54. What I Ate on my Summer Vacation
Hop in. We're going for a long and tasty ride.
We were in Costa Rica when everything started to shut down in March of 2020. Unsure and afraid of what travel was going to become, we rushed home as soon as we could. Since then, outside of visiting family, I haven’t traveled much. We rented a cottage in 2021 and an Airbnb in Montreal in 2022. But until July, when we went to the Hillside festival in Guelph, I hadn’t stayed in a hotel in more than four years. I hadn’t lolled in bed binging HGTV or turned a sink into a cooler for room beers. Before the pandemic, between work and holidays, I was good for at least a few stays a year (and usually more). It’s wild to realize how much and how unnoticed life can shrink and how long it can take to re-expand.
The gap between my first post-pandemic hotel stay and my second would not be nearly as long. It was just ten days, in fact. In June, Beth had brought up the idea of a road trip, suggesting we circle Lake Erie, stopping in Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, and Detroit before seeing her mother in Windsor and completing the circuit by heading home. The only wrench in the plan was, to our complete surprise, the prices of hotels in Buffalo and Cleveland. For reasons that are still unknown to us, any hotel in a walkable, interesting part of town was over $500 USD. We could have stayed by the airports and paid less than that, but that didn’t seem like much of a holiday.
Instead, we found a fairly reasonably priced hotel in downtown Detroit, the Siren, for one night and then a Hampton Inn in Ann Arbor1 for another. The Hampton wasn’t as centrally located, but with ride-sharing (and our own car) it wasn’t much of a hassle to get around.2 From Ann Arbor, the plan was to head back to Windsor for one night and then head home.
Having not planned a vacation in a few years, I eagerly dove into figuring out where we could eat. In the past, I’ve often had every dinner of a five-day trip booked weeks or even a month in advance. By nature (or possibly by years and years of unconscious training) I’m an optimizer. But lately I’ve been pushing myself, in travel and generally in life, to reduce the amount of self-induced anxiety in my life. I wasn’t going to worry that we would miss out on the Greatest Possible Michigan Food Experiences Ever. Instead, I just wanted to know the lay of the land.
And, just to be up front about it, we definitely missed a bunch of Great Michigan Food Experiences. Anyone who has read this newsletter (and followed me on Instagram or even IRL) has seen me go on about hot dogs and pizza and thus will be shocked to read that we tried neither of Detroit’s signature styles. One afternoon and one night are just not enough time to tackle my list, particularly because trying to fit pizza, a comparison of Lafayette vs American Coney dogs, a sandwich from Mike’s Famous Ham Place, and some Polish food would have made travelling the next day (or, indeed, standing and moving) quite impossible. The same goes for Ann Arbor, where I was desperate to try Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burgers, but couldn’t find an opening, either temporally or anatomically, that would accommodate a visit. More reason to revisit!
Downton Detroit has changed significantly since I last passed through in the spring of 2009 (with Newsletter Consiglieri Chris Frey at the wheel).3 Compared to Toronto, foot traffic, at least on a late July Tuesday afternoon, was sparse, but mostly made up of tourists. Fifteen years ago, on an early March weekday, we had been the only foot traffic, so things were looking up. And though the sidewalks were somewhat abandoned, the same could no longer be said about the buildings. Where once it seemed like well over half of all the storefronts were vacant, construction cranes loomed everywhere and boutiques and cafe and restaurants and hip hotels had moved in, giving the streets a vibrancy completely absent before.
Our hip hotel, The Siren, was across the street from the Detroit Opera House and shared a block with an outlet of Buddy’s Pizza, the originators of the Detroit style. Inside the hotel’s corridors were fashionably dark enough that I would set the over/under for how much money you could drop and decide there was no point in searching for it at $25.4 The room was small but stylish and comfortable.5 We switched on HGTV (of course) while we figured out where to have dinner. Between the always helpful Eater Essential 38 list and some recommendations from friends who had just finished a similar trip, we had no end of options.
We ultimately settled on somewhere that seemed like a meal we were less likely to find in Toronto.6 Alpino says it is “inspired by regional dishes from the Alps.” Although some of the food like schnitzel crosses borders and cultures and can be found in central- and eastern-European restaurants in Toronto, there really isn’t a place dedicated to food that is specifically Alpine (or Alpine-inspired).7
Located in Corktown, just west of downtown, Alpino is a bright, spacious room with lots of wood and warm tones. We started with a cheese fondue made from a blend of Gruyere and Rahmtahler, a creamier, more tender version of Emmenthal, with chunks of potato, bread, and pleasantly surprisingly, apple.
