Profile

Summerfield

I am merely a reflection
in a mirror,
or, perhaps
in a bowl of soup.

  • Location: Aliens, MI
  • Favorite foods: mushroom and barley soup,
    pirohi with caramelized onions,
    chicken soup with dumplings,
    lobster,
    lobster bisque,
    steamed blue crabs,
    potato pancakes,
    pan-fried noodles with roast pork,
    chicken broth with big fat juicy wontons,
    pizza,
    hamburgers
  • Last bite on earth: Would have to be my own mushroom and barley soup that I make for Christmas Eve.

Ann Arbor, MI: Great Burgers and Even Better Patty Melts at Zingerman's Roadhouse

@Daniel: I go to Motz Burger's and have a great slider, you go and have a mediocre one. You go to the Roadhouse and have a great burger (amongst other things - where the hell did you put it all?), I go to the Roadhouse (in February) and have an overpriced burger. I wanted to love it, but my burger was over-cooked and over-salted, but crunchy. I could sense that there was possibly a great burger in there looking to get out, so I will try again soon and have them shorten the cooking time. And I will drink a Cezerac.

Detroit: The Guerra Legacy Lives on at Cloverleaf

@Daniel: Great pix, as usual. Too bad you were locked into the Detroit Legends thing, because I really would have liked to read your opinion on Supino's at Eastern Market. Anyway, I learned a long time ago to order "pepperoni on top" at Buddy's. I always comes out of the kitchen beautifully charred on the edges. The sausage at Buddy's, like you experienced at Cloverleaf, is pretty bad. By the way, what kind of a treadmill to you have?

Detroit: A Tour of Motown's Sliders

@Daniel: I checked their website and they open at 9AM on Monday. I dunno...they have to get there early to prep. You would think that that is enough time. Oh well...fuggetaboutit. On my visits the cook placed what looked like a damp towel over the rows of cooking burgers for the steaming effect. Hmmm...I just might have to go next week.

Detroit: A Tour of Motown's Sliders

@Daniel: too bad about Motz. I've eaten there twice in the last month, and both times the first double was so good that I had to have a second. I reckon when George Motz included Motz Restaurant in the Michigan section of his great burger book, one has to go in with high expecations. Mine were realized. George must be working under the dictum that you can't pass by a restaurant with your name on it. Thanks for the tipoffs on the the other places. The pictures are mouthwateringly great!

Ed Levine's 5 Favorite Patty Melts

Patty melt at M&M Cafe in Dearborn, MI is, well, dee-licious. Fries are great too. And I oughtta know because, you know, I know. No?

Dearborn, MI: Miller's Bar Serves a Great No-Frills Burger

@millions: Sidetrack was great about 20 years ago. Now it's just cruising on its reputation. When I first went to the Sidetrack about 30 years ago, the burger was just about the only thing on the menu and you had to eat two because they were dee-licious. Now, it's just one item on a huge menu. It's not the focus any more. Too bad, really.

Dearborn, MI: Miller's Bar Serves a Great No-Frills Burger

Ahhh...Miller's. The last time I was there, and it's been too long a while, I ate two burgers without condiments. It's the way to go. Now, if I can just get up the energy to make the 300 mile round trip drive to Redemak's in New Buffalo.

Grilled: Todd Brock, Atlanta Correspondent

@Adam: Thanks. How'd I miss that?

Grilled: Todd Brock, Atlanta Correspondent

Todd, There's a Culver's near me and I'm hitting it soon. Burgers aside, you've got to put the wife and kids into the minivan and get over to Varasano's Pizzeria and review it. The Slice guys don't have a pizza person in Atlanta, so...if you can do burgers, you can do pizza. The world needs to know. God, I'm gettin' hungry.

What is the worst pizza you have ever eaten?

@passion4pizza: Tomatoes is my go-to pizza. I've been hinting strongly to Mike Weinstein to open a store in Ann Arbor. My jury is still out on Silvio's. I went in there a few weeks ago when the joint was empty and had a slice of potato pizza that had been sitting under the heat lamps for far too long for it was completely desiccated, which was too bad because I had had one on a previous visit that was totally delicious. Next time, I'll order a fresh whole pie so I'll get it right out of the oven. Also, I've started making pies at home using J. Kenji Alt-Lopez's dough recipe and Andrew Janjigian's (Cook's Illustrated) no-cook sauce. The first experiments were very promising.

What is the worst pizza you have ever eaten?

God, the pizza was so bad at this one place, I had to immediatley forget about it. It was probably in Ann Arbor. It's a good thing that there were no seagulls around, or I'd have probably had to fight them off the "pizza". No...on second thought, let them take it.

Flee The Pizza: Spike Mendelsohn's "We, The Pizza" in Washington D.C. Still No Good

@Kenji: My pizza find in DC is Sorriso Ristorante on Connecticut Ave NW in Cleveland Park. I ate there in February with my daughter who lives in the area. She had the pizza and shared a slice with me. It was balanced and flavorful, everything just right. I just made five pies at home using your crust recipe and Andrew Janjigian's no-cook sauce, and while delicious, Sorriso's was better. When you get back to DC I recommend you check Sorriso out. Anyway, thanks for the pizza dough recipe. It's perfect. I'm going to try your sauce recipe soon.

