EAT

Columbus Food Adventures is Delivering Surprises

When you order a Trust Fall dinner, they choose the restaurant

By Angela Lee / Photography By Angela Lee | September 02, 2020

Bethia Woolf, Andy Dehus and their daughter, Zoe, visit NE Chinese Restaurant on North High Street, which is among the restaurants included in Trust Fall dinners.

Geared up with two bright red delivery bags in hand, Andy Dehus is hard at work as he finishes filling up the weekly food orders for his customers. Fast and furious, he is already out the door within minutes to join his team of drivers.

Meet Bethia Woolf and Andy Dehus, the wife-and-husband duo behind Columbus Food Adventures, which has been offering food tours of the city for 10 years. Building on years of food blogging, the pair set out to introduce the public to the world of immigrant- and minority-owned cuisine. From an initial event that showcased taco trucks, these foodies started exploring Columbus and noticed a lack of food tours in the city. And thus, a business was born.

By creating the food tour company, they have helped to increase recognition of the diversity in the food scene within Columbus and the availability of quality food around Central Ohio. From gourmet restaurants to food trucks to lesser-known hidden culinary ventures like mom-and-pop restaurants and supermarket eateries, Columbus Food Adventures provides a glimpse into the mecca of food that is Columbus, Ohio. For Bethia and Andy, food brings a sense of adventure, and behind every cuisine is a story worth sharing and exploring. Designed with the hungry and curious eater in mind, the tours became a beacon for those seeking the new and unfamiliar.

The arrival of the novel coronavirus this year sent restaurants scrambling to create innovative solutions to mandated dining restrictions; Bethia and Andy thought to create a dining experience that adapted to the constraints of the new pandemic lifestyle. They were particularly concerned with the overall well-being of their immigrant restaurant partners, some of whom lead a less-than-stable existence even in the best of times, despite offering exceptional food. As a result, the duo wanted to create a system that supported their partners while also introducing the public to a dining experience that calls to mind the excitement of travel and adventure—but in the comfort of their own homes. The idea was simple: to create a reconnection with the public and share the thrill of global cuisine. They created a dinner club with a twist: the Trust Fall dinners.

Trust Fall dinners come with a printed menu explaining all the included dishes.

Orders have been packaged for the evening’s deliveries.

True to its name, each Trust Fall dinner requires the diners to have faith in Bethia and Andy to select the meal. The dinners are curated weekly to provide an element of surprise. A limited number of dinner reservations are posted every Friday for the following week. Customers can go to the website and book the date and time they want delivery. The only caveat? The meal is pre-selected by Columbus Food Adventures and it remains a mystery until delivery.

Each dinner arrives with a menu describing the food and a link to a YouTube video in which the owners of the restaurant talk about the dinner and the story behind its creation. Since the start of the Trust Fall dinners, Bethia and Andy have made it their goal to provide a global representation. From Peruvian, to Senegalese, to Uzbek, to Korean foods, the dinners have represented more than 30 different countries and have created an opportunity for the public to learn more about the cultures and traditions of those countries. For those who are familiar with the food tours that were offered in the past, the Trust Fall dinners closely resemble the experiences offered for those customers.

Looking to the future, Bethia and Andy hope to continue with and evolve the Trust Fall dinners past the challenge of COVID-19. It has become a way to bring the community together and re-create the dining experience to evolve with the changes in the hospitality industry.

For the duo, “There has been a real sense of warmth and appreciation for what we’ve been doing with Trust Fall, and delivery drivers consistently note how much gratitude they receive during brief encounters with customers,” Bethia said. “We thrive on providing the hospitality that our tours offer, and are heartened to see that Trust Fall allows us to feel as though we’re offering some semblance of that hospitality at a time when it seems more meaningful to do so.”

So, throw caution to the wind and get ready to experience a dining experience unlike any other. Here’s your chance to expand your palate and explore new cuisines, all from the comfort of your own home.