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West lake Drive-In

July 21, 2011
  • 9138 Portage Road
  • Portage, MI 49002
  • (269) 327-5985
  • No Known Website
  • Menu

J and I were in Portage for an appointment and a trip out always means a stop for lunch.  At 12:30, I was yet to have my wake-up Pepsi and my head was starting to hurt.  I was thinking at all.  I didn’t have a taste for anything, but I knew I had to eat.

I deferred to J and she asked about that drive-in we always pass and say “we need to try that place.”  I knew exactly what she was talking about and started heading towards Portage Road.

West Lake Drive-In is on Portage Road right on the banks of West Lake.  It’s actually on that little strip of land between West Lake and Austin Lake, but the drive-in actually faces West Lake which is where it gets it’s name.

The drive-in is a throw back to the drive-in’s of our parents era.  There is a walk up building painted white with orange accents.  There are Coca-Cola menu boards above the building that is mainly used as a kitchen and an area for the car hops to pick up food.

The main feature is the large awning with several individual stalls.  We pulled in just before one on a hot Wednesday afternoon and all but a couple of the stalls were being used.  We squeezed in to one next to another SUV then went to work looking over the menu that that hangs from a stand on the side of each stall.  The one we pulled in to had the menu on the driver’s side.  The stalls alternate between driver’s side and passenger side so the menu and order speaker share a stand between two stalls.  Read more…

Press Release – Unity Vibration Set to Release Kombucha Beer

July 19, 2011

From a Unity Vibration press release….

Unity Vibration Releases Kombucha Beer at Michigan Summer Beer Fest

 

(Ypsilanti, Mich) – Attendees at the 14th Annual Michigan Summer Beer Festival will have the opportunity to sample the nation’s first pure Kombucha beer – crafted locally by Tarek and Rachel Kanaan of Unity Vibration Living Kombucha Tea. The festival will be held this weekend, July 22-23, at Riverside Park in Ypsilanti’s Depot Town.

 

Relatively new on the American scene, Kombucha is a raw, living, fermented, naturally-carbonated, unpasteurized beverage – with a long history in Russia and China. The lightly sparkling beverage is made by fermenting black or green tea and sugar with a culture of various bacteria and yeasts (often referred to as a SCOBY: Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast).

 

“You feed the Kombucha mushroom the black tea and sugar and it converts most of the sugar,” says Tarek. “This process creates many beneficial acids, enzymes and viable probiotics.”

 

Kombucha also contains anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals and more, which help people to balance their metabolism, aid in digestion, raise energy levels, detoxify and alkalinize the body and is even said to help prevent or heal cancer.

 

Unity Vibration will have three flavors of brew available at the Summer Beer Festival, including plain, pineapple/ginger and the current seasonal: strawberry rhubarb.

 

Triple Goddess Kombucha Beer will also be available. Described as a marriage of 30 day brewed Kombucha, featuring organic dried hops and either organic raw ginger or organic fresh raspberries, the brew is open air fermented in a Lambic-style, then oak barrel aged and bottle conditioned.

 

“Our Triple Goddess yields a unique refreshing exceptional fruit beer,” says Rachel. “The refreshing and slightly vinegar character of Kombucha is a perfect complement to the bitter hops and aromatic fruit. We are an all organic and gluten free product that contains 8-9% alcohol by volume.”

 

Each batch is brewed by hand and infused with healthy, fresh organic ingredients, as well as positive and loving intentions.

 

Unity Vibration has been in business for about two years – producing non-alcoholic beverages. Last summer, the federal government issued testing for all Kombuchas on the market. Many came in over .5% alcohol – as they are all raw and viable living creations – changes were required.

 

“We decided to go the route of ‘microbrewery’ to keep all of our products authentic and to not be forced to dealcoholize, says Tarek, who has experience in brewing wine and beer from wild edibles, as well as more traditional ingredients.

 

What makes the Kombucha from Unity Vibration different? It’s homemade, meaning the full potency of the enzymes is apparent. The couple began experimenting and brewing their own Kombucha in 2007, playing around with the various unique formulas and flavors. Their products were first introduced to the marketplace in 2009.

 

Now, under distributorship with Imperial Beverage, their products are found in more than 50 retail outlets statewide. They will also be offering for the first time a single serving bottle and new labels for all of their products created by Flow Design out of Northville. Rachel says: “It is like New Years Eve for us and we are coming in with an incredible BANG! This is really going to take off for us and we are ready!”

