Vending-style fare drops in Dublin this weekend with Getaway Brewing
Happy Thanksgiving!
Or, well, Happy Thanksgiving? Because while this nationally sanctioned time of leisure and premeditated gluttony seems perfectly designed to make Americans happy, the reality of a holiday anchored to an elaborate meal can present issues.
For example, maybe you know people like I know (no names!), who are likely to ask a question along the lines of: “When is that turkey going to be ready?”
Another potential path of interrogation: “Do we have to wait until every side dish is finished and every guest arrives to eat? Because I think the turkey is getting dry.”
Even if your crew eschews such indelicacies, at some point during the long day of overeating, drinking, opinionairing, mess-making and inescapable waiting around, you still might experience something best summed up by that Southwest Airlines tagline: “Wanna get away?”
If so, after gutting it out on Thanksgiving (literally and figuratively), the aptly named Getaway Brewing Co. in Dublin can treat post-holiday moods with an upbeat atmosphere and highgrade foods that require zero cooking or waiting. See, Getaway Brewing (it’ll be open the Friday after Thanksgiving) has installed a vending machine brilliantly packed with fancy cheeses, charcuterie and other terrific snacks.
Said refrigerated case awaits near the entrance of this newest member of the beer-making family descended from Seventh Son Brewing and related to Antiques on High. Getaway goes its own way, though, with a vacation theme expressed in central European-leaning beer styles and transporting decor that stars a diorama encapsulating “wanna get away” in a mammoth lightbox sculpture of a jet ascending above a Grandcanyon-esque landscape.
That stunner and starkly lit, miniature models of mountainous, aquatic and desert topographies amusingly framed by jet-cabin windows (surrounded by safari-evoking wallpaper) are works by local artist Will Fugman. They bring Wes Anderson-style whimsy to this spacious, handsome and festive establishment with copious plants, light-colored wood, fireplaces and personable servers.
While ordering beverages from the bar — such as Getaway’s crisp but balanced and versatile Czech-style pilsner (So Boho, $6) or a four-sample Getaway flight ($12), or refined cocktails such as In The Cut (a rich and effectively citruskissed Old Fashioned riff, $11) and the Mai Tai-like Hai Tai’d ($9) — you can receive plates and cutlery for vendingmachine delicacies.
Plenty of boutique Ohio products will be available in sizable servings, such as tangy, addictive and spreadable chevre (goat cheese, $14) from Hiram-based Mackenzie Creamery, and nuggets of Fool’s Gold — a cave-aged tomme cheese, from Alexandria- and Columbus-based Black Radish Creamery ($8), that resembles venerated, crystalflecked Parmesan.
The simpler but lovable, small-batch cheddar curds from Black Radish ($6) make soothing and compatible partners for two excellent, chile-enhanced hard salamis packaged in hefty cylinders by Columbus’ North Country Charcuterie: Rojizo ($12) — a Spanish-style chorizo with nuanced oomph; and Lupo ($12) — a dark and dense triumph flavored with mole seasonings and Wolf ’s Ridge Brewery stout.
Premium canned seafood is prized in culinary hot spots such as Barcelona, Spain. The esteemed olive-oil-packed
Ortiz brand tuna from Spain ($10) that Getaway offers is correspondingly leagues beyond that Starkist stuff (sorry, Charlie). The same $10 buys something even more special: delicious, plump mussels, from Ortiz-owned Ria de Arosa, swamped in a chuggable, vinegar-and-paprika-spiked escabeche sauce.
Such treats are nicely accompanied by the crispy, twisty and flavorful Parmesan garlic breadsticks from Weed Knob, a Westerville company. Just want something fun to munch on its own? Weed Knob’s Savory Snack Mix ($7) is a zesty, buttery and superior version of Chex Mix.
Sweets-wise, the Sea Salted Dark Chocolate Crunch Bar (from Cincinnati’s Hen of the Woods) is like a Nestle’s Crunch upgraded with better chocolate and potato chips. It’s fairly pricey ($8), but goes great with Getaway’s Ash Cave schwarzbier ($6), and requires no waiting around or capitulations to dinnertime or family dramas.
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