Friday = Decide on Weekend Brunch Place. How about the Northside Grill?

It is Friday, which means it is time to start thinking about where you’ll go for a weekend brunch. One of our favorite spots is the popular Northside Grill in Ann Arbor. Get there early because there is always a crowd waiting for a table.

Potato pancakes, which aren’t life changing at Sava, but Afternoon Delight prepares well, can be hard to find. Northside Grill has never let us down. Not only do they serve flavorful potato pancakes, they also make light omelets and lovely, dense biscuits and gravy.

They don’t need a website to be found by the locals. Visit them here: 1015 Broadway Street Ann Arbor, MI 48105

Healthy Breakfast at Home

Yes, advertising executives, we know summer is coming and you think we should be worrying about our figures.

Instead of trying on our “skinny pants” to see what damage winter left behind, let’s be active in our daily lives and work towards health while we plan our meals.

I don’t count calories or measure my food in any way. Living a healthy life daily (i.e. not dieting, but rather integrating healthy meals into your routine) includes fresh fruits and vegetables, limited fatty foods and eating when you’re hungry.

Breakfast is a good place to start. What is your favorite healthy breakfast? I don’t mean that terribly dry and gag-inducing cereal or tasteless “healthy” bread you can only swallow with a full glass of water. I mean that healthy meal that you crave and enjoy while you eat it.

Being on the Greek-kick that we are as we plan our summer honeymoon, I’ve been eating Greek yogurt with fruit and honey for breakfast. (Trader Joe’s offers a less expensive and low-fat version of the yogurt.)

Does this mean I’ve sworn off luxurious brunches and waffles? Of course not! Moderation is the key to everything.

(I’m not a doctor and we all have different needs. For more information on what’s best for your health, you should always speak with your doctor first.)

Sava's Cafe in Ann Arbor, Michigan

I want Sava's Cafe on State Street in Ann Arbor to be my new favorite restaurant. With the high ceilings, spacious seating arrangement, and menu that includes fresh squeezed juices, potato pancakes and croissants with nutella, it is close.

But, it isn’t quite there yet.

While the menu is indeed NJ-diner-ish (the ultimate compliment for a breakfast spot), the food isn’t always hot or what you'd expect from the menu listing. The first time I went, I tried the potato pancakes and was surprised by their pink hue. They didn’t taste right, either. The waitress told me that they were seasoned with ketchup. Ketchup? Being allergic to the corn syrup in most commercial ketchups, I was surprised and displeased that I’d eaten some of it, since it wasn’t described in that way on the menu. Very kindly and apologetically, the waitress took away the dish. I ordered a toasted croissant spread with nutella which reminded me of Italy (another high compliment.)

Not wanting to give up on the inviting space, I returned a week later and tried one of their creative egg and hash concoctions. With a Mexican twist, it came with chorizo sausage, guacamole and sour cream. The combination of flavors, topped with an egg on top, was delicious, although not as hot as it could have been. My husband had a crepe, which was light and sweet.

Locally minded, they serve Mighty Good Coffee, which can’t be beat, and Knight’s burgers. I look forward to trying lunch or dinner there.



Thanks to the Ann Arbor Chronicle for linking to this review!

Reprint: Zingerman’s Bacon Brunch

In the spirit of sharing Zingerman’s experiences, I’m reprinting this blog post from March 28, 2009. (Isn’t it sweet? It was so long ago that my husband was only my fiancé.)

That was one amazing bacon brunch.

The Buttermilk Biscuits with Chocolate-Bacon Gravy remains on the brunch menu, so you can try it for yourself. We’ve had it a few times and it is always stellar. With the recent publication of Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon, you can be assured that there will future bacon-related events.

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I am now a Zingerman’s convert. I resisted for a while (if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I generally avoid agreeing with crowds), but after eating bacon-enhanced food for two hours at today’s Bacon & Brunch with Ari Weinzweig, I’m in with Zingerman’s.

The brunch and Ari’s talk on bacon, was co-sponsored by the Ann Arbor Book Festival. In May, Ari will be on a panel with other foodie authors discussing his book, Guide to Better Bacon: Stories of pork bellies, hush puppies, rock’n’roll music and bacon fat mayonnaise.

