We took another step in what is becoming an increasing passion of mine: stepping out of the industrial food chain. Yesterday we checked out Thurn's Specialty Meats in Columbus. I'd heard a lot about them, from Edible Columbus to Facebook, but since they're only open three days a week (the rest of the time they are doing their own smoking and prep work) we hadn't been able to get there until yesterday. We weren't disappointed. Their business of smoking and curing meats and cheese has been in the family for well over a hundred years, and perhaps their customer service has something to do with it (although we haven't tried the bacon yet -- heard it's fantastic. Waiting for Sunday morning breakfast!). We were greeted with a welcoming smile as soon as we walked into the smoky sweet semi-darkness and surveyed the counter full of more different kinds of pork than you'll ever see in a chain grocery store . . . I had no idea there are so many varieties of sausage but I can't wait to try them all! Mr. Thurn fed us samples while cutting our order and talking about our recent move to the Columbus area. In what I consider a charming disconnect from modernity, our meats and cheeses are packaged in white paper with one of him being a tally of our order since they don't have a cash register. He even slipped the newest copy of Edible into the bag for me as we were leaving.
Last weekend we went to historic North Market in Columbus and got food for the most delicious
dinner we'd had in months, also from local businesses.
I am fascinated by the sadness of how a neighborhood shop can seem old-fashioned in our big-store shopping mentality, but I'm also very very glad to know that there are still century old businesses serving the same communities, and knowing their customers by name.
There is hope for us. :)
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