Reviews

Company also names new general manager of restaurant

M, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants’ (CMR) marquee restaurant, has been named an elite Four Diamond property by AAA.  M is one of only three restaurants in Columbus and 756 nationwide to receive the prestigious rating this year.  This is the second consecutive year that M has received the rating.

“It is an honor that M has been named among this elite group of restaurants again this year,” said Cameron Mitchell, president and founder of CMR.  “Our associates are at the heart of our accomplishments, and receiving a Four Diamond rating is a tribute to the dedication and extraordinary effort of every member of our team.”

AAA’s Diamond rating system, adopted in 1977, is North America’s premier rating program.  Each year, AAA’s professional field representatives conduct unannounced visits to rigorously evaluate accommodations and establishments throughout the U.S., Canada, Caribbean and Mexico.  Facilities that meet strict quality guidelines are assigned an overall rating of one to five Diamonds. 

A Four Diamond rating recognizes excellence in service, food quality and presentation and facility atmosphere and décor.  To receive this rating, establishments must consistently deliver a luxury experience.  Less than three percent of the 60,000 AAA-approved and Diamond rated properties achieve this distinction. 

“AAA members recognize and trust the Diamond rating system,” said Kristen Luff, who was recently named general manager of M.  “Because they use the system to select restaurants and accommodations, it is a privilege to receive the Four Diamond designation.”

Luff brings more than 11 years of experience in the foodservice industry to M.  Joining Cameron Mitchell Restaurants in 1999, she has held leadership positions at several of the company’s restaurants.  Most recently, she served as assistant manager of Mitchell’s Steakhouse Polaris.

“We are pleased to have someone of Kristen’s caliber lead M,” said Mitchell.  “Kristen brings a strong knowledge of our company, a passion for fine food and wine and a love of the foodservice industry to her new position. We are very fortunate to have her as a member of our team.” 

Open Monday through Saturday for dinner, M is located on the first level of the Miranova office tower in downtown Columbus.  For more information, please call (614) 629-0000 or visit the restaurant online at www.matmiranova.com.  For the convenience of guests, reservations are always accepted.

This fine dining concept by Cameron Mitchell offers a decadent Pan-Asian menu that ventures far afield from the original Cameron's concept. There are lobster cones and tuna tartare to start, wild greens or spinach with roasted tomatoes in lieu of a dinner salad, and Pacific Rim-inspired main courses such as miso-glazed Chilean sea bass. The closest thing to typical fare is the steak frites, which evokes Parisian side streets more than Columbus steakhouses. The wine list is extensive, featuring varietals largely from Europe and the American West Coast. M is too pricey to become a regular hangout for most people, but is a destination when it comes time for splurge dining.

When hungry Columbus residents want a swanky dining experience, they head to M, located on the riverfront downtown in the luxe Miranova high-rise. The glitzy crown jewel in local restaurateur Cameron Mitchell's empire of eateries, M features stunning views of the downtown skyline, stylish decor and, of course, great food. Signature offerings here include an apple salad with wild greens, manchego cheese, pecans and maple vinaigrette; a scallop appetizer served with truffle potatoes and roasted garlic jus; and a halibut entree accompanied by lobster ravioli, asparagus and sweet corn emulsion. While undeniably elegant, M doesn't take itself too seriously, as evidenced by two of its most popular desserts: and old-fashioned root beer float featuring root beer granita; and coffee and donuts, a combination of apple fritters and "half cold" coffee.

The first impression (decor that’s lavish and extremely varied in its use of shapes, materials and colors, some of which change as the evening wears on) leaves no doubt that this is the quality flagship of the Cameron Mitchell restaurant empire.

The large, expert staff was trained under the watchful eyes of general manager Walter Carpenter, who has been promoted within the Cameron Mitchell organization but still has M (under new general manager Gregg Sheffer) within his elevated sphere of responsibility.

Like his predecessor, new executive chef Brian Parker serves food that isn’t afraid to focus on Heartland ingredients and recipes along with Pacific-Rim incursions (seared ahi tuna finished with a kalamata olive sauce and served over artichoke risotto).

Thus, an excellent entree of Amish chicken with root vegetables and wild mushrooms coexists with a number of sushi items and a large assortment of steaks. European influences also abound, as in the halibut with housemade lobster ravioli.

The dessert list is more resolutely Americana: How about "coffee and doughnuts"(coffee semifreddo accompanied by apple fritters filled with pastry cream plus a Bailey’s caramel and raspberry sauce in which to dip them) or banana bread pudding?

The wine list is not cheap but extensive, reorganized for greater variety and easier reading. It yields gems for those willing to read carefully.

