Tasi Rigsby’s mission is to get her customers to eat “real food.”
The owner of Tasi Cafe in the Short North won’t even serve her vaunted Greek salad ($11) in the winter because of the lack of good tomatoes.
Back on the menu, the village salad, or horiatiki, offers chunks of cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, quality feta and Kalamata olives tossed in a vinaigrette of oregano, balsamic, red-wine vinegar, lemon, garlic and extra-virgin olive oil, with a light amount of salt and pepper.
“It’s not a lot of ingredients; they’re beautiful ingredients,” Rigsby said.
It’s been 15 years since she opened her small, out-of-the-way cafe obscured from North High Street behind tall buildings.
At first, she didn’t know what to expect, but she was bound and determined to make as much from scratch as possible, such as fresh breads, house-prepared meats, smoked and cured fish, fresh-chopped garlic and onions, house-peeled carrots — areas where other restaurateurs might cut corners.
She said she’s humbled by the success of the cafe.
“Even in the winter, when people wait outside, I just have so much gratitude for the public,” said Rigsby, wife of pioneering chef and restaurateur Kent Rigsby, who once owned restaurants in the Short North and was given much credit for the neighborhood’s revitalization.
She describes her place as “authentic and pretty traditional.”
Rigsby credits good food, talented chefs as secrets to success
“I don’t know what it is,” she said. “If you own a restaurant, you should have good food. But I think it’s the whole thing: it’s bohemian, it’s good food, it’s funky and it’s not intimidating — it doesn’t matter what your age.”
She gives much credit to her talented trio of chefs: Ernest Ponce, Francisco Arvea and Mayoriko Ramos.
There’s a lot going on in the quinoa hash ($14), which offers the ancient grain with two poached eggs, zucchini, cauliflower, red pepper, onion, spinach, tomato and jalapeno butter and a side of crusty French bread,
“It’s a lovely dish,” Rigsby said. “It’s really elegant but it has a lot of flavor.”
Breakfast is served all day. Lunches start at 11 a.m.
