Rave Motion Picture Cityplace 14
180 Portage Street- Kalamazoo, MI 49007
- (269) 381-5732
- Website
Work is going to take the place of date night this week. Usually, J and I can spend Friday night doing something together, but there are a lot of people on vacation at my workplace and I’m picking up extra hours.
Since we’re not going to have time together this weekend, J decided to make Wednesday afternoon date night. It’s the last time for a week that we’ll get to see each other for more than an hour due to our conflicting work schedules.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a movie so J said she’d go to whatever movie I wanted to. I could have picked Inception or maybe Toy Story 3 or Despicable Me, but I went for something I thought we’d both enjoy. Dinner For Schmucks.
We’ve only been to one movie since moving to Kalamazoo and that one was at Celebration Cinema Crossroads. I checked movie times there and they were later in the afternoon so I checked out the other theaters to see if there was an earlier showing.
The Rave Motion Picture Cityplace 14 had a 1:00 showing of the movie so that’s what we chose. Read more…
A Chance To Meet Mario Batali
My wife pointed out this article in the New York Times today on celebrity Chef Mario Batali. He actually has a getaway home on the Leelanau Peninsula.
While I was reading his Twitter account, I came across this interesting tidbit…
The Traverse City National Writers Series will host Food Network star and award-winning chef Mario Batali on the Historic Front Lawn of the Village at Grand Traverse Commons on August 14 for a spectacular outdoor celebration of food, chefs and restaurants, beer and wine, music and the local culinary culture.
“An Evening with Mario Batali,” scheduled for 5-10 p.m, will feature dishes inspired by recipes in Batali’s cookbooks and prepared by chefs representing The Cook’s House and Epicure Catering, as well as world-famous mixologist Bridget Albert (who will create a signature Traverse City cocktail exclusively for the event), renowned magician and MC Billy Harris (of “Magic, Martinis and Mario” fame), and an interactive audience Q&A with Batali. The evening will close with music and dancing.
Tickets for “An Evening with Mario Batali” are on sale online at NationalWritersSeries.org and PorterhouseProductions.com. Tickets range from $35-$100 and include two full plates of Batali food entrees (10 recipes total), cash bar, gelato station, live entertainment, an interactive audience Q&A with Batali and access to all event activities. Signed copies of Batali’s cookbooks will be available for purchase at the event. VIP tables are available. For more information, visit NationalWritersSeries.org.
Mangia Mangia Italian Ristorante
209 S. Kalamazoo MallAfter a long day of berry picking in Allegan County, we headed back to Kalamazoo for dinner. Last time month when my parents were in town, we walked along the Kalamazoo Mall just to show them the area. It was a nice day and we just wanted to go for a walk.
As we walked, my aunt noticed a sign for a cheap spaghetti dinner on Monday night. Since they were in town on Monday night, we decided to check out that cheap spaghetti dinner and go to a restaurant that has been on our list for quite some time.
Mangia Mangia is on the Kalamazoo Mall just north of Devisser Alley. The restaurant takes up a ground floor space at the Milliner Center. I was a little hesitant to show up right at 5:00 when they opened, but on Monday nights, that’s not a bad idea. Read more…
Earl’s Farm Market
1630 Blue Star Highway- Fennville, MI 49408
- (269) 227-2074
- Website
Sometimes I think my mom comes for visits just because she loves Michigan produce. Every time she comes, we have to find a farm market and pick up pallets of fruits and veggies for her to take home to my grandma to turn in to jams, jelly’s, and pies.
This trip, my mom really, really wanted blackberries. We determined that blackberries probably aren’t in season yet, but we would still go looking for them.
Since we were already in Fennville for a stop at Crane’s Pie Pantry, I found a U-Pick place just south of town on Blue Star Highway. Earl’s Farm Market became our destination as soon as we finished up with dessert lunch.
Earl’s Farm Market started life as Earl’s Berry Farm. There are fields of blueberries that separate the buildings from the road. You have to travel down a pretty long driveway to get to the farm market. On our way, my mom pointed over to some bushes that had some sort of red berries on them and we tried to figure out what they were. Read more…
Crane’s Pie Pantry Restaurant
6054 124th AvenueBillboards. Caught us again. Well, actually caught my mom this time. Back in May, my whole family met J and I in Grand Rapids for a trip to the John Ball Zoo. On the way, they saw a billboard for a pie place. They didn’t remember the name or what town it was in, but they knew there was a billboard.
After a little digging, I figured out it was Crane’s Pie Pantry Restaurant just outside of Fennville. My parents came to visit for a couple days and our afternoon entertainment was a drive to Allegan County for a slice of pie.