Serving dinner Monday through Saturday; valet parking ($5).

Look down on your menu at M and you’ll notice it’s changing colors. That’s because M’s overhead lighting is slowly shifting. This is part of the high drama at M, the opulent flagship of Cameron Mitchell’s fleet of eateries. Even vents and speakers at M can be snazzy, as some are part of a huge ceiling fixture fitted with gauzy curtains that hovers above an ornate bar.

If you’re not getting my drift yet, let me spell it out: To enter M is to be transported.

Residing in the upscale Miranova building, M provides sweeping interior vistas with its sky-high ceiling, layers of glass, sheets of sheer fabric and pretty polished wood. There’s also an oversized, handsome wine rack, sectioned-off dining areas (one resembling a wine barrel), a swanky patio and some of the most impressive views of downtown Columbus you’ll eyeball while eating.

And at M you’ll be eating delicious, artfully crafted and plated Mitchell cuisine. Like a refreshing Poke tuna appetizer with luscious fish interwoven with avocado and formed into a big fat puck. There’s also a veal medley that pairs some of the most succulent meat you’ll ever eat in town with a wonderfully pungent wild mushroom crepe.

Of course the service is great and the undeniable romance of the place extends to its fabulous desserts-like the coyly named “Coffee and Donuts.” Anyone expecting plain old coffee and donuts here might also confuse Cameron Mitchell with a humble fry cook (it’s banana beignets with an espresso semi-freddo).

September 21, 2004

Boundaries fade when it comes to sharing ingredients and ideas among cultures.

One of the most popular appetizers on the menu at M, a restaurant in downtown Columbus, Ohio, is the bento box.
 
It’s a black-and-red lacquered wooden box with five compartments, each holding an appetizer such as sushi roll, soba noodles with dipping sauce, or tempura.  In the middle there might be wasabi and pickled ginger for the sushi.  “We change it every day,” says Brian Hinshaw, executive chef for the Cameron Mitchell Restaurants concept.  “Some days, it’s totally Korean, the next day it might be all Japanese.  We have fun with it.”
 
Times are changing when it comes to American taste buds and what they desire.  International travel, the popularity of celebrity chefs, cooking programs on television and the proliferation of ethnic restaurants all create an adventurous spirit among diners.
 
Meatloaf always will be a wonderful comfort food and steak and potatoes a big favorite, but foreign influences are finding their way onto tables across foodservice segments from coast to coast.  Call it the globalization of the American menu.

Coastal Influences
Many of the young chefs responsible for bringing new global influences to the table took their training on the West Coast.  Brian Hinshaw of M restaurant, for example, headed to Los Angeles and San Francisco to do apprenticeships after graduating from an Ohio culinary school in the late 1980s.
 
“You could eat at a different ethnic restaurant every night,” he says.  After a brief stint in Chicago, he moved back to Ohio a decade after leaving.  “I knew the food scene had blossomed in that 10 years, but it still was not where it was on the West Coast.”
 
Now, M diners relish such dishes at little lobster cones holding three different kinds of caviar (salmon roe, tobiko and American); and tuna tartare with wasabi-soy drizzle, both appetizers; and miso-glazed Chilean sea bass, a popular entrée.
 
Is he pushing the envelope?  “For Columbus, there’s no doubt about our being edgy,” he says.  “I think we’re walking that fine line as to whether we go further.  But the demand for this kind of food is going to keep getting greater.”

December 23, 2004

A new menu at M – Cameron Mitchell’s flagship restaurant – puts more emphasis on prime ingredients and less on elaborate sauces and presentations.

Executive chef Brian Hinshaw is able to obtain much of what he showcases from within Ohio.

“We try to be source-based, with less manipulation,” he said.  For vegetables, that means ordering from the Farmer Jones operation in northern Ohio.

That’s how Hinshaw gets the lineup for his new menu’s “roasted root crop” side dish, which typically contains “red dragon” and a couple of other types of carrots; turnips, picked young and sweet; “watermelon” radish; and several kinds of potatoes.

What Hinshaw likes is being able to call in his order, knowing that only then will someone go out to the fields (or, in winter, the greenhouses) and pick the vegetables, which will be in his kitchen in fewer than 24 hours.

“We talk every day,” said Hinshaw, who likes to build his specials around the best of what’s available.  Of course, such a goal involves more than the best in vegetables.  For Amish-type poultry, he turns to Park Farms, which slaughters chickens to order.

“You can easily taste the difference” when it’s raised right and delivered fresh, Hinshaw said.

The new menu features young chicken with the roasted roots, wild mushrooms, bacon, and a simple pan sauce ($21).

