One of the reasons the flutter’s basement is so crowded is that I have every single issue of Gourmet since 1994 stored there (along with Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, etc., etc.). So it was with some surprise and sadness that I learned my collection will stop with the November issue. I heard about it on our trip, but more pressing matters (like fried pickles, perch, and whitefish) kept it off the pages.
I’ve read a few articles on “why”, and while the immediate cause was lack o’advertising dollars in this economy, the underlying reasons maybe told more about us. Things like “too complicated recipes”; “stuff we don’t care about”; “articles about chefs we’ve never heard of”; were mentioned. As most loyal readers know, I ranked it right up there with the top of the magazines I get (Saveur secure in number one – I hope!) for offering in-depth articles and recipes for stuff I do care about. Ruth Reichl is an icon in the food world, although I will admit I won’t miss that stock photo of her grinning at me every month. I'm sure she'll find work if she needs it. Conde Nast, the parent company, elected to axe Gourmet while keeping Bon Appétit (Best Ten Minute Mains!) plus a couple of bride magazines, and some others. Stats are quoted that show the newsstand sales for Gourmet were down 25 percent, ad pages 32 percent, with less figures for the more plebian Bon Appetit, apparently saving it (for now).
There was also a piece in USA Today (hey – it was free at the Hotel, okay?) about Gourmet with little inset photos of Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Sandra Lee, and Chris Kimball (I think for his “America’s Test Kitchen Show). Their take was that the food world is changing away from the “old timey” haute cuisine Gourmet approach. There’s a “dizzying array” of recipes available at your keyboard, along with specialty ingredients, blogs (I’m sure they mean this one), how-to websites and so forth. Anybody can be a food expert now. They also mention television resulting in “rocketing to stardom such cooking gurus (italics mine) as Rachel Ray, Sandra Lee, Paula Deen, Chris Kimball, Bobby Flay, and Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss”. Who the hell is he? Paula "Y'all" Deen a guru? With her face on every chunk of Smithfield Ham? Not to me. Sandra Lee tells us how to do "Elegant meals partially made with store-bought or prepared ingredients". Oh, Goody. Sorry Mr. local farmer we don't need you - we got Kraft now! No mention of Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Jacques Pepin, Michel Richard, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Julia, or a host of others which provided the base for these fluff masters (excluding CK) to build on.
It also lists the 5 most popular epicurean titles on the news stand as (in order): Every Day with Rachel Ray; Cooking with Paula Deen; Cooking Light; Taste of Home; and Everyday Food. The last one is the only one I’ve ever seen. Thank God. Did I mention that Rachel Ray’s magazine is published by the Readers Digest empire? Fits, doesn’t it? Probably have a large print edition.
Chris Kimball wrote an article in the New York Post, talking about the plethora of amateur bloggers, instant cooks, and those star chefs that pretty well summed it up for me:
“To survive, those of us who believe that inexperience rarely leads to wisdom need to swim against the tide, better define our brands, prove our worth, ask to be paid for what we do, and refuse to climb aboard this ship of fools, the one where everyone has an equal voice. Google “broccoli casserole” and make the first recipe you find. I guarantee it will be disappointing. The world needs fewer opinions and more thoughtful expertise — the kind that comes from real experience, the hard-won blood-on-the-floor kind. I like my reporters, my pilots, my pundits, my doctors, my teachers and my cooking instructors to have graduated from the school of hard knocks”.
I can't improve on that, and, I’ll bet he
DFD
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Reeling in the Years .. Last Chapter
After re-living my youthful escapades “up North”, we wended our way finally to East Lansing, my boyhood home (isn’t this riveting reading?) for our 50th High School Class reunion. Our last visit to East Lansing was for our last reunion, although the number escapes me at the moment. The sprawling MSU campus is still sprawling, and the town is showing its age, although a few of the shops remain. We took the opportunity check out my house at 258 Gunson, which given our mutual age is holding up pretty well.
A lot of the trees are gone and replaced by younger ones, but the street is still okay
With a tip of the hat to Mr. Wolfe, to some degree, you CAN go home again I guess..
