Every year, Ari picks 30 of the most unique, delicious products we sell through our retail shops and mail order catalog (at Zingermans.com) to highlight and share with you! The list includes all the things we love to eat and drink, from artisan breads and olive oil made in Tunisia to Hungarian-style cheeses and our very own cold brew coffee. Chocolate, too!

This month, Ari will host three dates—Dec. 7, 14, and 21—of Ari’s Top Picks 2016 at the Deli. Each will be a fun-filled night of storytelling and yes, lots and lots of samples. You’ll get to taste every single thing on Ari’s list. Plus, you’ll receive a 20% off coupon to use after the tasting.

This event always sells out, so be sure to nab your seat right away. You can sign up with a cashier at the Deli or online. It makes a great early holiday gift.

Ann Arbor is home to many beloved restaurants—students, townies and visitors alike all have their favorites. Co-author Jon Milan and Gail Offen pay homage to the most popular eating hangouts in town (yes, Zingerman’s Deli is included) with their new book Iconic Restaurants of Ann Arbor.

Filled with fantastic photos and interesting snippets about current mainstays and institutions that have shut their doors, the book is broken up into a few fun categories, including “The Legendary and Long Forgotten” (with some spots dating back to the early 1900s), “Local Favorites and Student Standbys”, and “Still Here and Going Strong” among others. The Introduction to the book is written by Zingerman’s Co-Owner and Founding Partner Ari Weinzweig.

“While I do not want to say that any of the iconic restaurants in this book are acts of God, I do not think it’s stretching things too much to say that for those who visited them regularly in their day, these places were akin to a religious, or at least near-religious, experience. They inspire. they provided a sense of security and stability,” writes Ari.

Here’s our interview with the authors:

Q: Why were you motivated to take on this project?

Jon & Gail: So many great memories (and relationships!) are made while in college—and many of those happened in and bars. We all look back wistfully at these places. We looked for a book that captured that. And not finding one, we wrote one. We wanted to rekindle those memories. Ann Arbor is such an idyllic place. And its restaurants are every bit part of that unique quality—they couldn’t be anywhere else. Luckily, we were able to talk to people that can still tell their stories. We also had help from two much-admired local historians with memorabilia collections: Jan Langone and Susan Wineberg. And Ari helped, of course!

Q: What were one or two fun things you discovered during the process?

J&G: 1) Love why Jules from Le Dog won’t sell pop—they refused to deliver to him during the Art Fair in the ’80s, and he said the hell with them and stopped serving pop! 2) The Fleetwood refused to close for visits from both Guy Fieri and President Obama. 3) The Nobel Prize winner for physics in 1960 was Donald Glaser, who taught at U of M. He won for his invention of the bubble chamber, which traced subatomic particles. Local legend says he got his ideas while watching bubbles in a glass of beer at the Pretzel Bell! 4) The incredible interrelationship between restaurant and restaurateurs—how so many of the same individuals have come together, over the years, as partners, friends and advisers. For example, the people who worked together at Maude’s becoming partners at Zingerman’s, and the Gandy Dancer was a training ground for the Main Street Ventures group. 5) The incredible history of restaurants that have occupied certain buildings over a period spanning as many as 150 years. Some locations have hosted as many as five or six—and some, only one. 6) There are more than 500,000 University of Michigan alumni (and we know every one of them will enjoy this book)!

Q: What makes a restaurant iconic in Ann Arbor? Is there a formula?

J&G: Of course, every generation has its icons. Our own experiences were more ’70s and ’80s focused—and we tried to make the book multi-generational. These are places that, when you say you are going to Arbor, you hear, “Is _____ still there? You’ve got to go.” Or a must-stop for out-of-towners on game day—Pizza Bob’s and Krazy Jim’s are two examples. And for locals, ones where you meet your friends. But we also looked at a lot of social media that referenced Ann Arbor, and certain names always rose to the top. When we told people we were writing this book, the three places they always asked about were Drake’s, Pretzel Bell and the Whiffletree. But, in short, an iconic restaurant is one that when you say its name, the other person grins and nods. Then immediately tells you a story about it.

Q: If you could pick one shuttered restaurant to bring back, which would you pick?

G: Drake’s! Drake’s Sandwich Shop (on North University from 1935-1994) brought joy to generations of Arborites, young and old. Comfort food, candy, tea and an upstairs called “The Martian Room.” What can beat that? Would also love to have some Whiffletree fries, Indian Summer pizza, Central Café huevos rancheros, DeLong’s hot trout sandwich and Steve’s Lunch bibimbap!

Q: Are there any new Ann Arbor restaurants that you think will become iconic?

G: Spencer has a fresh and delicious take on food. Slurping Turtle certainly has wowed the locals, as well as Frita Batidos and Mani Osteria. And although I haven’t been to Ricewood BBQ and Cardamom, they have fanatical followings. I look forward to the opening of Miss Kim in Kerrytown. (And although it will never be, I’m addicted to Haifa Falafel on Washtenaw!)

Q: Why did you choose Ari to write the forward?

J: We both agreed that Ari and Paul’s unique approach to quality, service and the restaurant business, in general, is the foundation of a new generation of Ann Arbor restaurants. Ari has written many books, of course, and we’ve always devoured the long-form journalism that is Zingerman’s newsletter (a good read over a good sandwich). So, approaching him seemed like a good choice. To our delight, he provided the introduction to our book, while juggling the time he was investing in completing the fourth book in his Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading series. We couldn’t have been more pleased and honored by his contribution.

Iconic Restaurants of Ann Arbor will be in stock at Zingerman’s Delicatessen very soon, and you can also purchase it on Arcadia Publishing’s website.

With all these breads in my kitchen counter, you might be inclined to think that I carefully store them all in plastic bags to keep them fresh.

