June 5, 2025 • 27 mins
Chef BJ Lieberman has become a household name in Columbus’ culinary scene, known for bringing heart, flavor and innovation to every concept he creates. In this episode, Boxer and Sarah sit down with BJ Liberman ahead of the opening of Metsi’s — his most personal restaurant yet. From his journey to becoming a chef to what makes the Columbus dining scene special to the family inspiration behind Metsi’s, this conversation dives deep into food, creativity and the city that fuels it all. Plus, BJ shares his favorite local spots, the unique vibe of the Short North and what guests can expect when they walk through Metsi’s doors.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yes Columbus An Experienced Columbus podcast keeps you in the
know of what's happening in the art city Columbus. The
number one soccer team, the number three beer city, a
top ten culinary destination with the largest concentration of fashion
professionals in the US. Join us each week with special
guests for an inside look at a destination that invites
(00:23):
visitors and locals alike to explore. By the end of
each episode, you'll be asking yourself, can all of this
really exist in one city? Yes Columbus, Welcome back, and
it's our summer edition of Yes Columbus, An Experience Columbus Podcast.
I'm one of the co hosts Boxer, along with Sarah,
(00:44):
who's back with me Happy Summer Sarah unofficially Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Hi Boxer, so excited. A summer season is upon us,
so Boxer, you know. With our Yes Columbus Podcast, in
each episode, we talk with the people behind the places
that make collun such a vibrant, creative and welcoming place.
And today's guest he's cooking up something really special again.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I can smell it already, but you know what. First,
let's kick things off with our headliners, segment where we
highlight a recent story or accolade about Columbus. And by
the way, I love when you do these. You know,
Columbus was just named on afar's list of seven places
that are having the most festive July fourth parties. Sarah,
(01:32):
can you guess which downtown event landed us on this list?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
M Red White and Boom.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Uh yeah, right on the money, Sarah, Right on the money.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Red White and.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Boom draws four hundred thousand plus people in downtown Columbus annually,
making it the largest fireworks display in the Midwest. Well,
maybe that wasn't so hard.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I don't think it was that hard. I mean, that's right.
It's just one of the many amazing festivals and events
happening this summer in col But now it's time for
our behind the Buzz segment, where we highlight the new
and exciting things happening in our city. And this week
we're talking to one of Columbus's most celebrated chefs who
is opening his newest restaurant and food lovers take note,
(02:15):
this one is personal. Metsi's is the third Columbus dining
concept from chef bj Lieberman, and it's set to open
in the Short North this June. Welcome BJ, J to
have you.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Thank you so much for having me BJ.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Welcome back to Yes Columbus. So we had you on.
We were just talking about this. We had you on
back of the podcast. What twenty twenty three. A lot
has happened since then? Catch us up? What is new, sir?
In your world?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Lots is new in the in the world. My son
is growing up by leaps and bounds. It's the most
important thing. But you know, the restaurants are are chugging along,
and we've been doing events for the last year and
a half and kind of got an offer to open
a restaurant in the Short North that I couldn't say
(03:06):
no to, even though it was not on my twenty
twenty five card to open a restaurant this year.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Wow, here we are.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
So it's something you weren't expecting, but it kind of
landed in your lap.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Yeah, that's exactly how I would put it. It was
kind of the godfather offer that you can't refuse. So
I said, yes.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Good for you. One thing I always like to do
when we go face to face with someone like yourself,
can you tell those that are listening a little bit
about your journey, Just how long you know you've been
known you'd wanted to be a chef. First of all,
that's probably a better way.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I figured out that I wanted to be a chef
a little bit later in life, in like my mid twenties.
But I've always worked in food, and I've always I
grew up in Northern Virginia, right outside of DC, in
a really diverse neighborhood, and both my parents own their
own businesses, so they didn't cook a lot at home.
So I was having sushi, Turkish food, Cantonese, like anything
you can imagine, seven nights a week growing up. And
(03:58):
I didn't realize that I was a foodie. That term
didn't exist until I went to college and I asked
my roommate if you wanted to go get sushi.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
He was like, I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
What I was like, Oh, I grew up different than
a lot of people, so I've just always loved food
and kind of one day it all clicked that I
should go to culinary school and actually try to do this,
And yeah, it's kind of been warp speed ever since then.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Well, and just tell us a little bit more about
your journey that brought you to Columbus. I know you've
been in other cities, You've opened many amazing and successful restaurants,
but kind of what led you here?
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Yeah, well, my wife led me here. She's from Columbus.
We met both living in Charleston, South Carolina, actually right
before I went to culinary school. She's always been into
food too, so we bonded over that. It's kind of
been like the anchor of art relationship for fifteen years now.
But I've been coming to Columbus for nine years before
we decided to move here. Her and I moved to Washington,
(04:52):
d C. Together opened a few restaurants, and then I
realized that I was ready to do my own thing
and Columbus was a really natural and obvious land place
for us. So we kind of made the decision in
the middle of the night one day that we were
going to leave DC, moved to Columbus, started looking at
restaurants spaces here, and it just kind of came together
that quickly.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
So did you know how to the consumer, it's a
foody dream if you think about a Columbus, But to
those like yourself who are on the business side of things,
did you realize just how competitive it was before you
landed here.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
I think that Columbus has a really good mix of
opportunity and then also really well established places. So I've
always thought of us as kind of like standing on
the shoulder the giants who came before us here, but
also individual chef run businesses there just weren't a lot
of them here kind of before the pandemic, and since
the pandemic, I think that there's been a real concerted
(05:48):
effort by a lot of developers, by a lot of
real estate people, to get chefs into their spaces who
are going to be passionate about their projects, what it
is that they're doing, and diversify the city in some
real way. So I feel like I got to Charleston
kind of right when that was happening there. Charleston used
to be a tourist town. I got to Washington, d
C kind of when that was happening there. DC used
to be like meat and potatoes, power lunch suit and
(06:11):
high dinners, and then like neighborhood restaurants were opening that
that were really sustainable, And I feel the same things
happening in Columbus that there's just a lot of people
with really good ideas that are being given opportunities, and
you know, we're the fourteenth biggest city in America, Like
we should have really good restaurants here, and we do,
and it's just growing. And I feel like we're at
kind of like an inflection point right now where it's
(06:34):
all getting really really good, really quickly.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
BJ, Is there anything you touched on it a little bit?
But is there anything Columbus stands out versus other big
culinary cities that you see here?
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
I think part of it is we don't have Like
moving here from DC, we had the Washington Post, Washington
City Paper, the Michelin Guide, either, like we had thirty
different things we had to worry about of who we
were pleasing. In Columbus, we just need to please the people.
