A2 Menu

The dreay days of late December and early January may or may not be times your thoughts turn to eating out. This could depend upon the amount of rich food you overindulged in at the holidays, or the amount of gift treats you're hoarding to see you through to Valentine's Day.

No matter--think ahead a half a month anyway. That's when the first Ann Arbor Restaurant Week of 2012 kicks into gear, January 15-20. You'll want to make reservations soon to take advantage of fixed-price special lunch ($12) and dinner ($25) menus at about 50 popular restaurants. Some of the casual eateries actually give you meals for two people for those prices.

Learn more and see some Restaurant Week menus already posted online at http://annarborrestaurantweek.com/ (it's an incomplete website, however, so call the restaurants to be sure they're offering what you set your sights on).

Four-course dinners at some higher-end joints will get your tastebuds watering with what they're featuring, such as: quinoa-crusted sole, bourbon-drenched pork loin, and pasta with shrimp and bacon in creamy vodka tomato sauce....

MMMmmm... Happy New Year of dining.

TV commercials seem even clangier, louder, and more annoying than usual this holiday season. I've been slow emerging from my annual early-weeks scroogey funk, But in the last 24 hours, that nice anticipatory sense has started kicking in. A lot of credit goes to great things happening in downtown Ann Arbor. A sampling:

• Sweetwaters put together a special blend of Sky High Blend coffee in support of Skyline High crew teams. The athletes were peddling it and offering samples in front of the Washington St. store this chilly Saturday morning, and it was so rich, smooth, and delicious that I actually anteed up $15 bucks for a bag. Sweetwaters will give me a free cuppa when I bring in the empty bag, a la Starbucks best promotion. And the rowers say their teams get just over $7 for every bag they sell.
• An even further-reaching public/nonprofit partnership comes from the Main St. Association. It's called the 12 Days of Giving. If you shop at dozens of participating stores from Dec. 12 - 23, they'll donate part of sales or collect donations benefiting the selected nonprofits on each of the 12 days. More info at:
  http://mainstreetannarbor.org/2011/10/12-days-of-giving-dec-12th-23rd/
• Finally, my sweet tooth got its jumpstart over at Downtown Home and Garden this morning, where local chef Brigitte Romero was baking up traditional French madeleines in Mark Hodesh's funky little 1935 Magic Chef oven. If you want to know while Proust's obsession lasted for a century, taste one of these intense partries. Brigitte is selling them, of course (734-332-3438). And maestro Hodesh has more big plans for the next month, including an xmas party with smoked goose on Dec. 3 and a 30-member gospel choir performing during Midnight Madness.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

For all the thousands of folks who ride the academic tide out of Ann Arbor in spring and back for fall, you may be noticing a few changes in the local food scene.

• Mark's Carts has brought popup dining to Ann Arbor in a lovely setting on Washington St. near Ashley:
  http://arborweb.com/articles/something_new_under_the_sun.html
• A couple of notable upscale eateries opened to positive reviews downtown... Find out more in the September Observer, coming soon to http://arborweb.com/ !
• The wonderful HomeGrown Festival (including locally produced beer and wine for sale) is right around the corner:

  Saturday, September 10, 2011, 6 -11 pm, Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market, Kerrytown, 315 Detroit Street, Ann Arbor http://homegrownfestival.org/

• The next day, in the same will be the annual Kerrytown BookFest, which doesn't forget local foodies when creating its events. At Hollanders, you'll find a lecture-demo on Tasting and Touring Michigan’s Homegrown Food (noon) by author Jaye Beeler and photographer Dianne Burdick, and discussion of Ma Baseema: Chaldean Middle Eastern Cooking with a Chaldean Flair (2 p.m.) with editor Jane Shallal. Full schedule at
  http://arborweb.com/calendar/festivals__fairs__shows____sales_110905.html
  Doesn't that sound like a good way to pass the historic day of 9/11, in the company of community?

