July 2008 – Food Woolf

Save your pennies for dinner: go to the library

Every penny counts when you’re trying to cover the bills, fill up the gas tank, pay down credit card debt and still have a little coin to invest in a fancy meal now and then.

So, in the effort to save some cash I’m cutting a lot of corners. I cook at home for almost every meal. I’m the Iron Chef of leftovers. I stay away from gourmet delis, wine shops, cooking supply stores, bookstores and fancy restaurant row. I skip the coffee shop and drink one (free!) cappuccino while I’m working at the restaurant. I walk to most my errands.

And, in another foodie, cash-preservation step, I’m not buying ANY cookbooks. Instead, I’m raiding the local Los Angeles Public library for every great cookbook they have.

I love the library

So before you run over to your local library, just keep one thing in mind: If you live in Los Angeles, don’t even try to take out anything by Alice Waters or Thomas Keller for the next month or so. I’ve got all of the Keller and Waters’ cookbooks. According to my library account status, I’ve got these babies for another three weeks.

Thanks to the ticking clock of the library book due dates, I’m extremely motivated to read through all of my borrowed cookbooks. For the first time really, I’m truly reading cookbooks. I’m skimming the pictures and studying the elegant essays and personal pieces these two great chefs offer in all of their books. Quite honestly, reading cookbooks feels like going to cooking school.

Boy, have I been learning a lot.

First off, Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Fruit is AMAZING. If you shop at farmer’s markets or participate in a CSA, you should really get this book. Chez Panisse Fruit not only offers hundreds of amazing and sometimes very simple recipes, Waters takes the time to discuss the glories of every fruit featured in the book with her well researched introductory essays.

An Alice Waters Fun Fact:

* Did you know that apricot pits can be used for baking needs?

According to Alice in Chez Panisse Fruit, inside the pit is a kernel, called the noyaux. The noyaux can be used to flavor amaretti cookies, custards, ice cream and liquor. To remove the noyaux, simply roast the pit at 350 F for 10 to 15 minutes and crack them open. It should be noted that the noyaux has a toxic enzyme that is destroyed by heat: so be sure to roast the center kernel again for a few minutes to make sure it is safe to consume.

I’ve really enjoyed reading and cooking from the Chez Panisse Café Cookbook a great deal. Alice’s recipes feature the most casual dishes of Chez Panisse and allow the home chef easy access to cooking in the style of one of America’s most respected and ground breaking Cal-French restaurants.

If you want an example of a great and easy to make dish, just check out my previous post about Prosciutto wrapped scallops.

from ruhlman.com

After hearing that Thomas Keller would be returning to Los Angeles to open a new Bouchon, I got very excited to start reading up on this French Laundry chef. His books are beautiful to look at and have plenty of personal stories to bring the reader into his thought processes behind all of his restaurants.

Thomas Keller’s Bouchon is a beautifully photographed book that’s chocked full of wonderful essays and insights into French bistro fare. Though author Michael Ruhlman’s writing is incredibly tight, the size and weight of Bouchon makes it better suited as a culinary, coffee table book than a functional cookbook. That being said, the recipes in this book are not as daunting as the haute cuisine of the French Laundry. The bistro fare, though it may seem simple, requires thoughtful and specific recipes. The authors and chefs come together to describe the steps of preparation with research to back it up. Reading Bouchon gave me the impression that maybe there could be a handful of dishes I could make without making a fool of myself.

A Thomas Keller Fun Fact:

* Thomas Keller’s first real teacher in French cooking was a Frenchman named Roland Henin. It was in Henin’s Rhode Island restaurant that Keller learned one of his first, and memorable cooking lessons: how to dress a salad.

According to Keller:

He would salt it, then put on the oil to coat the lettuce and protect it from the acid, and then he would add the acid. He would never combine the two then pour them on: vinegar was the seasoning element. What made watching him exciting was the anticipated joy of eating that salad, the richness of the oil, the sparks of vinegar that would come through.