We then began the purpose of the trip, the reunion. Friday night was homecoming for East Lansing High School, and we had planned to be in the parade
But the rainy weather canceled those plans (and the parade). Friday night began with a Pizza buffet at Coral Gables (still there) and our first chance to start re-acquainting ourselves with each other. I may have opined on this before, but it has been an interesting evolution of reunions culminating in this 50th. At first, say under 20 years, when we got together people pretty much stayed in the same cliques that they did when in high school. The jocks hung out together, the “in” social set of women who were cheerleaders kind of thing, and then there was the “nerd” crowd to which we belonged. Mostly ignored by the high profilers. But as the years do what they do to people, the edges got rounded (in a lot of ways), and you find out as always people are just people. Many have gone down different paths to various degrees of success, kids, changed marital status, and now we’re all friends. You get hugs from somebody who wouldn’t look at you in high school. It was a really fun time. Saturday night we had the dinner in the University Club on campus. There were tables with memorabilia on them,
some people brought our yearbook, pictures were taken, there were nice centerpieces with throwback stuff in them (the original Crackerjack boxes, for instance). There was no organized “program” although there were a few remarks made, but mostly we just socialized. The food was a buffet, but actually I’d have to say the food was good. There was some nice grilled flank steak, a glazed salmon dish, and I believe chicken. But the focus was generally on conversation. A fun time. Stuff like this
And we were honored to have our (State Championship) basketball coach join us, Mr. Gus Ganakas. Although he was Gus to us, some might remember that he was head coach at MSU from ’69 to ’76.
Again, as MFO said who would care about this stuff? Well, we did and as you know I sort of live my life on this thing, so wanted it to be part of the record. A highlight for me was catching up to one of my best friends in high school and finding out we still had a lot in common, and will continue to e-talk. Turns out he’s as much a beer connoisseur as much as I try to be about wine. In fact, he took a side trip to visit a brew pub in Grand Rapids as well as going to a special store there. His drive home will be with a full trunk.
So, that’s about it for “the trip’. Fun to see something different and re-kindle old relationships. Be sure to do it if you get a chance.
Roadie Notes:
Stats: 2733 miles, ~150 gallons of gas, 30 state license plates
Signs: Frog and Towed Towing Co.; Bedrock Liquors; Birdbath and Beyond; Pasties
Bumper Sticker: I survived cash for Clunkers
Quote: Speaker conversation overheard at a drive through at Fazoli’s: “welcome to Fazoli’s, I’m (Suzy) and I can take your order”.
Sights: Drive from La Crosse to Escanaba; seeing “aunt lee’s” store
Biggest Frustration: every day a new day trying to connect to the @#%$&&%@ internet
Foodie: Fried Pickles, Planked Whitefish, Perch, don’t worry about Butterburgers, Breakfasts at the Hungry Peddler (fer shure).
And through it all we
DFD
A lot of the trees are gone and replaced by younger ones, but the street is still okay
With a tip of the hat to Mr. Wolfe, to some degree, you CAN go home again I guess..
We then began the purpose of the trip, the reunion. Friday night was homecoming for East Lansing High School, and we had planned to be in the parade
But the rainy weather canceled those plans (and the parade). Friday night began with a Pizza buffet at Coral Gables (still there) and our first chance to start re-acquainting ourselves with each other. I may have opined on this before, but it has been an interesting evolution of reunions culminating in this 50th. At first, say under 20 years, when we got together people pretty much stayed in the same cliques that they did when in high school. The jocks hung out together, the “in” social set of women who were cheerleaders kind of thing, and then there was the “nerd” crowd to which we belonged. Mostly ignored by the high profilers. But as the years do what they do to people, the edges got rounded (in a lot of ways), and you find out as always people are just people. Many have gone down different paths to various degrees of success, kids, changed marital status, and now we’re all friends. You get hugs from somebody who wouldn’t look at you in high school. It was a really fun time. Saturday night we had the dinner in the University Club on campus. There were tables with memorabilia on them,
some people brought our yearbook, pictures were taken, there were nice centerpieces with throwback stuff in them (the original Crackerjack boxes, for instance). There was no organized “program” although there were a few remarks made, but mostly we just socialized. The food was a buffet, but actually I’d have to say the food was good. There was some nice grilled flank steak, a glazed salmon dish, and I believe chicken. But the focus was generally on conversation. A fun time. Stuff like this
And we were honored to have our (State Championship) basketball coach join us, Mr. Gus Ganakas. Although he was Gus to us, some might remember that he was head coach at MSU from ’69 to ’76.
Again, as MFO said who would care about this stuff? Well, we did and as you know I sort of live my life on this thing, so wanted it to be part of the record. A highlight for me was catching up to one of my best friends in high school and finding out we still had a lot in common, and will continue to e-talk. Turns out he’s as much a beer connoisseur as much as I try to be about wine. In fact, he took a side trip to visit a brew pub in Grand Rapids as well as going to a special store there. His drive home will be with a full trunk.