We split an excellent wienerschnitzel with the desired poof of air between the pork and the crust,8 topped with mushroom sauce and pickled mustard seeds, as well as side servings of braised red cabbage and cucumber salad. 9
It was tempting to order a rösti topped with smoked salmon, creme fraiche, and mustard greens as well, but there was more than enough with what we ordered, especially since we finished with a rhubarb tarte: shortbread topped with zabaione mousse, braised rhubarb, sweet pistachio pesto. Service was friendly and very efficient. We waddled to our Uber with a bag containing the remainder of the bottle of Blaufränkisch we were unable to finish before dinner was over.
The next day, after a stop at the Detroit Institute of Arts, we headed to Dearborn, home to the largest Arab-American population in the US, for some middle Eastern food. Determined again not to stress out about researching every possible choice, I steered us towards Cedarland which, as well as having good reviews, it what has been described as a “ski chalet-inspired decor.”10
The menu was very straightforward. We opted for shawarma sandwiches with hummous, baba ghanouj, and tabbouleh on the side, as well as the always complimentary lentil soup. It was all excellent. If you went to your neighbourhood shawarma place—which would probably be more expensive ($3.99 for a sandwich!)—and you got this food, you would be very, very happy. Like the menu, it’s very straightforward but it’s straightforwardly excellent.
Still in Dearborn, we stopped at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. It’s hard to comprehend the scale of the place without seeing it for yoruself. It holds multiple trains; a full mockup of a Buckminster Fuller-designed Dymaxion round house, and countless cars and trucks, including the limousine in which JFK was assassinated.11
Arriving in Ann Arbor mid-afternoon, we had some time before dinner to visit a few supermarkets to try to stock up on things not available at home. Despite hitting several places that said they carried it, there was no Cascatelli to be found, although we still managed to fill the trunk pretty well. (More on that later.)
Dinner in Ann Arbor was the one reservation I made in advance because I knew exactly where I wanted to eat and knew that tables can get booked up fast. I first heard about Miss Kim on a Deep Dish episode of The Sporkful podcast. In it, chef-hosts Sohla and Ham El-Waylly talk to Miss Kim’s chef, Ji Hye Kim, about the history of tteokbokki, the chewy, spicy rice cakes that are a staple street food in Korea. She also shares her approach to non-traditional recipes like cacio e pepe tteokbokki, which I knew we had to try.12
Made with miso butter and Parmigiano Reggiano, it was chewy, nutty, and slightly funky from the miso. The El-Wayllys have posted their version of a recipe on Instagram and I plan to try it soon.
The other standout of the night was crispy broccolini in caramel fish sauce, although everything from the arancini-like crispy kimchi rice balls to the miso butter corn with pork belly, pickled onions, and chiles was outstanding. For drinks, we shared a sampler flight of 5 different makgeolli, some of them infused with flavours in-house.13
The next morning we visited a few more supermarkets and some thrift stores14 while waiting for Zingerman’s to open at 11. Zingerman’s, of course, is one of America’s great delis. My first visit was during that same 2009 trip to Detroit15 and I had longed to go back ever since.
After several laps of the store and grabbing a few more things to take home, it was time to order lunch. Having already tried their Reuben, I decided this time to get #14 Jenny’s Fix: pastrami, Swiss Emmental cheese, coleslaw and Russian dressing on grilled Jewish Rye. Just like the Reuben I’d dreamed about in the intervening 15 years, it was fantastic.
And Beth even let me steal a few bites from her Cone of Cheese.16
From there, our plans became very fluid very quickly. A plan to stop in Detroit for Coneys before crossing back into Canada was scuttled as unnecessary, since it was just after lunch. From there, it just made sense to stay on the highway and head back to Toronto, our trunk and our bellies full of goodies.
Substack says this post is over-length for email. I say screw it. We’re getting this whole trip in one issue!
What I brought back…
Glory Foods Southern Style Greens - I fell in love with these greens after first reading about them in Saveur Magazine. I’ve tried to bring some back any time I’m in a state they’re sold in. I have written Glory Foods begging them to come to Canada, but they still haven’t.
Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce - Dennis Lee, the writer of the inimitable17 Food is Stupid newsletter, recommended these in last year’s gift guide.18 I finally got a chance to try them, although only the Original so far because the others wouldn’t fit in the fridge if I opened them. The original is similar to a yakitori sauce, although a little thinner. Still, very tasty and I look forward to trying the miso sauce in the grilled zucchini recipe I wrote about two issues ago.
