Heyo!
At 39, one of the things I need now is a maintenance day where everybody else fucks off but me.
Last week I had a busy social week (as in I left the house 4 straight days), so I took Thursday to do the following things:
A) Not return any texts after 12pm
B) Remove screens from my life for an entire evening.
Being a writer in 2024 means I’m constantly looking at blue light. My computer, my phone; even when I’m unwinding it’s to watch a movie or baseball game. That’s why once a week I like to burn a candle at 10PM and just listen to some music. The stillness is so overwhelming that I often burst into tears. Is this how noisy my life become? That simply disengaging for an evening is now some profound experience? Christ, that’s alarming.
Anyway, it’s always good to cry. The below song has been doing it for me.
Speaking of sad, check out this vegan hot dog
On Monday, I watched my friend, comedian Zach Pugh, indulge in a relentlessly boring vegan hot dog at a Tiger’s game. I was watching the game from the railing in right field, when I heard Zach announce, “I got got.” As soon as I spun around, I laid eyes on the saddest vegan hot dog I’ve ever seen in my life—all bun, barely dog—what amounted to a lifeless, dull, 3-D printed brat squirted with stray globs of mustard and ketchup. It cost $6.
Zach fucked up, and he knew it. But it’s not his fault that ballparks don’t have great vegan options. That’s on Major League Baseball, an old-fashioned sport with an unchanging nature.
Later, I’ll tell you where to get one of the best vegan sandwiches in Detroit and beyond.
But first, subscribe will ya? Pay if you want!
July in Detroit: The Best Meals I Had
The Phoenicia Lunch, featuring frog legs & soft shell crab.
You probably wouldn’t attempt to order frog legs and soft shell crab at a Lebanese restaurant—that’s crazy talk—but that’s exactly the move at Phoenicia in Birmingham.
Currently, I’m convinced that Phoenicia is one of the best restaurants in the country. I’m a tad biased (I do some writing work for the restaurant), but Jesus- pole-dancing-Christ the food is excellent.
Do you want the best toum of your life? The best tabbouleh? Exceptional kibbeh nayyeh? Incredible (dawg, incredible) fried potatoes with caramelized onions? Otherworldly hummus and perfectly rolled grape leaves? If so, go to Phoenicia. The first time I left the restaurant, I thought, “Wait, is this the best baba ghannouj I’ve had?” And you know what? Marcus Samuelsson left asking the same thing.
Frog legs have been a culinary delight in Detroit for over 100 years, a staple of menus all over the city in the early 20th century. Today, less and less restaurants serve them. Phoenicia, though, is a classic restaurant through and through, and owner Samy Eid tells me that frog legs are actually popular in Lebanon, too. Here, they come pan-fried with ghee and garlic, dusted with sumac, and served with cilantro and lemon. The legs are sticky, fatty, and quite decadent.
The soft shell crab is prepared in a similar manner. Oh, and the bed of spinach (another culinary vestige) adds color, but also turns the whole dish into a thrifty, lemony, buttery salad. Incredible toum, grape leaves, kibbeh, tabbouleh, potatoes & caramelized onions (a must!), and even a wonderful burger made with 25% lamb, the Phoenicia lunch is legendary. If I had an unlimited amount of money, I would eat here once a week. For now, it’s once a month.
Phoenicia
588 S Old Woodward Ave
Birmingham, MI 48009
Khana, Khana, Khana!
INT. THE OVAL OFFICE - DAY
Danny Palumbo, now the President of the United States, sits at the desk in the Oval Office. He wears a suit, but no pants.
DANNY
My fellow Americans, after much deliberation, I have decided that Maryam Khan’s masala kettle chips should be bagged and sold at every bar and grocery store in the country. Also, if anybody knows anything about cars, mine is making a funny sound and the guy who usually works on it is booked up this month.
If it were up to me, Khana’s masala kettle chips would be everywhere.
They’re damn addicting—warm, sweet, earthy, and they pack a mellow heat. The potato slivers themselves are fried to perfection, with each one packing a nice little fatty pop of oil. They are excellent with a sandwich, great with a beer, and even better with an Aperol spritz. They are chips for every occasion.
Part of how I process good food is by comparing it to bad food. That might seem shitty, but to understand what’s good, it helps to have a good grasp on what’s bad. Once you taste Khana’s masala kettle chips, you will immediately renounce any grocery store conglomerate chip ever again. Get fucked, barbecue Lay’s. Eat shit, Tostitos with a hint of lime. Chips (one of my main areas of expertise) need more flavor. Khana brings it.
Do you know how hard it is to find a good vegan sandwich? Do you know how hard it is to find a great one?