So, that’s about it for “the trip’. Fun to see something different and re-kindle old relationships. Be sure to do it if you get a chance.
Roadie Notes:
Stats: 2733 miles, ~150 gallons of gas, 30 state license plates
Signs: Frog and Towed Towing Co.; Bedrock Liquors; Birdbath and Beyond; Pasties
Bumper Sticker: I survived cash for Clunkers
Quote: Speaker conversation overheard at a drive through at Fazoli’s: “welcome to Fazoli’s, I’m (Suzy) and I can take your order”.
Sights: Drive from La Crosse to Escanaba; seeing “aunt lee’s” store
Biggest Frustration: every day a new day trying to connect to the @#%$&&%@ internet
Foodie: Fried Pickles, Planked Whitefish, Perch, don’t worry about Butterburgers, Breakfasts at the Hungry Peddler (fer shure).
And through it all we
DFD
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Reeling in the Years -- Chapter One
Although we're back in SOMD, the reports from the road will continue for a bit. That old "doing" instead of "writing"....
My mother had a sister, Leila Craig, my “Aunt Lee”. Their mother was a first generation Canadian, and both girls grew up in Michigan’s “Up North”, around Onaway, Rogers City, and Millersburg. Their father was a Scott/Irish photographer who made his living going around to the lumber camps taking photos of the crews and selling them as well as doing studio work in Rogers City. There were stories of him living “in the bush”, and eating blueberries to survive. Another story for another time. I am told that what sense of humor I retain probably comes from Frank.
The paths of the two girls parted, with my mother going to college in Mt. Pleasant and becoming a teacher, with the ordinary, plain, steady life style as you might imagine. Aunt Lee, on the other hand, stayed Up North, and lived quite a different life. She married my uncle, Bill (Barney) who was quite a character and an entrepreneur in and around Petoskey. They opened a linen store called "Barney’s Linens" in Petoskey and catered to all the expensive summer homes and residents in the area. So they moved around in those circles and “Aunt Lee and Uncle Bill” were quite well connected. They also had a store in Ft. Lauderdale, FL which they migrated to in the winter (this was before skiing was so big). Their specialty was fine linens, beautiful imported embroideries, Damask table cloths, napkins, monogrammed lush towels, and so forth. Every summer, I was allowed to go visit them for a week or so. There are many fond memories of fishing for perch on Crooked Lake, swimming in Walloon Lake, and having wonderful dinners of planked Whitefish in Julleret’s in Charlevoix. Uncle Bill had a brother named John who owned “Barney’s Bar”, and I spent many a night (probably without my mother’s knowledge) perched on a bar stool in Barney’s Bar listening to stories between Uncle Bill and his brother. Although I didn’t think anything of it at the time, I don’t think I ever saw Uncle Bill without a can of Budweiser in his hand. He was also quite the cook, and was legendary for preparing his “bittersweet chocolate sauce”. He guarded the recipe with his life, and I believe it went with him to the grave. Too bad.
So, after our lovely dinner in Harbor Springs and pleasant evening at Boyne Highlands we detoured a little bit and re-visited Petoskey as we hadn’t been there in we couldn’t remember how long. The original Barney’s Linens on Lake street, now the historic “gas light district” (thanks to Uncle Bill), is now Robert Frost’s
The Barneys lived in the apartment above the store (three windows) which you got to by going up several flights of stairs (door to the right over car). The land falls away toward Little Traverse Bay behind the store so the back side of the building had three levels. The basement, the store, and the apartment. Their back porch on the third floor had a lovely view of the bay, and again I spent many hours just sitting there with Bill and his Bud. The porch and the memories are still there:
As their business did well, they eventually moved across the street to a larger location located on a corner, now a furniture store.
Once again, they lived above the store with the same good views, but no porch. I missed that porch. MFO and I went in to the furniture store, and of course the current occupants didn’t know of the Barney’s or their successors Kalcheck Linens who bought the business after the Barney’s could no longer keep it going. Petoskey has changed, but there are still the memories of Buds, Perch fishing (and eating), Chocolate sauce, and Barney’s bar. If you have a chance to go there, be sure to visit the gas lamp district thank Uncle Bill
On the way down to East Lansing, we stopped off at another landmark in Grayling, Ray’s Canoe Livery. I had many float trips on the Au Sable River originating from there, as my father was an avid fly fisherman.
