It’s not a pigment of your imagination, this issue is a real work of art. Inside you’ll find:

 An essay from Ari on how making art can help enhance our ecosystems
 An essay from Ji Hye about her mother
 A celebration of pimento cheese

Newsletter – May-Jun 2025 by Zingerman's Community of Businesses

Download March-April 2025 Newsletter PDF (17.3 mb)

Grace Singleton, co-managing partner of Zingerman’s Delicatessen, and I persevered through internet issues (at times it sounded like we were talking to each other through fast food drive-through speakers from the ’80s) to talk about everything from her culinary background to what’s ahead in the new year at the Deli. She shared what it’s like working with her fellow managing partners, Rick Strutz and Rodger Bowser; her passion for understanding issues (and fixing them); and her favorite items from around the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB). 

Jason Ujvari
Zingerman’s Creative Services Design Manager

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Jason: Where did your career begin before you came to Ann Arbor?

Grace: I grew up on the east side of Cleveland and went to culinary school back in the late ’80s. That was when culinary schools were just starting to be a thing. There weren’t a lot of them. Johnson & Wales University and the CIA [Editor’s note: That’s the Culinary Institute of America, not to be confused with the government’s Central Intelligence Agency] were around. I went to Paul Smith’s College, which is way upstate New York in the Adirondack Mountains. The college has a lot of land (over 10,000 acres) and a small student population (under 2,000 students). A friend who went to U of M got a big kick out of that because there were that many people just in his dorm!

After I graduated, I started off my culinary career and worked for a couple of really good organizations. I worked at Stouffer’s restaurants. Yes, that Stouffer’s. Back in the day, Stouffer’s used to have hotels, restaurants, and frozen food—all three separate divisions. From there I went to the East Coast, and, fun fact, Rick’s family owns the property in Baltimore that I was working at, though we didn’t meet each other until many years later.

I wanted to get back to the Midwest and I really wanted to own my own place eventually. So, I got a job with C.A. Muer Corporation, a well-known restaurant group, and was a dining room manager at Big Fish in Dearborn. After a few years, they transferred me to Ann Arbor to be the general manager of the Gandy Dancer and I fell in love with the city. I really just thought Ann Arbor was great. I liked that it was big enough to have some interesting things going on but small enough that people all knew each other. I knew about Zingerman’s because I would go to the Bakehouse to buy Chocolate Cherry bread. That was what lured me in! And, working in the industry, I heard lots of great things about Zingerman’s. So when a friend told me about an open position at the Deli, I applied and got the job as the manager of the specialty foods department. Rick and I were hired within a week of each other!

Jason: You’re one of three managing partners at the Deli. What’s it like working with Rick and Rodger?
Grace: It’s great. We all have our own separate areas of responsibility, but we overlap some and we cover each other. We’re a good strategy team. When we’re working on things together, we are great at talking things through, playing devil’s advocate with each other, and coming up with better solutions.

Jason: Is someone more creative and someone more business-focused or does it just depend on what you’re dealing with?Grace: Yeah, it’s kind of a mix. It’s interesting. We took a personality test, I forget if it was Myers-Briggs or another one, and the coach we were working with at the time said, “Wow, this is weird, all three of you are like the same!”
I think Rick is our negotiator. He loves talking to people and trying to figure out a deal. So he’s the one who’s coordinating things. Rodger is a process king. He is super good at it. I can come up with a list of all the tasks that need to happen to get something done, but I’m horrible at putting them in order. So I can go to him and say, “I know I have to do all these things. Which comes first?” And he will be the one who’s like, “This, this, this.”

Jason: Sounds like a great symbiotic-type leadership going on over there.

Grace: It’s nice to have three people with that big of a place to cover each other. Especially since we like to make sure we have at least one partner there every day of the year we’re open.

Jason: What do you think they would say it’s like working with you? Grace: I don’t know. I tend to say I’m good at finding errors, which is helpful and annoying all at the same time. I tend to look pretty far out. And I try to be really connected to the culture and make sure we’re taking care of everything for the staff. Rick does a lot of that, too. So it’s just a different angle of it. Rick is more the person you call at 3 am because he answers his phone no matter what. And I’m the one who’s like, “Hey, how do we set this up so that more people can do it?”

Jason: You’ve been a part of some major changes at the Deli—overseeing the Gold Level LEED-certified Deli expansion project, opening the Zingerman’s Greyline event space, introducing virtual tasting events for fans around the country during the pandemic—all while continuing to lead the day-to-day of Deli catering and retail specialty foods. Any other big changes ahead?
Grace: For years, Rick, Rodger, and I have been working on figuring out a point-of-sale (POS) solution. We started with paper carbon copies, then converted to a “real POS” after the build-out that was a point-of-sale system with KDS (kitchen display system) screens. Now, post-pandemic, we’re at a point where we get all of these orders in from third-party vendors and we need a new solution, we need a tech stack [Editor’s note: The programming languages and frameworks used to develop a website or software]. We’ve been working hard on that for almost two years, trying to find the right solution because there are a lot of options out there, but none of them do exactly what we need them to do.

Since the pandemic, Rick and Rodger and the whole front-of-house and sandwich line teams have worked really hard on finding a way to get extremely accurate quote times for people, and we’ve come up with a system to do that. Folks don’t have to stand in line anymore: They can come in, place an order, and if the wait is an hour and a half, they can shop or walk around the neighborhood. Or they can call their order in or place it online! So now there’s an electronic line, which is still a little confusing to guests if they come in and don’t see a line but there’s still an hour and a half wait.

