Eating My Way Through Findlay Market

Cincinnati Food Tours

I believe the best way to get to know a city is through it's food. So when I visited Findlay Market this weekend, I was shown the soul of the Queen City. Cincinnati Food Tours is the brain child of Barb Cooper, who is also a proud owner of Daisy Mae's Market where you can find beautiful fresh produce. Finding herself as a constant adviser to patrons asking for the best places to get a bowl of soup and other desired fare at the market or the Over The Rhine area, she decided to start Cincinnati Food Tours. She currently offers two tours: The Taste The World Findlay Market Tour and The Over The Rhine Walking Tour. Today I am going to cover my Findlay Market Tour experience. The tour is a great way to familiarize yourself with the market and gives you the opportunity to get the inside scoop on the businesses that make up the Findlay Market community. You could do the tour every weekend of a month and get a different experience each time because she alternates the 16 vendors she works with.

Running late, I arrived at almost three o'clock on the dot. I saw a group of people surrounding a very familiar little lady wearing her trade mark fruit covered hat. Previous to the tour I stalked the tour instagram page for months. I followed the business through the website and TripAdvisor for over a year. We were all given lanyards with tags that read Cincinnati Food Tours, a map of the market with the destinations circled and drink tickets for wine or beer for the end of the tour.

Fresh Table

After some history about the building structure, we headed to the first destination. We were greeted by Meredith, an owner and chef of the Fresh Table. She was wearing a green jacket that was customized with beautiful hand painted pumpkins and hand sewn embellishments. Attached to the back of her jacket was a tied up box, once untied it revealed a tray of faux miniature versions of her culinary creations. This is the kind of chef I would expect to make a non-pumpkin fan appreciate a salad made with pumpkin!  We were served a pumpkin and fig salad with swiss chard, chili pepper and feta cheese. It was the perfect fall salad with bursts of flavor from the fig and chili pepper. Fresh Table offers fresh soups and salads made with organic local ingredients. The dishes are well thought out using interesting flavor combinations. They also offer custom catering. The menu changes often so once you find something you love, you may find that it has been briefly retired the next time you are in the mood for it. Don't fret, there will probably be something just as delicious to replace it.

Dean's Mediterranean Imports

The second stop was  Dean's Mediterranean Imports where we met Kate; the second generation learning the ropes to take over the shop for her father, Dean Zaidan. She emphasized the importance of quality when it comes to what they import. They put much thought into where to purchase the best products for their customers like their dried dates and figs. Then there are a lot of items made from scratch in house like three yogurt options and their hummus. Their amazing nuts are also roasted on site and tossed in delicious seasoning combinations including herbs like rosemary and various ground peppers for those who like things a little spicy. For our sample we were treated to a small spread much like we would experience if we were guests in the Zaidan family home. We enjoyed a selection of flavored cashews, dried figs, dates and apricots and for the main course there was a tray full of falafel sandwiches.  Though I enjoyed it all, my favorite thing were the cashews.The family has been a part of the Findlay Market community since the 70s and are among some of the longest remaining residents of the market.

Churchill's Fine Teas

Our third destination was Churchill's Fine Teas where Jerry served us a very refreshing Exotic Fig Oolong tea. The tea was so flavorful, I saw no need for sugar. Churchill's specializes in loose leaf teas that have been hand picked. They carry 265 varieties of tea and all of the teas are made with natural ingredients. There's are no artificial flavors. If you select a flavor with fruit in the description like Lemon Mango Punch, expect to find those fruits in dried form mixed into the tea leaves. Because it is fall, the current popular flavor is Pumpkin Spice but if that doesn't strike your fancy, there is a whole wall categorized by tea types. Whether you have a preference for green tea, white tea or black tea; they have it all. From there you can select a flavor. The wall presents the opportunity to smell the teas you may be interested in. "If it smells good to you, it will taste good to you,"  says Jerry.

Maverick Chocolate 

Stop number four was Maverick Chocolate Co. I was truly excited about this stop and so were the other participants on the tour. We lined up and cheerfully inhaled the fragrance of chocolate permeating through the air while we listened to the history of the Maverick Chocolate brand. The chocolate is created in the small onsite chocolate factory from the roasting of the cocoa beans to the final product. I can't help wondering if it's because they can only produce small batches at a time, that the chocolates taste of perfection. They also pride themselves with only working with small farmers who have great labor practices. That social responsibility is to be admired, as should the product they produce. We got to select four of the flavors to taste. Naughty me! I will admit, I may have tried a couple more than that. My favorite flavor was Fahrenheit 513, which they recently received a Good Food Award for. The best news is,  Maverick Chocolate brand produces gluten, soy and nut free chocolate, so everyone who loves chocolate can enjoy the treat without worry.

Taste of Belgium

The final stop was a brand I was slightly familiar with because there is a location in the North Market in Columbus. What I did not know was that Taste of Belgium got its roots at Findlay Market. The waffles are baked one at a time in a special cast iron waffle maker . The recipe is an improved take on a family recipe that has been passed down for generations. No syrup needed! The waffle has sugar built into the thick batter. They serve both sweet and savory items on the menu, such as waffle sandwiches and crepes. At North Market in Columbus and their other Cincinnati locations, they offer a take on chicken and waffles that sounds amazing. For our sample we got to taste a seasonal waffle made with apple and cinnamon. It was quite delicious. I left this stop feeling like I needed to add Taste of Belgium to my to do list once back in Columbus.

 Those of us who upgraded our tickets to include beer or wine, ended our tour at Market Wines. I ordered a glass of white wine and digested all of the great samples I got to try. I really enjoyed the tour but it left me wanting to explore more of the market. The vendors the tour exposed me to were so awesome that I wondered about the many vendors I did not get to check out. I thought Barb, our guide was very informative as well. She knew a lot about the history of the market and the Over The Rhine District. She also made me curious about the Over The Rhine walking tour. I see a return trip in the near future.

until next time,
Be blessed! Be free! Be adventurous!
Kris,