Crane’s Pie Pantry is just west of Fennville on M-89 (also called 124th Avenue) near 62nd Street. It’s not really what you would expect from a restaurant. From the street, you’d never know what you were getting in to. The building looks like it’s part of a farm..and it is. The parking lot is actually down a lane and around the building. Even for a Monday afternoon, there were quite a few cars in the parking lot…and a lot of out-of-state plates. Read more…
Twisted Rooster
1600 E. Beltline Avenue NEI’m a sucker for places that cater to the social media folks. It’s a marketing ploy that I totally get sucked in to. A new restaurant in Grand Rapids has been all over social media for a few months creating a pretty good buzz.
That restaurant took over the site of what used to be O’Charley’s on Grand Rapids northeast side. Twisted Rooster is on East Beltline north of Leonard Street in Grand Rapids Charter Township. The building’s former life as a chain is still pretty obvious, but whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on your view of chains.
The parking lot seemed really full for a Sunday night and we were more than a little surprised when we pulled up. This wasn’t the usual night out for J and I. In fact, J wasn’t even with me. I was stuck in Grand Rapids without a car and needed someone to come pick me up. It just so happened my parents were coming for a visit, so I asked if they would mind coming to Grand Rapids instead of going straight to Kalamazoo. I promised dinner and they didn’t have a problem with it, so dinner tonight was myself along with my parents and one of my aunts. Read more…
Central City Tap House
359 S. Kalamazoo MallOne of the things I’ve learned since I started writing this blog (and it’s predecessor in Lansing) is that opening weeks are usually bad times to go to new restaurants. The last thing I want is for an experience to a place I’ve been hyping up be ruined because staff is still working out the kinks.
That said, I went against that thinking tonight when J and I decided to try out the Millennium Restaurant Group’s newest restaurant, Central City Tap House.
We were intrigued last week at the Taste of Kalamazoo when we tried stop by the Tap House’s booth and picked up some Truffle Frites. They were delicious. We picked up a coupon for 20% off, but it isn’t good until August. Still, we really wanted to check this place out. Read more…
Cherry Deli & Catering
834 Cherry Street SEI know it’s a surprise, but sometimes I just don’t feel like a burger. As I was sitting at work contemplating my choices, deli sandwiches kept popping into my head. I know there are a couple deli’s near my place of employment. I just had to find one that’s open when it’s time for my lunch.
One of the Saturday night options is Cherry Deli & Catering. As the name implies, it’s located on Cherry Street just east of Eastern Avenue in Grand Rapids’ East Hills neighborhood. The building really blends in to the surroundings. It sort of looks like an old house with an “open” sign flashing in one of the side windows. It’s a building that is a great fit for the neighborhood. You know it’s a business, but it doesn’t assault you with ugly signs or a sterile facade.
It wasn’t a very busy time for them so parking was pretty easy. There are no lots in the area. Just street parking.
The deli is set up with an order counter on one end and seating in the remaining space. The menu is so large it doesn’t fit on just one chalkboard. There are several chalkboards hung around the space with all 55 of their sandwiches, 15 of which are vegetarian selections, as well as salads and soups. Fun fact, all the sandwiches have neighborhood themed names. Read more…
Richland Pub
8253 N. 32nd StreetWe got a little adventurous for dinner tonight. Well, we left Kalamazoo, so that’s what I’m calling adventurous. Cuisine wise, we went to a pub. Not adventurous for us.
Our trip out of Kalamazoo took us all the way to Richland (please see the sarcasm in that..) to a staple of that community.
The Richland Pub is just north of downtown on 32nd Street which is also M-89/43. It’s not a fancy place, but they do have a menu that piqued my interest.
Since we had a pretty heavy late lunch at the Taste of Kalamazoo, it was well after 7:00 before we even started heading to Richland. We actually walked into the old building just before 8:00 on a very busy Friday night. Read more…
Taste of Kalamazoo 2010
I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. I always love food festivals like this that give you an opportunity to try several different places.
When we lived in Lansing, we looked forward to the BWL Chili Cook-Off. The first year we went, it was fantastic. Great food. Easy to get around and try everything. The second year, they changed the venue and it sucked. Having never been to a festival at Arcadia Creek, we didn’t know what to expect, but were really hoping for something like that first year at BWL.
First order of business. Find parking. I probably could have found some street spots since we went for lunch, but I pulled into a parking lot along Water Street. We didn’t figure we’d stay long, so parking wasn’t going to set us back a whole lot.
Since we were there before 4:00, there was no cover. There are ticket booths located throughout the site, but J’s work had given her 25 tickets, so we figured we’d start with that.
The food vendors are set up underneath long tents that sort of form a T. Our first trip through we just kind of looked to see what was there. There are programs that list all the food and how many tickets each thing costs, but we didn’t find those right away.
Tickets are $.50 each and on the food side, nothing costs more than 8 tickets. Most of the items are in the 7-8 ticket range. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 