Tracklements on Kingsley St. in Kerrytown made its name with delicately smoked fish of high quality and enough varieties to keep it interesting. Now they're letting you expand your appetizer platter with a few meaty offerings, including brisket, duck breast, and more. A couple examples:

• Classic and herbed smoked bacon has enough flavor to stand up in the precision-cut thick long slices. Local smoker Peter Arno starts with Sparrow Market's fresh pork belly and transforms it into guilty pleasure with proprietary lightly sweet/salt cures.
• Pâté de campagne (or de Tay, as it's referred to in the shop, in honor of its maker, Taylor Rutledge) is a variable mosaic of pretty eats. It begins with pork loin and liver, then gets personal with a wide variety nuts (like hazelnuts or pistachios) fruits (like prunes or figs) and spirits (like brandy or vin santo). Sometimes the pâté features Pete's herb-cured bacon, completing the circle.

Cottage-made locally with care in small batches, these offerings sell out; call ahead to make sure they're available, 734-930 6642. Learn more and see photos on Tracklements Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tracklements-Smokery/117768948240254

A lot of times when I go to Copernicus Eastern European Deli at South Main Market, it's because I'm heading to By the Pound and some bright-colored or unusual foil-wrapped treat catches my eye in this airy well-lit shop. Today it was odd little Playmobil-size painted sugar animals (mainly lambs) at the front counter; they were striking to the point of almost being a little spooky in a pale old-fashioned way.

"In my country they are very popular as Easter decorations on tables and cakes," co-owner Theresa told me. "And then after the meal children love to eat them."

Theresa said some Polish Catholics consider Easter a bigger holiday than Christmas. She's bringing in more traditional Easter foods this week, such as a tart vegetable soup with potatoes and sausage called zorek.

Wh you probably really want to hear about is the cakes, though. On Wednesday, 4/13. Copernicus will have small and large babka, which is a yeast-dough cake with raisins, orange peel, and lemony icing. There will also be fudge Mazurek cake, which she describes as flat, rich, and delicious.

Makes though jelly beans and drugstore cardboard chocolate hollow bunnies sound a little lame, no?

If you've enjoyed midday fun of future food professionals trying hard in the culinary program kitchen at Washtenaw Community College, you might be interested to know there are a few evening dinners offered. Details at http://www.wccnet.edu/news-events/articles/view/187/

The events are called: "Garrett’s…after dark" at WCC. Seating for the Friday night service begins at 5:30 pm. The cost for inclusive dinner, which includes beverage, appetizer, entrée, and dessert, is around $15 per person. Cash, check, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover Card are accepted. There is an additional cost of $4.95 for the beverage tasting (as in alchohol--bring your ID). Reservations are encouraged, and you can call 734-973-3592 to reserve a table. Upcoming dinners include:

• March 25: Catch of the day with fruit smoothie tasting
• April 1: Southwestern celebration with margarita tasting
• April 8: Spring into summer with BBQ and beer tasting

Sorry to be a little late getting back to report on the Juicy Kitchen home meal delivery order I mentioned in my last post. I got my days mixed up (not as bad as when I tried to have in-laws over the night a new cleaning person was coming... I thought, a week early). Maybe it's overanticipation.

But when this past sunny Sunday came around and the food arrived at my door in a cheery green temperature control bag, it was welcome all the same. I had my white bean soup and turkey and lentil loaf on hand for a Valentine's Day Monday dinner, and that was a treat. Everything was nicely prepared: mashed red potatoes with just enough skin for interest, loaves with a tasty crust... The best was the red pepper sauce. Beautifully colored, satisfying as a gravy but completely fresh and light. Yum.

And the big chocolate chip "smart cookie" naturally sweetened with banana, dried fruit, a little maple syrup--a crowning touch.

New menus posted every week at http://www.juicykitchen-a2.com/

Previous Posts

• Don't just plan meeting for coffee in mid-January--plan lunch or dinner
• Delicious reasons to shop local
• News for a new school year (esp if you aren't going to the Notre Dame game 9/10)
• Bacon + Pate = Charcuterie @ Tracklements
• Polish Easter Treats, Copernicus Style
• WCC Dinners at Night at Garrett's
• Serendipity, Valentine's Day, and a really good red pepper sauce
• You know you've made it when food arrives at your door...
• Not too early to starting thinking Restaurant Week (Jan. 16-21)
• Local Shopping Foodie Fun

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