Like there's no real food media here. Everyone, no one's
trying to do takedown stories. Would be the first one
to smack someone down. And it just feels very uplifting.
(07:10):
And aside from that, people in Columbus are fiercely.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Like what's the.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Word that I'm looking for, passionate, passionate, but also like
protective over their things. And I knew that moving here.
If I could make myself a part of the community.
People would really latch on with us and we could
really like go on the ride together and we got
your back exactly like I told my friends from DC,
because like, why are you moving to Columbus, Ohio. I'm like,
if someone told you the DC sucked, what would you say?
(07:37):
You'd be like, Eh, if you tell someone from Columbus
that Columbus sucks, You're gonna get punched, right y. I
dig that and I want to be a part of that.
And I really feel like in the last six years
since I've been here, I've really embraced the city, and
I feel like the city's embraced me, and I couldn't
be happier to be anywhere else.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Such a great point. I would punch someone, and now
I would too.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Not condoning violence on the podcast, but we do appreciate
the passion. Well, BJ, you certainly have such a loyal
fan following and you've opened amazing concepts thus far. So
let's talk about this newest concept. MESSI is what inspired it?
Speaker 4 (08:17):
You know, we wanted to do something with this restaurant
that I've really never done before, which is something that's
laser focused on a specific type of cuisine. Every restaurant
that I've literally ever opened has been chef driven. Menu
rotates all the time reflection of who's actually in the
kitchen at that given moment. If the chef is from Vietnam,
there's gonna be more Vietnamese dishes. If they're from wherever,
(08:39):
that that inspiration is going to come through. This restaurant
is going to be Italian, which I know that's a
very broad spectrum, but it's a really unique thing for
me to just focus on this one thing and get
to teach people something that I'm really passionate about that
I actually realized I was so passionate about that. I
actually never wanted to open an Italian restaurant because I
(09:00):
just liked going to other people's Italian restaurants. And when
we were talking about what this restaurant could be in
the short north, we really just wanted to do something
that everyone could wrap their heads around, a really easy
elevator pitch, and then basically exceed those expectations of what
people think it's going to be. So we're not reinventing
the wheel with this restaurant. We're doing like my favorite
dishes growing up, and then things that I love to
(09:22):
eat now a ton of pastas. We have that wood
fired hearth in the kitchen, so a lot of wood
fired Italian cuisine, think like grilled meats with a very
simple sauce, grilled fish with lemon and caper. That just
like really really simple Mediterranean like Nonah used to make
kind of kind of cuisine. So that's kind of the
inspiration behind the restaurant. And it's really just I wanted
(09:45):
to open a restaurant that I wanted to eat at
multiple nights a week sounds amazing.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I've always wondered that too.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Chef B. J.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Lieberman is with us and he's this week's guest on
Yes Columbus. Of course, we're also talking about his new
concept of METSI. I always wonder this when I see
a company or a business and the name, I'm laser
focused on the name first, like how did they get that?
Some are obvious, but for you tell us the story
behind METSI is there family ties with this or.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
There is It's actually a really awesome story. So I've
actually never named a restaurant after anything personal to me.
Chapman's Eat Market was named after my wife's family who
had a a poultry store up on Indianola called Chapman's
Poultry Market, and I really wanted to pay homage to that.
Being new to the city, I wanted to have a
tie to something that's been here forever. Ginger Rabbit was
(10:33):
actually just an inside joke between our team that turned
into like the actual name and then for Metsi's when
we got pregnant with our son three and a half
years ago. It was my parent's first grandchild, and we
asked my parents, what do you want your grandparent names
to be. My mom said Nini, which we were like,
all right, Nani, and my dad said Metsi. I was like, oh,
(10:53):
that's interesting and unique, and he explained to me why.
It had to do with when the New York Mets
started in nineteen sixty eight. I believe their first manager,
Casey Stangele, said, the Mets are going to be more
popular than the Yankees. Little kids are going to call
their grandparents Metsi. So that's why my dad wanted that
to be his grandfather name. My dad grew up in
New York. New York is like synonymous with Italian cuisine
(11:16):
to me, so of course, you know, whenever we would
visit his family whenever we already explained, we ate out
out a lot. When I was a kid, we had
Italian all the time. So it's kind of been part
of my DNA and part of what I view as
like part of my father's DNA for my entire life.
And at the end of the day, if I offered
him to open a restaurant, this is like the exact
restaurant that he would.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Open, Like, oh, that is so awesome.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
So that's kind of my dad can't cook, but he
can die. Yeah, so yes, he can die.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
So I kind of wanted to open the restaurant that
he would open if you were given the opportunity. So
that's where Metsis comes from. Is it's named after my father,
which I definitely wanted something related to my family to
kind of leave behind.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
I feel like you need that on a welcome wall
whenever you come in. You need to tell that story
because that's pretty such.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
It's a great story.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
It's personal to me.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
So from Chapman's to Ginger Rabbit and now Messi's, each
concept has its own identity. You've already talked a little
bit about the food and what sets the food apart,
but let's talk about atmosphere. Are there any unique touches
or elements in the design that reflect your vision for Mezsi.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
You know, my one of my best friends who I
worked for in DC for a while, we opened three
restaurants there, and the way that he explained it is
that it's the same DNA, different clothing when you open
a restaurant like that, Like, I can't take myself out
of the design and out of the restaurant, but what
we can do is kind of package it a little
bit differently. So you'll definitely see elements of Chapmans and there.
We actually, during this renovation period we've been in, we
(12:39):
took some of the wallpaper we used at Chapman's, and
we took some of the color schemes that we used
at Chapmans and Ginger Rabbit and kind of been fused
it into the scheme. So like when you're walking through
the restaurant, there'll be little bits of if you've been
to Chapmans, you'd be like, oh, oh, I get it.