Cooking from a library book may be a scary idea for anyone like me that has a difficult time keeping prepped ingredients from ruining one’s own personal cookbook pages. I do my best to keep these borrowed books clean when I take them into the kitchen with me. Though I’ve managed to splatter just an eensty-teeny bit of oil on one page of Alice Waters’ Café Cookbook, I notice I’m not alone in the occasional spots and smudges on the pages. Clearly, I’m not the only one trying to save some coin for a really great meal.

July 22November 14

Craigie Street Bistrot on U.S. Corn

Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, has made a real impact with a lot of people. If you’ve been reading this blog lately, you’ll know his writing and research has changed the way I eat and shop. Coming across others that have been “infected” by the fever on conscious, political eating is not only refreshing–it’s reassuring.

My friends over at the Cambridge Massachusetts restaurant, Craigie Street Bistrot continue to blow me away with their active commitment to making delicious food that’s good for the local economy, good for the local farmers and is environmentally conscious of its carbon foot print.

If you’re too busy to read Pollan’s book, you might be interested in reading this great essay on corn I found on the Craigie Street Bistrot blog.

Craigie Street Bistrot: U.S. Corn

July 21

Perfect pairing: 2007 Domaine Roland Schmitt Riesling Glintzberg

There’s nothing better than a delicious glass of wine that pairs well with a dish. If you’re making prosciutto wrapped scallops, why not drink this refreshing, bone dry Alsatian Riesling with it?

2007 Domaine Roland Schmitt Riesling Glintzberg

The Schmitts are known as one of Alsace’s very few producers that still make a classic dry Reisling. Grown in gravelly limestone soil of the Gran Cru Atlenberg, this hand picked wine is cool fermented in stainless steel vats. Very little, if any, residual sugars remain—giving this wine a zippy acidity.

Flavors are reminiscent of a salted lime, almonds and a fresh minerality. The acidity and zest of this wine is extremely refreshing with seafood such as a sweet and fatty scallop wrapped in bacon!

Available at K&L wines for under $17

July 21

Prosciutto Wrapped Scallops: A Recipe from Alice Waters

After some seven months of posting recipes and food reviews, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a culinary request from my filmmaker-friend, Jesse:

I have a question to ask you: I’ve started hosting these little soirees at my house lately- a small group of intellectuals and artist types, who come for an evening of frolic, food and film. I pick a film that most of them have not seen or not seen in years, and design a meal around the film’s locale or origin.

We started with “Big Night” and I made timpano. Then we did a Chinese evening with “The Last Emperor” (my 2nd favorite film…”City Lights” is still #1 in my heart). And for my next eve, we are hitting the streets of Paris, with a George Roy Hill film I’ve always loved, “A Little Romance,” starring a young Diane Lane and an old Laurence Olivier.

For the menu, I’m thinking “Paris Bistro”…but am having trouble coming up with ideas for courses. So I thought you might have some suggestions?

How exciting! A request for MY food advice?! Hooray! My food blogging has paid off! Someone values my culinary advice! Sure, Jesse is a good friend…but a food blogging person has to start somewhere. Right?

Being one to respect authority when it’s given to me, I decided to do some serious research. After much cookbook reading, I felt it best to turn to one of our country’s greatest culinary icons: Alice Waters. Since the early 70’s, Waters and her Chez Panisse team have created mouth-watering dishes inspired by the French Bistros she visited as a college student. At Chez Panisse Café, the simple dishes are thoughtfully prepared from fresh, local ingredients that are either foraged from local environs or purchased from nearby farms.

The following dish is an incredible example of how fresh ingredients, when paired well, can create a memorable bistro dish made only from a handful of simple ingredients.

Baked Scallops with Proscuitto and Lemon Relish
Adapted from the Chez Panisse Café cookbook

Ingredients:

1 pound medium-sized fresh sea scallops Note: the scallops I bought were big enough to serve 2 scallops each (which are about 1/8 lb each). You may choose to cut big scallops in half—thereby creating the visual effect of a “larger portion size”

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

6 – 8 slices of Prosciutto

Handful of young greens (lettuce, cress, rocket or mache)

Few drops of red wine vinegar

Salt and Pepper

½ cup Lemon Relish*

Preheat oven to 475 F.

