Visitors

MAY: Having graduated from Colorado College, my grand-nephew AJ stopped by New Albany with his schoolmate Jonathan Cox on their drives back home to MA and PA. We ate well, with coffee at The Fox in the Snow and an AYCE lunch at the Brazilian Churrasco Fogo de Chao. After Jonathan left for his home, I took AJ for a tasting dinner at Agni then good night’s sleep for his 12-hour drive back to Boston.

AUG: Joe & Marney Thomas stopped by New Albany to be my house guests on their drive to visit family and colleagues in Toledo and Ann Arbor, letting me reciprocate in a small way for my annual visits to Cornell where I’ve stayed Chez Thomas. I cannot match their home cooking and raids on Joe’s famed wine cellar, so instead, I let them experience some of the culinary wonders of the Columbus area: An international tasting menu at my friend and Columbus Celebrity Chef Avishar Barua’s Agni; Brunch al fresco at New Albany Country Club; Chef Jeremy Nelson’s Umbral Supper Club; Souffléd Egg Sandwiches at The Fox in the Snow; Authentic Cantonese cuisine at Asian Taste.

 

Performing Arts Around Columbus

DEC’24: Sandy & Jon Tafel invited me to dinner at Hank’s before they  joined me at the Ohio Theatre for BalletMet’s classic The Nutcracker. Then the Nutcracker Ball at Ballet Met, here with fellow Trustee Michele Holcolmb. FEB: BalletMet’s spectacular collaborative production with CAPA, the Columbus Symphony, and Opera Columbus of West Side Story at the majestic Ohio Theatre. MAR: Rich Stoff’s guest at the Columbus Symphony’s Bolero. APR: My introduction to Heavy Metal music by Lo Pan guitarist Chris Thompson at Ace of Cups. MAY: Dinner at Chef Jay Klevens’ Speck with Cally & Sean Meers before BalletMet’s Sleeping Beauty at the Ohio. JUN: Vegetarian dinner at Comune with Lori & Craig Mohre before BalletMet’s Black Voices at the Davidson Theatre. SEP&OCT: At New Albany’s Hinson Amphitheater for the New Albany Symphony’s Bernstein in Story & Song and Carmina Burana at the McCoy. OCT. Speck again with Shawnie Kelley & Dan Ralley for innovative pastas and short rib, then BalletMet’s Remi3 – a triple-bill of Artistic Director’ Remi Wörtmeyer’s works at the Davidson Theatre.

 

Printed 2025 Letter

I fit all the above into one double-sided legal sheet to include with my Christmas cards. Since Adobe stopped supporting its InDesign app except on a monthly subscription basis, I bought Affinity Publisher at a reasonable one-time purchase cost and made the easy switch to it to lay out this year's letter. If you'd like a hard copy, I'd be happy to mail you one - just send an email with your mailing address to me at roderickgwchu@gmail.com.

My 2024 Holiday Letter

December 2024

5 Alban Mews

New Albany, Ohio 43054
Email: roderickchu@att.net

A holiday note to my family, friends, and colleagues —

The past year has been a relatively quiet one for me, ending with our traditional family Thanksgiving at Laura & David’s in BOLTON, MA, with a stop in NJ on my drive home to see old friends for their big anniversary. During the year, I took other quick trips to CHICAGO and TOLEDO to see other friends, and to ITHACA for my annual Cornell meeting. 

Minor medical issues kept me around COLUMBUS the rest of the year but they didn’t keep me from joining my church group trip to SPAIN in May, where 23 of us took a two-week bus tour seeing the major sights of 18 cities around that country. Locally, my friends and I took advantage of central Ohio’s many pleasures including magnificent dining and performing arts experiences. 

No one braved coming to visit me in the wilds of Ohio, so I didn’t do much to clean out the stuff still cluttering my house from Laura & my emptying out Mom’s house last year. I’ve kept my guest rooms clean, though, in hopeful anticipation of friends and family coming by for visits, especially with numerous publications like Forbes Magazine rating COLUMBUS as America’s Fastest Growing City And A Wonderful Place To Visit! Here’s hoping these recollections will entice you to come visit me in 2025!

Sincerely,
Rod

My blogs:     http://rchu.wordpress.com                                                       http://www.choosygourmand.wordpress.com 

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rodchu

Family Gathering

NOV: I drove to Laura & David’s in BOLTON, MA. Dinner out at the new Seoul Kitchen in Leominster before Laura set to work for our Thanksgiving gathering with Karen & Gian and A.J and Alexandra. Sadly, Steven & Shari again couldn’t join us for Laura’s delicious feast.

In Alban Mews

JUN, JUL, AUG: I joined my wonderful ALBAN MEWS neighbors at 4 of our Gatherings on the Green – our monthly summer pop-up cocktail parties in our neighborhood park. As ever, yummy nosh to go with our drinks – I made pan-fried wontons for one of the gatherings. 

JAN: Several of my orchid plants brightened my winter by blooming again. JUL & AUG: My Night Blooming Cereus plants had me concerned, with no buds through June. But then they gave me 6 rounds of flowers with 11 total blossoms that I shared outdoors with Amy Bowling, her family, and other neighbors before I moved them to my Sunroom for a final round of blooming indoors and their warm winter’s rest.

World-class Performing Arts Around Columbus

Dec. ‘23, FEB, MAR, APR, OCT: Enjoyed BalletMet’s masterful performances of The Nutcracker (with guests Paul Mackenzie & Dana Anthony), Alice (Blake Compton), Asian Voices (Craig & Lori Mohre and Jim Miller), Romeo & Juliet (Doug & Lara Warburton), and Dracula (Jon Tafel & Sandy Miller). FEB: Pianist Claire Huangci with the Columbus Symphony for Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. DEC’23&APR: The New Albany Symphony for their Holiday Spectacular and with Branford Marsalis. OCT: Joshua Bell’s performance in NEW ALBANY’s McCoy Center.