There’s no doubt about it - Columbus is a foodie destination. If you’ve got a foodie in your life, there are lots of ways to share the Columbus Food Scene this holiday season.

Columbus Food Adventures - These tours are the perfect introduction into all the flavors and behind-the-scenes info on the city’s food scene. Chose among several options, including a tour of Short North restaurants, more adventurous ethnic fare on the Alt Eats tour, and in warmer months, the Taco Truck tour. A gift certificate lets you pick the tour, and allows the recipient to pick a date that works best for them.

Juergen’s Bakery - Juergen’s, a Bavarian bakery located fittingly in German Village, offers the ultimate in sweet treats exclusively this time of year - the Stollen. Stollen is a traditional fruit-studded sweet bread that’s sure to become a tradition on your holiday table. You can also choose among other German pastries like strudel and linzertorte.

Books - This year, some great Columbus food books were published. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home shows home cooks how to create Jeni’s world renowned ice cream in their own kitchen, and how to play with imaginative flavors. Breakfast with Nick is a book written by Columbus’ premier breakfast blogger, Nick Dekker . It’s perfect for the person on your list who loves bacon, eggs, donuts and coffee.

Distillery Tours - Columbus’ spirits scene is taking off and gaining national attention. Treat the cocktail maven on your list to a tour and tasting at Watershed Distillery (outstanding vodka and gin) and Middle West Spirits (flavorful vodka and whiskey.) If you’re really nice, a bottle from each would be the perfect foundation to for a Columbus-based home-bar.

North Market School of Cooking - The North Market is arguably the hub of the Columbus Food Scene, with vendors selling locally grown ingredients and a whole range of prepared foods. The top floor of the market holds a treasure: the Dispatch Kitchen, where cooking classes with the city’s best chefs are offered. It’s dinner, wine and a show for the foodies on your list.

Dine Originals Gift Certificates - If you want to treat someone to a special night out, Dine Originals gift certificates are a perfect choice. Choose from almost 50 locally owned, independent restaurants, ranging from DeepWood between the Short North and Downtown, Alana’s Food and Wine in Clintonville, Black Creek Bistro in Old Town East, and Luce in Powell.

What else would you recommend for folks shopping for foodies? As always, you can keep up with the Columbus Food Scene on Facebook .

Today, we’d like to share a terrific blog post from Bethia Woolf, owner of Columbus Food Adventures, on Columbus Happy Hours for Foodies.

Bethia is intimate with Columbus’ food scene and loves to talk about it. In her post, she uncovers great happy hours that also provide quality dining experiences.

Read all about Columbus Happy Hours for Foodies on Bethia’s blog. And, thanks, Bethia, for sharing your insights.

One of the fastest growing interests in the culinary world is the farm-to-table movement. So, we recently invited several food writers and bloggers from across the country to Columbus for a four day foodie frenzy. We took them to several locales that epitomize the farm-to-table movement and offer a twist that’s uniquely Columbus. Here are just a few of the places we went that would make a great stop for anyone.

Black Creek Bistro
Restaurateur/farmer Kent Peters is the owner of Black Creek Bistro, located in Olde Town East. Kent is one of Columbus’ best purveyors of the farm-to-table movement. Each morning he goes to his farm, which is 10 minutes from downtown, hops on his tractor powered by recycled kitchen oil and chooses what will be on the menu that night. The restaurant also features a great wine collection, including several Ohio wines to pair with the locally grown menu items. I would have to recommend the juiciest, fall off the bone chicken I’ve ever had in my life: the chicken confit. It’s a half confit chicken from Gerber Poultry in Kidron Ohio, served with pan jus and accompaniments du jour. Another great entrée is the pork mole tender consisting of pork loin scallops with mole sauce, guacamole and tortilla crisps with pickled vegetables and accompaniments du jour. Blackcreek Bistro offers a truly tasty farm-to-table experience.

Knead Urban Diner
For chef Richard Lopez and wife Krista Lopez, the word "knead" means making everything by hand, the old fashioned way. Lots of love and plenty of local, fresh ingredients are key to their menu of Mex-Italian-Ohioana fusion items. One of my favorites, the "Motherclucker" chicken sandwich, elicits both chuckles and raves. (more…)