Remove the tough “foot” from each scallop. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat a cast-iron pan or a heavy, oven proof skillet over medium high heat. Pour in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil or enough to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is nearly smoking, add the scallops in one layer. As soon as the scallops begin to sizzle, place the uncovered skillet on the top shelf of the oven.

Check the scallops after five minutes. They should be nicely caramelized and firm to the touch. If the top portion is not yet golden colored, gently flip the scallops with a fish spatula in order to caramelize the other side. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until caramelized. Remove from oven.

Drape the prosciutto slices over and around the scallops.

Quickly, put the handful of greens in a small mixing bowl and lightly drizzle with a touch of olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss by hand. Add individual portions of seasoned greens to each plate and then arrange the prosciutto wrapped scallops on top. Spoon a small amount of Lemon Relish over each serving.

Note: You may want to serve one perfectly wrapped scallop as a delicious first course, or a few as an incredibly satisfying main.

*LEMON RELISH
Adapted from the Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook

1 large shallot, diced fine

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (or lemon juice)1 large lemon (if Meyer lemon is available use it!)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoon chopped tarragon

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Put diced shallot in a small bowl. Add vinegar and a pinch of salt. Let macerate for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut lemon into 8 wedges. Remove the seeds and white pith from center of each piece. Cut across the wedge into thin, triangular slivers. Combine the slivered lemon and shallot and add more salt. Stir in the olive oil, parsley, tarragon and some freshly milled pepper. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

Spoon relish on top of prosciutto wrapped scallops.

July 17November 14

How to make a politically correct steak

Grass Feed Steak with Pan-Seared cherry tomatoes and basil
Adapted from Gourmet

3 tbsp olive oil
2 1 ½ inch thick Porterhouse Steaks or beef loin (about 1 ¼ lb each)
4 tablespoons of kosher salt
6 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced length wise.
4 cups cherry tomatoes
2 cups coarsely torn, fresh basil leaves

Bring steaks to room temperature one hour before cooking. Rub with Kosher sea salt.

Preheat gas grill (on high) for about 10-15 minutes.

Put steaks directly on grill. Cover and don’t touch. Depending on the thickness of the steak, cooking time should be between 5-10 minutes per side. Be careful not to overcook! After about 5-6 minutes, check the internal temperature of the steak with a meat thermometer. The thermometer should be inserted into the center of the thickest part, away from bone, fat and gristle.

When the center of the steak reaches 130 degrees F, you’re ready to flip over your steak for a perfect medium rare. 145 degrees F for medium. 150-155 http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.giffor medium well. 160 degrees F for Well done. For more information on cooking temps go .

Finish cooking the 2nd side (it should be about equal to the same amount of time for the first half of cooking). Put the steak on serving platter and let rest for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the olive oil to a medium sized skillet. Heat over meium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the garlic and sauté until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper towel or plate. Add tomatoes to hot oil (be careful! Oil will spatter!), then lightly season with salt and pepper. Cook, covered and stir occasionally, until tomatoes start to wilt, about 2 minutes. Stir in any meat juices from the serving dish. Scatter basil over tomatoes and then serve over steak.

To really bring this dish up and over the top, serve it with Zuni Cafe’s salsa verde.

Salsa Verde
Adapted from Zuni Cafe Cookbook

½ cup tightly packed, chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
½ cup mint (de-stemmed)
1 tablespoon capers (rinsed and dried between towels)
1 tablespoon chopped anchovies (packed in salt or oil)
1 tablespoon red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons sliced and chopped almonds
½ to ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon (remove the zest. Finely chop. Reserve juice)

Combine the parsley, mint, capers, zest, onion and a few pinches of salt, pepper or chili flakes to taste. Add half of the olive oil. Stir, then taste for seasoning. Add more oil and salt to taste. Since salt doesn’t dissolve right way, give the salt a bit of time to dissolve before you add more. Stir in rest of ingredients. Transfer mixture to a container that minimizes exposure to the air.

Don’t refrigerate, but set in a cool spot until needed. Refrigerate leftovers!