Cherish the moment, because sometime it will be the past.
It was nice to think of Aunt Lee and Uncle Bill and visit their legacy, and you can be sure they
DFD
My mother had a sister, Leila Craig, my “Aunt Lee”. Their mother was a first generation Canadian, and both girls grew up in Michigan’s “Up North”, around Onaway, Rogers City, and Millersburg. Their father was a Scott/Irish photographer who made his living going around to the lumber camps taking photos of the crews and selling them as well as doing studio work in Rogers City. There were stories of him living “in the bush”, and eating blueberries to survive. Another story for another time. I am told that what sense of humor I retain probably comes from Frank.
The paths of the two girls parted, with my mother going to college in Mt. Pleasant and becoming a teacher, with the ordinary, plain, steady life style as you might imagine. Aunt Lee, on the other hand, stayed Up North, and lived quite a different life. She married my uncle, Bill (Barney) who was quite a character and an entrepreneur in and around Petoskey. They opened a linen store called "Barney’s Linens" in Petoskey and catered to all the expensive summer homes and residents in the area. So they moved around in those circles and “Aunt Lee and Uncle Bill” were quite well connected. They also had a store in Ft. Lauderdale, FL which they migrated to in the winter (this was before skiing was so big). Their specialty was fine linens, beautiful imported embroideries, Damask table cloths, napkins, monogrammed lush towels, and so forth. Every summer, I was allowed to go visit them for a week or so. There are many fond memories of fishing for perch on Crooked Lake, swimming in Walloon Lake, and having wonderful dinners of planked Whitefish in Julleret’s in Charlevoix. Uncle Bill had a brother named John who owned “Barney’s Bar”, and I spent many a night (probably without my mother’s knowledge) perched on a bar stool in Barney’s Bar listening to stories between Uncle Bill and his brother. Although I didn’t think anything of it at the time, I don’t think I ever saw Uncle Bill without a can of Budweiser in his hand. He was also quite the cook, and was legendary for preparing his “bittersweet chocolate sauce”. He guarded the recipe with his life, and I believe it went with him to the grave. Too bad.
So, after our lovely dinner in Harbor Springs and pleasant evening at Boyne Highlands we detoured a little bit and re-visited Petoskey as we hadn’t been there in we couldn’t remember how long. The original Barney’s Linens on Lake street, now the historic “gas light district” (thanks to Uncle Bill), is now Robert Frost’s
The Barneys lived in the apartment above the store (three windows) which you got to by going up several flights of stairs (door to the right over car). The land falls away toward Little Traverse Bay behind the store so the back side of the building had three levels. The basement, the store, and the apartment. Their back porch on the third floor had a lovely view of the bay, and again I spent many hours just sitting there with Bill and his Bud. The porch and the memories are still there:
As their business did well, they eventually moved across the street to a larger location located on a corner, now a furniture store.
Once again, they lived above the store with the same good views, but no porch. I missed that porch. MFO and I went in to the furniture store, and of course the current occupants didn’t know of the Barney’s or their successors Kalcheck Linens who bought the business after the Barney’s could no longer keep it going. Petoskey has changed, but there are still the memories of Buds, Perch fishing (and eating), Chocolate sauce, and Barney’s bar. If you have a chance to go there, be sure to visit the gas lamp district thank Uncle Bill
On the way down to East Lansing, we stopped off at another landmark in Grayling, Ray’s Canoe Livery. I had many float trips on the Au Sable River originating from there, as my father was an avid fly fisherman.
Cherish the moment, because sometime it will be the past.
It was nice to think of Aunt Lee and Uncle Bill and visit their legacy, and you can be sure they
DFD
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Food over Experience
October 10th, East Lansing, MI; sunny 39 degrees (when started)
Note - you should probably read the posting below this one first.. I wish could be more brief, but i can't
After our "experience over food" evening in Escanaba, we started out for Boyne Highlands, our next destination. Turns out that (so far) it was probably the best day of the trip. The route took us through the lower part of “da UP’ along the northern shore of Lake Michigan. While cloudy, the colors were gorgeous, and the lake beautiful. We stopped a couple of times along the way at little parks for views leaves and the water,
and evidence of other visitors:
The road is a survivor for a long time and was used by tourists forever, so there were lots of roadfood signs. One of the unique local foods of the “UPers” arrived long ago from the mine workers in the copper and iron mines in western UP. Called the “Pasty” it is a sort of Stromboli affair of meat (pork and/or ground beef), rutabegas (or turnips) required, onions, and potatoes, all encased in dough, and baked. Supposedly kept warm in lunch box.. Of course by now, they are “tourist” food, and I haven’t tried one since my boyhood days. Another staple is smoked fish.
