FOOD

Stark Bites: M&H Beans open in North Canton; John's Bar wins at steak cookoff

Kelsey Davis
The Repository
Mike and Hannah Moyer recently opened M&H Beans at 706 S. Main St. in North Canton.

M&H Beans opened its roastery at 706 S. Main St. in North Canton. Per the coffee shop’s website, as of Aug. 2, M&H Beans is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Starting the week of Aug. 15, M&H Beans will be open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

“We’ve been working on this space since April, so to finally welcome guests into the roastery feels great,” co-owner Hannah Moyer said in an email. “Next up is to welcome our new roaster into the space, which is currently on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean somewhere, and we hope to have it arrive in Ohio before the fall!”

The coffee shop first announced it would be opening a roastery in late April in the vacancy left when Sprinkle City Bakery & Cafe relocated to 1430 W. Maple St. in North Canton.

Moyer, who owns the business with her husband, Mike, said they source only specialty-grade beans from four continents. Between the two Moyers, they have about 30 years of food and beverage experience.

M&H Beans offers bagged coffee for purchase, as well as to-go coffee and tea.

The menu at M&H Beans is similar to that of the Bean Box, the coffee truck by M&H Beans, including different kinds of coffee and tea, “but we have intentions of growing the menu as time goes on,” Moyer said.

“However, we are finally making all of our own syrups and have added some new snack items. We are sourcing lemon blueberry scones from Sprinkle City Bakery and using Pav’s Creamery vanilla kustard for affogatos,” said Moyer.

You also can find M&H Beans at the North Canton Farmers’ Market from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays at the North Canton Civic Center for the time being. Their focus is shifting from pop-up events to the roastery.

Co-owner Hannah Moyer was excited to share that they make their own syrups to add into drinks.

“We are so happy to finally have our shop open here in North Canton. We are North Canton residents and really want to help the community grow and find excitement in each day,” said Moyer. “We all make each other better, in the coffee industry and in our daily lives. Be kind and support your local businesses, and it will benefit all of us.”

Moyer said to be sure to follow M&H Beans on Facebook and Instagram and sign up for the email newsletter on the website to stay up to date on news from M&H Beans and where the Bean Box will be next.

North Canton coffee:Tremont Coffee, Shale Craft Coffee open in North Canton; M&H Beans to open roastery

John’s Bar & Grille owner wins big at Grilling in Hall of Fame City Steak Cookoff 

John Varavvas, winner of "The Best of Oakwood Square" with Oakwood Square owner Grant Giltz.

John Varavvas, owner of John’s Bar & Grille, was the big local winner at the Grilling in Hall of Fame City Steak Cookoff. Mister Brisket, a Cleveland Heights-based premium meat and prepared food provider, hosted the cookoff July 30 at Oakwood Square in Plain Township

Varavvas had the best score of the day out of the competing vendors and restaurants from Oakwood Square. He took home the “Best of Oakwood Square” trophy.

Other winners included Ian Trefz from southern Ohio for the Steak A category, Terry West from Pennsylvania for the Steak B category and Brian Smith-Vandergtift from Athens, Ohio, for the Anything Tailgate category. Trefz and West were awarded $1,000 each, and Smith-Vandergtift was awarded $125.

Restaurant review:Popular Canton family-owned restaurant booming in new Oakwood Square location

Walkie Talkie Espresso & Coffee hosts Cold Brew Battle

Walkie Talkie Espresso & Coffee hosted the Cold Brew Battle on July 28. The event, which was co-hosted with Lekko Coffee of Cleveland, started at 5 p.m. with food from the Empamami food truck and music provided by Jared Gonzalez, who goes by @cosmitropics on Instagram, followed by the battle at 6 p.m.

“It was an honor to cohost a barista competition that celebrated baristas and the creativity they serve up to the community everyday! We really enjoyed welcoming everyone in to interact with the competitors and try their creations,” Walkie Talkie co-owner Lindsey King said. 

Competitors’ drink creations could contain any ingredients, as long as cold brew was included, and drinks had to be nonalcoholic. Competitors were instructed to bring a gallon of their specialty cold brew creation.

Featured judges sampled all drinks and deliberated, and then guests sampled drinks and voted for the Peoples Choice Award.

First place went to Joey Deliz from Lekko Coffee of Cleveland with his entry of Ube Cold Brew. In second place was Walkie Talkie’s Latasha Bigrigg and Cory Windland, who entered the Cardamom Creation. Third place went to Mary Burgardt with her S’mores Specialty. The Peoples Choice Award went to Austin Shanower and Jolan Troyer from Ohio Roasting Company with their take on an Ube Drink.

“Loved spending time with this rad crew at our Cold Brew Battle that we hosted with Lekko Coffee this week. The barista community is such a special place and we can’t wait to host more events to celebrate them,” the Walkie Talkie team shared on its Instagram after the event.

Stark County coffee:Cold coffee popular at Stark County shops; Walkie Talkie shares inspiration for unique drinks

North Canton Public Library to host adult coffee hour

The North Canton Public Library will host an adult coffee hour from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 23. There will be a coffee tasting from local coffee shops along with some fun trivia about all things coffee. Registration is required and begins Aug. 16. For more information, visit ncantonlibrary.com.