Zingerman’s: Yes, No, or Maybe?

In the next month and a half, I will be posting periodically on Zingerman’s. One post will include YOUR thoughts. So share on, good eaters!

As my regular readers know, my husband and I recently had a disappointing Zingerman’s Roadhouse Special Dinner experience  and were invited for a do-over in April. Will this second dinner be able to meet our expectations? We’ll see.

You are welcome to email me at ChloeMiller(at)gmail(dot)com or post your thoughts below in the Comments section. You can write one line or write a guest blog about your experiences. It is up to you. I’d prefer to include your name, but I’ll use your initials, if you’d like.

Some things you could write about:

Zingerman’s Roadhouse

Zingerman’s Deli

Zingerman’s Creamery

Zingerman’s Bakehouse

Zingerman’s Coffee

Zingerman’s Catering

Zingerman’s Mail Order

Zingerman’s Bake Classes

Zingerman’s Zingtrain


For inspiration, here is my love letter to their chocolate bread.

If you’ve eaten at a Zingerman’s establishment, read their books, ordered their food, worked for them, lived next door, then you are qualified to share your thoughts!

The deadline for submissions is Friday, March 5th.

Shorts Brewing Company in Bellaire, MI

Contrary to attempts to be cool, I don’t actually like beer. Fancy beers that friends choose for me often taste sour and are too filling. Other beers taste like dirty, bubbly water.

This was true until my husband and I went to shorts Brewing Company in Bellaire, MI. This tiny little brewery in an incredibly small skiing and golfing town caters to both locals and tourists with a wide variety of beers made in small batches.

We sat in the side room that had a performance space and started with a special bottle of the Ginger in the Rye. My husband enjoyed it, but I didn’t like the bitter taste. Considering the very long list of options, I asked the bartender what she would recommend. She listened patiently to what I didn’t like about that beer and what I did like about the Brown beer I’d tried at the ski lodge where we were staying.

She suggested a flight and described the beers that she thought I’d like. Displayed on a short ski, here’s what we came up with:

Chocolate Wheat (Chocolate malt, wheat malt and well chosen specialty grains provide deep black wort balanced with Nuget and Fuggle hops. A full flavored, full bodied, toasted chocolate ale.)

The Magician (A dark red London ale with rich malt complexities lending notes of toasted caramel, raisins, toffee, and slight roasted chocolate. Very light hop additions let the true malt characters promenade throughout the duration of this pleasurable experience.)

Stellar Ale (Brewed exclusively for Trattoria Stella of Traverse City this beer is defined as a pale ale, but hefty doses of Amarillo hops make it more comparable to an IPA. Toasted caramel malts provide the sweet flavor that supports the intense citrus bitterness of the hop.)

Mystery Stout (Cocoa and molasses give this robust stout a sweet pallet that finishes slightly bitter. This beer is a real mystery waiting to be discovered.)

The Soft Parade (A blend of toasted rye flakes and malted barley fermented with 200 pounds of pureed strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries resulting in a sweet fruity delicacy. Intoxicatingly refreshing brewed special for those who enjoy their wine.)

She was right; I really enjoyed them. The Soft Parade, which sounded strange, was light and delicious. The complexity of the stout beers were my favorite. The Stellar Ale wasn’t my favorite, but I didn’t mind it.

We first found the brewery listed in the edible Grande Traverse magazine. The edible franchise can usually be trusted for good restaurants. I had a deliciously fresh vegetarian sandwich with avocado and portabella mushrooms and my husband had a ham sandwich. Considering the high prices and mediocre food at the resort, this was a reasonably priced and delicious treat.

If you find yourself in Northern Michigan, I highly suggest that you look for this beer. If you live nearby, I bet you’ve either joined the mug club, or gotten on the waiting list which, according to the website, takes 6 months to a year. We brought home two six packs, if you’re interested in trying it in Southeastern Michigan before we drink it all. In fact, I bet you can find it nearby.

Italian Food on Arthur Avenue in New York by Guest Blogger Elisabeth von Uhl

Thanks to Elisabeth von Uhl for today’s post and pictures from Arthur Avenue in New York. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to read her beautiful poetry book Ocean Sea.

Tucked away on Arthur Avenue in the Belmont section, near Fordham University in the Bronx is the original “Little Italy” of New York City. Today, the street is home to many stores, cafes, and restaurants. Even more, Arthur Ave. is great place to come when one craves Italian food but has no idea what particular restaurant in which to eat; just look for the giant Italian flag painted on the street or the painted parking meters striped the colors of the Italian flag. Unlike the “Little Italy” in lower Manhattan, there are no waiters shouting at you from store fronts. In the winter, the street is quite; while in the summer, cafe tables line the sidewalk.

Even more enchanting and exciting is the Arthur Ave. Indoor Retail Market. In 1940, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia instituted the Arthur Ave. Retail Market to clean up (and sanitize) the streets by removing the outdoor, push-cart street vendors and giving them a home in an indoor marketplace. Today, it is it one of the few indoor markets that remain in New York City and it houses a cigar-making booth, moderately-priced vegetables and fruits, imported foods from Italy, two eateries which serve wonderful sandwiches and pizza, a florist (in the warmer months) a booth that sells kitchenwares, and a butcher. Sometimes, there is even a person making fresh Zepolis for customers.

This indoor market is a great place to bring visitors. My parents and just everyone I know love the food and enjoy bringing home sausages, homemade pasta, and Italian candies to those not fortunate enough to live near-by.


