At Katalina’s, local sourcing and inventive dishes lure patrons
Katalina’s pancake balls have become the stuff of legends.
And their unmitigated popularity continues at the second Katalina’s — which opened in June 2019 in Clintonville — “right in time for COVID,” joked founder, owner and chef de cuisine Kathleen Day.
The base for the pancakes ($13.50 for seven) is made with a special mix from Fowler’s Mill flour.
Customers can choose their own filling — Nutella, dulce de leche or homemade apple butter — for the pancakes, which are served with local maple syrup and either sweet-and-spicy bacon or traditional bacon on the side. Vegetarian sausage also is available.
Day said she never stops her intensive research and development, which led to a new item, the “Loaded Latinleaning” okonomiyaki ($13.50), a Japanese-style savory pancake, which takes its cue from global influences.
“It’s my favorite new item,” Day said, adding that the pancake is made with traditional okonomiyaki flour, which is difficult to find but she wouldn’t disclose
the source.
And Day likes a little mystery behind her menu. She said she’s steadfast in her commitment to organic, locally sourced ingredients, scratch-made dishes and humanely raised meats and poultry.
Yet, she acknowledges there are some things that are just not possible to find in the region.
One of her “Southern-slanted” sandwiches, the vegan pepper patty melt ($16), uses a homemade pepper-andonion butter slathered on sourdough, which is grilled and stacked with vegan cheese, Impossible meat substitute and dairy-free Sriracha mayo.
The vegan meat substitute is not made in-house, she laments, but the quality is unmistakable.
“Veganism has really come up,” and so has the quality of vegan ingredients, “and I just think it tastes so good,” she said.
Day opened her first location in a reconstituted gas station in January 2010 in Harrison West. She says the restaurant appeals to guests.
“I think they like the quirky atmosphere,” she said. “I think it’s a reflection of me.”
The Southern-fried buttermilk chicken sandwich ($14.50) is another offering layered with flavor. The chicken is dredged in flour and smashed chips from Ohio-based Shagbark Seed & Mill, which gives the poultry a good rugged texture, Day said.
It’s served on ciabatta bread with heirloom tomatoes, peach-habanero jam from Cooper’s Mill & Market in Bucyrus and corn-cabbage slaw.
(Shagbark chips are served with some sandwiches and not others, depending on the cost of the individual item.)
The complex chorizo breakfast tacos ($13.50 for three), also new to the menu, use locally made Koki’s Tortillas filled with a chorizo mixed with a proprietary blend of seasonings from North Market Spices, fresh corn, roasted purple potatoes, red onions, tomatillos and Mexican crema from Snowville Creamery.
The dish is served with Mexican street corn rolled in cotija and Parmesan cheeses, fresh cilantro and the Sriracha-citrus aioli.
“I guess I make what I like,” Day said. “The chorizo is really cool because I never made chorizo before I opened the restaurant but I learned. I had a Latin employee who showed me how to do it, so I think it’s really original.”