. But the house dressing was unusually good, a sweet and sour syrup that made a plain salad something to remember. The friendly waitress delivered diet pepsi after diet pepsi, which I guzzled eagerly.

When the main course arrived, I understood the reason for the high price. Served in a fun blue edged bowl and dusted with paprika, it was a colossal pile of pasta. The bowl itself was deep, so deep I realized the noodles reaching for the ceiling were only the tip of the Italian iceberg I was about to devour. Minutes later it had me at its mercy. My belly was bursting and I’d barely made a dent. When next I saw the waitress, I surrendered and got a box.

I didn’t plan on having dessert, full to combusting as I was, but the lemon silk pie sounded too intriguing to pass up. Delighted, I found it was the best part of an already impressive meal. Light as air, it contained a slight tart punch which balanced out the sweetness of the graham cracker crust. When life gives you lemons, apparently make a pie, cliché’s be darned.

The Old Canal Smokehouse

by Zach Schwartz

Google “Chillicothe, Ohio,” and you’ll find countless photos of old churches, extensive flatlands, parallel streets and farm country. By no means is it the thriving metropolis of Ohio, but it sure is one of the leaders in Southeastern Ohio.

Chillicothe’s downtown is beautiful in the fall. The drive down Route 50 through the yellow, orange and red of the autumn woods leads you right into the town, where those parallel roads form the center of the 213-year-old settlement. And one of the first sights you’ll see is Old Canal Smoke House.

This place draws you right in. Situated on the corner of Water and Mulberry Streets, the old-style hotel look-alike sits next to The Dock at Water Gathering Place, the Chillicothe Body Shop, Wallpaper n’ More and the Candlelight Bridal Shop—all of which are brick, just like most of the other structures lining the streets

It’s a modern place (founded in 2006) that doesn’t have much flash when you walk in. A decently sized bar sits off to the right before you enter the dining room area, which looks a lot like your mom’s kitchen at home. The tables are covered with crimson tablecloths and surrounded by black chairs. It is a very homey—until you taste their barbeque sauce.

Two bottles of the splendid succulence that is Old Canal Smoke House’s sauce sit off to the side of your table, just begging you to have a taste. Ketchup-based and given a kick by special spices, the sweet and spicy sauce is the best, but the original is tasty by itself as well.

As my friend and I sit down, we pour some of the sauce on a plate, swirl our fingers in it and put it to our mouths. Soon, we have to tell the waitress we need a few minutes to order since we’ve been too busy eating sauce by the spoonful to look at the menu.

We finally decide on two of the specials—a platter of flatbread topped with pork brisket, mushrooms, cheese and barbeque sauce; and a pizza made with pulled pork, banana peppers, mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, onions and more barbeque sauce. As wonderful of a selection as it turned out to be, other options piqued our interest as well—pulled pork platters and barbeque ribs and chicken make a good $12 dinner, while the buffalo burger and spicy “pig chips,” topped with jack cheese and bacon seemed to make for a filling lunch.

Piled high, the two platters filled our stomachs in no time, and a pizza-sized box fit the leftovers. Chillicothe may have been around since 1796, but this three-year-old smoke house fits right in.

Marietta Brewing Company, Marietta OH

Marietta Brewing Company

by Jaclyn Boland

Walking around in downtown Marietta, the wood-rimmed vats sitting in the large front windows of the Marietta Brewing Company caught my eye. I walked inside and the high ceilings drew attention to the steel pipes above. The wooden bar sits right inside the door with locals sipping on their favorite brew. After the drive, I headed straight back for the bathroom and walked past a row of double stacked kegs of their homebrewed beer.

I picked up the menu and looked straight at the list of “handcrafted beers”. They have a master brewer, Kelly Sauber, who uses fresh ingredients to brew tasty and flavorful beers. I began salivating like Pavlov’s dog. The Raspberry Wheat caught my attention. I love raspberries and beer, what a perfect combination! The server quickly brought it over and with the first sip, my taste buds were instantly satisfied. The balance of the beer was overtaken by the fruity raspberry flavor. The microbrew wasn’t as crisp as I was expecting. It was smooth and felt more like I was drinking a juice than microbrew but that didn’t stop me from drinking the entire glass and contemplating a second.

My taste buds were satisfied, but my stomach wasn’t. The food on the menu sounded delicious. I could have eaten just about anything. The salads seemed to call to me, as I haven’t had a decent one in months. But to start I ordered a cup of the French onion soup. I am a big fan of French Onion soup mainly for the Provolone cheese. It was cheesy but I would have liked to see more.

Then came my salad. It had green beans, bib lettuce, blue cheese, almonds and a wine vinaigrette dressing. Delish. But I wasn’t fully satisfied as the waiter asked about dessert. My stomach was saying no but my taste buds egged me on. After the Chocolate Thunder arrived, I knew I was in cake heaven. It was a triple layer chocolate cake that I struggled to finish.

Overall, the Marietta Brewing Company not only offered handcrafted and tasty beers but a hearty meal. Evidence of their brewing machines act not only as decoration but demonstrate their prized skill: brewing beer.

Clay Haus

by Samantha Pirc,

At the Clay Haus in Somerset, Ohio, German favorites are served up alongside typical American cuisine, all with a side of history.