If you happen to catch a jazz show before you
come to dinner, you'll be walking into like definitely a
sister space of one another, but at the end of
(13:00):
the day. This was a new construction project, so everything
in there is sparkly and shiny. It is definitely a
different project than I've ever worked on before, so it
definitely has a different feel. It's super viby. It's two stories,
so you walk in on the ground level and that's
super bright and area there's ten foot windows. You get
a ton of natural sunlight. We painted the ceiling blue
(13:21):
like the Mediterranean in there, and then downstairs is actually
where the kitchen is, so it's in a basement, so
it's super moody down there. Everything's dark, like deep maroons
of little pops of pink, lots of black reflective tile,
just everything's supposed to catch the fire down there and
kind of reflected. The kitchen is wide open, so you
walk down to the basement, you're just confronted with a
conflagration of fire and meat and pastas.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
And it's just going to be a really cool experience.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
And like I said, we're not reinventing cuisine here, like
it's going to be very straightforward, classic Italian food, but
when done right, it's some of the best food in the.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
World be Ja, out of all the places you could
have placed. Let's see why the Short I mean. Look,
this might sound like Captain Obvious here, but why the
Short North.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
I mean, the Short North is the beating heart of
the creative scene of Columbus. It always has been. I've
been coming to this city for twelve years and the
Short North has always been a little bit of an
aspirational neighborhood for me to do something in. So when
we are offered the opportunity to open what is literally
an arts venue, Ginger Rabbit in the Short North, we
jumped at it. And then you know, having this restaurant
(14:27):
space pretty much right across High Street from it, it's
a no brainer for me to want to have a
foothold here in the Short North of something that can
continue to push the arts community and just the larger
community writ large further. And you know, we hope to
be a neighborhood restaurant. We want to really serve the
people the Short North. But also we are attached to
a parking garage, so we are extremely easy to get
(14:49):
to from other neighborhoods. I'm hoping that we'll also be
a destination too where people want to come from all
places in Columbus. A lot like how people travel to
German Village to go to Chapman's. I want people to
come to the Short North to go to Metsi's and
Ginger Rabbit for that matter.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Well that's what I was gonna say. It sounds like
a perfect night to go catch a live jazz show
a Ginger Rabbit and then go to Metsis or vice versa.
The proximity is absolutely amazing.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
We call that the double dip. I love it. I
like that.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Just out of curiosity. First of all, I was thinking,
so you have a parking garage. That's so it's right
next to it.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
It's really attached to it. Yeah, that's genius.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
So there shouldn't be any complaining about parking at all then.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Right, I would hope not. But that's an interesting thing
about Columbus. Before people ask you what kind of food
you have, they ask where you're parking is. So I
have a good answer for this one. We are attached
to it and our front door actually, so if you
park in the parking garage and you come down the
elevator to the ground floor, our front door.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Is literally in the elevator vestibule.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Before you've wow reason for anyone not to go.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
If it's snowing, if it's raining, you don't have to
pull your own bread element. Yeah, you are totally blocked
from having to step outside to come to our restaurant.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
BJ you've described, you know, inside a little bit, but
just out of curiosity. There's nothing like that first impression
when you walk through the door. So when you're walking
us through the door, when we walk through, what's the
first thing that's going to hit us or are we going
to experience?
Speaker 3 (16:21):
So you're going to see the bar when you walk
right in. It's a beauty.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
The ceilings are easy thirty feet high, and we just
have this beautiful bar made out of wood and torazzo
that's staring you right in the face. We'll have the groanies,
we'll have lemon cello jinks, we'll have all the delicious
things kind of kind of hitting you right in the face.
And then that entire top floor is only about fifteen
hundred square feet, so it feels very intimate. As soon
as you turn the corner to go down the stairs,
(16:45):
and everything gets darker and you open up to that
big wood fire as you go down to the basement,
like you can smell it. You could feel it, you
can hear it and see it's it's all your senses
kind of getting attacked all once in a very very
lovely way. And I'm just really excited for that moment
of people being like oh as they as they walk
down the stairs. So yeah, I think both of the spaces,
(17:05):
the upstairs and the downstairs, are both going to be
wonderful dining experiences.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Can I just ask out of curiosity because I've always wondered,
maybe every restaurant you open is different? How long is
that process from throwing things on the wall for an
idea to actually bring it at all to fruition and
you open the doors.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
You're right, everyone is different. This one in particular, came
together pretty quickly. It was about four months from when
we got the Godfather offer too, when we are now
pretty much this week we're going to be at substantial
completion for the renovation, and we next Tuesday have orientation
for new staff.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
So it's happening like really really.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
Quick, and honestly, I'm kind of freaking out a little bit,
but it's happening so fast that I don't even have time.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
To like that's good.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
Yeah, yeah, no, Like we're opening in like two and
a half weeks, so that's happening period and we just
need to get there. Luckily, this is food that like,
like I said, I don't need to R and D it.
I know it. It's in our DNA. I hired a
chef who also knows this food really well. Our biggest
problem has been pairing it down because like when we
did our original whiteboard session, I think we had like
(18:12):
thirty five pastas. Oh that's a lot written on the
whiteboard that we had to narrow down to five.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
So that you can rotate those others. Yeah. Well, here's
the other thing about the restaurant.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
This is something I've never done before either, is I
don't want to change the menu at the time. I
want to be who we are, and I want to
be I think about the institutional restaurants that I love
eating at, and it's the ones that you can just
go back to again and again. You know exactly what
you're going to get and if that if that get
is exceptional, then you'll go back. Like, Yes, I want
people to come to Chatman's because we change the menu
all the time, and I want people to go to
(18:42):
ginger Abbit because we have a different artist all the time.
But I also want you to have the comfort of
knowing that if you come to Metsis you can get
your favorite pasta, it will be on the menu. You
can get your favorite grilled pepper and art to choke dish,
it will be on the menu. So it's different than
anything that I've ever opened before, So I'm coming at it.
It's a learning experience, which is crazy as like my
ninth or tenth restaurant opening that I've done, and this
(19:04):
is a very unique one. But it's also more akin
to like what a traditional normal restaurant is. Yeah, doing
a normal restaurant and it's it feels bizarre.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Sarah, Sarah, don't kill me.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I just know I have another question too.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
You go, you go first.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
I was just going to say, so, obviously your passionate
enthusiasm for this concept is coming through and we are
so excited to check it out. But asking for a
friend reservations, our reservations available, Can people get them now?
Speaker 4 (19:31):
By the time this episode air's reservations will be available.
It's Metsi's Italian dot com where we use Rezie so
Rezi dot com. You can also find us reservations are
going to be available for both dining rooms upstairs and down.
It will denote which one you're making a reservation for
on the website. We're also going to do a happy hour,
which we're kicking around the idea of calling it in
(19:52):
the Groni Hour.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Ooh has Been's favorite cocktail.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
By the way, it won't just be in the Gronies
to put that up, yeah, but it just sounds more fun.
And an happy hour to me, will be from four
to six every day that we're open, so upstairs at
the at the bar at Metsi's, we'll be doing a
four to six happy hour negrony hour every day. It's
actually in a growney two hour, so reservations will be
a bailable for that. We also have plenty of room
for walk ins. We have one hundred seats at the restaurant,
(20:18):
so it's it's big. Yeah, it's big, biggest restaurant I've ever.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Opened, BJ, how do you know you hire the right chef?
Do you do you test them like Hell's Kitchen or something?
I mean, no, just curious. I'm curious, like anyone. I
could say, BJ, I know what I'm doing, but how
do you really know?