Some survive, some don’t
Eventually we crossed “big Mac”
to the lower peninsula and took some back roads to through the “tunnel of trees” from Cross Village to Harbor Springs. Memories started to flood back now as we drove into “Harbor” although much has changed since I was there. It’s now definitely a playground for the rich, as large sailboats bob at the piers; large homes are all over (with about half of them labeled “available”). It still remains a charming little city. MFO, through some research found that Boyne Highlands, a winter resort has some attractive rates so we decided to stay there..
we saw some lovely leaves
Since this was to be our last night for “real” food, we had a couple of places to choose from, including the restaurant at the lodge, and a couple of places in town. Remembering the “don’t sleep where you eat, don’t eat where you sleep”, we finally settled on Staffords, because we knew they had a pretty good heritage in Petosky and the Perry Hotel. The other possibility looked good, “The New York Restaurant”, but Staffords featured the planked whitefish (since 1961) and perch that we were anxious to re-sample. So a call secured a reservation, and this day we had a chance to walk the grounds a bit and observed some of the other guests at the lodge.
We arrived at the restaurant to find a nice table by the window overlooking the little harbor and some of those nice boats that reminded us of Maryland. Our server arrived, and zapped us back to Wisconsin with the dialect, unfortunately in the higher registers. The place was nicely decorated with ceilings of fabric drapery, visually and aurally softening, with a very nice canoe mounted on the ceiling, which sounds funny but it was nice. We decided to order a bottle of wine for the table which MFO would start with, and then I would cycle to after the dry manhatten. This time without admonishment it was correctly delivered, however again, there was more ice than drink. We ordered a Stag’s Leap Chardonnay (no vintages given) and eventually “you betcha” came to the table saying they weren’t sure they had any, but the manager was checking. Eventually they uncovered an ’07, which at first seemed a bit musky, but finally blew off and turned into a nice selection. At $49 per bottle, it was a pretty good (restaurant) bargain as it retails around $33. They had fairly nice glasses, with different ones for reds and whites (as it should be). The menu offered some interesting combinations, and turning at last to the menu after a couple of “are you ready to order” nudges followed by the disappearing act, we settled on appetizers of the Shrimp “Cargot” and the Michigan Morel bisque. After an inquiry as to the difference between the featured planked whitefish and the planked whitefish with flash fired perch revealed that the only difference was the white fish was half portioned, I opted for that and MFO took the parmesan encrusted version.
People began to trickle in filling the tables with plenty of regulars “how are ya today?”
The appetizers arrived and MFO’s shrimp prepared as escargots with garlic, prosciutto, spinach and feta were hot and tasty, and although my Bisque did contain morels, it is, after all, October, not May. Not a bad attempt. The fish on the other hand was everything we were hoping for. The parmesan crusted whitfish was lightly crusted, even daintily, and let the flavor of the fish shine through. My fish was a nice portion, served on a blackened plank, with a few perch, which were eaten by hand, no bones to worry about. Both were fresh and tasty. Service remained inconsistent, although I would say the person responsible for water did a good job. I did notice that quite a quantity of Perch were delivered to other tables. They were featuring an “Octoberfest” menu with items I couldn’t pronounce, but the dessert was an Apple Fritter which we were informed was available with two forks. After a too long wait, the “captain” lady delivered it saying the first attempt was not suitable for serving the table. Good idea! Ours was crunchy and probably with fresh apples as they were very good. An order of coffee to accompany was delivered with a pleasant surprise. A little tray with four square cups of lump sugar, candied lemon peel, and two other items which escape the mushy brain at the moment. That little twist provided a nice variation from just coffee.
So that so far was the meal of the trip (sorry butter burger), based on the food, and would merit a return anytime. And besides ourselves, at least all we saw were
DFD
Note - you should probably read the posting below this one first.. I wish could be more brief, but i can't
After our "experience over food" evening in Escanaba, we started out for Boyne Highlands, our next destination. Turns out that (so far) it was probably the best day of the trip. The route took us through the lower part of “da UP’ along the northern shore of Lake Michigan. While cloudy, the colors were gorgeous, and the lake beautiful. We stopped a couple of times along the way at little parks for views leaves and the water,
and evidence of other visitors:
The road is a survivor for a long time and was used by tourists forever, so there were lots of roadfood signs. One of the unique local foods of the “UPers” arrived long ago from the mine workers in the copper and iron mines in western UP. Called the “Pasty” it is a sort of Stromboli affair of meat (pork and/or ground beef), rutabegas (or turnips) required, onions, and potatoes, all encased in dough, and baked. Supposedly kept warm in lunch box.. Of course by now, they are “tourist” food, and I haven’t tried one since my boyhood days. Another staple is smoked fish.