July 17November 14

How to eat a politically correct steak

Ever since I read Michael Pollan’s book, Omnivore’s Dilemma, food shopping is a lot more difficult. Besides the fact that finances are tight–for us and most of the people we know—I am acutely aware that how we spend our food money really can make a socio-ecological difference. Suddenly, I feel a lot like the young, political eater I used to be when I was a University of Massachusetts undergrad.

Though my days as a life-long, political vegetarian are over (I was an anemic and sickly vegetarian), I am perfectly willing and able to stop eating certain things because they aren’t good for the local economy, the environment, and—ultimately–for me. But what, from a culinary point of view, will all this political eating mean for my tastebuds?

Pollan’s book suggests that if consumers purchase local and direct from the farmer whenever possible, they not only taste a much better and healthier product, their food dollars will enable local grows to thrive and compete with big conglomerate farms that take all sorts of ecological shortcuts with chemical fertilizers and price gouging (thanks to governmental subsidies). So if I pay a little more for a gallon of milk from a family owned dairy, Pollan suggests, I’ll not only be healthier, I will be sending a message to the big dairy conglomerates that hormones, drugs and poor treatment of animals in order to make a cheaper gallon of milk, just isn’t worth it.

But just because I shop at Whole Foods a couple of times a month doesn’t mean every food dollar can enact positive social change. Though the packages on the perfectly maintained shelves of Whole Foods may say “organic” or “free range” or “all natural”, doesn’t mean they’re the best choice for the environment or my body. To be a good, political consumer, I need to be mindful and pragmatic before every purchase.

Though it’s easy to be an armchair liberal or conservative, it’s another thing to be hold a firm political position in one’s daily life.

A carnivore’s dilemma

Being a mindful and political shopper is difficult. I have to consider all sorts of questions. Do I really need to buy tomatoes shipped in from Holland if there are local farms that can sell them to me fresh off the vine at the farmer’s market? Should I forgo my menu and buy a line caught fish or should I stick to my shopping plans and get a farm-raised, color pellet-eating cousin? Can I afford the extra money to buy meat from a cow that’s free range and grass fed or should I pack up my political standards and save twenty bucks and eat one that’s been raised in a tight pen and forced fed a diet of grain–a diet it was never meant to eat?

Political eating

After spotting Gourmet Magazine’s cover photo of a grilled steak covered in roasted cherry tomatoes, I started planning a dinner party with some friends. I purchased cherry tomatoes, garlic, parsley and mint at the farmer’s market. Unable to make it to the neighborhood butcher in time, I ventured to my local Whole Foods at 3rd and Fairfax.

The meat counter selection offered a handful of choices: various organic beef cuts ($14.99/pound and up), free range grass-fed beef loin ($31.99/lb), and free range grain-fed (90% grass fed and 10% grain fed) organic Porter house ($27.99/lb). Based on the criteria of my political eating (force fed, pen raised beef is not an eating option), however, my choices were definitely limited.

For pure politics, I purchased almost 2 lbs of the 100% grass fed beef loin steak. For culinary and economic purposes, I saved a few bucks and got almost 1.5 lbs of the partially grain fed porterhouse (Neiman Ranch 90% grass fed and 10% grain fed beef). As I watched the butcher wrap up my steaks, I wondered, with some guilt, how significant that 10% of grain would be to the quality of the meat. Had I just let ten percent of my political ideals slip away? Maybe.

Side by side taste test

As the steaks cooked side by side on the grill, my husband and I talked with our guests about the politics of eating. We shared stories of Alice Waters, the Edible School Yard, the Center for Food Justice, Slow Food, Michael Pollan and think about it later chef types (Anthony Bourdain on any episode of No Reservations comes to mind). But when the steaks were finished cooking and were ready to serve, we carefully closed our eyes and tasted.

Bite for bite, both steaks were delicious. Granted, the two steaks were different cuts (and, to be fair, both were prepared slightly differently–the grass fed cut was cured with a salt/spice rub and the Neiman ranch was rubbed only with kosher salt), but both garnered equal amounts of praise.

