It is 10:05 AM on Monday, March 10th. Daylight savings occurred yesterday so the time is later than it feels. It is a workday but since I’m on the West Coast team I have plenty of free time in the morning before work picks up.
I’ve taken my steam shower and am now at Stauf’s for a coffee and a post. Unlike the weekends there were plenty of tables inside, and next to the window too. I sat down in one but prefer to be outside where I can hear the robins but unfortunately cars as well. The temperature says 43 degrees but as I’m directly in the sun it feels like one of the nicer days in Pacifica and I don’t even need my jacket. I’m the only one sitting outside.
Stauf’s is bustling as usual and I wonder what type of work everyone does that is sitting inside. Nobody appears to be a student and to me, everyone is a stranger. Again, that is a reminder of ow much everything changes. Just about everyone I knew in my childhood has moved away and it is a reminder that I’m ‘older.’ I am still very uncomfortable with calling myself ‘old,’ and remain shocked to think I’m almost 50. The one comfort is that I’m very glad I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s. Those were wonderful times and the world just seems completely unhinged these days.
As for change, I’ve been disappointed with the food, except for the always reliable Donato’s pizza.
Here is why:
Panzera’s Pizza
This is a mainstay, a Grandview pillar and a food I always want to have when visiting Grandview. This is the pizza we used to eat on occasion in my childhood in the 1980s while watching Knight Rider and Dukes of Hazard. Therefore, there it is the nostalgia as well as taste that always made it a must-have for me when in town.
We ordered it two nights ago and I was severely disappointed. It isn’t nearly as good as it used to be. The cheese as well as sauce was lacking and it had no taste. When I think of Panzera’s I’m thinking cheese, plenty of oregano and grease just in the perfect amount. I learned that I’m not the only one who has noticed as the decline in quality is the word on the street. That’s so sad. Given the nostalgia I’ll give it one more try the next time I’m home. It is like a piece of my childhood so I’m really rooting for the place and hope it improves.
Rooster’s
I was devastated to learn that Rooster’s on Olentangy River road, near Ohio State has closed. Again, nostalgia is a big part of my fondness for the place. I’d go here as a student at OSU with some of my old high school buddies and can still picture those times in my mind. However, I remembered there is another Rooster’s on the west side that I would have gone to as a senior in high school but it is the Olentangy location that really stands out.
One story is when I was with three of my high school buddies, and one female high school classmate about three years or so after we had graduated. It came as a big surprise to learn that one buddy was engaged to that female classmate! He went to show one of my other buddies the engagement ring and at that exact moment an acquaintance who happened to be at the restaurant tapped my buddy on the shoulder. He turned around and didn’t realize that the other buddy was trying to show him the ring on his fiancee’s finger and left him hanging there. I could see the anger immediately in my buddy’s face and am sure that remains a sore spot to this day.
Anyway, I’d always go to Rooster’s on Olentangy at least once, order to much and feel a bit ill from all the grease. The wings were large, good, but won’t be as missed as Panzera’s pizza. I suppose we could go to the location on the west side but that part of town has really gone downhill and any nostalgic memories aren’t enough to motivate me to go there.
Buffalo Wild Wings (BW3)
I do like to get wings when here and a Buffalo Wild Wings opened up many years ago here in Grandview. My nephew is really into basketball and as I like to spend a lot of time with him when here we decided to do lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings so I could have my wing fix and he could watch basketball. It was a guy’s lunch as my Dad joined but my brother in-law is currently in German for work so it was just the three of us.
At this place my disappointment was the size of the wings which were very small! However, my sister reminded me that there is a bird flu pandemic so I may have to give the restaurant a pass and like Panzera’s, try again the next time I’m in town.
As I mentioned, I also had Donato’s and that was reliably good.
Damon’s
I should give Damon’s a shout out as this was another restaurant near and dear to my heart. Unfortunately, I’ve learned that it closed some years ago. It wasn’t the food that brought me to Damon’s but trivia with my friend Ron Reece when we were students at OSU. I’d order a beer and he a merlot. We’d grab one of the trivia boxes and take pride in usually beating everyone else in the restaurant, even large groups. Furthermore, our waitress was very attractive and we both still remember her name – Angela. I wonder what Angela is up to these days and I think she may even remember us as we were pretty regular. Ron was a bio-chemical engineering major, I think, and so our screen name was Diazepham (spelling?). Leave it to college kids to choose a name like that.
Since I’m in town while OSU is in session, I may go there tomorrow for a morning walk through and then settle down to work in a coffee shop. Like Damon’s my favorite coffee place is also closed. It was called Arabica on Neil Avenue and I studied a lot there. I tried looking it up on Google Maps but it is no longer and I had a bit of trouble trying to see what it became – a breakfast place I think.
Also, in watching college basketball I’m really taken aback when I realize all those players and fans are around 20 years gold. They weren’t even born yet when I attended OSU. This life truly is very short and so it is important to make the most of it. I think about how many in our society spend the majority of their lives thinking about work and making money. I think about how I looked up to important business people and was impressed by top companies I was exposed to at business school.
At 48, I’m perfectly content not having business run my life and much prefer having a coffee at Stauf’s, listening to the robins and reminiscing about the past. Life goes to quickly.
And with that, I’m headed to the Grandview library which to me, is one of the best libraries in the world! I noticed they have little enclosed pods which would be perfect for the four Teams meetings I have this afternoon. I’ll stop by and ask them if it is conducive to those types of meetings since you’re not supposed to speak in the library. If so, that is how I’ll spend my afternoon. Between meetings I’ll be able to read those magazines I no longer subscribe to – The Economist and New Yorker.