Some survive, some don’t
Eventually we crossed “big Mac”
to the lower peninsula and took some back roads to through the “tunnel of trees” from Cross Village to Harbor Springs. Memories started to flood back now as we drove into “Harbor” although much has changed since I was there. It’s now definitely a playground for the rich, as large sailboats bob at the piers; large homes are all over (with about half of them labeled “available”). It still remains a charming little city. MFO, through some research found that Boyne Highlands, a winter resort has some attractive rates so we decided to stay there..
we saw some lovely leaves
Since this was to be our last night for “real” food, we had a couple of places to choose from, including the restaurant at the lodge, and a couple of places in town. Remembering the “don’t sleep where you eat, don’t eat where you sleep”, we finally settled on Staffords, because we knew they had a pretty good heritage in Petosky and the Perry Hotel. The other possibility looked good, “The New York Restaurant”, but Staffords featured the planked whitefish (since 1961) and perch that we were anxious to re-sample. So a call secured a reservation, and this day we had a chance to walk the grounds a bit and observed some of the other guests at the lodge.
We arrived at the restaurant to find a nice table by the window overlooking the little harbor and some of those nice boats that reminded us of Maryland. Our server arrived, and zapped us back to Wisconsin with the dialect, unfortunately in the higher registers. The place was nicely decorated with ceilings of fabric drapery, visually and aurally softening, with a very nice canoe mounted on the ceiling, which sounds funny but it was nice. We decided to order a bottle of wine for the table which MFO would start with, and then I would cycle to after the dry manhatten. This time without admonishment it was correctly delivered, however again, there was more ice than drink. We ordered a Stag’s Leap Chardonnay (no vintages given) and eventually “you betcha” came to the table saying they weren’t sure they had any, but the manager was checking. Eventually they uncovered an ’07, which at first seemed a bit musky, but finally blew off and turned into a nice selection. At $49 per bottle, it was a pretty good (restaurant) bargain as it retails around $33. They had fairly nice glasses, with different ones for reds and whites (as it should be). The menu offered some interesting combinations, and turning at last to the menu after a couple of “are you ready to order” nudges followed by the disappearing act, we settled on appetizers of the Shrimp “Cargot” and the Michigan Morel bisque. After an inquiry as to the difference between the featured planked whitefish and the planked whitefish with flash fired perch revealed that the only difference was the white fish was half portioned, I opted for that and MFO took the parmesan encrusted version.
People began to trickle in filling the tables with plenty of regulars “how are ya today?”
The appetizers arrived and MFO’s shrimp prepared as escargots with garlic, prosciutto, spinach and feta were hot and tasty, and although my Bisque did contain morels, it is, after all, October, not May. Not a bad attempt. The fish on the other hand was everything we were hoping for. The parmesan crusted whitfish was lightly crusted, even daintily, and let the flavor of the fish shine through. My fish was a nice portion, served on a blackened plank, with a few perch, which were eaten by hand, no bones to worry about. Both were fresh and tasty. Service remained inconsistent, although I would say the person responsible for water did a good job. I did notice that quite a quantity of Perch were delivered to other tables. They were featuring an “Octoberfest” menu with items I couldn’t pronounce, but the dessert was an Apple Fritter which we were informed was available with two forks. After a too long wait, the “captain” lady delivered it saying the first attempt was not suitable for serving the table. Good idea! Ours was crunchy and probably with fresh apples as they were very good. An order of coffee to accompany was delivered with a pleasant surprise. A little tray with four square cups of lump sugar, candied lemon peel, and two other items which escape the mushy brain at the moment. That little twist provided a nice variation from just coffee.
So that so far was the meal of the trip (sorry butter burger), based on the food, and would merit a return anytime. And besides ourselves, at least all we saw were
DFD
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Experience over Food -
October 10th, East Lansing, MI; foggy, 37 degrees
The feeder is learning that gathering material for consideration takes time away from actually reporting on the material that is gathered, so we’re a bit behind, but we’ll plug on..