Owner Betty Snider named the restaurant after her father, Irwin Priest Clay, and as a tribute to her husband’s Pennsylvanian Dutch heritage that is also deeply ingrained in the area. Her son Scott now manages the Clay Haus, which specializes in typical German fare like Bratwurst and Sauerbraten with cabbage, while serving more traditional American meals given a German-esque twist such as their “Dermeister-Burger” or “Der Meisterham”(the master burger and ham, respectively). German style potato salad and the Reuben sandwich are popular favorites says Scott, and the Sunday brunch buffet is always packed. Another dish, the corned beef, is both cooked and sliced on site, giving it more of a home-style flavor unique to the restaurant. More of a dessert man, Scott recommends any of the homemade pies to finish off a meal. After working at the family-run restaurant since 1979, he claims confidently, and with a laugh, that of all the dishes served, “Everything’s good.”

Almost as intriguing as the menu is the Clay Haus building and the history that surrounds it. The restaurant is located in a 19^th century home, with the original deed of sale proudly displayed on the wall. Unlike many old homes, where the line of ownership is lost along the years, the Snider family can trace back the Somerset residents who called the building home from the original sale in 1812 to their purchasing of the building in 1978. Artifacts discovered during the renovations made by the Snider family are proudly displayed for patrons viewing along with other antiques, making the restaurant a destination for diners and history buffs alike.

The basement, which is now the Tavern room, tells a story about the history of both the town and the building. It contains full-sized windows and doors that open up to a solid wall of foundation brick and stones. Long ago the room opened directly onto street, but as the street was built up with paving bricks the outside entrance had to bricked up as well to level off the road. The Tavern, like the rest of the restaurant, is decorated with Pennsylvanian Dutch antiques, painting and memorabilia, giving the entire place a warm old-world feel.

The warm feeling of the restaurant sharply contrasts with the spooky chill that diners can sometimes get. The Clay Haus has numerous documentations of unseen visitors and bumps late at night that the Snider family has gotten used to over the years. Scott explains that the building has more of a presence than a haunting, and that as he has aged and spent more time at the Clay Haus the spooky feelings have lessened.

The restaurant was featured in "Ghost Hunter's Guide to Haunted Ohio," by Chris Woodward, and Scott says that although he has definitely felt a presence numerous times, the only time he has actually seen a ghost was the day Woodward came for an interview. He describes being in the kitchen and seeing a small girl in frumpy cloth smiling and waving furiously at him. When he stepped to the side to get a better look the girl was gone. “It was like she wanted me to see her,” says Scott.

Like the little girl waving to Scott in the kitchen, any spirits that may occupy the restaurant have always been described as friendly, so diners should not let butterflies in their stomach overcome the hunger that Clay Haus can satisfy. The potential of sharing a meal with an unseen guest in the historic atmosphere is worth it, especially when the meal is full of the delicious home-style cooking and fresh-from-the-oven pies served up daily at the Clay Haus.

For more information, including a full menu, check out www.clayhaus.com

Etta's Lunchbox Cafe

by Jessica Will

Etta’s Lunchbox Café combines my two favorite things: homemade food and random collectibles. While food is an obvious love for many people, my love of collectables is personal. I have collected everything from decorative socks to beanie babies, so when I found a restaurant with a massive collection of lunchboxes I had to visit and of course I had to drag my boyfriend along. So we hooked up the GPS and put in the coordinates for Etta’s Lunchbox Café. Located on State Route 56 between New Plymouth and Starr, Etta’s is in a remote area surrounded by residential housing and farms. Even though we were the only car in the gravel parking lot and neither one of us had cell phone service we bravely ventured into Etta’s.

Etta’s is located inside an old but still functioning general store. The outside of the one-story building is brick with a fenced in part of the land filled with llamas and a wandering rooster patrolling the front door. Avoiding the rooster we walked through the front door and were warmly greeted by, Tim, the gracious host. We had our choice of tables since we were the only people in the place. We picked a tall table and took in our surroundings while waiting for Tim to grab menus for us.

The inside of the building is divided into three distinct areas. The front of the building is the general store complete with various items a gas station would have like batteries, chips and band-aids. All the tables are located in this part of the building as well. Etta’s kitchen is located up a few stairs in the back while the lunchbox museum is located in a separate room with the entrance next to the sliding-door drink coolers.

Tim came back with menus containing “fresh, wholesome and nutritional meals.” The menu included sandwiches, subs and home-made pizzas. There was traditional fare like Philly steak, pizza sub and grilled cheese, but there were also non-traditional items like the Hobo Ham Steak, a one-inch thick bologna sautéed in onion. Every sandwich came with chips and a pickle. I ordered the meatball sub containing home-made meatballs, marinara and cheese. My boyfriend ordered the Etta Club- honey ham, smoked turkey, bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo.

After he took our orders, Tim told us to look around the place and browse the lunchbox museum. The room was lined from floor to ceilings with hundreds of vintage food containers and various vintage children’s toys. The lunchboxes ranged from traditional plaid hard-cased boxes with matching thermoses to popular television shows throughout the decades. I immediately found my childhood lunchbox- My Little Pony while my boyfriend discovered his long-lost G.I. Joe lunchbox. Tim found us amidst the lunchboxes to tell us our food was ready at our table.

My meatball sub was delicious. Two large home-made meatballs and overflowing marina and melted cheese, it was a little messy but still absolutely delightful. My boyfriend devoured his Etta Club. Although we were both satisfyingly full I like to push the limits of my stomach so I ordered a slice of apple pie- a la mode. I ordered it with plain vanilla ice cream but Tim suggested maple cinnamon walnut ice cream instead. I took his advice- the name alone made my mouth water.

The combination of warm apple pie and the complimentary maple cinnamon walnut ice cream was heavenly. I cleaned my plate and was very tempted to lick it since it was such a delectable dessert.

Shortly after we paid our bill, $18 for two drinks, two sandwich meals and pie. We left full and went into a food coma to nap off our meals.