The 100% grass-fed beef loin (or beef tenderloin) was incredibly tender and velvet-like. The taste of the grass fed loin was both juicy and moist.

The Neiman ranch (90/10 grass/grain fed) Porterhouse, was a meatier steak. It was also quite juicy and at times had much more flavorful morsels, thanks to the meat’s occasional marbling.

When polled, most of the table had a hard time deciding which steak they liked more. Considering the biased side-by-side tasting, it was clear a rematch was needed.

Stay tuned for an upcoming rematch…

July 14November 14

Zingerman’s: The Service

“Zingerman’s is the only deli-and-service nirvana I know” –Eating Well

When it comes to eating out, I’m obsessed with finding good food and great service. It’s hard for me not to, since I work in the restaurant business. In the words of my sweet, generous husband, I tend to “go all Norma Rae” on service issues. When I see bad service and poor management, I want to stand up on a table and say “It’s all about great customer service!” But then my husband reminds me that maybe that kind of behavior will either get me carted away by the police or fired. I take this stuff very seriously. Maybe a little too seriously.

When I find great food, I’m elated. When I find a passionate server or bartender, I clap like a giddy school girl. When I find both great food and great service (which, unfortunately, is rare) I become a volunteer spokesperson for the joint.

Unlike many diners, I always walk into restaurant ready to love it. Based on my numerous years in the restaurant business, I know my eagerness to see a place succeed is just not the norm. Call me the optimistic pessimist. When it comes to dining out, I always want to believe that something great can happen.

The thing is, so few restaurants want to put in the time and effort to create a great experience for the diner from the front of the house (the service staff) to the back of the house (the kitchen staff). The food may be well thought out, but the service staff is neglected and left to their own (bad) habits. Or the service could be impeccable and the food is sub-par. Getting both parts of a restaurant right is very, very hard.

Can I get a drum roll please

Which brings me back to Zingerman’s. I know. I’ve been writing a lot about that place this week. But after all the writing (okay, I’ll say it, cheerleading), I would be short changing the place if I didn’t take a moment to express how impressive Zingerman’s trademark service is.

Beyond the incredibly delicious hand picked heritage foods and their artful presentations, Zingerman’s well-trained staff is always attentive, ready to help, knowledgeable and prepared to go the extra mile for the customer.

On a recent trip, my mother in law was presented with a handful of balloons (that had to be painstakingly filled up on-the-spot) when she mentioned it was her son’s 40th birthday. Sandwiches were hand delivered with a smile by an employee that that had to search the two floor dining room in order to find us. Our Roadhouse server, seeing that I was an information hungry foodie, answered all of my food related questions and offered historical background for many of the dishes. Ari Weinzweig, owner of Zingerman’s, went out of his way to make myself and my family feel welcomed and appreciated. He even took the time to find and read my blog after I mentioned it to him. At the Roadhouse he even filled our water glasses while telling us the story of the Pennsylvania sweet corn.

Every time I visit Zingerman’s, I’m blown away by their can-do attitude.

How do they do this? By dedicating huge amounts of time and effort into their people. To borrow the words of Ari Weinzweig, my service hero and author of Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service, in order to give great service one must:

1. Teach great service
2. Define great service
3. Live great service. The management staff spend enormous amounts of time walking the walk of great service by actively showing their staff how to give good service.
4. Measure it.
5. Reward it.

If you’re in the service business and take your job seriously, you ought to buy yourself a copy of Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service. It will teach you everything you need to know about getting successful results for great service.

July 13November 14

Zingerman’s Roadhouse: Proof That American Food Is Delicious

Up until recently, I’ve never considered myself a real fan of “American cuisine.” Granted, I love apple pie and hamburgers, but when it comes down to great cooking, I tend to look to other countries for inspiration.

And I’m not alone. Even in the finest kitchens in the United States, American fare isn’t exactly heralded as high cuisine. This country may have some amazing, world-reknown chefs, but more likely than not, these stand-out culinary stars are cooking a hybrid of gastronomic styles. Take for example Alice Water’s Cal-French, Mario Batali’s Americanized Italian, David Myer’s Cal-French-Japanese, or even David Lentz and Suzanne Goin’s Baltimore-French-Japanese. When it comes to being an American chef, it’s all about expressing your local ideas and borrowing from the culinary masters of other cultures.