Our two nights away from La Crosse provided distinctly different dining opportunities. As it turned out, the first was a unique experience with food as a sidelight, and the second was the reverse, i.e., the food was the show and the experience the background. Both had their highlights. Our first was in the town of
Having done a little research, Escanaba offered three possibilities - one was a steak house which offered the opportunity cook your own steak. MFO: “you got to be kidding me!” One down. The other was “Stonehouse”, featuring steaks and chops and also the Whitefish and Walleye we were seeking. The other was House of Ludington, a venerable old hotel in the downtown area. Perusing their menu we decided that it would be first choice, especially after we viewed “stonehouse” in person.
After discovering that we lost that precious hour upon entering Michigan, we found that the leisure time had evaporated, and we were now pressed. We hoped to dine in their “King George Room” the “Finest in Elegant Dining”. We called to reserve only to find out that they were only serving in the Pub, and no, we wouldn’t need a reservation just come on down. So we quickly DFD’d, and struck out.
Have you ever used one of those internet dating services? What looks good on the web sometimes doesn’t quite match reality. So it was with the “Historic House of Ludington”, although it still had the bones, the flesh was a bit in need of paint, and some tuckpointing here and there--
Undeterred we went in, found an empty pub but were welcomed and ushered to a booth. It too had that dark paneling zapping you back in time, there were those little foot tall mannequins on the wall, and various memorabilia posted around. Our booth had the Music Master of the Coast guard for example, along with fading photos of stodgy men in suits at tables. We were approached by the (what turned out to be) the owner, offered menus, and no, there wasn’t a wine list, but would we like a drink. You bet. MFO asked about a chardonnay and was informed he had a “decent” one. I, of course did the drink test, and not wanting to delay getting alcohol, called after him “That’s Dry Vermouth you know”.
Upon returning with a perfectly prepared drink he informed me (in a nice way) that he was insulted that I said that. Turns out that dry manhattens are quite common in the North, although probably brandy more than whiskey. He said that “perfect” manhattens were next, followed by “regular (sweet vermouth) ones. I also discovered a little trend that has been followed so far. The sizeable glass was filled with ice cubes so much so that maybe three sips pretty much completed the drink. Anyway, getting down to food we discovered that indeed Whitefish and Walleye were on the menu along with other staples, most with some flourish. We were informed that the soup of the day was Chowder, and the vegetable was stewed cabbage (!). For starters we ordered “deep fried pickles” and MFO took the broiled whitefish, with side salad, French fries, and I did the chowder with the “lightly breaded sautéed Walleye with feta and fresh tomato, and although not maybe appropriate, the “Cheesy Crocked Potatoes”.
Meanwhile, with neither of us having anything to do, we chatted with the owner guy. It used to be that we would be very uncomfortable being the only patrons in a dining establishment, but now we relish it (and it remained empty the entire meal). Anyway during the course of the evening, we found out that his daughter had attended MSU, and did work with the CIA (doing “something”), and how he came by the Hotel. The “newer places” up the road “do what they do” and “we are what we are”, and he seemed happy. I was not enthusiastic about his future (along with Escanaba's)
Eventually the pickles, salad, and soup arrived simultaneously with an apology because he said he talked too much – which was fine, because now the “experience” was taking the upper hand. The pickles were coated in tempura and really were quite good with the crunch of the batter offset by the acidity of the pickle. The soup and salad sat a bit as there were no tools at all on the table which was corrected by another visit and chat with Edward. Both were okay, the chowder was a bit on the starchy side but did have some pretty good taste (the other option was taco soup). The mains arrived, nicely done, with about four smallish filets of whitefish, with probably sysco fries, and my walleye the same although the “lightly breaded” was a bit understated. My "cheesy crocked potatoes" were just that, one of those little brown on top crocks, with a crust of (what else?) cheddar over mashed potatoes). an odd pairing, but hey, we were now in it for the experience.
Someplace along the way, a young man wandered in and had a glass of beer, and more conversation revealed he was from UofM so we informed him we were from down the road. Cheerful banter regarding football ensued. So it was good evening with a great combination of food and better conversation. The booths had a little slot where people left their business cards so we did the same. Archivists and retirees!!
Escanaba is sort of dying I think, the main road is not through town, and many business are shuttered and those that are there are not looking good.
Due to length of this half, we’ll bust it up into two posts. The Food over Experience edition to follow. In fact, there we did
DFD
The feeder is learning that gathering material for consideration takes time away from actually reporting on the material that is gathered, so we’re a bit behind, but we’ll plug on..