Speaker 3 (20:34):
Do you?
Speaker 1 (20:34):
I mean do you test them.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Typically, for a head chef, I would never hire from
outside the company. It's got to be someone that I know,
who knows who I know, knows me. I work a
little bit differently, well, probably a lot differently than most chefs.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Yeah, so I.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Need people who feel the way that I do, who
think the way that I do, who I know it
can communicate something to once and they'll understand what I'm
saying and what I want. So we actually hired someone
who's worked with us before, so we have a long
history with him. The restaurant he came from is an
Italian restaurant in Detroit that I deeply respect.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
The chef there.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
I worked with him in DC for a while, so
we have a lot of connections here. And somebody who
I know can carry the torch. And you know, every
chef hires is a little bit different, but typically I'll
have a pretty deep connection with that person before we
hire them, or it's someone that we promote from within
our own ranks. I'd like to have that ladder be
(21:26):
available for people to come up in the industry. I mean,
that's how you grow is by getting opportunities. And if
we just brought in a chef from outside the company
every time we had to hire someone, like what opportunities
are we creating for our team? So we've had pretty
good luck with loyalty of our team. We hang on
to people typically for a long time because we always
try to give everyone opportunities. It's theirs to grab at
(21:47):
the end of the day, but that ladder is available
for them to climb and nothing. It's the best part
of my job is to watch my friends and people
who I love be successful and get to do it
within our company. So that's my happiest in the day
that I get to ounce promotions. I'll go miss you.
I'll start crying, like I've seen this person come from
new Hire messing up stuff like all the way to like,
(22:08):
I trust you implicitly to run this kitchen now is
a pretty wild and an exceptional feeling for me, such.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
A strong mentor for others.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Definitely, is it time for the rapid fire?
Speaker 2 (22:20):
I think it is so. BJ is one of our
culinary experts. We have a couple of questions for you,
just rapid fire for all of our listeners. So this
is the rapid Fire question segment. Columbus Edition. Your favorite
local coffee shop, local coffee shop.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
Oh, that's a tough one. I am typically making coffee
at home these days because I have a three year
old and getting.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Him ready for work.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
However, if I do get to sit down at a
coffee shop, parable would definitely be it love parable.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Go to late night bite.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
This is going to sound ridiculous, but I love a
salad when I get home from work. So really yeah,
so literally like iceberg with like ginger dressing and like
protein like turkey on.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
It is what I eat.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
But like like, oh, I've been out drinking and I
need a late night bite Cobra on my way home
from from Chapmans. So I ever worked night service to Chapman's.
I know all the bartenders there. When you're driving by,
you can see in the window if I see John's
hat behind the bar. I just stopped and get in
a groany, get a noodle bowl and some dumplings. It's
like the best end tonight ever.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Sounds like perfection.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
When you're venturing out of Columbus, where do you love
to go?
Speaker 4 (23:32):
Oh that's a really tough question. We were just in
Mexico City and it was insanely delicious for my wife's
fortieth birthday. I definitely want to go back because like
everything is a restaurant there and it's all incredible. But locally,
I love Chicago. We go to Cincinnati pretty often. My
buddy Jordan has a restaurant called Aperture there that's spectacular,
and we need to get back up to Cleveland. I
(23:53):
really want to go to Cordelia soon.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
I'm sorry, you said Mexico City.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Yeah, Mexico City.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
Did you drive their?
Speaker 3 (24:00):
So?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
I heard drivings insane?
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Oh god no? Oh did we drive that? Well? We
were in yeah, yeah, I mean did you I didn't
get it? Rent a car? Yeah no, rent car no.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
I wouldn't have been able to. My anxiety is way
too high to deal with that. I am a passenger
princess when I'm in the car.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
That's really vacation if you have to.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
I basically drive to and from work if we're going
anywhere as a family. My wife is normally driving because
I just get way too anxious driving on the streets.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Get it to get it.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
So so we're going to switch gears now for our
last two segments. Our next one is called Columbus Classics.
This podcast is all about uncovering what's new, but we
also love the tried and true places and experiences. Can
you tell us about a classic Columbus experience you love.
It could be a neighborhood, a restaurant.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Or anything. Jeez.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
I mean, one of my favorite things to do is
walk around German Village. Just walk down the Schiller Park
and kind of do a lap. That's my Like, I
just got off the phone with my lawyer and my
accountant and I need ten minutes situation. But the Conservatory
is one of my favorite things. We just went to
their butterfly exhibit there. I don't know if you got
to do that. It was awesome. And our son is
like obsessed with butterflies right now, so he just the
(25:08):
best time.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
There just really is so much to do here, I
was saying earlier, like I haven't been to a Columbus
Crew game. I really really want to. Obviously, There's tons
of food to eat here. The rooftop at Lincoln Social
is always fun. The Top Steakhouse I love their Top two. Yeah,
and then ten Suit Game Market up on Kenny Road.
I try to go there at least once a week,
(25:31):
so awesome.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Those are all great spots.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Those are. Now before we close out today's episode, we
just have one more segment. This is how we wrap
up BJ. What are you saying yes to in Columbus
this season?
Speaker 4 (25:44):
I just said it. I'm gonna say yes to go
in to a Columbus Crew game. You go, I have
to go see it. Our new next door neighbor place
for the Crew.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
So oh wow.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
We had no idea if we met him like a
dozen times. And they have a little kid too, so
our kids are playing. My wife was just casually talking
to his wife and and they're like, what are you doing.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
They're like, oh, you know, we own some restaurants. She's
like that's awesome. He's like, what do you do? Like, oh,
my husband plays for the Crew. Wow wow. Yeah, hopefully
we can exchange some favors. Yeah exactly, I'm sure. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
I actually get offered to go to Crew games all
the time. It's just always on nights that ever. Yeah,
I'm just gonna blow off work one night and.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Go to cre Desert.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Sure that the stadium is.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
I'm such a big sports fan.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
It's just the one thing that I just like haven't
gotten into, so I really need to.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Yeah, it's awesome.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Well, BJ, thank you so much again for joining us.
We loved hearing your story and all of the incredible
things you're doing in Columbus's restaurant scene. We're thrilled about
Metsi's and can't wait to see what you cook up next.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Yeah and yeah, this has been nice to catch up
with you. By the way, thanks for your time and
for coming back. And by the way, to learn more
about Medsi's and all of BJ's culinary adventures, you can
visit metsis Italian dot com, that's m E. T s
i s Italian dot com, or just follow a long
on social media. And for more great ways to experience Columbus,
(27:03):
just head to experience Columbus dot com. Thank you for
listening to Yes Columbus and we'll see you next time.
