Zoe Manoukian, ’17
Students should be sure to eat at Lane Ave’s upcoming Northstar
If you ever feel hungry, look to the Northstar. Not the one in the sky, but rather the urban cafe owned by Kevin Malhame. The cuisine is casual as well as locally produced, and the menu has a variety of all natural sandwiches, wraps, burritos, and salads. The restaurant is open daily from 9 am -10 pm, and has three locations in Ohio: Short North, Beechwold, and Easton. But as recently announced, a Northstar will open on Lane Ave within the next two years. Many of the lower classmen will have their driver’s licence by then, and may consider eating there for lunch.
If students do eat there, they may wonder what to order. For a more ethnic route, consider the Thai Burrito. Imagine what the cross between Thai and Mexican food would be, and you have imagined the Thai Burrito. In the burrito, a warm tortilla enwraps chicken, carrots and rice, seasoned with Peanut Dipping sauce, then served with a side of chips and salsa. While a burrito-ized Thai meal with chips and salsa isn’t exactly authentic, the meal fuses together authentic aspects from both cultures, making for an even greater creation. Quality wise, only fresh and flavorful carrots were served, the warmest and softest rice nestles between the veggies and the meat, and the chefs cooked the chicken to perfection. After a mouthful of sweet and savory Thai, a small explosion of salsa serves as the perfect compliment.
For pesto lovers, the Sweet Basil Burrito is strongly recommended. A generous portion of the creamy, mild pesto is offered (which is by no means a bad thing). While the rotisserie chicken was on point, and the sauteed veggies bursted with flavor, neither could maintain the same level of deliciousness without the pesto. As always, the quality was phenomenal and the meat and veggies were fresh. All signs point to go for this meal.
Warning: consumption of Chicken Avocado Sandwich may lead to excessive mouth watering. Anyone who looks for flavor should be sure to try this sandwich. The cayenne aioli sauce has a strong kick that doesn’t come in until seconds after each bite, but the kick subsides with the cool and soothing taste of the avocado. So imagine your first bite. Initially, the sandwich simply tastes warm and delicious, but has no distinctive qualities. Then, the kick from the aioli comes into play, followed by perfect contrast with the avocado. After that, you may notice the warm and tender chicken, and then you crunch into the arugula. Finally, a delectable slice of melted smoked gouda ties (more like melts) the whole thing together. Appearance wise, the bright green arugula contrasting with the dark red peppers completed with the creamy, earthen avocado makes any appreciatior of color long to try the sandwich. If a perfect meal truly has a variety of colors, then few sandwiches could possibly beat this one.
So if you enjoy eating– few people don’t– consider dining at Northstar. Yes, the restaurant can be a little pricey, but you will get exactly what you pay for and will leave with no regrets. And two years is more than enough time to start saving up for your first excursion to UA’s first Northstar.