Also, check out the (almost always sold out!) walking tour of Arthur Ave. offered by The Institute of Culinary Education.


The New York Times Real Estate section recently profiled the Belmont/Arthur Ave. section in the Bronx.

Zingerman’s Roadhouse Offers a Do-Over

Zingerman’s Roadhouse emailed me.

Taking a break from an all-you-can-eat-fish-fry in northern MI, I received the email in Gmail’s blue and grey. “A friend of Zingerman’s,” and apparently a friend of mine, read my critical post on their recent Mardi Gras dinner and forwarded it to them. They kindly accepted that it wasn’t their best dinner and didn’t make excuses.

They offered my husband and I a do-over. A chance for us to see what they can do right.

While we were at the Mardi Gras dinner, I had turned to my husband and whispered that we wouldn’t need eat here again. We checked the Ann Arbor empire off of our list of restaurants with nods of our heads.

But here we were being offered a do-over.

We ate some more fried cod and dipped our french fries in the garlic mayonnaise. The strange Olympic Winter Games on the television distracted us for a bit.

Finally, we decided. Why not? We’ll be attending their Algerian Jewish Dinner on April 13th paid for (full disclosure) by them.

The question is, will they be able to live up to our expectations? I’m curious about the menu for the Algerian Jewish Dinner, which isn’t posted yet, and the cultural history they hint at. We choose this dinner over the Beefsteak Dinner because it sounded like something that would be more of a challenge to prepare. The question is: Can Zingerman’s pull it off?

I’ll be posting various memories of Zingerman’s in the next month and a half, but I’d like to hear from you. What experiences have you had at Zingerman’s? Send me an email (ChloeMiller{at}gmail{dot}com) if you’d like to share memories from any of their locales (Roadhouse, Deli, Bakehouse, Creamery, Mail Order, Catering or Classes) as we wait for April 13th to roll around.

Papabubble Candy, New York City

They call themselves “caramels artisans” and they are right. Papabubble in New York City make candies so beautiful that they resemble hand-blown Venetian glass.

They layer their flavors and colors into delicate candies. They have small ones with designs inside ranging from words (words!) to pictures like tiny pineapples (pineapples!) You can special order candies with your own notes, designs or flavors.

I bought my husband a bag of spicy mango candies and for myself, hard raspberry candies filled with chocolate. I tried to limit myself to one candy per day, but when there were only three left, I couldn’t stand it anymore and gorged. My goodness, it was heaven. How did they get the chocolate inside of the hard shell? How did the lines across the candy become so straight? How were the colors so clear?

I may not have much of a sweet tooth, but I cannot resist these corn-syrup free pieces of art.

Supino Pizzeria by Detroit's Eastern Market

I declare that Supino Pizzeria has the best pizza in Michigan. Ok, so I haven’t been to the UP or tried too many pizzerias outside of the Ann Arbor area, but this pizzeria could contend with the best ones in the New York City area.

When my husband and I were recently at the Eastern Market, we shared a large smoky pizza at Supino's. With speck, garlic, mozzarella, smoked gouda and ricotta, this white pizza on a thin crust was fresh and delicious. We added some crushed red pepper were able to finish the entire pizza.

The pizzeria is informal. Diners order at the counter and the pizzas are brought to the small tables. Expect to wait about twenty minutes for your pizza since they make them to order.

And order you will. Again and again.

Zingerman's Mardi Gras Dinner

Zingerman’s offered a dinner on Fat Tuesday called “Creole & Acadian Carnival: A Mardi Gras Dinner.” My husband and I went with expectations that were only met half-way.

Am I allowed to live in Ann Arbor and critique the Zingerman’s Empire? Since we are moving this summer, I suppose I’m safe. Here it goes…

The email advertisement described a conversation about the differences between the two New Orleans’ cuisines and wine pairing suggestions. Instead, there was a brief talk that described a few differences, but didn’t identify all of the foods on the extensive menu. The wine discussion included a talk about the vineyard, but not how to pair which wines with which dishes. There was no discussion of the holiday that we were there to celebrate.

My favorite dish was the gumbo. The base of the soup had a complex flavor with a hint of spice. It was hot and dense with rice and fish. The red beans and rice serving was a close second with the rich pork taste infused into the red beans.

The side room where the dinner was held was packed, but under-staffed. It was like a mediocre wedding: we weren’t all served at the same time and some of the food was cold. For Zingerman’s prices and reputation, it was disappointing.

Fried foods should always be served hot. The coush-coush, a corn meal fritter which is meant to prepare the taste-buds for the upcoming dishes, was cold and hard. I was surprised that the dessert calas (a rice donut) also wasn’t hot. The beignet, however, was, and the taste carried through the heat. The crepe itself was dry and denser than a fresh crepe should taste.

My husband and I both drank the Sazerac cocktail, which is a New Orleans drink made from Jim Beam straight rye, Absente, and Peychaud’s bitters with simple syrup and lemon oil. It was delicious!

Here is the complete menu with a few explanations:

The Start
Boudin Blanc (white sausage with rice)
River Shrimp Canapes
Snails Bourguignon

Breads
Coush-Coush (corn meal fritter; the name means “cushion”)
French Bread

Soup
Crab, Oyster, Shrimp & Andouille Gumbo (topped with fried okra)

The Dinner
Crayfish Boil
Chicken Rochambeau
Shrimp and Bacon Stuffed Artichoke
Sole in Brown Butter
Ham Stuffed Mirliton (squash)
Red Beans and Rice

The Finish
Orange Crepes
Beignets (made from wheat flour) & Calas (made from rice)