Heyoooo!
Did you know that writing is hell? It’s true.
I just finished my first lengthy restaurant review for Hour Magazine. It’s about Adelina, and it should be out sometime in August. I won’t spoil anything, but it was a tricky to write. As such, I blocked off six full days to dedicate towards this one review.
Three of those days were productive, and the other three were spent going absolutely crazy.
Writing is madness because when things get tough, you can never truly tell if you’re supposed to power through or just step away. It’s only until 8pm that you realize you’ve wasted most of the day staring at a computer screen.
I’m seven years into writing, and three years into doing it full-time. I’m still learning. Most of the time, it’s better to not power through. Just take the break. Worst case scenario, you chose to live a life.
You can always get a deadline extended.
Detroit’s Summer Pop-Up Scene is Strong
I had a busy weekend eating out on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with my new pal Liana Li. Liana rules, and is exactly my type of person—smart, cool, humble, honest, and funny as hell. She’s an artist, grower, and food enthusiast here in Detroit, and just an all around great person to boot. Over the weekend I asked her to please run me over with her car, and she said no—the mark of true friendship.
Anyway, I met up with Liana on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to bounce around this damn city and hit a few pop-ups. But, before we get into that, subscribe will ya???
Naughty Nachos by Marrow & Aunt Nees Tortilla Chips
On Friday, in Riopelle Alley at Eastern Market, Carlos Parisi of Aunt Nees tortilla chips and the good folks over at Marrow butcher shop joined forces to toss tortilla chips in beef tallow and pork fat.
Topped with pork belly, beef brisket, poblano salsa, queso, cilantro and onion—they’ve been dubbed naughty nachos, but to me there’s nothing naughty about it. This is just a good fucking idea.
I loved the flavor of these nachos, which had the good stench of Marrow’s house-butchered meat all over them. These chips were surprisingly sweet and savory, and the poblano salsa brought a creamy, herby kick. Why did they taste sweet? Because Carlos & Marrow also tossed them in maple syrup. It would never dawn on me to toss tortilla chips with maple syrup and animal fat, but good lord it’s a great combo. I would absolutely fuck with these again. The pork belly was great, but the real winner was the tender, fall apart brisket, which did well to adhere itself to the sticky, seasoned nachos.
Follow Marrow. Follow Carlos. If they collab again, make sure to get these nachos.
Regenerative Beef Smash Burgers from Melway Burgers
Smash burgers made with regenerative beef. Can it be done? The folks at Melway Burgers say, “Yes, Danny. Of course it can, you dipshit.”
On Saturday, I popped into Stadt Garden to try out this one of a kind smash burger. I say one of a kind because Melway’s instagram touts that this is Detroit’s only regenerative beef burger pop-up, with the beef in question coming from McElroy Farms in Hillsdale, Michigan.
This isn’t some rinky-dink pop-up, either. Melway sets up what is essentially an indoor burger stand set piece—complete with a side bar, stools, and counter space. Neon signs reading “100% grass-fed” and “smashburgers” light up at night like the attractive, drive-in burger huts of California. The whole thing kind of looks like a fake Hollywood set of an old Western town, right?
When you get handed your burger, the first thing you’ll notice is the aromatic beef smell. I don’t know that I’ve ever used the word aromatic to describe beef before, but damnit it feels so right. I have never wanted a burger scented candle more in my life. This smash reeked of fresh, grassy, beef flavor. It’s A+ meat through and through, the type of thing you feel better about eating before you even eat it.
The ground meat gets topped with thinly sliced white onions (just like Motz), and then pressed on the grill Oklahoma-style. These smash patties are insanely juicy, man. Pickles, cooked onions, American cheese, and special sauce round out the classic, California double-double flavor. The buns are super squishy and buttery, too, as they should be.
I’ve been told that it’s hard to make smash burgers from regenerative beef patties because they’re leaner. The taste here is far from lean, though. Though they’re not marbled with a ton of fat, I got a hot tip that the Melway Burger folks are mixing in some beef tallow with their ground meat. As a result, there’s a great fatty taste, but a lean, fresh beef texture. It’s super interesting.
I’m pitching a story about Melway today, so hopefully it gets green-lit and I can get all special deets from the owners. For now, though, all you need to know is that this burger rocks. It’s good food made responsibly, which is always worth supporting. It’s not too pricy, either. $12 for a double-double and some Better Made chips is a fine deal. Pro tip: My last burger bite, I put a few chips on the burger itself. The texture and added salt was dope.
Oh, and they also gave out out free Dutch Girl Donuts, too. I’m told that’s not an every week thing, but still. The generosity! Good people run Melway.
Burgers and chilled red wine on a hot-ass Summer eve: What’s better? Start going to Melway on the weekends, and follow them on social media. I get the sense they’re about to do bigger things.
A Perfect Papaya Salad at The Midwest Buddhist Meditation Center In Warren
Every other Sunday at the Midwest Buddhist Meditation Center in Warren, Michigan, a bustling outdoor market of Thai vendors pop-up. Foil chafing dishes filled with curries, pad Thai, pad see ew, and other stir fried noodles line up like soldiers. Chicken skewers, meatballs, and fish cakes are aplenty. Containers filled coconut pudding, mango sticky rice, and flaky pastries filled with curried beans are stacked by the dozen. Fried bananas, jungle curry, egg rolls, and fresh spring rolls also make an appearance. But, the best thing I had by far was the fresh papaya salad.
Make no mistake, the papaya salad is hard to get right.
Sometimes it’s too wet limp or doesn’t carry the proper heat (read: papaya salad should absolutely be spicy.) Other times, it’s heavy on the fish sauce and light on the lime. However, this papaya salad, made fresh in a huge mortar and pestle, was pure alchemy; the perfect combination of flavors and textures.
I would say this papaya salad even outshines most of the salads I’ve had in L.A. I’d take this one, made by some ladies in a Buddhist temple parking lot, over the papaya salads at Ruen Pair or even Jitlada.
It was just so perfectly tender and it was delightfully twirl-able, almost like spaghetti. The ratio of fish sauce, lime, and chile was spot on, too. It was crunchy due to the peanuts, yes, but the freshly dressed julienned papaya were equally crisp. There’s nothing like a well-made papaya salad; just a wonderful thing to experience made fresh.
All of the various meat skewers—fish balls, juicy meatballs, grilled chicken—were great, as well. There’s also a whole section dedicated to pastries that remind me of Bhan Kanom in Thai Town. I love coconut pudding, and will be back for it.
I’d get there early, like 10AM, before stuff starts to sell out. Your eyes are going to be really big. But, pace yourself, and make a plan. I recommend the skewers, the papaya salad, and some pastries to start.
Midwest Buddhist Meditation Center
29750 Ryan Rd.
Warren, MI 48092
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Yee haw!!
Those Melway burgers are cool. Love the concept, love the partnership with the farm. Be curious to see what you find out re: the mix. A grass-fed cow is going to be leaner in general, but they still do have fat so they can mix the ground to whatever ratio they want (negating the overall leaner beef). The grass-fed cow I just bought is mixed to a 80/20 ground and is absolutely decadent. Be really cool though if they mixed in suet (tallow) fat to their grind... not sure I've ever seen that done (or at least marketed).
How are the buns? Sourdough? Regenerative grains? How about the fries? Fried in tallow from the same cows? Sorry, I know I'm getting way into the weeds here, but this is so far up my alley, it hurts. I know @Myles Snider and Rocky from @WarKitchen have written about this idea too!