Khana’s vegan spicy meatball sub starts with plant-based kofta-style meatballs simmered in a tangy red sauce. They’re placed on a soft, chewy ciabatta sub roll and topped with chimichutney, a yogurt chutney drizzle, and some local greens. Each bite packs an herby, tangy spike. Read: This would immediately be one of the best vegan sandwiches in Los Angeles. Sorry to keep equating things back to the West Coast, but not only is it a metropolis filled with great vegan food, but Khana also sometimes pops up there, too. Angelenos—if you ever see the vegan meatball sub and masala chips, cop it.
Oh, and the shrimp masala rich boi ($13) was fantastic. Part lobster roll, part po-boy, this thing was made for July—the food equivalent of getting drunk in an inner-tube and floating down a river.
Khana’s pop-up on She Wolf’s patio is a match made in heaven. Just impeccable Summer vibes—from the Campari and Aperol drink menu ($8 drinks!), to the sun-struck patio, to Khana’s flavorful, bright, Pakistani-influenced food infused with warmth and spice. An incredible Sunday afternoon. I hope they collaborate more often.
Follow Khana on Instagram
They pop up regularly
Hopefully a restaurant at some point? Feels inevitable.
Popcorn chicken, pork belly, and tofu w/fish at Trizest
Trizest is an excellent, slept-on Sichuan spot in Troy, Michigan serving Chinese food, and man they’ve got some deep cut dishes you’ll want to try.
Specifically, the side of pork with spicy garlic sauce ($13.99) and the bean curd & fish with pickled red pepper sauce ($19.99).
The pork belly is served room temperature, and accompanied with a pile of green onions, garlic, and chili oil. The thin ribbons of pork belly melt away in your mouth, and the blast of garlic, chili oil, and green onions in each bite is godlike.
The bean curd & fish is similarly a rare thing to see on a Sichuan menu. The flavor was deep, and the pickled red pepper sauce has a creamy, unctuous quality that I can’t stop thinking about.
The popcorn chicken was fire-red, in addition to being perfectly crispy and oily. This is lovely junk food, and just super tasty fried chicken. Trizest also does popcorn tofu for $15.99, something I’m going to have to check out next time I’m there. Every dish I had was packed with flavor and electricity—the type of thing that’ll have you screaming, “I AM ZEUS!! FEAR MY WRATH!!”
Trizest is best to experience with friends, and I went with a total of four people. I had an awesome meal, and didn’t even get to order mapo tofu or the Sichuan cold noodles. A real gem of Southeast Michigan. Trizest is in the blunt rotation for good.
Trizest
33170 Dequindre Rd
Sterling Heights, MI 48310
The lengua huarache on Vecino’s inaugural monthly omakase menu.
Last week I wrote about Vecino and their monthly omakase menu. There were a couple misses on the menu, but also some great hits. That’s a paid post, so if you want to read the full review, hey, upgrade and become a paid subscriber!
A week later, I’ll just go ahead and spoil the best bite of the whole experience: The huarache with lengua, quesillo, and salsa macha. Here’s a free preview:
This was my favorite dish of the night. Why? Because it’s not subtle, man. This taco jumps your ass and slugs you in the mouth with a heavy right hand. Sometimes, I want food to slam me against a wall and shake me down for my money. If you’re paying $135 for a tasting menu, you should want the same thing.
Huarache originates from Mexico City, and is a type of taco that looks oblong like a sandal (huarache means sandal in Spanish, after all.) I believe they’re usually made bigger than the one pictured above, but Vecino’s tlayuda (from their main menu), is also a lot smaller than what you’ll find in Oaxaca. The tacos themselves are shrunken somewhat, but that doesn’t mean they’re not hearty.
Huarache accompaniments vary—I’ve seen beans, potato, ground beef, nopales, etc.—but this one had lengua, quessillo, and Vecino’s sparkling salsa macha. Everything here kicked ass; just a hearty, deeply meaty stunner. The lengua was thick cut, and some of the most tender and rich I’ve encountered. Vecino’s salsa macha is so damn dark and nutty and lovely; they need to bottle the stuff and sell it.
Anyway the huarache was fucking phenomenal. Really, anything they make with tortillas is special. Vecino has been getting a lot of love lately by the press (I chose them as one of the best new restaurants in Detroit for Hour Magazine, a no brainer if there ever was one) and it’s well deserved.
The next thing I want to hit is their carne asada Mondays.
Vecino
4100 3rd Ave
Detroit, MI 48201
Thanks for reading The Move! I’ll be back next Monday. In the meantime, hey, like this post, leave a comment, and share with friends! Almost 500 subscribers now. Howboutit???
I appreciate all the feedback. It sure does mean a lot. Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss anything. I respond to most emails and DMs.