Friday Food Bites: Coast Wine House opening Gene’s, Homestead acquires Heart State, Maple Street expands

There’s always a lot happening in the Columbus restaurant world! Here’s the latest:

• Last week baker Sarah Black, formerly of Flowers & Bread in Clintonville, passed away at age 69. I had the opportunity to work with her a few times when she moved to the area from New York in 2015, through Flowers & Bread and a few travel writers events I coordinated. She was always so kind and welcoming, and a very talented baker. You can read more about her in my Food News column for Columbus Monthly yesterday.
• Coast Wine House in Dublin announced this week that it’s adding its own restaurant nearby called Gene’s at 91 S. High St.
• Hank’s Seafood out of Charleston, South Carolina announced that it’s opening a location this spring downtown at Gay and High Streets, called Hank’s Lowcountry Seafood & Raw Bar.
• The owners of Weiland’s Market in Clintonville also shared this week that they’re retiring on April 1 and handing over the reins to two long-time employees.
• Last week Budd Dairy Food Hall announced that Zaki Mediterranean Grill is the next tenant for its Hatch incubator space, and this week they shared that Marlow’s Cheesesteaks will take over the permanent stall recently vacated by Alphabetical Comfort Kitchen.
• Maple Street Biscuits opens its third central Ohio location at 9711 Sawmill Pkwy. in Powell on Monday, Feb. 26. This joins their locations at Polaris and in Worthington that opened last year.
• Homestead Beer Co. announced this week that it has acquired Heart State Brewing and will be taking over its production facility at 750 Cross Pointe Rd. in Gahanna. Homestead said they’ll convert the Gahanna space into a restaurant and taproom, while eventually selling their original taproom in Heath. (You can see their taproom in Let’s Go To Licking County.)
• Speaking of breweries, another new brewery is on the way to Columbus: Dafuque Beer. An exact location and opening hasn’t been announced yet.
• The Columbus Winter Wine Festival returns for the first time since 2020 this Saturday, Feb. 24 at Brewmaster’s Gate in the Brewery District.
• And Souper Heroes returns this Saturday, Feb. 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Worthington Farmers Market. The event involves volunteers who bring a crockpot of their favorite soup. Guests can then sample the soups and donate to support the Worthington Resource Pantry. Find the sign-up form to participate here.

This week I’m also writing:

• Columbus, Meet Your Newest Diner: Jenny’s Diner in Clintonville
• Main Moon Chinese Restaurant in Linworth is a Family Favorite
• Fyr Named in USA Today’s Top Restaurants List; Tucci’s Debuts Patio Renovation (Columbus Monthly)
• Tacos, Tortas, and Margaritas in a Vintage Setting at El Camino Inn
• Renowned Baker Sarah Black Dies; Weiland’s Market Changing Hands (Columbus Monthly)

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