Saving the Treehouse

Turning a new leaf

A musician is working to revive a former hot spot in the Columbus music scene that has lost much of its luster. The Treehouse (formerly Andyman’s Treehouse when it was owned by the beloved CD101 deejay who died in 2010) closed in August.

Ryan Haye, member of the band Ghost Shirt, hopes to bring the joint back to its original glory with a new name, the Tree Bar, and a whole new feel. Haye, currently a marketing consultant with CD101, knew Andyman well when Ghost Shirt used to play at the bar in its heyday. “It’s a place where I met a lot of the people who would end up being my closest friends,” he says.

The spot, at 887 Chambers Rd., has undergone extensive renovations, including a new bar top, beer taps and, sadly, the downing of the namesake maple tree that grew from the middle of the bar through the roof. “It was dead,” says Roni Stiffler, Haye’s co-owner and sister-in-law. “We didn’t want to go into making renovations and have something happen with the tree falling. I know that people will get upset, but I think that once you’re in there, you can see the bands better.”

The stump, however, still remains, and Haye plans to inscribe it with a plaque honoring the late Andyman.

The bar was expected to reopen Dec. 23, Haye’s birthday, with a show featuring Ghost Shirt and a number of bands that frequented the Treehouse stage. “Talking with the people who used to go there, the regulars, it makes you feel good to realize you’re doing something good for other people because they love that place so much,” Stiffler says.

Creamy, crunchy or on the rocks?

Longtime air traffic controller and amateur distiller Rich Hellner, along with Ohio State grad Karen Neff, have been working to perfect a peanut butter-flavored vodka, despite having virtually no experience in the craft. The result, NutLiquor, is making quite a splash, spreading into liquor stores across the continent (39 states, the District of Columbia and Canada, in fact). “I love peanut butter,” says Hellner, who lives in Cleveland. “I thought, ‘I can’t believe that no one has ever done a peanut butter vodka before.’ I looked it up, and sure enough, no one had.”

The 69-proof vodka, which tastes “like the center of a peanut butter cup,” according to the distiller, has made its way into Columbus and can be found at select Giant Eagle and Kroger locations, as well as Weiland’s in Clintonville. For more information, visit nutliquor.me.