Posts Tagged ‘Restaurant’
“This Is the Motor City”
February 9, 2011 | 
Author I know you saw it. It’s the most talked-about Super Bowl ad here in Michigan and, I hope, around the rest of the country. On the surface it was an ad for a luxury car, though I couldn’t tell you — even after repeated viewings — which one.
But really, it wasn’t an ad trying to sell you a car (although I’m sure Chrysler would be thrilled if you bought one). No, at its heart this was an ad promoting Detroit … the maligned, beleaguered, down-on-its-luck city of Detroit.
Here, watch it with me again and then we’ll talk some more:
The narrator calls Detroit “a town that’s been to Hell ….” Yeah, that’s true.
I moved to one of its suburbs in 1978, the year the city was named the Murder Capital of the United States. There had been riots in 1967, with a mass exodus known as “white flight” soon thereafter. Some neighborhoods resemble war zones; I’ve personally walked through them, and recognized some of the skeletal remains of buildings shown in the ad. And each time a new administration has come in promising redemption, hope that something in the city might be salvaged has eventually vanished.
The last few years, in which the economy has been so dreadful, hit Michigan very hard; Detroit was dealt nearly unsurvivable blows. Businesses closed down, and General Motors even required a government bailout in order to survive. Unemployment in Detroit has officially been as high as 30%.
And yet … the complete line of narration in the video says that Detroit “is a town that’s been to Hell and back.” Those last two words are critical.
In the middle of the ad, shining in the midst of all the grit and grime and gloom that is admittedly a very real part of the city, you see the gleaming, golden Spirit of Detroit statue, with rays of light shining forth.
There is a definite resurgence in the city, a faith that Detroit has suffered enough and will regain its former glory. And to me, at least, is seems as though food is leading the way.
Slows Bar-B-Q — only 5 years old — has been named one of the country’s best barbecue spots by Bon Appetit and been featured on the Travel Channel‘s Man vs. Food. Its owner, Phil Cooley, is a tireless supporter of Detroit and has stated: “We need a strong urban core that’s going to attract people to stay and create.”
Avalon International Breads is a phenomenon with a small and immensely popular storefront in the heart of the city. The bakery (which is open, so that you can watch the staff at work creating treats like my personal favorite — the Dexter Davison Rye Bread) supports urban farming initiatives and buys local and organic foods to the greatest extent possible.
Then there is the Hockeytown Café, named “No. 2 Sports Bar in America” by ESPN2 … those are folks who know their stuff! And the Bucharest Grill is a destination for “hipsters and townies,” according to The Detroit News, despite not even having a sign out front to advertise its abundantly generous servings of traditional Romanian cuisine.
But there are also the long-time standbys — the ones who didn’t flee, the ones who’ve stood by the city that welcomed them.
There’s Xochimilco [so-shuh-MIL-koh], one of my favorite restaurants, offering some of the best authentic Mexican food there is. The Lafayette Coney Island, where I used to eat lunch with my friends each day when I spent a summer working in downtown Detroit, received a rave review from Roadfood.com. Greektown — a strip filled with fabulous restaurants and bakeries — was always a destination for Jeremy’s birthday when he was younger, after a trip to the Auto Show and a ride on the People Mover (an above-ground railway).
We are reminded that “It’s the hottest fires that make the strongest steel.” Detroit has been through the fire — figuratively and also literally. But the strength and resilience of its people are investing the city with a renewed energy and another chance at life.
Every day, there are people who sustain Detroit both with food and with “their hard work and conviction,” as the ad proudly proclaims. This is the spirit of Detroit.
This is the Motor City.
“floo·zie \ˈflü-zē\: a usually young woman of loose morals.” Thus a Food Floozie is not a woman who can be seduced by virtually any man, but rather a woman who can be seduced by virtually any food (other than sushi).
For more blathering about recipes, restaurants, beverages, ingredients, and anything else even tangentially related to food, please come visit me Monday through Friday at Food Floozie or check out my mostly-regular Tuesday posts on AnnArbor.com.
Posted in Blogging, Restaurants, Travel | 
Tags: Avalon, Chrysler, Detroit, Food Floozie, Hockeytown, Motor City, Restaurant, Slows Bar-B-Q, Super Bowl | 
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Dixie Kitchen – Evanston, IL
So I must have been feeling a little homesick for my momma, because when the topic of dinner came up I passed by my usual staples of Indian, Thai, or Sushi and found a “Cajun” restaurant!
A small guilt trip laid on my lovely hubby and we were off to try out “Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop” in Evanston, IL, a suburb right to the north of Chicago. In truth the “bait shop” part of the name worried me, not that I thought it was really a bait shop in the middle of downtown, but rather because the name screamed “Kitsch” and that’s not my style. But the lure of cheese grits and pecan pie was too great for me to resist.
The restaurant is a small place and is overwhelmed by all the stuff on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. The decor is just a little too cute and makes Applebee’s look like a minimalist lives there. To be fair, Joel loved the decor, saying that he felt like he was eating outside.
But enough about that, let’s talk about what mattered, the food!! It started great with a basket of warm Johnny Cakes brought out right away. Yum!! For an appetizer I gave in to the Fried Green Tomatoes and Joel went for the Popcorn Shrimp. They had both been dredged in corn meal and fried. Joel’s generous serving was gone in about 45 seconds, so I know he liked them. My portion was meant for sharing, since 5 thick tomato slices were too much for me. I’m not a fan of cornmeal anything, but the tomatoes were lovely, slightly vinegary and mild, so the overall effect was nice.
For dinner Joel ordered the Jerk Chicken, with the worry that it might be too spicy. There was no need to fear. The chicken was peppery, but not chipolte/jalapeno spicy, more black pepper spicy. It was a half chicken for $12, with a side of rice, cole slaw, and deep fried plantains. My dinner was the Trout Pecan with the creole mustard sauce also for $12. My comment to Joel after a few bites was “Sorry honey but my mouth is having an affair with the cook.” IT WAS AMAZING!! It was so moist and creamy it was like butter. (Trout butter – that sounds gross!) The trout had been dredged in pecan flour and then grilled. The result was a slightly sweet trout, but with the addition of the mustard sauce it was sublime. The plantains were warm and exactly what you would expect. My other side was the cheese grits. Oh cheese grits how I love you. I swear Dixie Kitchen makes theirs with bacon fat!! How else can you explain their yumminess?? There HAS to be bacon in there somewhere!!
I wish I could rave equally about dessert, but in a rare turn of events we were both too full to have any. 
Next time we’ll skip the apps and dive into the pecan pie and peach cobbler. And there will be a next time.
http://www.dixiekitchenevanston.com/
Total bill was $45 before tip.
My personal food scale goes like this:
- I’d eat again right now if my stomach could hold more.
- I’ll be back again soon.
- I’ll be back again eventually.
- I’ll come back only if my friends insist on it.
- I’d rather eat at McDonald’s.
Dixie Kitchen gets an “I’ll be back again soon.”
– Rebecca
Restaurant : Jar
In a book, a character is brought a take-out meal from just another restaurant. The character states that the pot roast is so good it has to be from a notable restaurant, to which the other character replies that the restaurant is Jar (just another restaurant). I did a check online and one of the first reviews mentioned the pot roast, so it seems to be a real LA restaurant. The reviews are mixed but it has a high rating and the author thought it worth plugging in a book. I would check it out if I still lived on Signal Hill.
You can see The Jar’s website <here>.