Harvest takes fresh approach to south of Downtown
Specialty pizzas, locally sourced ingredients and a little culinary pizzazz always have been the foundation of Harvest Pizzerias.
Although its parent company, locally based Grow Restaurants, has shed a few concepts over the years, the company has added a location — Harvest Pizzeria Bar + Kitchen — south of Downtown, which is the subject of this analysis. (Other stores are located in Bexley, Clintonville and Dublin.)
John Franke, culinary director for the company, said the Margherita Pizza ($14.50) is a good example of a well-assembled pie, all of which are 12 inches.
The homemade crust is layered with an original sauce using crushed tomatoes, mozzarella that is mashed into a spreadable cheese with a little cream added, fresh basil, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a dash of salt to enliven the flavors.
“It’s really super simple but it’s tasty,” Franke said. “It’s one of those things people can relate to when they’re looking for a simple pizza.”
Chipotle flake is added to the tomato sauce in the “Spicy Yuma” ($18), which also has house-blended chorizo. Using a blend of havarti and gouda cheeses, the pizza also offers provolone and mozzarella, roasted red peppers, corn, jalapeno and fresh micro cilantro.
“It’s a little Southwestern with a Latin flavor to it,” Franke said.
Build-your-own options also are available.
The restaurant recently switched to bison for its Harvest Burger ($15), a 6-ounce patty gussied up with roasted garlic aioli, tomato jam, Gruyere cheese, buttermilk onion straws and arugula.
“We wanted to have a unique twist on the Harvest Burger and we all liked it and enjoyed the taste,” he said of the bison. “It’s more rich; it has a touch more flavor to it.”
A Classic Beef Burger with all of the traditional garnishes plus cherry-wood smoked bacon also is on the menu for $14.
Both are served with split fried fingerling potatoes.
Harvest long has been known to
offer quality vegetarian sides.
Brussels Sprouts ($9), for example, are both oven-roasted and cast-iron cooked to a fork-tender consistency, and served with a pungent cheesecream sauce, toasted breadcrumbs and spiced honey.
Broccoli ($8.50) is both blanched in hot water and grilled for a nice char, and accented with roasted Italian sweet peppers and Spanish romesco sauce. The plate gets a dash of sweet-andspicy togarashi spice mix.
Keeping up with fresh ingredients is something for which Harvest also is known.
“We change, obviously, a handful of menu items every season,” Franke said, “to reflect what’s available that time of year.”
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Hours: 4 to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 4 to 10 p.m. Fridays, 3 to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 3 to 9 p.m. Sundays
Contact: 614-947-7950, www. harvestpizzeria.com