Thanks Bjay, Thanks Jarah.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Thank you, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
That's a wrap on this week's episode of Yes Columbus
and Experience Columbus podcast. Tune in next week as we
take you on a tour of what's new, what's hot,
and what makes Columbus a city on the rise.
Yes Columbus An Experienced Columbus podcast keeps you in the
know of what's happening in the art city Columbus. The
number one soccer team, the number three beer city, a
top ten culinary destination with the largest concentration of fashion
professionals in the US. Join us each week with special
guests for an inside look at a destination that invites
(00:23):
visitors and locals alike to explore. By the end of
each episode, you'll be asking yourself, can all of this
really exist in one city? Yes Columbus, Welcome back, and
it's our summer edition of Yes Columbus, An Experience Columbus Podcast.
I'm one of the co hosts Boxer, along with Sarah,
(00:44):
who's back with me Happy Summer Sarah unofficially Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Hi Boxer, so excited. A summer season is upon us,
so Boxer, you know. With our Yes Columbus Podcast, in
each episode, we talk with the people behind the places
that make collun such a vibrant, creative and welcoming place.
And today's guest he's cooking up something really special again.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I can smell it already, but you know what. First,
let's kick things off with our headliners, segment where we
highlight a recent story or accolade about Columbus. And by
the way, I love when you do these. You know,
Columbus was just named on afar's list of seven places
that are having the most festive July fourth parties. Sarah,
(01:32):
can you guess which downtown event landed us on this list?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
M Red White and Boom.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Uh yeah, right on the money, Sarah, Right on the money.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Red White and.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Boom draws four hundred thousand plus people in downtown Columbus annually,
making it the largest fireworks display in the Midwest. Well,
maybe that wasn't so hard.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I don't think it was that hard. I mean, that's right.
It's just one of the many amazing festivals and events
happening this summer in col But now it's time for
our behind the Buzz segment, where we highlight the new
and exciting things happening in our city. And this week
we're talking to one of Columbus's most celebrated chefs who
is opening his newest restaurant and food lovers take note,
(02:15):
this one is personal. Metsi's is the third Columbus dining
concept from chef bj Lieberman, and it's set to open
in the Short North this June. Welcome BJ, J to
have you.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Thank you so much for having me BJ.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Welcome back to Yes Columbus. So we had you on.
We were just talking about this. We had you on
back of the podcast. What twenty twenty three. A lot
has happened since then? Catch us up? What is new, sir?
In your world?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Lots is new in the in the world. My son
is growing up by leaps and bounds. It's the most
important thing. But you know, the restaurants are are chugging along,
and we've been doing events for the last year and
a half and kind of got an offer to open
a restaurant in the Short North that I couldn't say
(03:06):
no to, even though it was not on my twenty
twenty five card to open a restaurant this year.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Wow, here we are.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
So it's something you weren't expecting, but it kind of
landed in your lap.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Yeah, that's exactly how I would put it. It was
kind of the godfather offer that you can't refuse. So
I said, yes.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Good for you. One thing I always like to do
when we go face to face with someone like yourself,
can you tell those that are listening a little bit
about your journey, Just how long you know you've been
known you'd wanted to be a chef. First of all,
that's probably a better way.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I figured out that I wanted to be a chef
a little bit later in life, in like my mid twenties.
But I've always worked in food, and I've always I
grew up in Northern Virginia, right outside of DC, in
a really diverse neighborhood, and both my parents own their
own businesses, so they didn't cook a lot at home.
So I was having sushi, Turkish food, Cantonese, like anything
you can imagine, seven nights a week growing up. And
(03:58):
I didn't realize that I was a foodie. That term
didn't exist until I went to college and I asked
my roommate if you wanted to go get sushi.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
He was like, I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
What I was like, Oh, I grew up different than
a lot of people, so I've just always loved food
and kind of one day it all clicked that I
should go to culinary school and actually try to do this,
And yeah, it's kind of been warp speed ever since then.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Well, and just tell us a little bit more about
your journey that brought you to Columbus. I know you've
been in other cities, You've opened many amazing and successful restaurants,
but kind of what led you here?
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Yeah, well, my wife led me here. She's from Columbus.
We met both living in Charleston, South Carolina, actually right
before I went to culinary school. She's always been into
food too, so we bonded over that. It's kind of
been like the anchor of art relationship for fifteen years now.
But I've been coming to Columbus for nine years before
we decided to move here. Her and I moved to Washington,
(04:52):
d C. Together opened a few restaurants, and then I
realized that I was ready to do my own thing
and Columbus was a really natural and obvious land place
for us. So we kind of made the decision in
the middle of the night one day that we were
going to leave DC, moved to Columbus, started looking at
restaurants spaces here, and it just kind of came together
that quickly.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
So did you know how to the consumer, it's a
foody dream if you think about a Columbus, But to
those like yourself who are on the business side of things,
did you realize just how competitive it was before you
landed here.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
I think that Columbus has a really good mix of
opportunity and then also really well established places. So I've
always thought of us as kind of like standing on
the shoulder the giants who came before us here, but
also individual chef run businesses there just weren't a lot
of them here kind of before the pandemic, and since
the pandemic, I think that there's been a real concerted
(05:48):
effort by a lot of developers, by a lot of
real estate people, to get chefs into their spaces who
are going to be passionate about their projects, what it
is that they're doing, and diversify the city in some
real way. So I feel like I got to Charleston
kind of right when that was happening there. Charleston used
to be a tourist town. I got to Washington, d
C kind of when that was happening there. DC used
to be like meat and potatoes, power lunch suit and
(06:11):
high dinners, and then like neighborhood restaurants were opening that
that were really sustainable, And I feel the same things
happening in Columbus that there's just a lot of people
with really good ideas that are being given opportunities, and
you know, we're the fourteenth biggest city in America, Like
we should have really good restaurants here, and we do,
and it's just growing. And I feel like we're at
kind of like an inflection point right now where it's
(06:34):
all getting really really good, really quickly.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
BJ, Is there anything you touched on it a little bit?
But is there anything Columbus stands out versus other big
culinary cities that you see here?
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
I think part of it is we don't have Like
moving here from DC, we had the Washington Post, Washington
City Paper, the Michelin Guide, either, like we had thirty
different things we had to worry about of who we
were pleasing. In Columbus, we just need to please the people.
Like there's no real food media here. Everyone, no one's
trying to do takedown stories. Would be the first one
to smack someone down. And it just feels very uplifting.
(07:10):
And aside from that, people in Columbus are fiercely.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Like what's the.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Word that I'm looking for, passionate, passionate, but also like
protective over their things. And I knew that moving here.