 

In the not too distant future, the Kanaans will be living on their own family farm, growing much of what they infuse into their flavored Kombuchas.

 

Press Release – Fair Food Matters Can-Do Kitchen Grand Opening

July 19, 2011

From a Fair Food Matters press release…..

Fair Food Matters’ Can-Do Kitchen to host grand opening in new location

The Can-Do Kitchen, the region’s only food business incubator, will host a grand opening on Saturday, August 6, from 2-7 p.m. The event, free of charge and open to the public, will take place at the kitchen’s new location: 511 Harrison Street, Kalamazoo (in the same building as the People’s Food Co-op).

 

A program of Fair Food Matters, the Can-Do Kitchen offers would-be food entrepreneurs a low-risk, low-cost environment to test their products.

 

It also is designed to function as a community asset, a place where adults, teens and children gather for classes and meetings on cooking, canning, nutrition and other food-related topics – with a focus on serving the underserved.

 

A number of current Can-Do Kitchen clients will provide treats at the grand opening, including Ageless Pantry (iced tea), The Green Lunch Box (kids’ lunch box meals), The Gathering Bread (dry bread and dip mixes), and The Adventures of Barb & Tammy (granolas, fruit/nut mixes).

 

Two local chefs will use the kitchen’s two-station food preparation area in a “chef showdown.” Howie Peak, executive chef of the soon-to-opened fuel (“Kalamazoo’s only completely vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurant”) and Allen Worman, executive chef of Mangia Mangia will shop in the adjacent People’s Food Co-op for fresh ingredients, then face off beginning at 3 p.m. for “best presentation,” “best use of mystery local ingredient,” and “most entertaining to watch.” Visitors are encouraged to vote at around 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.

 

Can-Do Kitchen staff and volunteers will also offer tours of the new space and answer questions about food entrepreneurship.

 

Although the new space has been operational for nearly two months, Fair Food Matters hopes to complete a capital campaign to raise funds to purchase appliances, fixtures and utensils for the kitchen. The campaign stands at 80 percent of its goal ($131,658 raised toward a goal of $165,410). Supporters of the Can-Do Kitchen are encouraged to help close the final gap of $34,265 before August 6 with a tax-deductible donation.

 

The Can-Do Kitchen grand opening takes place the same day and time as the grand opening celebration for the People’s Food Co-op (www.peoplesfoodco-op.org), which will feature local music, kids’ activities, food samples and more.

Oakwood Bistro

July 18, 2011
  • 3003 Oakland Drive
  • Kalamazoo, MI 49008
  • (269) 344-5400
  • Website
  • Menu

I finally got a chance to sleep.  The last two week at work have been pretty hectic.  I won’t be complaining at all when my check comes on Friday, but I will say that I was very happy to sleep without the chance of being woke up early.

Needless to say, I was still in bed when J got home from work.  She joined me, but joined me because she wanted to get my lazy ass out of bed to go to lunch.

I did eventually get up and we headed towards Oakwood Bistro.  Our list of new places to eat in Kalamazoo and Portage is getting pretty short.  Although, if I actually had a physical list, we probably wouldn’t have waited so long to go to the few places left. There are still a couple of the well known restaurants that we haven’t been to yet.

J has actually eaten at Oakwood Bistro in the past.  She had a lunch meeting there one day when I was out of town.  She liked it that day and figured I would as well.  Read more…

Cancun Mexican Restaurant

July 17, 2011
  • 37908 Red Arrow Highway
  • Paw Paw, MI 49079
  • (269) 657-0107
  • No Known Website
  • Menu

Friday was kind of a perfect storm.  We really had no plans to go to lunch, but I had an early morning phone call that woke me up hours before I should have been up and J got home from work early.  She mentioned she was craving Mexican and was considering going to Qdoba to pick up something to eat.  Since I was awake, she asked if I just wanted to go out for lunch.

I was racking my brain for a new Mexican place to eat at and couldn’t think of one in Kalamazoo.  There are a couple outside of Kalamazoo that I’ve been wanting to go to, but traveling wasn’t really something I wanted to do.  I was tired and still had to go to work later in the afternoon.

After some searching,  I finally decided on leaving the Kalamazoo area.  By chance on a trip home one night, we pulled off the highway in Lawrence and happened to find Acapulco Mexican Restaurant.  I remembered really liking the place and I remembered that they used to have a sister restaurant in Paw Paw.