The meal started out with Zingerman’s Bakehouse Bacon-Cheddar Scones and American Fried Bread. The bread was fried in, you guessed it, bacon fat. I have never eaten a more luscious piece of fried bread in my life. (My fiancé noticed a few people at the end looking in the baskets for more bread and snatching an extra piece or two.)

We were then treated to South Carlolina Gold Rice Grits and Bits Waffle and Hangtown Fry (eggs with bacon and oysters mixed in) with Bacon Hash. The hash was particularly smooth and bursting with flavor. The waffles had crispy bacon bits on top. The bacon fat, which was the base for most of what we ate this morning, absorbs the flavors of the other ingredients and allows them to blossom.

Don’t fret, vegetarians. There was a tofu bacon option for you.

Then we had a bacon tasting. Now, I might not have found a physician in Ann Arbor yet, but I’m sure she wouldn’t have approved of a plate of bacon. Still, this morning was like a bacon holiday, so who was I to resist?

I had no idea that there were so many different kinds of bacon. I know that my father likes thicker slices of bacon and I tend to buy the less smoky organic bacon at Trader Joe’s. Ari talked about customers who know about different kinds of cheeses and wines, but have a hard time describing their favorite bacon. He suggested buying a variety of types of bacon and serving them at home to guests. (Is it too late to change our wedding menu to include more bacon?)

My favorite was Benton’s. It is the second to the last one on the plate. It originates in eastern Tennessee and is dry cured and smoked over hickory.

We ended with Buttermilk Biscuits with Chocolate-Bacon Gravy. My goodness, these were delicious. While I tried to hold back and not finish each plate offered, I wanted to lick this plate clean. The sweet-savory flavors shut off all my other senses so I could focus on the striking taste. It reminded me of the sweet-sour combination of a sea salt caramel, only chocolate was involved.

Throughout the meal, Ari shared his expertise with bacon. He shared some personal stories along the way. Ari grew up in a Kosher household and remembers eating fairly unremarkable beef bacon as a child. Most of the food that he sells at Zingerman’s is something he discovered, rather than something he grew up with.

About bacon’s importance, Ari stressed, “bacon is to North American cooking what olive oil is to Mediterranean food.” According to his research, bacon has been big since the beginning in America. It crosses almost all ethnic and cultural (although not religious) lines. The Europeans brought bacon with them and even influenced the Native American cooking. In the South, he said, you will almost always find a jar of bacon fat by the stove (not refrigerated) and it would be eaten in all seasons.

Zingerman’s kindly shared recipes from the upcoming book. I know I can’t wait until the book comes out to read more.

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Have you eaten at Zingerman’s? I’d love your thoughts on your experience.

Crispy Waffles with Salted Caramel Coulis

Homemade caramel has always evaded me (think hardened sugar on the bottom of what was once a perfectly fine pot.) This recipe for a salted caramel coulis from Bon Appétit was surprisingly easy. With the addition of heavy whipping cream and butter, the caramel didn’t harden the way other recipes have.

The salt taste wasn’t very prominent. I might add more the next time to help add to the contrasting flavors.

Best Brunch in Ann Arbor

My husband and I love going out for brunch on the weekend. While we are often too busy to indulge, we do have two favorite places that are reasonably priced: Afternoon Delight and The Broken Egg.

Afternoon Delight, at 251 East Liberty Street, has a great menu. Pancakes with real maple syrup, homemade muffins and breads, and my very favorite: Potato Pancake Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict. There is a serious lack of potato pancakes in this town, but Afternoon Delight fulfills this northeasterner’s cravings. I’ve eaten here a few times and I’ve never been disappointed. There is often a line when you arrive, but it moves quickly.

This weekend we had eggs at The Broken Egg at 223 N. Main Street. It was noisy, maybe even too noisy for reading the newspaper, but we enjoyed our generous omelets and toast. Mine, with artichokes and spinach, was fluffy and light. My husband’s special hash had a mix of spicy sausages that I’d never seen mixed together under eggs before. I think our side potatoes could have been crispier, but perhaps I should learn to order them extra crispy. There were bowls of eggs with cowboy fixings on the menu that reminded me of some cafes in Santa Fe.

For a fancier brunch, we enjoy Café Zola. For the opposite, we love the Fleetwood Diner. I still haven’t found the equivalent of a Jersey diner, if anyone has any recommendations.