Anyway, we’re closing in on a solution. I think we’ve made our selection of which system we’re going to use. It’s been a long haul to find the one. We’re going to be working really hard to implement that and get it in place before April or May. 

Other than that, we’re doing some renovations. Our “new” building went up 12 years ago, so it’s getting a little tired and it’s a big property to manage. We need to do things like replace ceiling tiles and redo floors. We also had to redo all of our plumbing. That was a sad realization, but yes, all the plumbing had to get ripped out and redone, mostly in the new building. So, that’s been quite a problem.

Jason: Oof, I’m really sorry about that. Aside from the new POS solution, is there something that you’re really looking forward to this upcoming year at the Deli?Grace: Last year we implemented a Waste Awareness Month. We built it into our annual plan to repeat that, though we’ll probably do it a little bit differently this year. Mid-winter is a nice time of year to look at our systems and processes and identify waste. We’re trying to get all of the eight wastes of Lean listed for everybody so they know what they are, can be aware of them, and then make suggestions for change. It helps get people thinking about waste in a different way. So, I’m excited to do more work on that as I think usually the second and third year you do something it gets better.

Jason: What aspect of your role do you find most rewarding?
Grace: It’s always fun when you’re on the other side of a successful day. The day before Thanksgiving, we had 270 catering orders—people getting their turkey dinners, breads, and pies for the next day. There’s a lot of planning and logistics that go into it, and at the end of the day, you’re tired as heck. But when it goes well, that’s always fun. 

I also always like a little bit of a puzzle. So, if something is going wrong, I like to get down to the root cause, figure out how we got there, and then figure out what we can change to help make it better in the long term.

Jason: And kind of spinning off of that, is there something over at the Deli you’re most proud to be a part of?Grace: I think, in general, the tenure of the people we’re working with is quite exceptional. We have people that have been with us for years and years and years. We have people that have left and come back. There’s a lot of benefit from people knowing the systems, recipes, and quality standards. It’s quite a good group of people. They help each other. If they see a guest who’s not sure what to do, they just jump in and go for it. That’s a wonderful thing.

Jason: Just as a side note to compliment you and your entire team on that, I had several of your managers in my Leadership Development Program and they all pretty much said the exact same thing that you just did. 

Jason: Let’s do a couple of fun ones. What’s one of your favorite things to eat over at the Deli?Grace: The cheese blintzes. We don’t have them on the menu very often, but they are one of my favorite things. And then for a sandwich, I would say #74 Dave’s Open Road.

Jason: What’s your favorite non-Deli ZCoB item? Grace: I’m currently in love with the Bakehouse’s Chocolate Rugelach. I just love the texture of that pastry. And then you can’t go wrong with the Roadhouse’s Fried Chicken or Miss Kim’s Tteokbokki. There are just so many good things across the ZCoB. I am so spoiled. 

Jason: What do you like to cook when you’re at home?Grace: Lots of veggies, stuff out of my garden as much as I can or stuff from the farmers market. I pretty much do all my shopping at the farmers market and at Argus. I like to use vinegar in a lot of things because it gives it pizzazz. So I am definitely the vinegar gal. There are some recipes up on the Deli’s blog about vinegar. I have at least six different vinegars in my cupboard, usually four olive oils, and three different kinds of peppercorns at least. And then one of my favorite things to cook with right now is the Piment d’Ville from Boonville Barn Collective. It’s a company out in California that is growing chile peppers like you would get from the Basque region in France. It is my favorite seasoning right now.

Jason: Your dogs have made an appearance in the background a couple of times. Can you tell me about them?Grace: I have three Brittanys. I have a 2-year-old, a 10-year-old, and an almost 16-year-old. We go running every morning. Now I run two miles with the young ones and then come back and do a mile walk with the oldest one. But we used to all go running three to five miles every day.

Jason: I know you like to cycle, too. Do you have a favorite bike path that you run or ride on?Grace: Yeah, I live right near Mary Beth Doyle Park, so I always go down and run around the park. There’s a nice little route and it’s my nature fix for the day. There’s always blue herons and white egrets and ducks and geese and turtles and all kinds of stuff down there. 

Jason: Alright, Grace, I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me today. One last question before I let you go: Is there an inspiring moment or event that you’ve had here at the ZCoB you want to share with everyone?Grace: That’s a good question. In general, the inspiring moments keep coming. To me, a lot of it is the work we get to do with producers and really getting to know them. When I went to culinary school, it was all about being consistent and having the same product. And then I got to Zingerman’s, and I started really understanding more about the variances that happen in produce and other products throughout the year. They’re agricultural products, so the sun and the weather and the rain and so many other factors impact them. And it’s inspiring to get to know the producers, the care that goes into the products, and how they have to deal with all the different things that can impact the quality—and why variety and quality should actually be celebrated from year to year! For example, this year’s olive oil crop is going to be really different than last year’s. There was a bigger crop and the weather was different. That’s fun to me, and that’s just everyday inspiration that we keep stumbling upon as we work with these producers and support them.

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It’s that time of year when the work ramps up and gifts from Mail Order are flying out of the warehouse!
We’re hiring seasonal staff for call center and warehouse positions here in Ann Arbor.

If you’re looking for work in a fun, delicious environment with loads of perks, get in touch!

Click here and learn more!