‘Detroit’
On Saturday, May 7th, Justin Verlander pitched the second no-hitter of his career. It’s a hell of an achievement and certainly one to be proud of. And sure, it’s cool that he is now one of only 30 pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball to throw multiple no-hitters, but the way he celebrated is even cooler.
EDIT: Apparently this place is now called Blitz, but still reps the state of Michigan.
A couple weeks ago I headed to Phoenix with the girlfriend for a wedding. But this wasn’t just any weekend, it happened to be the weekend of the Michigan-Michigan State game. It’s usually a pretty big game, but with both teams undefeated (at the time), it was a game I couldn’t miss. Fortunately, said girlfriend found an interesting bar for me to watch it at in Old Town Scottsdale. It was called Upper Deck Sports Grille and was dedicated to Michigan and Michigan State fans. You would think Phoenix would be big enough to host ex-Michiganders at more than one bar, but you would be wrong.
Just before my last visit to my Detroit homeland, I happened to watch a TV show called Food Wars. This show goes all around the country and pits local restaurants against one another. In this particular episode, Detroit’s Lafayette Coney Island and American Coney Island faced off. The two Coneys were founded in the early 1900s by brothers from Greece and both claim to be the originator of the Coney Dog, a Detroit staple. On the show, American (powered by their sweet Vidalia onions) edged out Lafayette by a vote of 3-2. But how would they fare with the Unvegan? Fortunately an impromptu tour of Detroit with a last-minute visitor brought me to the corner of Lafayette and Michigan Avenue. Wondering which Coney Dog was the unvegan king, I stepped into American Coney Island.
Just before my last visit to my Detroit homeland, I happened to watch a TV show called Food Wars. This show goes all around the country and pits local restaurants against one another. In this particular episode, Detroit’s Lafayette Coney Island and American Coney Island faced off. The two Coneys were founded in the early 1900s by brothers from Greece and both claim to be the originator of the Coney Dog, a Detroit staple. On the show, American (powered by their sweet Vidalia onions) edged out Lafayette by a vote of 3-2. But how would they fare with the Unvegan? Fortunately an impromptu tour of Detroit with a last-minute visitor brought me to the corner of Lafayette and Michigan Avenue. Wondering which Coney Dog was the unvegan king, I stepped into Lafayette Coney Island.
Although I grew up in Michigan, I can’t remember ever setting foot in Grosse Pointe. I guess it was just too far outside the bubble of Farmington Hills/West Bloomfield. Fortunately, my buddy decided to marry a Grosse Point native, giving me my first chance to see what food was like on the other side of Detroit. We headed to the nice little downtown area of Grosse Point and got ourselves a table at the Village Grille.
To many people, the bagel is the king of breakfast. It’s like an evolution of toast, similar, yet greatly superior. And the best of those who love the bagel bow down to the salt bagel, the king of all bagels. It adds a perfect amount of flavor that goes great with cream cheese, especially strawberry cream cheese. But why strawberry cream cheese? Well, combining the sweet of the cream cheese with the salt of the bagel creates a perfect balance unparalleled by any other food in the world. Ever.
But is the salt bagel perfect? No, far from it. While bagels are delicious, they have one major flaw. That flaw is obvious to anyone who has ever attempted to shmear cream cheese across the surface of the bagel. The hole. This hole sucks up perfectly good cream cheese, rendering the bagel an imperfect medium for shmearing. Enter the Salt Stick.
Although I work like literally right next door to the Pitfire Pizza in North Hollywood, I was somehow compelled to pay a visit to the newer Culver City location. The set up of the place is actually pretty cool and somewhat industrial-looking. Orders are taken at a counter that has a nice blackboard behind it showing off the current specials. None of these looked too interesting to me, so I took a look at the regular menu and found something interesting.
The phenomenon of the Coney Island is one of the greatest aspects of eating out in the Detroit area in Michigan. Completely unrelated to the actual Coney Island in New York, these restaurants are a result of the mixing of Greek and American foods, with the addition of the famous Coney Dog. Everyone has their favorite Coney Island, and sometimes the favorite one is just around the corner. I grew up with Farmington Coney Island half a mile away and would go at least once a week.
The Stage Deli of West Bloomfield seems a bit out of place. Sandwiches are named after Broadway shows and aside from the one picture of Eminem, everything reeks of New York. Nonetheless, The Stage Deli is a staple Jewish deli in West Bloomfield Township. Rather than limiting themselves to sandwiches named for classic shows and actors, The Stage has modernized itself by throwing in such shows as Mama Mia and even movies like Casino Royale.
While in Michigan, one restaurant I had to visit was Olga’s Kitchen in West Bloomfield. The local chain has been around forever and has never attempted to veer away from the core factor that makes the restaurant a success. This core factor is Olga Bread and it is no ordinary bread. The closest thing it can be compared to is Greek pita, but to simply call it Greek pita would be an injustice. It is buttery and crispy and multiple levels of delicious. Olga’s uses it to make their sandwiches and as a side for their salads, but by far the best use of Olga Bread is in Olga’s Snackers.