restaurants

‘Let us do good’

sbradford — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 16:26:20 +0000

‘Let us do good’

January 1, 2022

Karen Homan of Do Good Restaurant and Ministry

Karen Homan wouldn’t categorize herself as anything more than ordinary — a farmer’s wife, a mother, a grandmother. What she has helped to create in the small Darke County community of Osgood, however, is nothing short of extraordinary.

Homan (pictured at left), with the help of local families and businesses, has built a unique restaurant and ministry called Do Good, in the middle of what is known as the Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches in west-central Ohio. In October 2021, less than two years after opening its doors, Do Good reached the milestone of $1 million donated to local causes.

Homan, who started the project with no previous experience running a business, says she was guided by the Holy Spirit after she was called to action while in her kitchen one day.

“There was a voice telling me, ‘There are many good people in the world, but they are not coming to my churches. People are so busy with work, schedules, and children that they don’t have time for me — but they will go out to eat,’” says Homan, a member of St. Marys-based Midwest Electric.

While admittedly hesitant and concerned about whether she would have to sell the family farm to help pay for it, Homan got to work. She says she was skeptical at first, and often tested the voice by setting deadlines to receive often even large donations, but they were always met; she never had to sell the farm.

She says she was guided to various people along the way, from architects and business consultants to a chef and other staff — many of whom she didn’t know and most of whom she anticipated would think she was crazy — who helped her make the mission a reality.

Although Homan had wondered if a busier, more traveled area would be better, the Osgood location has been a perfect fit. The restaurant sits on the corner of four counties — Darke, Auglaize, Mercer, and Shelby — and, as people from different towns contributed, she says it felt like the restaurant and ministry were shared by everyone.

The restaurant seats 150 patrons in a main dining room, small side area, and upper room that overlooks the main floor and features a large Last Supper mural. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus developed by head chef Alicia Vanderpool offer something for everyone, including a take-home family casserole option.

There are more than 360 people who work at the restaurant and ministry — 45 paid employees and the rest volunteers — including Homan, who often will spend upward of 50 hours per week helping out in some way or another. She credits the staff for Do Good’s success.

“I have no idea how it all runs so smoothly. I don’t know how to do a lot of the things around here, but somehow it just works,” says Homan.

The waitstaff accepts tips, but they don’t take those tips home; instead, they’re donated to a specified individual or family in need each month. The million dollars raised in tips and donations in the first 20 months of operation was spread among more than 20 local individuals, families, and causes.

“Some people may not want to give to charity, but people will leave a tip because it’s customary,” says Homan. “They feel good because that tip helped a person or family in their community. People have been abundantly kind and generous.”

While this wasn’t necessarily what Homan had planned for this stage of her life, she says she finds joy in being able to spread the ministry, and she’s always on the lookout for more ways to bring people together to “do good.”

In addition to the restaurant, Do Good has added a baby outreach, which provides free blankets and caps or bonnets to area newborns; Bible studies for youth, teens, and adults; exercise classes; tutoring for K–12 students; honor meals for volunteers from local organizations; and a health and wellness clinic to serve the community. The restaurant grounds have expanded and now include a rosary garden, a children’s memorial garden park, and a splash pad.

“There’s always such a joy and peace when I talk to people, and I’ll see their recognition that God is real, she says. “Just to know people are coming to recognize God is joyful — and the apple dumplings are pretty good, too.”

Do Good Restaurant and Ministry, 25 W. Main St., Osgood, OH 45351. Open Monday through Saturday. 419-582-GOOD (4663) or www.dogoodrm.com.

In the Doghouse

sean.walker — Fri, 03 Jan 2020 13:02:08 +0000

In the Doghouse

January 3, 2020

Jamie Rhein

It wasn’t too long ago that the area along Gender Road, south of Route 33 near the Franklin-Fairfield county line, was farmland as far as the eye could see. There was the bucolic village of Canal Winchester nearby and Columbus just a bit farther up the road.

When BrewDog, the irreverent brewery and pub chain, decided to expand its operations into the United States, its management looked at the spot and saw nothing but possibility — with more than 50 breweries in the Columbus area and almost 300 in Ohio, this is craft beer country. More importantly, it’s also within a day’s reach of nearly half the U.S. population.

The thing about BrewDog: It doesn’t do anything in a small way. The Scotland-based company not only set up its U.S. headquarters at the Canal Winchester location, it’s created a sensory powerhouse destination for people who love beer.

Soon came a taproom-style restaurant and then, in 2018, a 32-room hotel called the DogHouse that has been named one of Time magazine’s “100 Greatest Places to Stay.”

It’s clear from the very start that an overnight stay at the BrewDog complex is not your everyday experience. Here, dogs are welcome (in some of the guest rooms), beer is a celebration, and ingenuity is everywhere.

Visitors are greeted with a mural of neon sea creatures, including a bright blue shark and a pink octopus, which is a BrewDog staple, painted by Scottish artist Craig Fisher. The octopus, its tentacles winding around guest room windows, visually joins the hotel with the taproom.

The beer celebration begins at check-in. Instead of a reception desk, there’s a bar — back-lit by a reddish-orange neon “Welcome to Hotel BrewDog” sign — and a subtle scent of fermentation wafting over from the connected OverWorks sour beer facility. Guests even receive a complimentary beer upon arrival.

Those who feel like hanging out a bit may strike up a conversation over a brew or two. For Keith Miles, longtime BrewDog fan, “This is my go-to place for beer friends who come to Columbus.” The hotel’s on-tap sour-beer bar is a major draw. His friend, David Priggie, who hails from Minneapolis, was on his fourth BrewDog visit. While they were enjoying sour Cosmic Crush Cherry, another hotel guest settled in for a can of Vermont Vampire, a black/Cascadian dark ale, and joined the conversation. Turned out he was from Sao Paolo, Brazil — site, by the way, of another BrewDog bar.

Heading to a guest room doesn’t mean leaving the beer behind. The hotel’s second- and third-floor hallways overlook OverWorks’ stacks of wooden barrels and foeders of fermenting deliciousness. You can carry your brew anywhere on the BrewDog property, and what’s more, you don’t even need to go to the bar to get one.

The guest rooms feature both locally hand-crafted furniture and beer. The furniture, by Columbus’ Edgework Creative, provides upscale digs. The beer is always within arm’s reach — either from a kegerator filled with a beer of your choice, a small recessed refrigerator with 12 mixed cans of international favorites, or another fridge next to the rainfall shower so you can pop a cold one while you lather up.

Beer is even included as a toiletry ingredient. Soap, shampoo, and body lotion are specially formulated by Glenn Avenue, another Columbus company, from BrewDog’s Elvis Juice, a grapefruit-infused IPA.

The concept works. At BrewDog, people, and often dogs, mingle everywhere — at the hotel’s bar, at the DogPark where pooches and people play, the outside patio, and in DogTap, the taproom restaurant where board games and an arcade entice people into family-friendly fun in between bites of American pub fare. Dogs can dine with owners outside on the patio. “We want you to experience not just the beer, but the atmosphere and the people around you,” says Amy Schwarzenberg, hotel manager.

As a DogHouse bonus, hotel guests get a free tour of BrewDog’s museum, which showcases beer history and beermaking how-to. Add in a beermosa — BrewDog’s Hazy Jane IPA and orange juice — with the complimentary breakfast in the morning, and it’s an experience that’s hard to leave.