I have no idea if the two restaurants are still related but the Paw Paw restaurant is now Cancun Mexican Restaurant.  It’s on Red Arrow Highway on the west side of town.  The building is very plain with a sign on either side of an entry way that just says “restaurant.”

The inside of the building is a rather large, brightly colored dining room.  We didn’t see a wait to be seated sign, so I headed over to a booth along the front windows.  A waitress in the kitchen saw us sit down and came over with a couple menus and the customary chips and salsa.  Read more…

Taco Boy – Downtown

July 15, 2011
  • 180 Monroe Avenue NW
  • Grand Rapids, MI 49503
  • (616) 233-0701
  • Website
  • Menu

We were bad today.  I was still asleep when J got home and she fell asleep before I got up.  When I went in to give her a kiss before I went to work, she jumped out of bed to make me a sandwich for lunch.  I was already running a little late so I just told her to forget it.  I would just go somewhere for lunch.

My day at work is not usually spent sitting in front of a computer screen, but that’s how the day went.  I was working on a project that kept me at a desk all day and when I got to a good stopping point (ie. had a headache from staring at the screen all day) I bolted for the door to go get lunch.

I had no idea what I was hungry for as I drove towards downtown Grand Rapids.  I had a couple sandwich places on my radar, but I eat cold meat sandwiches every day.  I wanted something different.

As I turned on to Monroe, I remembered the Taco Boy a few blocks down.  When I worked at a different place out on the northside of town for a few weeks, everyone told me I had to go to Taco Boy which has another store on Plainfield Road near I-96.  In fact, there are five locations in all with other stores in Walker, Wyoming, and Cascade. Read more…

Press Releas – Voting Opens for Grandwhich

July 15, 2011

From a press release…

Grandwich- A Grand Rapids Signature Sandwich Competition

Grand Rapids, Michigan, July 14, 2011 — Grandwich is a competition for local restaurants in the downtown and neighborhoods of Grand Rapids to create a sandwich that, like the Philadelphia cheesesteak and Chicago dog, will be synonymous with Grand Rapids. Each participating restaurant will create their version of what the Grandwich should be. For two weeks, the participating restaurants will put their sandwiches on their menus giving the public the opportunity to visit each establishment and vote on their favorite. The top 10 sandwiches will go on to a judging event where a panel of judges will determine the official “Grandwich.”

Voting starts Friday, July 15. From July 15 to July 31, 2011, the 48 participating restaurants will put their signature sandwiches on their menus. The public can then go to the participating restaurants, try as many sandwiches as they would like and vote on their favorites. To vote, log onto www.downtowngr.org/grandwich and register. People can vote for multiple sandwiches, but are limited to one vote per sandwich. The top ten sandwiches with the most votes by July 31 will go on to the judging event.

A Grandwich poster will be displayed at each participating restaurant. To find a list of restaurants and sandwiches, visit the website at www.downtowngr.org/grandwich. Each participating restaurant will also display a collection box for Kids’ Food Basket donations.

The public is encouraged to discuss their favorite sandwiches through Facebook at www.facebook.com/grandwich.gr or through Twitter using the hash tag, #Grandwich.

On August 1, the top 10 sandwiches will be announced. From August 1 to August 6, the public will be encouraged to try the sandwiches in the top 10 they might not have sampled yet.

On August 6 the judging event will be the grand finale of the competition and will take place at Rosa Parks Circle at 1:00pm. The event will be open to the public. Admission to the event will be a donation to Kids’ Food Basket. The donation can be monetary or a donation of an item on the Kids’ Food Basket wish list. A link to the items on the wish list can be found on the website, http://www.kidsfoodbasket.org/wish-list. At the judging event, the top 10 restaurants will hand out samples of their sandwiches. A panel of judges made up of local food experts will judge each sandwich, and the winner will be announced.

The signature sandwich competition is the idea of Nicole Infante, who presented in the March 5×5 panel. While she did not win cash, she did receive a positive response from the Downtown Alliance and Neighborhood Ventures who are helping make the event a reality. Infante says, “The ultimate goals of the competition are to support local business, to put Grand Rapids on the culinary map, and, in general, to taste a lot of different and delicious sandwiches.”

Sharon Evoy, Executive Director of the Downtown Alliance, says she’s excited about the contest. “We love having the chance to work with Nicole; she’s come up with a great idea. This is an excellent way to create excitement and bring people into restaurants during the summer.”

