Ann Arbor @ Curbside (February 2022)

 

Restaurants

Common Grill (Chelsea) R.I.P. We note with sadness the announcement that Craig Common will be closing his great restaurant in Chelsea after 30 years. Final date is March 13th. We wish the Commons a peaceful retirement.

UPDATE: The Common Grill will survive.

February 20-25, 2022

So many choices, so little time, six days to be exact. We managed three selections this year.

Mama Sotto (715 N. University St., Ann Arbor) Restaurant Week special - four courses $25 per person. We have consensus that both the crab soup and the dumpling soup were excellent. Tempura doesn't travel well, it needs to be hot out of the fryer and reheating makes it soggy. The seaweed salad was tasty and both of salmon & crab main course sushi were well seasoned and fresh. Big complaint, our order was short several items, there was food enough for four but not the complete order we had paid for. 

Blue Tractor (207 E. Washington St., Ann Arbor) Another special, barbeque for four $55. For the barbeque lovers this was a find. The ribs were meaty and perfectly cooked. Pulled pork was a generous serving. Mac & cheese was done with fusilli, which we prefer to macaroni. Good cole slaw, corn bread and to top off the barbeque feast - a large squeeze bottle of sauce.

Pacific Rim (114 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor) Our clear Restaurant Week winner! We have avoided Pacific Rim for takeout because we just thought the excellent menu would not carry-out all that well. We were wrong, wrong, wrong. Here are our selections:

 

Saigon Spring Rolls 
Pacific Rim Crabcake 
Roasted Winter Squash Soup 
Winter Salad with Soy-Balsamic Vinaigrette 
Miso-Teriyaki Salmon 
Thai Bouillabaisse 
Chocolate-Passionfruit Mousse 

 Each course was as good as the last and the first course was outstanding. The squash soup was just perfect, great sauce on the crab cake. A+ for Pacific Rim. The Restaurant Week special was three courses for $28.

Boutique Foodie Destinations

Grand Traverse Pie Company (291 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor) 2 feta quiche slices ($5.49 each), one regulation regular crust apple pie ($18.99) first time we went with the standard fair instead of the crumble crust, one chocolate-cherry muffin ($2.49) for the drive home. The muffin was delicious. Quiche is always good at GTPC and comes with warm pumpkin bread. I must admit the apple pie is just too standard for me, also my fault for not ordering the crumble crust.

Argus Farm Stop (see last month's review) Argus is now a regular, if not weekly, foodie destination for us. The bread selection is the best in town.

Yoon's Bakery To experience the tastes of Yoon's one must leave our American taste buds at home. Both the sweet and the savory treats here are from the Asian palette. We had mixed reviews of four or five samples, only because we were not ready for the range of flavors. Definitely, worth a revisit and a wider selection of offerings.

Home Meal Delivery Kit

Green Chef. I don't know, it was late, I was surfing and Green Chef popped up and there was an introductory discount and I mean what can I say for $41 we got 3 meals (2 servings each). As with most of these services the key is advertised as "No more meal planning, just cooking." All the ingredients are included except salt, pepper and oil. "Dinner in 30 minutes or less." Thirty minutes does not take into account the time to read the eight step directions, nor my less than professional knife skills. But I digress. 

Green Chef is mostly vegetarian in five categories: Keto & Paleo, Vegan, Vegetarian, Fast & Fit, and Mediterranean. We went with vegetarian:

1) Truffle Butter Risotto

2) Hoisin Mushroom & Edamame Bowls

3) Mushroom Curry Udon Bowls

My assessment is that each of the dishes was a bargain at the introductory price of just over $7, however, at the everyday tag of over $15 not so much. Flavor, taste and ingredients were all quality, we enjoyed each of the dishes and noted more than adequate spices and sauces. Also, several dishes took five, six, even seven pots and pans.

Not sure if we will be trying out any further meal delivery services, stay tuned. If anyone is interesting in trying Green Chef, let us know, we have some introductory referrals that can save you money on your first order.

If you are considering any or all home meal services, there are lots of comparison reviews online, we suggest this one from The New York Post 2/1/2022.

Ann Arbor @ Curbside (January 2022)

I'm back in Ann Arbor, so it's time to resurrect our curbside noshing reviews. Reader feedback has led us to incorporate several tweaks in the information we provide, chief among those additions will be price.

Seven (7) reviews this month:

We begin with a new section for non-restaurant establishments we are calling Boutique Foodie Destinations (BFD).