Chicago Essential: Gino's East

@Daniel: Next time, could you mail me a slice?

Daily Slice: Sal's on Mott, New York

@Kenji: After I add the eggs. I'll try your suggestion. It's a great recipe - dee-licious. Thanks.

Daily Slice: Sal's on Mott, New York

My family and I stumbled into this place in the summer of 2000, right after we had some Asian food at Kelly and Ping. It was my first trip back to NY Metro in 10 years. The cheese pizza was great. I remember the pizza coming out of the oven and the server bringing it to the table and I grabbed a piece and cracked it down the middle and devoured it. It was dee-licious. We ordered a second one.

@Kenji: I can't seem to make your Spanish Tortilla (fritata) recipe in Cook's Illustrated work. When I use your proportions I seem to overwhelm my 10-inch non-stick pan. I guess I'll just have to fool around with it. God I'm gettin' hungry.

Do you agree with this Yahoo Travel pizza list?

@seriousb: So...you don't like opera?

Chain Reaction: We Order a Domino's 10-Topping Pizza

Domino's pizza is so bad that it almost ruins Van Morrison's song (Domino), and that's bad. I'm just glad that I live relatively close to the heart of Domino's so that I can avoid them from close range. Perhaps I'm trying to say that Domino's is white noise. Or maybe it's cheese noise. They forgot the pineapples.

Pizza Party Update: Refrigerator Full of Dough

@Adam: That's a lot of dough. You might want to bank some. Hey, just kidding. Just trying to get a rise out of you.

Video: Carl's Jr.'s Turkey Burger Commercial with Miss Turkey

@Umama: She's Miss Turkey. That's a singularity, regardless of how one feels about beauty contests. The illusory nature of the World is another matter. Also, I suppose there is the play on words - turkey burger/Miss Turkey. That's probably considered clever in advertising circles. Personally, I don't watch TV. And, I can't speak for Robyn. So, never mind...

Coney Dog Pizza: A Jackson, Michigan Specialty

Like I said, Michigan is a pizza wilderness. What's next, a Miracle Whip topping?

Poll: Anchovies on Pizza - Way or No Way?

Anchovies shouldn't even be fished out of the sea. They should be ignored, like children craving attention.

Blimpy Burger in Ann Arbor, Michigan: What Every Five Guys Should Aspire To

Krazy Jim's was just featured on fatboy Adam Richman's Man vs. Food show. I think he ate a 10-patty while standing on his head. For some reason Blimpy's staff were super-polite. I gained five pounds just watching.

Daily Slice: Brooklyn Pizza in Birmingham, Michigan

Maggie, nice to see more reviews on SE Michigan pizza. I sampled a simple plain pie at Brooklyn Pizza a couple of years ago when my wife and I were in the area. While not in Tomatoes Apizza's class, it was a solid tasty pie and was not over-cheesed. An amusing little scene unfolded in front of us as we were eating. A customer was ordering a plain pie and he asked for extra cheese. The pizzaiolo asked him "why do you want that as we put just enough cheese on the pie as is necessary". And he refused the customer's request for extra cheese. I almost fell off my chair.

Not far from Brooklyn Pizza is My Cousin's New York Pizzeria on Woodward. One of the owner's, Ronnie Gonzalez is from Brooklyn. Have you tried it? It's a decent slice, if you are in the area.

USA Today's '51 Great Burger Joints'

Cottage Bar and Restaurant in Grand Rapids, MI? Are they kidding? First, who goes to Grand Rapids? Only the people of Grand Rapids. Well, there's definitely a self-selection bias in this poll. Anyway, what could one expect of USA Today? I guess it falls to someone at AHT to get around to all of these 51 "best" hamburger joints and provide a bit of level-headed analysis. Start in Maine.

Farmington Hills, Michigan: Tomatoes Apizza, a Gem Hidden in Plain Sight

@seriousb: No, you definitely pick it up in your hand and wolf it down - no knife and fork.

Whatever happened to chow mein (chop suey)?

Growing up in Yonkers in the '50s and '60s, take-out chow mein shops were as ubiquitous and pizza parlors. Chow mein was to Chinese cooking as pizza is to Italian cooking. As with the best pizza, the best chow mein was sublime. My preference was a steaming bowl of chow mein over rice (and yes, with the bullshit crunchy noodles) with big, plump, juicy shrimp, or with huge chunks of lobster. I can almost smell it now (pause now, as wave of nostalgia wafts over). The best shop in Yonkers was Moon's Chow Mein on South Broadway, about a mile from the Bronx border. But, a funny thing happened. As pizza was on its way to becoming worshipped in NY Metro, chow mein was going the way of the dodo. Talk about cruel fate. Are my brother and I (and Ed Levine) the only ones left who still crave chow mein?

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