If I could make myself a part of the community.
People would really latch on with us and we could
really like go on the ride together and we got
your back exactly like I told my friends from DC,
because like, why are you moving to Columbus, Ohio. I'm like,
if someone told you the DC sucked, what would you say?
(07:37):
You'd be like, Eh, if you tell someone from Columbus
that Columbus sucks, You're gonna get punched, right y. I
dig that and I want to be a part of that.
And I really feel like in the last six years
since I've been here, I've really embraced the city, and
I feel like the city's embraced me, and I couldn't
be happier to be anywhere else.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Such a great point. I would punch someone, and now
I would too.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Not condoning violence on the podcast, but we do appreciate
the passion. Well, BJ, you certainly have such a loyal
fan following and you've opened amazing concepts thus far. So
let's talk about this newest concept. MESSI is what inspired it?
Speaker 4 (08:17):
You know, we wanted to do something with this restaurant
that I've really never done before, which is something that's
laser focused on a specific type of cuisine. Every restaurant
that I've literally ever opened has been chef driven. Menu
rotates all the time reflection of who's actually in the
kitchen at that given moment. If the chef is from Vietnam,
there's gonna be more Vietnamese dishes. If they're from wherever,
(08:39):
that that inspiration is going to come through. This restaurant
is going to be Italian, which I know that's a
very broad spectrum, but it's a really unique thing for
me to just focus on this one thing and get
to teach people something that I'm really passionate about that
I actually realized I was so passionate about that. I
actually never wanted to open an Italian restaurant because I
(09:00):
just liked going to other people's Italian restaurants. And when
we were talking about what this restaurant could be in
the short north, we really just wanted to do something
that everyone could wrap their heads around, a really easy
elevator pitch, and then basically exceed those expectations of what
people think it's going to be. So we're not reinventing
the wheel with this restaurant. We're doing like my favorite
dishes growing up, and then things that I love to
(09:22):
eat now a ton of pastas. We have that wood
fired hearth in the kitchen, so a lot of wood
fired Italian cuisine, think like grilled meats with a very
simple sauce, grilled fish with lemon and caper. That just
like really really simple Mediterranean like Nonah used to make
kind of kind of cuisine. So that's kind of the
inspiration behind the restaurant. And it's really just I wanted
(09:45):
to open a restaurant that I wanted to eat at
multiple nights a week sounds amazing.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I've always wondered that too.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Chef B. J.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Lieberman is with us and he's this week's guest on
Yes Columbus. Of course, we're also talking about his new
concept of METSI. I always wonder this when I see
a company or a business and the name, I'm laser
focused on the name first, like how did they get that?
Some are obvious, but for you tell us the story
behind METSI is there family ties with this or.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
There is It's actually a really awesome story. So I've
actually never named a restaurant after anything personal to me.
Chapman's Eat Market was named after my wife's family who
had a a poultry store up on Indianola called Chapman's
Poultry Market, and I really wanted to pay homage to that.
Being new to the city, I wanted to have a
tie to something that's been here forever. Ginger Rabbit was
(10:33):
actually just an inside joke between our team that turned
into like the actual name and then for Metsi's when
we got pregnant with our son three and a half
years ago. It was my parent's first grandchild, and we
asked my parents, what do you want your grandparent names
to be. My mom said Nini, which we were like,
all right, Nani, and my dad said Metsi. I was like, oh,
(10:53):
that's interesting and unique, and he explained to me why.
It had to do with when the New York Mets
started in nineteen sixty eight. I believe their first manager,
Casey Stangele, said, the Mets are going to be more
popular than the Yankees. Little kids are going to call
their grandparents Metsi. So that's why my dad wanted that
to be his grandfather name. My dad grew up in
New York. New York is like synonymous with Italian cuisine
(11:16):
to me, so of course, you know, whenever we would
visit his family whenever we already explained, we ate out
out a lot. When I was a kid, we had
Italian all the time. So it's kind of been part
of my DNA and part of what I view as
like part of my father's DNA for my entire life.
And at the end of the day, if I offered
him to open a restaurant, this is like the exact
restaurant that he would.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Open, Like, oh, that is so awesome.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
So that's kind of my dad can't cook, but he
can die. Yeah, so yes, he can die.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
So I kind of wanted to open the restaurant that
he would open if you were given the opportunity. So
that's where Metsis comes from. Is it's named after my father,
which I definitely wanted something related to my family to
kind of leave behind.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
I feel like you need that on a welcome wall
whenever you come in. You need to tell that story
because that's pretty such.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
It's a great story.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
It's personal to me.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
So from Chapman's to Ginger Rabbit and now Messi's, each
concept has its own identity. You've already talked a little
bit about the food and what sets the food apart,
but let's talk about atmosphere. Are there any unique touches
or elements in the design that reflect your vision for Mezsi.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
You know, my one of my best friends who I
worked for in DC for a while, we opened three
restaurants there, and the way that he explained it is
that it's the same DNA, different clothing when you open
a restaurant like that, Like, I can't take myself out
of the design and out of the restaurant, but what
we can do is kind of package it a little
bit differently. So you'll definitely see elements of Chapmans and there.
We actually, during this renovation period we've been in, we
(12:39):
took some of the wallpaper we used at Chapman's, and
we took some of the color schemes that we used
at Chapmans and Ginger Rabbit and kind of been fused
it into the scheme. So like when you're walking through
the restaurant, there'll be little bits of if you've been
to Chapmans, you'd be like, oh, oh, I get it.
If you happen to catch a jazz show before you
come to dinner, you'll be walking into like definitely a
sister space of one another, but at the end of
(13:00):
the day. This was a new construction project, so everything
in there is sparkly and shiny. It is definitely a
different project than I've ever worked on before, so it
definitely has a different feel. It's super viby. It's two stories,
so you walk in on the ground level and that's
super bright and area there's ten foot windows. You get
a ton of natural sunlight. We painted the ceiling blue
(13:21):
like the Mediterranean in there, and then downstairs is actually
where the kitchen is, so it's in a basement, so
it's super moody down there. Everything's dark, like deep maroons
of little pops of pink, lots of black reflective tile,
just everything's supposed to catch the fire down there and
kind of reflected. The kitchen is wide open, so you
walk down to the basement, you're just confronted with a
conflagration of fire and meat and pastas.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
And it's just going to be a really cool experience.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
And like I said, we're not reinventing cuisine here, like
it's going to be very straightforward, classic Italian food, but
when done right, it's some of the best food in the.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
World be Ja, out of all the places you could
have placed. Let's see why the Short I mean. Look,
this might sound like Captain Obvious here, but why the
Short North.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
I mean, the Short North is the beating heart of
the creative scene of Columbus. It always has been. I've
been coming to this city for twelve years and the
Short North has always been a little bit of an
aspirational neighborhood for me to do something in. So when
we are offered the opportunity to open what is literally
an arts venue, Ginger Rabbit in the Short North, we
jumped at it. And then you know, having this restaurant
(14:27):
space pretty much right across High Street from it, it's
a no brainer for me to want to have a
foothold here in the Short North of something that can
continue to push the arts community and just the larger
community writ large further. And you know, we hope to
be a neighborhood restaurant. We want to really serve the
people the Short North. But also we are attached to
a parking garage, so we are extremely easy to get
(14:49):
to from other neighborhoods. I'm hoping that we'll also be
a destination too where people want to come from all
places in Columbus. A lot like how people travel to
German Village to go to Chapman's. I want people to
come to the Short North to go to Metsi's and
Ginger Rabbit for that matter.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Well that's what I was gonna say. It sounds like
a perfect night to go catch a live jazz show
a Ginger Rabbit and then go to Metsis or vice versa.