Zingerman's Deli (422 Detroit St., Ann Arbor) Being that we live less than a mile from Zingerman's in Kerrytown, we often stop by for bits and bites of our favorites. This trip we picked up black olive bread ($10), balsamic vinegar ($14 on sale), Zing's own English muffins ($6) and two pot pies ($12 each, pictured above). We went with a Fungi pie and a Cheshire pork pie. High grades for the pork, perhaps a touch lower for the mushrooms, but both good with top notch crusts. The pies come frozen for an easy reheat at home.

Vestergaard Farms (4408 Wagner Road, Saline) Good news, we picked up some Maddy J's bread ($8) and a couple of indulgent ice cream treats (2x$3). Bad news, our favorite reason to visit Vestergaards is to pick-up a supply of Bakewell frozen quiches. We did get the last two on the shelf but Bakewell has had staff and health issues causing a shutdown for the month of January. Plans are to restart in February but those same issues of staffing and health make all plans tentative.

Argus Farm Stop (325 W. Liberty, also 1200 Packard, Ann Arbor) You do know about the marvelous bread at Argus, don't you? Go for the locally sourced weird mushrooms, lettuce and lots of other veggies, frozen items, plus coffee/pastries and stay for the bread! A variety of rotating loaves from a host of local, Detroit area and out of town bakeries. Avalon, Crust, etc. Our recent find and favorite is Hammonton bread from Crust in Fenton. Full of sesame seeds, moist and chewy. May only be available on Mondays. Check the bread delivery schedule at the checkout counter. Don't mis the day-old section of breads/pastries near the 2nd register to snag some carb-loaded bargains.

And now to actual restaurants with curbside pickups:

Zamaan Cafe (3580 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor) This is a new find for us. Advertised as "Mediterranean Flavor" and Halal, we went with Baba Ghannuj and Tabbuleh for starters. Excellent both, though I always add crumbled Feta to Tabbuleh. We also had to pita wraps, an eggplant and rice with garlic sauce, which Diner #2 reports as excellent. I had the Chicken Tawook with some very good garlic sauce. $28 total. We tend to be generous Covid tippers, but are not including gratuities in our food cost reports.

Maddy J's (972 E. Michigan Ave., Saline) Chipolte Turkey Avocado grilled sandwich for me ($11) and a Veggie Quiche ($5) for Diner #2. Both were big hits. We really like Maddy J's. Fortunately, their bread can be found at several outlets including Vestergaards above.

Spencers (113 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor) And now for another take on dining in the time of Covid. Spencers does curbside two days a week (W. & Th.). In person dining, not our thing, Friday and Saturday. The curbside menu is set for two consecutive weeks, there are no substitutions. $65 for two, includes tax and gratuity. We had Willi Lehner's clothbound cheddar, piccalilli, winter salad, and a root vegetable pot pie (there was a chicken alternative). The pie was huge, even for two people. The sauce in the pie was outstanding, Overall, the main course was our highlight of the month. The cheese was excellent, but you had to provide your own crackers, Piccalilli was tasty and different, the salad greens was fresh and plentiful. The tiny homemade Milano cookies were a mini-dessert only for those on a diet.

Bell's Diner (2167 E. Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor) We switched from our standard Bi Bim Bop to a couple of Bento Box choices. One spicy pork and one tofu. A lot of food, with untouched salad leftover for the next day's lunch. Because it was carry-out, no traditional segmented box presentation with dibs and dabs of interesting food in each compartment. I was most satisfied with the spicy pork, though it could have been spicier (they did ask for a spice level, next time . . . more). Bento boxes are $18.99 each, which seems a fair price.

another addition to Ann Arbor @ Curbside: we are inviting Guest Reviews from our many local gustatorily inclined friends. Submissions to my email, you have it, right?

Chocolate

See I promised, no more politics. So let's get to something imminently more important -- Chocolate for Breakfast. A long-term study out of Syracuse University has shown that the consumption of chocolate is actually good for you.

"Habitual chocolate intake was related to cognitive performance, measured with an extensive battery of neuropsychological tests. More frequent chocolate consumption was significantly associated with better performance on these tests." 

The article goes on to point out that a high calorie breakfast can help you to lose weight. In fact, breakfast with dessert is even recommended. In a hurry in the morning? Skip breakfast but eat dessert.

The Catch-22 of this great morning news is that when the cocoa craving hits late at night, we really ought to be munching on a carrot or a yummy stalk of celery.

"Please don't throw me in the briar patch chocolate vat."

First World Wonders

I'm going to go out on a small limb and say that you would not hear any of my friends or acquaintances refer to me as a complainer. A ranter, yes. A critic, sure. And, most descriptively, a connoisseur of certain tastes, flavors and sins. Top of my vice list is chocolate, in particular the many variations of chocolate ice cream.

