Lumin Skybar gives contemporary fare a new twist
Lumin Skybar and Kitchen offers a rooftop patio with a sweeping vista of the Downtown skyline and serves mostly small, reinvented plates of food.
Chef Kris Dixon, also the kitchen manager, said he likes to mix and match ingredients, turning traditional plates into his own.
“That’s one thing, I’m really twisting the ingredients,” Dixon said. “Why get something you can get everywhere else? You’ve got to get it here.”
Lumin is located at the AC Hotel by Marriott Columbus Downtown. Dixon, formerly of the Bravo Italian Kitchen team, said he built the plates to pair well with drinks at the lounge.
The crispy calamari plate ($15) offers a look into Dixon’s unconventional cooking style.
The rice flour-dusted calamari is flash-fried and drizzled with chorizo oil. The pork meat is actually cooked in the oil for hours and then pulsed in the food processor until the texture is almost smooth.
The plate is accompanied by balsamic-pickled shishito peppers and lemon aioli.
“It makes the taste pop, really, and has great flavors for sure,” Dixon said.
The shrimp ceviche ($18) uses an overnight marinating process but the crustaceans are briefly sauteed to tighten the texture.
Dixon cuts the shrimp into small pieces and mixes them with small-cut onions, heirloom tomatoes and avocado, which get a last-minute spritz of lime and lemon juice and a dash of citrus zest. It’s served with fried naan.
Dixon said true ceviche takes at least two days to marinate. His way is faster and just as satisfying, he said.
“I really wanted the shrimp to be the center of the ceviche,” he said.
The meatballs Catalonias ($13), a blend of pork and beef, are braised in a liquid with Moroccan seasonings: coriander, cumin, cinnamon and smoked paprika, to name a few. They’re dunked in a contemporary romesco-style tomato sauce that gets an infusion of mayo for creaminess.
Grated manchego adds the finishing touch to the dish.
“Our guests here love the meatballs,” he said. “They can really taste the Moroccan spices in there.”
Hummus ($13) is made with chickpeas, roasted garlic and harissa, a North African red pepper paste. Adding to the depth of flavor is manchego, sour cream and cream cheese to make it extrasmooth for dipping.
The chicken shawarma flatbread ($12) uses poultry that is vigorously seasoned with Middle Eastern spices and cooked in a special roasted oven that cooks the chicken at 230 degrees and holds it at lower temperature when finished.
Manchego cheese lines the flatbread while honey-and-mint-infused yogurt, fresh jalapenos, olives and shredded chicken are layered on top.
An old tavern classic, deviled eggs ($10), gets a modern makeover as the hardened yolks are whipped with mayo, harissa, tahini paste, Greek olive juice and candied bacon and smoked paprika, and given a dash of fresh parsley upon service.
The serving is five halved hardboiled eggs.
“It turns out to be filling,” Dixon said. “It’s a really shareable item.”