The proximity is absolutely amazing.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
We call that the double dip. I love it. I
like that.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Just out of curiosity. First of all, I was thinking,
so you have a parking garage. That's so it's right
next to it.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
It's really attached to it. Yeah, that's genius.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
So there shouldn't be any complaining about parking at all then.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Right, I would hope not. But that's an interesting thing
about Columbus. Before people ask you what kind of food
you have, they ask where you're parking is. So I
have a good answer for this one. We are attached
to it and our front door actually, so if you
park in the parking garage and you come down the
elevator to the ground floor, our front door.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Is literally in the elevator vestibule.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Before you've wow reason for anyone not to go.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
If it's snowing, if it's raining, you don't have to
pull your own bread element. Yeah, you are totally blocked
from having to step outside to come to our restaurant.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
BJ you've described, you know, inside a little bit, but
just out of curiosity. There's nothing like that first impression
when you walk through the door. So when you're walking
us through the door, when we walk through, what's the
first thing that's going to hit us or are we going
to experience?
Speaker 3 (16:21):
So you're going to see the bar when you walk
right in. It's a beauty.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
The ceilings are easy thirty feet high, and we just
have this beautiful bar made out of wood and torazzo
that's staring you right in the face. We'll have the groanies,
we'll have lemon cello jinks, we'll have all the delicious
things kind of kind of hitting you right in the face.
And then that entire top floor is only about fifteen
hundred square feet, so it feels very intimate. As soon
as you turn the corner to go down the stairs,
(16:45):
and everything gets darker and you open up to that
big wood fire as you go down to the basement,
like you can smell it. You could feel it, you
can hear it and see it's it's all your senses
kind of getting attacked all once in a very very
lovely way. And I'm just really excited for that moment
of people being like oh as they as they walk
down the stairs. So yeah, I think both of the spaces,
(17:05):
the upstairs and the downstairs, are both going to be
wonderful dining experiences.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Can I just ask out of curiosity because I've always wondered,
maybe every restaurant you open is different? How long is
that process from throwing things on the wall for an
idea to actually bring it at all to fruition and
you open the doors.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
You're right, everyone is different. This one in particular, came
together pretty quickly. It was about four months from when
we got the Godfather offer too, when we are now
pretty much this week we're going to be at substantial
completion for the renovation, and we next Tuesday have orientation
for new staff.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
So it's happening like really really.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
Quick, and honestly, I'm kind of freaking out a little bit,
but it's happening so fast that I don't even have time.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
To like that's good.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
Yeah, yeah, no, Like we're opening in like two and
a half weeks, so that's happening period and we just
need to get there. Luckily, this is food that like,
like I said, I don't need to R and D it.
I know it. It's in our DNA. I hired a
chef who also knows this food really well. Our biggest
problem has been pairing it down because like when we
did our original whiteboard session, I think we had like
(18:12):
thirty five pastas. Oh that's a lot written on the
whiteboard that we had to narrow down to five.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
So that you can rotate those others. Yeah. Well, here's
the other thing about the restaurant.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
This is something I've never done before either, is I
don't want to change the menu at the time. I
want to be who we are, and I want to
be I think about the institutional restaurants that I love
eating at, and it's the ones that you can just
go back to again and again. You know exactly what
you're going to get and if that if that get
is exceptional, then you'll go back. Like, Yes, I want
people to come to Chatman's because we change the menu
all the time, and I want people to go to
(18:42):
ginger Abbit because we have a different artist all the time.
But I also want you to have the comfort of
knowing that if you come to Metsis you can get
your favorite pasta, it will be on the menu. You
can get your favorite grilled pepper and art to choke dish,
it will be on the menu. So it's different than
anything that I've ever opened before, So I'm coming at it.
It's a learning experience, which is crazy as like my
ninth or tenth restaurant opening that I've done, and this
(19:04):
is a very unique one. But it's also more akin
to like what a traditional normal restaurant is. Yeah, doing
a normal restaurant and it's it feels bizarre.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Sarah, Sarah, don't kill me.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I just know I have another question too.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
You go, you go first.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
I was just going to say, so, obviously your passionate
enthusiasm for this concept is coming through and we are
so excited to check it out. But asking for a
friend reservations, our reservations available, Can people get them now?
Speaker 4 (19:31):
By the time this episode air's reservations will be available.
It's Metsi's Italian dot com where we use Rezie so
Rezi dot com. You can also find us reservations are
going to be available for both dining rooms upstairs and down.
It will denote which one you're making a reservation for
on the website. We're also going to do a happy hour,
which we're kicking around the idea of calling it in
(19:52):
the Groni Hour.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Ooh has Been's favorite cocktail.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
By the way, it won't just be in the Gronies
to put that up, yeah, but it just sounds more fun.
And an happy hour to me, will be from four
to six every day that we're open, so upstairs at
the at the bar at Metsi's, we'll be doing a
four to six happy hour negrony hour every day. It's
actually in a growney two hour, so reservations will be
a bailable for that. We also have plenty of room
for walk ins. We have one hundred seats at the restaurant,
(20:18):
so it's it's big. Yeah, it's big, biggest restaurant I've ever.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Opened, BJ, how do you know you hire the right chef?
Do you do you test them like Hell's Kitchen or something?
I mean, no, just curious. I'm curious, like anyone. I
could say, BJ, I know what I'm doing, but how
do you really know?
Speaker 3 (20:34):
Do you?