However, for some time I have apparently been remiss in keeping up with the decadent offerings in the grocery freezer. Because . . . late one night recently, I stopped at an all-night market and drooled my way to the frozen sugar aisle. There I found the great and powerful combo of Messrs. Ben and Jerry had come up with several versions of what they are calling Core Ice Creams.

Reading the various labels risked a minor case of frost bite but just in the nip of time, I settled on Peanut Butter Fudge Core. One-half of the pint is chocolate ice cream, the other a mild peanut butter ice cream. Mixed throughout are mini-peanut better cups but in the center is a rich, dark, smooth dollop of chocolate peanut butter fudge or "The Core."

Such sweetness hath not crossed my tongue since . . . well, never you mind.

Other offerings to temp you:

Salted Caramel Core
That's My Jam Core [raspberry]
Hazed and Confused Core [hazelnut]
Karamel Sutra Core [2 kinds of caramel]
Peanut Butter Me Up Core (crunchy peanut butter chips]
Dough-ble Whammy Core
Blondie Brownie Core
Spectacular Speculoss Cookie Core [cinnamony speculoss cookies]
Boom Chocolotta Cookie Core [mocha, caramel, fudge flakes]

Those bastards at Safeway, with all their store card savings and special shopper discounts. This week Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream = $2.25 a pint.

Advice for Your Tummy

We've all seen them. Articles that tell you what foods are bad for you. Fat food, fast food, food full of sugar, food that isn't food at all and, of course, ridiculously expensive food. But if you followed more than a couple of those lists, you might die of starvation. Here are a few I found in just one hour of net surfing.

27 Foods You Should Never Buy Again 
-this list has more economic information than health tips, some of them are quite good, check out the write-up for the last item on the list.

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Smoke & Cured Meats
"Blueberry" items
Multi-grain Bread
Reduced fat peanut butter
Bottled tea
Tomato based pasta sauces
Swordfish
Energy drinks
Gluten-free bakery products
Flavored non-dairy milks
Foods made with Cellulose
White rice
Gourmet frozen vegetables
Microwave sandwiches
Premium frozen fruit bars
Boxed rice entree or side-dish
Energy or protein bars
Spice mixes
Powdered ice tea mixes
Bottled water
Salad kits
Individual servings of anything
Trail mix
'Snack' or 'lunch' packs
Pre-formed meat patties
Gourmet ice cream - It's painful to watch someone actually pay $6 for a half-gallon of designer brand ice cream. Don't bother. There's usually at least one brand or other on sale, and you can easily dress up store brands with your own additives like chunky bits of chocolate or crushed cookie. If you do like the premium brands, wait for that 3-week sales cycle to kick in and stock up when your favorite flavor is discounted.

33 Unhealthy Foods You Should Avoid
-now here is an all-star unhealthy list: trans fats, high fructose corn syrup etc.

Fast food
Packaged cookies
Cake frosting
Pancakes
Microwave popcorn
Frozen meals
Colas & Sodas (yes even diet)
Yogurt
Ketchup
Cereals
Ranch dressing
Fried foods
Packaged chips
'Light' foods
Packaged diet snacks
Cheese
Salty snacks
Lunch meats
Pizza
Ice cream
Pork Products
Donuts
Whipped cream
Fatty meats
Milk shakes
Specialty burgers
Pasta dishes
Dressings
Chocolate (Bastards!)
Bagels
Coffee drinks
Movie popcorn

Feeling a bit hungry about now?

50 Seemingly Healthy Foods That Are Bad For You

Oh no! Even the good stuff is bad?

Microwave popcorn
Light salad dressings
Trail mix
Granola
Artichoke spinach dip
Flavored no fat yogurt
Dried fruit
Flavored soy milk
Energy drinks
Smoothies (What the hell!)

Let's skip ahead and get deathly serious.

Top 11 Health Foods That Can Kill You

Fruit juices
Whole wheat
Agave nectar
Sports drinks
'Heart Healthy' vegetable oils
Low fat and fat free anything
Gluten-free junk
Margarine and Butter fakes
Energy bars
Low carb junk
Healthy cereals

and finally, since you have no food at all left in your pantry

7 Foods that were supposed to be incredibly unhealthy but are actually anything but . . .
Coconut Oil
Coffee
Whole milk
Salt
Chocolate (Damn Right!)
Popcorn
Eggs

Now head for the cupboard and let's stay confused out there.

Diet for Life

I've been eating a lot more vegetables lately.

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