Food, Glorious Food

A trip has been unsuccessful if I didn't have the opportunity to indulge in some excellent cuisine. Eating is a very important part of travel, and in some places, food can be an integral component of a region's culture. Plus, some ingredients and dishes are native to one area, and so it's important to experience them while you have the chance. Some foods just aren't as good when they're recreated elsewhere.

None of this is true of Ann Arbor, but that didn't mean I was any less excited to see what unique places I could find. 

During our trip, my parents and I stayed at the house of family friends, so much of our eating was done indoors. The cooked food was excellent, but eating at home meant that I had to pay special attention to all the meals that were consumed outside. I think I fared rather well over the duration of our trip, and found some delicious places.

My first meal was a supremely late (5pm) lunch, at a campus deli located inside my brother's dormitory. Once the envy of his having dining halls and delis so easily accessible passed, I moved on to enjoying what was there. I'm pleased to report that I thoroughly enjoyed my made-to-order chicken sandwich, which gives me hope that my brother's taste buds won't be severely damaged by college food; at least not this year. Plus, there are several eateries, ranging from fast food, to chain restaurants, to some original little places located all over campus and the neighboring areas. I'm pretty sure I'd spend way too much time (not to mention money) eating if I went to school at Michigan. 

My exploration of the campus also enabled me to find some gems in Ann Arbor, hidden in between the Chipotles and Paneras. Not that some of those chains aren't gems of their own.

The day before the long drive home, my father, brother and I had lunch at Potbelly, a sandwich chain that can be found in several places throughout the midwest and in parts of the Mid-Atlantic region. My dad had been raving about this place since we first arrived, so naturally I wanted to try it out.

My meal was a completely underwhelming experience. I ate a chicken salad sandwich, which was good, but not really anything that I'll remember, or even seek out again. Serves me right for allowing my father to build it up the way he did. But I would like to give them credit for not drowning their chicken salad in mayonnaise - some places have some difficulty perfecting the chicken to mayo ratio.

We also dined at Paesano's one night, an Italian restaurant with a muted ambience that I really appreciated. As a carb lover, Italian cuisine has a special place in my heart, not only for the pasta, but for the baskets of bread that tend to precede the main meal. This place didn't disappoint on either count. I like when restaurants make small adjustments to classic meals in an attempt to make it their own; there were peas cooked into my pesto ravioli. Peas aren't a vegetable I typically enjoy, but I somehow really liked them in this particular case. And rather than provide regular butter to accompany the bread, there were small cups of herb butter, to give each bite a little extra zest. 

Over the past couple of years, I've developed a stronger love for ice cream and frozen yogurt, despite my general dislike for sweets and desserts. So when my father recommended that we go to Stucchi's, I could hardly say no. This small ice cream and frozen yogurt place is curiously located right next to Ben and Jerry's, on South State Street, a stretch of road populated by several restaurants, movie theaters and stores. I had the chocolate chip cookie dough frozen yogurt, and much like they advertised, it was creamier than most frozen yogurts I've had. Delicious. But still not as good as Halo Pub. Then again, not much is.

Ann Arbor, like most urban areas, boasts a variety of cuisines, including some that I've never even tried, such as Ethiopian. There sadly wasn't enough time to try some of these places, nor the others that I'd heard about. My parents have been raving about Mongolian barbeque since they ate it back in July, and I passed by a Jamaican Jerk place that made me crave Jerk chicken, Jamaican patties, and festival, even after dinner. I'm such a sucker for ethnic food.

In the meantime, I'll leave my brother to explore Ann Arbor's eateries. Hopefully he'll make some mental notes so I can further indulge the next time I'm in town.