When you come from a country known to the world as the great American melting pot, it can be difficult pin-pointing the truly American dishes. But if you start to ask around, you’ll find there are a number of dishes that American’s clearly call their own.

A Culinary Education

After my recent trip to Michigan (and multiple trips to Zingerman’s and all of its many incarnations), I’m starting to understand what makes American food great.

The Roadhouse, the seventh in the family of Zingerman’s food-friendly ventures, offers diners a chance to eat their way through many of the culinary traditions and regional cooking styles of America.

Diners can grab take out from the cleverly re-tooled and permanently parked silver bullet camper for drive-through, or may linger at a table in the spacious restaurant that offers bar seating, multiple dining areas, a back patio and a private dining room.

Main dining room

back patio — Zingerman's Roadhouse Back Patio

The ever-friendly and well-trained Zingerman’s staff seem as if they’ve been waiting all day just to happily guide you to your table or barstool. The dining room is open and inviting with its kitchy salt-and-pepper displays, open kitchen and hand-printed music posters lining the walls.

Drink Menu at Zingerman's Roadhouse — The Roadhouse Drink Menu

In the tradition of Zingerman’s, the drinks are handcrafted and are made with the local produce, freshly squeezed fruit juice and house-made marachino cherries. The bartenders smile as they muddle and mix handcrafted cocktails like Mojitos or their signature cocktail the Knickerbocker, made with Brugel Dominican Dark Rum, Bol’s Orange Curacao, fresh raspberries and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

The education begins

The first course in American cuisine begins with Chef Alex’s appetizer sampler.

Sample Plate at the Roadhouse — Appetizer sampler

In this one dish, diners get a cross-country tour of flavors. Starting with the South and its hush puppies (made with organic yellow and blue corn) and the moist and tender roadhouse ribs, our palates travel to Baltimore and its sweet and salty crab cakes. The appetizer plate tour ends at the Tex-Mex border with a cheesy, wild mushroom quesadilla. Other not to be missed appetizers are the hand-cut sweet potato fries with a spicy mayo and Ari’s Pimento Cheese, a classic southern starter of celery “chips” served with a dip of aged Vermont cheddar, mayo and chopped pimentos.

Sweet potato fries and spicy mayo — Sweet Potato Fries and Spicy Mayo

Getting an advanced degree

Instruction in American culinary appreciation is taken up a notch at the Roadhouse with its entrees. The North Carolina pulled pork is moist and rich with salty sweet flavors from almost an entire day’s worth of roasting. The meat is hand-pulled, chopped and blended with a spicy vinegar sauce and served with Michigan-grown mashed potatoes and served with Southern style braised greens. The Texas Cabrito, a slow-smoked, hand-pulled, free-range goat, with a special basting sauce, is both earthy and moist.

After eating the Roadhouse Buttermilk-Fried, Free-Range Chicken, I really began to appreciate my nationality.

Buttermilk fried chicken — Zingerman's Roadhouse Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Fried chicken nirvana is discovered once it is delivered to the table in a paper-wrapped picnic box. Thanks to the local, Amish farm-raised, free-range chicken, the meat tastes more real than any fast food chain’s ever could. The meat is moist and plump while the buttermilk batter is crispy and light–offering the perfect counterpoint to the delicate earthiness of the meat. Sides of local mashed potatoes, brown gravy and yellow mustard slaw make the dish an American inspiration.

My husband was silent—with the occasional moans of culinary happiness–as he savored every bite of his full rack of Neiman ranch pork ribs. Served on a generous portion of creamy grits, the long cooked ribs are so moist and tender it doesn’t take much more than a gentle nudge of your fingers to get the sweet and savory meat to fall off the bone.

The side dishes are equally impressive as the entrees they support. Take for example the creamed corn made from John Cope’s dried sweet corn, made from John Cope’s dried sweet corn, a classic staple in Pennsylvania since the 1900’s.

