The Tastes of Detroit Food Tour is a long-standing tradition that takes place over a series of days every June during Expo Icrontic. For years, my goal has been to introduce out-of-towners to the unique, wonderful, diverse, and excellent food landscape here in the Detroit area. The Metro Detroit area is lovely in that we have a vast array of ethnicities and styles represented, and do not suffer heavily from the “national chain restaurant syndrome” that plagues much of this fine country (Macomb Township, Novi, and Troy are excluded from this statement).
In 2006, we went on our first food tour. It consisted of visits to a few of my local favorites (two of which are sadly out of business now), and a special visit from the former staff at Pi’s Thai in Hazel Park, where we were given a few gallons of soup for a hungry crowd (since the restaurant was too small to accommodate us). Since then, the Food Tour has been the single most requested and participated-in event at the Expo Icrontic. We routinely fill restaurants and spend hundreds of dollars at local businesses, all in the name of good eats.
As always, it gets harder and harder every year to find new places to accommodate our stringent requirements:
- The restaurant must be unique. It’s safe to say that if a restaurant has a “corporate office” somewhere, we’ll probably never go there.
- The restaurant must have some compelling theme or specialty that makes it truly a step above the normal establishment. This can be service, a menu item, decor, price, character, etc.
- The restaurant must able to at least try to introduce people to something they’ve never had before.
- The restaurant must be able to accommodate 50 or more people at once, as this is the average size of our group.
I try to accomplish these goals without any repeats, although tour favorites have made re-appearances throughout the years. Here’s the historical list of places we’ve covered so far:
2006:
- Raj Mahal (Indian), Sterling Heights
- Josephine Crepes (French), Ferndale
- Thang Long (Vietnamese), Madison Heights
- Pi’s Thai (Thai), Hazel Park
2007:
- Passage to India (Indian), Berkley
- New Seoul Garden (Korean), Southfield
- Red Coat Tavern (British), Royal Oak
- Thang Long (Vietnamese), Madison Heights
2008:
- Xochimilco (Mexican), Detroit
- Sala Thai Eastern Market (Thai), Detroit
- Hu Hot Mongolian Grill (Mongolian-style), Fraser
- Original Pancake House (American), Grosse Pointe
2009:
- Shilla (Korean), Troy
- Anita’s Kitchen (Lebanese), Troy
- Passage to India (Indian), Berkley
- Polonia (Polish), Hamtramck
- Tivoli’s (Italian), Utica
2010:
- Buddy’s Pizza(Detroit-style Pizza), Warren
- Taqueria Mi Pueblo (Mexican), Detroit
- Red Hot & Blue (BBQ), Sterling Heights
- Golden Harvest(Dim Sum), Warren
This year we’re presented with a couple of challenges: One common complaint in years past is that the Food Tour takes up a significant portion of time during Expo. Since time is at a premium, this can be off-putting to some, and causes trouble when attempting to rush around trying to make other events. Logistically, the Food Tour is a bad citizen. Second, with the venue change, we’re presented with some transportation issues. Therefore, this will be the first year where we have multiple catered events.
First, we’ll be heading just a couple of miles away from the Cafe to a new destination on Van Dyke Avenue known as Bostaan. Bostaan serves excellent Lebanese cuisine, in a large and beautiful restaurant in northern Warren, Michigan. Some of the things to take note of are the wonderfully creamy and rich Labne (homemade yogurt dip), the excellent Hummous (chickpea, lemon, garlic, and pepper dip), and if you travel off the standard menu, a truly tasty dish with the innocuous name of “Ginger Chicken”. Also recommended is the Lamb Ghallaba.
The second restaurant is something I’ve been trying to figure out for years; since 2006 I’ve wanted to take people here, as it is the best sushi in the area. However, the restaurant itself is like stepping through a portal into Tokyo. It’s extremely tiny and only seats about 15 people, and not comfortably. Therefore, we’ve decided to bring in trays of sushi from Noble Fish in Clawson, Michigan—one of the most authentic, delicious, and fresh sushi restaurants in the Detroit area. Since this will be a catered, “Chef’s Choice” event, there will be no menu: $20 per person will get you enough sushi to make you roll around in delighted agony. If you even remotely like sushi, this is the thing to try. If you’ve never had it before, this will be an excellent opportunity to have a first time experience with this delightful dish.
Third, we’re proud to introduce Detroit’s finest BBQ in the form of Lazybones Smokehouse.
BBQ is becoming a contentious battleground in the Detroit food scene. A place called Slows made a big splash with many people and brought a new level of awareness to Detroit’s BBQ lovers that there was a thriving BBQ scene here. While we’re not at the level of Austin, Kansas City, or Memphis (yet), there are new competitors and styles popping up more and more often.
At any rate, Slows is a very popular local destination, but there are those of us who think other places are better. My choice? Lazybones Smokehouse.
We’ll be having Lazybones catered in, to make it (much) more convenient for Expo attendees. Please consult the catering menu to pre-select your choices. I’ll be collecting this information on Wednesday, the 22nd. One of the highlights of Lazybones is the depth and breadth of their sauces.
See everyone next week!
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