[quote="Columbus Alive"]

Black Creek Green
by G.A. Benton

WILL SHILLING PHOTO
During my initial visit to Black Creek Bistro, I spied a guy toting a woven basket of unwrapped farm-fresh produce back to the kitchen—a glowing, positive sign. Through repeated meals here, I've come to find that the veggie bearer was Kent Peters, the bistro's proprietor and owner of the farm that grew said produce.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Black Creek Bistro is a DIY-manifesto kind of place, but in a good way. As lengthily explained on its menu, the restaurant is fighting the good fight of sustainability. So it supplies all it can from its own farmland and otherwise goes as local as possible.

Black Creek's "green" commitment extends to reclaiming cooking oils for its vegetable-fat-powered farm trucks and composting food scraps. This emphasis on community seems truly genuine—even the eclectic art for sale on the bistro's walls (no finder's fees) comes from the nearby Chop Chop Gallery.

As a result, the go-your-own-way mood of Black Creek seems more Yellow Springs or Napa Valley than urban East Side Columbus (it sits on Parsons Avenue, recycling the Elemental site).

Blond wood, black tables, simple white walls and tablecloths blend with that aforementioned punchy art to lend a casual but stylish, modern vibe—and a super-friendly waitstaff is another plus. In short, this is the kind of heart-in-its-right-place establishment you want to support.

Fortunately, Black Creek's rapidly changing, always-seasonal menu mostly holds up its end of the bargain. And when a few dishes don't perfectly succeed, they're near misses erring on the sides of freshness and panache.

Soup-wise, a terrific gazpacho ($5) was elegant in its simplicity. Presented in a contrasting half-and-half style, spicy-hot tomato puree played yin to melony-sweet cucumber's cool yang. On another day, toasted orzo soup was more fresh veggies than pasta; it was nice enough, if over-salted.

A successful Trio of Hummus appetizer ($6) was able to reawaken the appeal of this now-ubiquitous bean dip. Resembling scoops of bright sorbets, the flavors were: beet, with a fine earthy sweetness; creamsicle-colored carrot; and basic hummus given a surprising and welcome burst of horseradish.

From the small plates, a grayish roll of pickly Hawaiian spearfish ($13) was OK but maybe better in conception than execution, with its mandarin orange segments and dry chow mein noodles.

An artfully presented Asian Marinated Tofu ($11) was quite nice—three unlarge wedges were given a crispy pan-fry on one side and coated in a winning (if expected) soy/sesame mix; they sat next to a fresh Napa cabbage slaw.

Black Creek Bistro

53 Parsons Ave., Olde Towne East

614-246-9662

Web: blackcreekbistro.com
One entrŽe special I wish would make its boldly delicious way onto the permanent list is a thick, lean, juicy pork loin ($18) with a chipotle-based rub and Dijon mustard wine sauce. The bacony, smoky pork was able to hold its own against potent coffee and chocolate notes nicely vying with mustardy tones. Somehow it all worked, ably mediated by simple crisp green beans with buttery herbs plus a neat garnish of house pickles and radishes.

A perfectly medium rare, tender and char-crusted Steak Duo of prime top sirloin ($24) alas arrived too cool to melt its solid toppings of red wine butter scoops—even though sides of refreshing zucchini sticks and caramelized onion al dente risotto were plenty warm.

And on another evening, both a chicken entrŽe (with a lovely piquant green salsa, $17) and a fish special (blackened fresh lane snapper, $18) came out with attractively crispy textures and zingy good flavors, but seemed to achieve them at the cost of a little interior moisture. So kitchen timing and consistency could be tightened up a bit. But it's by no means a deal-breaker.

Not with these racy flavors, wonderful wine prices (state minimum plus a $7 corkage fee), swingin' salads (try the garlicky Caesar, beet-rich Bistro or multidimensional Smoked Duck) and housemade desserts.

Speaking of which, a misnamed goat cheese custard—it was basically cheesecake—was great with its creamy texture, lemony essence, beautiful presentation and witty play on cheese and crackers (an aromatic pink peppercorn shortbread plank leaning against a cheesecake cylinder).

I also wanted to try a highly recommended Sweet Corn Crme Brulee, but it was sold out on a busy Saturday night. Being a (cheap wine) glass-half-full type, this only gave me one more reason to get back to Black Creek Bistro. See you there.

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