Our two nights away from La Crosse provided distinctly different dining opportunities. As it turned out, the first was a unique experience with food as a sidelight, and the second was the reverse, i.e., the food was the show and the experience the background. Both had their highlights. Our first was in the town of
Having done a little research, Escanaba offered three possibilities - one was a steak house which offered the opportunity cook your own steak. MFO: “you got to be kidding me!” One down. The other was “Stonehouse”, featuring steaks and chops and also the Whitefish and Walleye we were seeking. The other was House of Ludington, a venerable old hotel in the downtown area. Perusing their menu we decided that it would be first choice, especially after we viewed “stonehouse” in person.
After discovering that we lost that precious hour upon entering Michigan, we found that the leisure time had evaporated, and we were now pressed. We hoped to dine in their “King George Room” the “Finest in Elegant Dining”. We called to reserve only to find out that they were only serving in the Pub, and no, we wouldn’t need a reservation just come on down. So we quickly DFD’d, and struck out.
Have you ever used one of those internet dating services? What looks good on the web sometimes doesn’t quite match reality. So it was with the “Historic House of Ludington”, although it still had the bones, the flesh was a bit in need of paint, and some tuckpointing here and there--
Undeterred we went in, found an empty pub but were welcomed and ushered to a booth. It too had that dark paneling zapping you back in time, there were those little foot tall mannequins on the wall, and various memorabilia posted around. Our booth had the Music Master of the Coast guard for example, along with fading photos of stodgy men in suits at tables. We were approached by the (what turned out to be) the owner, offered menus, and no, there wasn’t a wine list, but would we like a drink. You bet. MFO asked about a chardonnay and was informed he had a “decent” one. I, of course did the drink test, and not wanting to delay getting alcohol, called after him “That’s Dry Vermouth you know”.
Upon returning with a perfectly prepared drink he informed me (in a nice way) that he was insulted that I said that. Turns out that dry manhattens are quite common in the North, although probably brandy more than whiskey. He said that “perfect” manhattens were next, followed by “regular (sweet vermouth) ones. I also discovered a little trend that has been followed so far. The sizeable glass was filled with ice cubes so much so that maybe three sips pretty much completed the drink. Anyway, getting down to food we discovered that indeed Whitefish and Walleye were on the menu along with other staples, most with some flourish. We were informed that the soup of the day was Chowder, and the vegetable was stewed cabbage (!). For starters we ordered “deep fried pickles” and MFO took the broiled whitefish, with side salad, French fries, and I did the chowder with the “lightly breaded sautéed Walleye with feta and fresh tomato, and although not maybe appropriate, the “Cheesy Crocked Potatoes”.
Meanwhile, with neither of us having anything to do, we chatted with the owner guy. It used to be that we would be very uncomfortable being the only patrons in a dining establishment, but now we relish it (and it remained empty the entire meal). Anyway during the course of the evening, we found out that his daughter had attended MSU, and did work with the CIA (doing “something”), and how he came by the Hotel. The “newer places” up the road “do what they do” and “we are what we are”, and he seemed happy. I was not enthusiastic about his future (along with Escanaba's)
Eventually the pickles, salad, and soup arrived simultaneously with an apology because he said he talked too much – which was fine, because now the “experience” was taking the upper hand. The pickles were coated in tempura and really were quite good with the crunch of the batter offset by the acidity of the pickle. The soup and salad sat a bit as there were no tools at all on the table which was corrected by another visit and chat with Edward. Both were okay, the chowder was a bit on the starchy side but did have some pretty good taste (the other option was taco soup). The mains arrived, nicely done, with about four smallish filets of whitefish, with probably sysco fries, and my walleye the same although the “lightly breaded” was a bit understated. My "cheesy crocked potatoes" were just that, one of those little brown on top crocks, with a crust of (what else?) cheddar over mashed potatoes). an odd pairing, but hey, we were now in it for the experience.
Someplace along the way, a young man wandered in and had a glass of beer, and more conversation revealed he was from UofM so we informed him we were from down the road. Cheerful banter regarding football ensued. So it was good evening with a great combination of food and better conversation. The booths had a little slot where people left their business cards so we did the same. Archivists and retirees!!
Escanaba is sort of dying I think, the main road is not through town, and many business are shuttered and those that are there are not looking good.
Due to length of this half, we’ll bust it up into two posts. The Food over Experience edition to follow. In fact, there we did
DFD
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