Speaker 1 (20:34):
I mean do you test them.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Typically, for a head chef, I would never hire from
outside the company. It's got to be someone that I know,
who knows who I know, knows me. I work a
little bit differently, well, probably a lot differently than most chefs.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Yeah, so I.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Need people who feel the way that I do, who
think the way that I do, who I know it
can communicate something to once and they'll understand what I'm
saying and what I want. So we actually hired someone
who's worked with us before, so we have a long
history with him. The restaurant he came from is an
Italian restaurant in Detroit that I deeply respect.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
The chef there.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
I worked with him in DC for a while, so
we have a lot of connections here. And somebody who
I know can carry the torch. And you know, every
chef hires is a little bit different, but typically I'll
have a pretty deep connection with that person before we
hire them, or it's someone that we promote from within
our own ranks. I'd like to have that ladder be
(21:26):
available for people to come up in the industry. I mean,
that's how you grow is by getting opportunities. And if
we just brought in a chef from outside the company
every time we had to hire someone, like what opportunities
are we creating for our team? So we've had pretty
good luck with loyalty of our team. We hang on
to people typically for a long time because we always
try to give everyone opportunities. It's theirs to grab at
(21:47):
the end of the day, but that ladder is available
for them to climb and nothing. It's the best part
of my job is to watch my friends and people
who I love be successful and get to do it
within our company. So that's my happiest in the day
that I get to ounce promotions. I'll go miss you.
I'll start crying, like I've seen this person come from
new Hire messing up stuff like all the way to like,
(22:08):
I trust you implicitly to run this kitchen now is
a pretty wild and an exceptional feeling for me, such.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
A strong mentor for others.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Definitely, is it time for the rapid fire?
Speaker 2 (22:20):
I think it is so. BJ is one of our
culinary experts. We have a couple of questions for you,
just rapid fire for all of our listeners. So this
is the rapid Fire question segment. Columbus Edition. Your favorite
local coffee shop, local coffee shop.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
Oh, that's a tough one. I am typically making coffee
at home these days because I have a three year
old and getting.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Him ready for work.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
However, if I do get to sit down at a
coffee shop, parable would definitely be it love parable.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Go to late night bite.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
This is going to sound ridiculous, but I love a
salad when I get home from work. So really yeah,
so literally like iceberg with like ginger dressing and like
protein like turkey on.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
It is what I eat.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
But like like, oh, I've been out drinking and I
need a late night bite Cobra on my way home
from from Chapmans. So I ever worked night service to Chapman's.
I know all the bartenders there. When you're driving by,
you can see in the window if I see John's
hat behind the bar. I just stopped and get in
a groany, get a noodle bowl and some dumplings. It's
like the best end tonight ever.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Sounds like perfection.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
When you're venturing out of Columbus, where do you love
to go?
Speaker 4 (23:32):
Oh that's a really tough question. We were just in
Mexico City and it was insanely delicious for my wife's
fortieth birthday. I definitely want to go back because like
everything is a restaurant there and it's all incredible. But locally,
I love Chicago. We go to Cincinnati pretty often. My
buddy Jordan has a restaurant called Aperture there that's spectacular,
and we need to get back up to Cleveland. I
(23:53):
really want to go to Cordelia soon.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
I'm sorry, you said Mexico City.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Yeah, Mexico City.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
Did you drive their?
Speaker 3 (24:00):
So?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
I heard drivings insane?
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Oh god no? Oh did we drive that? Well? We
were in yeah, yeah, I mean did you I didn't
get it? Rent a car? Yeah no, rent car no.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
I wouldn't have been able to. My anxiety is way
too high to deal with that. I am a passenger
princess when I'm in the car.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
That's really vacation if you have to.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
I basically drive to and from work if we're going
anywhere as a family. My wife is normally driving because
I just get way too anxious driving on the streets.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Get it to get it.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
So so we're going to switch gears now for our
last two segments. Our next one is called Columbus Classics.
This podcast is all about uncovering what's new, but we
also love the tried and true places and experiences. Can
you tell us about a classic Columbus experience you love.
It could be a neighborhood, a restaurant.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Or anything. Jeez.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
I mean, one of my favorite things to do is
walk around German Village. Just walk down the Schiller Park
and kind of do a lap. That's my Like, I
just got off the phone with my lawyer and my
accountant and I need ten minutes situation. But the Conservatory
is one of my favorite things. We just went to
their butterfly exhibit there. I don't know if you got
to do that. It was awesome. And our son is
like obsessed with butterflies right now, so he just the
(25:08):
best time.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
There just really is so much to do here, I
was saying earlier, like I haven't been to a Columbus
Crew game. I really really want to. Obviously, There's tons
of food to eat here. The rooftop at Lincoln Social
is always fun. The Top Steakhouse I love their Top two. Yeah,
and then ten Suit Game Market up on Kenny Road.
I try to go there at least once a week,
(25:31):
so awesome.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Those are all great spots.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Those are. Now before we close out today's episode, we
just have one more segment. This is how we wrap
up BJ. What are you saying yes to in Columbus
this season?
Speaker 4 (25:44):
I just said it. I'm gonna say yes to go
in to a Columbus Crew game. You go, I have
to go see it. Our new next door neighbor place
for the Crew.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
So oh wow.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
We had no idea if we met him like a
dozen times. And they have a little kid too, so
our kids are playing. My wife was just casually talking
to his wife and and they're like, what are you doing.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
They're like, oh, you know, we own some restaurants. She's
like that's awesome. He's like, what do you do? Like, oh,
my husband plays for the Crew. Wow wow. Yeah, hopefully
we can exchange some favors. Yeah exactly, I'm sure. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
I actually get offered to go to Crew games all
the time. It's just always on nights that ever. Yeah,
I'm just gonna blow off work one night and.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Go to cre Desert.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Sure that the stadium is.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
I'm such a big sports fan.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
It's just the one thing that I just like haven't
gotten into, so I really need to.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Yeah, it's awesome.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Well, BJ, thank you so much again for joining us.
We loved hearing your story and all of the incredible
things you're doing in Columbus's restaurant scene. We're thrilled about
Metsi's and can't wait to see what you cook up next.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Yeah and yeah, this has been nice to catch up
with you. By the way, thanks for your time and
for coming back. And by the way, to learn more
about Medsi's and all of BJ's culinary adventures, you can
visit metsis Italian dot com, that's m E. T s
i s Italian dot com, or just follow a long
on social media. And for more great ways to experience Columbus,
(27:03):
just head to experience Columbus dot com. Thank you for
listening to Yes Columbus and we'll see you next time.
Thanks Bjay, Thanks Jarah.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Thank you, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
That's a wrap on this week's episode of Yes Columbus
and Experience Columbus podcast. Tune in next week as we
take you on a tour of what's new, what's hot,
and what makes Columbus a city on the rise.
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