Picked at the peak of sweetness, the dried corn not only imparts sweetness to the dish, but also gives a playful texture that works well with thin bath of cream. The macaroni and cheese, an American staple, gets its proper respects with an assortment regional takes on the classic idea. Our favorite was the Roadhouse Macaroni & Cheese, made with a 2 year old Vermont raw-milk cheddar and the Martelli family’s artisanal macaroni from Tuscany.

Rounding out the regional education in American fare, are the decadent desserts.

Trip to Zingerman's Roadhouse — Ari's Donut Sundae

Ari’s Original Doughnut Sundae, is a donut smothered in a bourbon-caramel sauce, vanilla gelato, whipped cream and Virginia peanuts. The Magic Brownie Sundae, a quintessential American classic, is a Bakehouse brownie drowned in chocolate sauce, vanilla gelato, whipped cream and toasted pecans.But it was the pecan pie, a pile of toasted pecans surrounded by a rich brown sugar custard made from unrefined Mauritian brown sugar, that made me want to stand up and sing the national anthem.

A trip to Zingerman’s Roadhouse is not only a great place to eat, it also offers the observant guest an education in quintessential American food and what makes it great. Suddenly, I’m really proud to be an American.

Zingerman’s Roadhouse
2501 Jackson Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
(734) 663-3663

July 12

Culinary Mecca: Zingerman's Deli

Almost everyone has their favorite place to eat when they go home. If you’re from New England it could be the down-the-road clam shack with its towering fried seafood plate and fresh-from-the-sea lobster rolls. Maybe it’s the pizza joint that’s been making pies for generations. If you’re from the South, your first meal might be at the mom and pop BBQ joint with the fall from the bone ribs, or the railroad car diner that serves the greatest fried chicken and grits.

If you grew up in the Midwest, more than likely, Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor Michigan is not only on the top of your list of places to visit, it IS the list.

Started on the ides of March in 1982, Zingerman’s began as a small, brick faced delicatessen. Zingerman’s quickly became a local favorite for their reuben, hand-made sandwiches, and unbelievably impeccable customer service. Since its opening, Zingerman’s has continued to grow in popularity, spurring Zingerman’s growth into a culinary mecca.

Rather than letting its popularity propel the business outside of Michigan, Zingerman’s has remained fiercely loyal to the locals. Zingerman’s continues to grow and currently has numerous well-run eateries that include a creamery (for home made gelatos, ice cream and cheeses), a bake house (for freshly baked bread and sweet treats), a coffee shop (for gourmet coffee and bake house treats), a Road House (for delicious, regional American food and handmade cocktails) and ZingTrain, a consulting and training branch that teaches business the successful business and training models of their business.

Ever since opening day 26 years ago, lunch customers can still be seen braving the elements to line up around the block to wait their turn for a Zingerman’s sandwich. Everyone has a different strategy to finding the best sandwich. Some never stray from the classics (the #2 Ruben, the #11 Pastrami special, the #48 Binny’s Brooklyn Reuben, the #73 Tarb’s Tenacious Tenure), while others adventure beyond the usual and try to sample all the newest staff-created sandwiches.

What you should know before you go:

Culinary mecca: Zingerman's Deli — Study the menu. There are lots of great choices!

Get a hold of the deli menu and study it before you arrive. Ruminate. Plan. Know what you’re getting before you step through the front door.

Get in line at Zingerman's Deli and get inspired!

Zingerman’s award-winning signage, eye catching food packaging and delicious aromas can easily distract a person.

The Zingerman’s food counters are to any foodie, what sirens were to seafarers. Planning ahead will allow you to leisurely peruse the cheese and bread counters, rather than sweating your choices as you furiously struggle read the small print on the sandwich boards.

If you’re only visiting once, try a few things. Get a pastry. Sample some cheese. Splurge and get two sandwiches.

Eat half and save the rest for the drive (or flight) home. Drink a delicious coffee handpicked by the owners from a far away coffee plantation.

Buy something from the retail area. Olive oil, jelly, cookies and cookbooks travel well. Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating will teach you how to find all the foods you’ve been longing for.

Zingerman’s Deli
422 Detroit Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104