To finish, consider ordering a dessert platter, which can include a sampling of the mostly American items on the new list.  For $7 a person, you can wind up with a molten chocolate-center cake, peanut-butter banana cake with banana ice cream, an excellent fudgelike chocolate pate made with passion fruit and accompanied by chocolate-toffee ice cream and passion fruit sauce, and a trio of miniature crème brulees served with a house made version of Cracker Jack.

The seared ahi tuna at M gives you a portal into Brian Hinshaw's creative world.

The filets are skillfully seared and placed on an ivory mound of creamy cauliflower, encircled by a veal reduction ($26). The plate is furnished with more goodies: fresh baby artichoke hearts, golden raisins and capers -- a delicious contrast of sweet and brine. The earth and sea are beautifully represented here, a testament to the skill of Hinshaw, the executive chef. He uses organic ingredients when possible, and adds a creative touch to many plates.

M is Cameron Mitchell's signature restaurant inside Miranova, the high-rise condo complex downtown. It's visually entertaining, with lots of contemporary fixtures. Ceiling-to-floor swags give the dining room a breezy openness. An illuminated wall behind the towering bar has a synchronized presentation with the lights in the dining room; you go from pink to magenta in a click. One wall is distinguished by picture windows, allowing for an engaging view of downtown at night.

Despite its upscale assurances, M does not come across as imposing or stuffy. Credit the friendly servers, who have an acute knowledge of the menu and wine list, for putting you at ease.

For the roasted tomato soup ($7), a crostini pasted with a dab of goat cheese is set in the center of the bowl, which is then flooded with a tomato stock that has a harmonious blend of herbs and restrained acidity. Spinach salad ($8) has evenly distributed ingredients -- hazelnuts, bacon and goat cheese -- all washed in a toothsome vinaigrette.

The steak-in-a-bowl entree is an interesting concept that is on the cusp of something special ($34). The bowl is replete with roasted fingerling potato coins and blue cheese that nicely melts into a sumptuous truffle veal stock. 

Roasted chicken ($21) is rustic and juicy, served in the down-home tradition with mashed potatoes and an aromatic stock littered with carrots, mushrooms and onions.

Broiled Chilean sea bass ($27), moist and flaky, is paired with excellent shrimp dumplings. Both rest in an aromatic broth influenced by soy, sesame and lemongrass, while freshwater chestnuts and mushrooms usher in some textural balance. We also enjoyed the scallops starter -- a trio of nicely seared scallops nestled in a small mound of truffle mashed potatoes given a drizzle of roasted garlic jus ($14).

Double-cut lamb chops ($31) and the 14-ounce New York strip ($32) both are part of an extended menu of chops. Both are steakhouse quality, cooked to the appropriate temperature and bounding with natural flavor. The touch of rosemary demiglace for dipping is all you need.  

 For dessert, we settled on the homemade ice cream ($7). 

The wine list is very well-rounded, and we enjoyed the 2001 Clos du Mont-Olivet Chateauneuf du Pape ($40). Once it opens up, it tantalizes with its light spices and supple fruit flavor, while just enough acidity holds everything in check. If you're looking for a white wine with enticing minerals and upfront melon and green apple notes, try the 2001 William Fevre Chablis ($36).

Thursday, May 04, 2006

M, 2 Miranova Place, Miranova Corporate Tower, Downtown,
614-629-0000, reservations recommended

The first impression (decor that’s lavish and extremely varied in its use of shapes, materials and colors) leaves no doubt that this is the quality flagship of the Cameron Mitchell restaurant empire.

The large, expert staff is supervised by general manager Walter Carpenter. Executive chef Ian Rough isn’t afraid to focus on heartland ingredients and recipes. He spares no effort, or expense, in obtaining the best that Ohio has to offer, from specially grown root vegetables to Amish-quality poultry, dressed to order, that come together in the remarkably delectable sauteed-chicken entree.

Currently, veal is infused with exotic mushroom flavors, and wild salmon is not an afterthought but a well-thoughtout medley of flavors composed of house-made gnocchi, mussels in a saffron sauce and chanterelle mushrooms.

Rough’s dessert list is even more resolutely Americana — consider coffee and doughnuts (coffee ice cream accompanied by apple fritters filled with pastry cream plus a Bailey’s caramel sauce and concentrated sweet cider in which to dip them), a root-beer float or a creme brulee inspired by s’mores.

The wine list is extensive, not cheap and yields gems for those willing to read it carefully.

Serving lunch Monday through Friday, dinner Monday through Saturday; nonsmoking dining room, smoking on patio; valet parking ($5).