Mark Lewis, Executive Director of Neighborhood Ventures, said “there are so many exceptional restaurants, deli’s and coffee houses in Grand Rapids’ neighborhoods and the downtown, and this is a good reason to explore them.”

“This is a signature sandwich competition for the people of a great city; a city that should be celebrated with flavors as unique and brilliant as the people who inhabit it,” said Infante.

Hungry Howie’s – Arcadia

July 13, 2011
  • 1381 S. Drake Road
  • Kalamazoo, MI 49006
  • (269) 373-1600
  • Website
  • Menu

Not sure why, but we were both craving pizza like we seem to do a lot on Sunday night.  We had already went out for breakfast/lunch earlier in the day and Sunday was a rare day off for both of us.  J was wanting to get to bed early and the burger and fries I had for lunch were starting to wear off.

As we sat on the couch watching awful Sunday afternoon TV, I picked up the computer to order a pizza.  I was in the mood for something different so decided to point my web browser at Hungry Howie’s.

We have never eaten at any of the Kalamazoo area Hungry Howie’s locations, but I did order from the Holt store once when we lived in Lansing.  J couldn’t remember if she ate it with me or not, but checking the review shows that she did.

There are four Kalamazoo Hungry Howie’s locations and one each in Vicksburg and Decatur.  The closest one to us is the Drake Road location which is in a pretty bland strip mall on the corner of Michigan and Drake.  Read more…

Texas Corral

July 9, 2011
  • 5519 W. Main Street
  • Kalamazoo, MI 49009
  • (269) 344-8590
  • Website
  • Menu

J has been very adamant that date night would never consist of going to Texas Roadhouse.  That may sound obvious but a lot of my friends from back home in a small town in Illinois make such a big deal about going to Texas Roadhouse when they get a night away from their kids.  You would think they were going to The French Laundry by the way they talk about it for weeks leading up to and following the meal.

This week has been a crazy week at work and I ended up working a double shift Thursday night in to Friday morning.  They ended up giving me Friday night off so after a nice long nap, I asked J if she wanted to go to dinner.  Being a smartass knowing she wouldn’t go to Texas Roadhouse, I suggested Texas Corral.

The Kalamazoo location of Texas Corral is in Oshtemo Township on West Main just off the US 131 exit.  The chain is pretty small with only eight locations in Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan.  If, for some reason, you would not be paying attention and thought you were walking in to a Texas Roadhouse, you probably would never realize you were in the wrong place.

Texas Corral has a lot of similarities to the larger chain.  There are buckets of peanuts on the tables.  They bring warm, buttery rolls with a cinnamon butter to the table in what seems like and endless supply and their menu centers around BBQ.  Even the set up and decor of the restaurant make you feel like your at the other place.  Read more…

Press Release – Wine Loft Summer White Party

July 8, 2011

From a Millennium Restaurant Group press release

The Wine Loft to Host Annual Summer White Party

KALAMAZOO, Mich.— Downtown Kalamazoo’s The Wine Loft will host their third annual Summer White Party on Thursday, July 22, with both food and beverage specials starting at 4pm and lasting all night. The event began as a celebration of summer and the addition of their outdoor patio, and due to its popularity has become an annual event.

The evening’s theme—Wear White, Drink White—plays on the idea of a vivacious summer soirée with a menu and décor to match. Downtown Kalamazoo is a beautiful backdrop for a time of socialization with friends on a warm, summer evening with a crisp Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio in hand. The mood will be set with both the patio and dining room area open with white cotton linens, floating candles and lanterns to enjoy the sights and sounds of the evening.

The event will feature numerous drink specials to those patrons sporting their chic, summer whites which will include White Sangria, House cocktails, and white wines. There will also be a drawing for a white package prize, which will include Wine Loft wine glasses and bottles of white wine. To enter the drawing is free, however you must be in your white attire to be eligible to win.

Chef James Allen will prepare a featured white menu for the event to capture the season of summer including fresh seafood items and classics from the menu such as Baked Brie and Special Chef’s Board.

Cupcake Zoo, who was recently welcomed into the Millennium Restaurant Group family, will also be showcasing their dessert line at the Summer White Party. Their use of fresh, seasonal ingredients allow for their dessert offerings to be ever-changing. The menu will showcase white ingredient-inspired sweets featuring their popular artisan cupcakes and cake truffles.

The Wine Loft will host their third annual Summer White Party on Saturday, July 23, starting at 4pm. For more information about the event, please contact The Wine Loft at 269.343.9227. Wear White, Drink White, Enjoy White.