I don’t. Ever. NEVER.

That’s right. For all the bread I bring home, I never, ever, ever put it in plastic bags.

Why? Because although this may sound silly in a world in which sealing everything in plastic seems like the be all to end all, the plastic actually doesn’t preserve the bread at all. In fact, it ruins it. Bread sealed up in plastic stales more quickly. You read that right: it stales more quickly.

It also molds more easily. The crust is essentially eliminated, or is at least a pale shadow of its former well-structured self. Plastic is the enemy. I’ve eliminated it, and my bread is better for it.

How do I store it? Often in paper bags—paper allows the bread to breathe while still limiting some of the air movement that can dry out the loaves. Or, honestly, I just stick it cut side down on the counter or a cutting board. The counter protects the open part of the loaf and the crust does the rest—that is, after all, a big part of what crust is naturally designed to do. The same way the rind on a cheese protects the paste.

Does the bread dry out some? Sure! But that what toasters and ovens and crostini and croutons are for. A well-made loaf of artisan bread, like the ones from the Bakehouse, will easily last for 5-8 days without getting anywhere near a plastic bag.

Plus, although few folks know it, if you eat a lot less bread than I do and only want a small bit, we’re happy to sell you half loaves!

Zingerman’s co-owner and founding partner Ari Weinzweig sent this note to the staff in response to the recent election. It meant a lot to many of our community, so we decided to share it with you.

Although I’ve worked at it over the years, I’m still not all that great at processing strong emotions quickly.  Usually I kind of shut down for a few days, probably I suppose as self protection, and then slowly start to sift through what’s happening and what I can effectively do about it.  That sort of summed up my week.  Regardless of who you voted for (or if you chose not to vote) I will imagine that it’s been a challenging week. To be clear, I’m not sharing any of this to change anyone’s minds about politics or who or which causes you choose to support.  Each of you will do what you believe best and most aligned with your values.  But more than a few ZCoB’ers have asked me to say something…so…I am.

I, of course, can only speak for myself.  For me, the week has been hard.  Very hard.  The last few times I felt this way . . . were also pretty rough.  One was after 9/11.  Another, though less intense because it happened more slowly, over a period of months, was when the economy crashed in 2009 as announcement after announcement shook our reality over and over again. In both cases, I remember talking to Paul and to others of you . . . . and, after talking together, arriving at the same conclusion that I’m arriving at now.

When the economy crashed Paul and I had a conversation on the phone that started with, “What are we gonna do?” and ended surprisingly quickly, within about ten minutes, with the quick realization that a) we have our vision and that’s where we’re headed regardless of what may be going on around us and, b) we have our guiding principles in writing and when times are tough or challenging, that’s the time to double down on those guiding principles by living them even more mindfully than we would in calmer times.  To be more generous, more inclusive, kinder, more caring, more engaged in helping those who have less than us, more intent on creating a energizing and uplifting work experience for everyone in the ZCoB, more focused on great food, great service and great finance.  That although the world may seem to be turning upside down and going in directions that don’t feel very good in the moment, because our values and vision and mission have been chosen, by us, from the heart, none of them change.  In fact, I realize, it makes the work we’re doing on our ZCoB Statement of Beliefs even more timely and more important.  We may feel like we’re swimming against the current in difficult times, but we’re going to the same place in the same caring way regardless.   In the context of my focus over the last few years, it’s all the more important—despite social pressure and the news to the contrary—to focus myself on positive beliefs, on building hope and on living the spirit of generosity gently and effectively every single day.

This is, as I think about it, been our work from day one.  It will remain our work, I believe, as long as we’re here. If times seem unstable and negativity seems to take over the social stage, then it’s all the more reason for us to push forward with the same positive, difference making, inclusive program that we’ve been working on, ever imperfectly for the last thirty five years.

This is also the week that Leonard Cohen passed away.  Here’s something he said which, when reading it, reinforced this approach for me: “I always had a sense of being in this for keeps, if your health lasts you. And you’re fortunate enough to have the days at your disposal so you can keep on doing this. I never had the sense that there was an end. That there was a retirement or that there was a jackpot.”

As Leonard laid out, our work continues, and will continue, for a long time to come.  Every little action, every hug, every dime we donate, every espresso shot and loaf of bread, every sandwich, every box, every extra mile, make a difference.  Acts of compassion, caring and generosity energize both the recipient and the giver.  The more of them we all do, the better our community will be.

Thank you all for all you do for the community, for people in need here and around the world, to bring kindness, care and inclusiveness into the world every day.  I’m honored to work with all of you every day.  Thank you for being you and for doing what you do.

I’ll close with some words that have long inspired me, from Ashanti Alston, who said, “You all can do this. You have the vision. You have the creativity. Do not allow anyone to lock that down.”

Take good care.

Sure, it was raining, but that didn’t stop this interesting conversation between Ari and Maria Shriver. The two discussed the power of beliefs in all areas of life, how Zingerman’s got its start, and really good food. Watch the whole video above.

On most nights, you’ll find Ari pouring water at The Roadhouse, but he’ll be taking a break from such duties on Wednesday, October 5. That’s when he’ll be hosting “My Beliefs about Cooking,” a very special dinner in collaboration with chef and partner Alex Young.

The dinner will put Ari’s essay on his beliefs about cooking from his new book, Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading, Part 4; A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to the Power of Beliefs in Business, into practice with a menu of traditional, full-flavored dishes, seasoned with a lot of fun and thoughtfulness that you’ve come to know as the Zingerman’s way.

Feast your eyes on this delicious menu:

It’s going to be a great night of eating and sharing—and it may even get you thinking about your own beliefs about cooking. Tickets are still available, $75 per person. You can reserve your seat here.