The Authentic Stadium Mustard, Old Bay Hot Sauce, Zab’s Original and St. Augustine Datil Pepper Sauces - A friend brought me a bottle of Stadium Mustard—It’s the mustard served originally at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium—19last year and I absolutely love it. We don’t get many brown mustards in Canada that aren’t honey mustard. And we definitely don’t get this, although the company tells me they’re working on it.20 I bought three bottles in case it takes a while.
I wrote about Old Bay Hot Sauce early last year. It’s a great combination of Frank’s and Old Bay (both owned by McCormick’s)21 but since De La Mer closed a few year ago, I haven’t been able to find it in Toronto. It’s fantastic on wings.
I had read a little but didn’t know much about Zab’s or datil peppers or St. Augustine, but when I saw these sauces at Zingerman’s, I decided to pick them up. I still don’t know that much of the backstory, but so far I’m liking them. Not insanely spicy (about the same as habanero) but sweeter.
Brooklyn Delhi simmer sauces and achaars - These come up a lot as a small food brand success story. (As well as a story about how larger brands take advantage of them.) We’ve already gone through the simmer sauces, which were great, but still waiting to open the achaars.
Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt Flakes, King Arthur AP Flour, Zingerman’s Virginia Peanuts - This lot is definitely a mixed bag. I picked up the salt flakes thinking they would be something like Maldon salt, which was very exciting, especially since it was much cheaper than Maldon. They are, in fact, just plain old Diamond Crystal salt in a new package and a new, somewhat misleading name.
The 10-lb bag of King Arthur Flour is higher in protein that other all-purpose flours and should last me through a winter of making New York-style pizza as taught by Joe Rosenthal and his impeccable method.
I bought the peanuts thinking they single-origin peanuts produced for Zingerman’s by Hubs, a peanut producer in Virginia that fries their peanuts rather than roasting them.22 But those are only available at Zingerman’s Roadhouse, one of their several enterprises in Ann Arbor23. The ones I picked up are fried but not single-origin and are produced by Virginia Diner instead. Ah well. Still tasty.
When you travel, are there “must haves” you bring back whenever you can?
You don’t need a link to a Hampton Inn.
Maybe the only benefit of Toronto traffic is how great all other traffic seems by comparison.
I stole this concept from Jim Atkinson, whose book “The View from Nowhere” I found in a discount bookstore in Kittery, Maine in the summer of 1991. It it, he describes the kind of place he calls a bar-bar. A place where it’s dark enough that if you, as a friend of his once did, drop $40 on the floor, you’ll give up ever trying to find it. Detroit, even in its new, gussied-up state, seems like a great bar-bar town.
Although the beds at the Hampton Inns in both Guelph and Ann Arbor were much better. Hampton FTWinn!
Any number of places in Detroit could have fit that bill, but one night is a finite amount of time.
Even the Toronto restaurant called The Alpine seems more inclined to cultivate an Alpine vibe (Quoth the website, “Let’s get cozy.”) rather than Alpine dining (Quoth the menu, “Maryland-style crab cakes.”) It’s a fun place all the same.
I first learned about this in Meredith Erickson’s excellent Alpine Cooking, which, among other excellent recipes, has one for something called “Fitness Salad” that makes regular appearances on our table, especially when things like schnitzel and raclette do as well.
It’s way more fun to call them by their German names, rotkraut and gurkensalat, however.
Perhaps a completely inadvertent theme is developing?
And remained in service until the Carter Administration!
There’s some discussion in this episode about the immigrant time warp, which I wrote about here. Tteokbokki is a perfect example of how food continues evolving in its home country while often being frozen in time for those who have immigrated away.
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t take notes and can’t remember what all the flavours were. One was definitely coffee and one was chile pepper, but I’m hazy on the rest.
The PTO Thrift Store, which supports Ann Arbor Public Schools was a particularly nice one.
Beth had more than just cheese. I promise. I just can’t seem to find a photograph of it (or remember what it was). In my defense, I had sandwich on my mind.
And often inedible and invariably obscene
Oh God. I really need to get working on the gift guide!
There’s also a brand called Bertman Original Ball Park Mustard. I haven’t tasted it, but it seems like it’s almost identical. There’s a whole story behind the schism.
You many have seen on Instagram that I brought it with me to a Blue Jays game recently. I can’t even begin to tell you how much it improved the very so-so Loonie Dogs. 10/10 would do it again. (Why aren’t you following me on Instagram?) (Or other me?)
Yes, I know, I could easily blend my own. When this one runs out, I may have to.
Among them, Miss Kim, which participated in Zingerman’s Path to Partnership program that supports their employees to develop new Zingerman’s businesses, of which they become a partner.
I'm glad you chose a middle-eastern restaurant; South-eastern Michigan is the best place to eat Lebanese food outside of Beirut.