Last night’s 11th Annual African American Foodways Dinner at Zingerman’s Roadhouse was a wonderfully intimate dinner that gave a whole new meaning to the term “dinner theater.

This year’s feast was based the recipes and foods common to Western Michigan in the middle of the 1800s, and Roadhouse Executive Chef Alex Young created a wonderful multi-course meal evoking this period. In keeping with the spirit of the evening, the meal was served family-style. The meal began with Sweet Potato Pone Bread and Vermont Crackers served with tomato jam, followed by fried hominy and pickled green beans, and then fresh rabbit in a rich milk gravy served with flapjacks. The next round brought big bowls of Hoppin’ John and pickled Lima beans with corn. Platters of beautifully fried chicken followed. To top it all off, diners enjoyed slices of lovely squash pies made especially for the dinner by Zingerman’s Bakehouse.

After the meal, guests were entertained this year with a special performance by Dr. Von H. Washington, a professor in Western Michigan University’s Department of Theatre, and Toronto-based mezzo-soprano (and former Zingerman’s employee), Ali Garrison. The pair presented a dramatic scene written especially for the dinner; a theatrical reading based on their research for Dr. Washington’s play, “In Search of Giants.” The play comes to the Arthur Miller Theatre on the University of Michigan’s North Campus Thursday, January 28th.

In the scene presented, Washington and Garrison play two Abolitionists, Henry Bibb and Pamela Thomas, meeting in January 1845 at the Underground Railroad Station in Schoolcraft, Michigan near Kalamazoo for a kitchen table conversation about food, freedom and human interaction. Ali Garrison is a direct descendent of Dr. Nathan Thomas, noted Michigan abolitionist whose home was a prominent stop on the Underground Railroad.

This year’s dinner was a wonderful tribute to the people of another place and time, whose contributions to the abolitionist movement through the Railroad and other activities helped bring thousands to new lives of freedom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See you soon! 

In 1998, Glenn Roberts sold almost all his earthly possessions and went in search of heirloom varieties of corn, rice, and wheat. His mission: to grow, harvest and mill these antebellum varieties organically and restore them to a viable economic existence. And so he founded Anson Mills, and the culinary world was forever changed. Glenn’s attention to detail, his commitment to grow organically, and his determination to mill the grains as carefully as they’re grown attracted well-known chefs who began to use and promote his products. Today Glenn works with over 30 growers in six states to reproduce these heirloom grains.

On Tuesday, November 10, 7pm, Zingerman’s Roadhouse Chef Alex and Glenn will cook up a menu that reveals the subtle character of each grain and emphasizes the invaluable place that each has in the South.
Please join us for this rare visit by the man who Food Republic called “The Guy To Know For Heirloom Grains In America.”

Reserve your seat here

Put on your cape and sink your fangs into a spooky night of fun and good food at the 10th Annual Vampires’ Ball hosted at Zingerman’s Cornman Farms on Friday, October 30th, 6-1130pm. Vampires’ Ball is a festive, upscale gathering featuring food prepared by James Beard Award-Winning Chef Alex Young of Zingerman’s Roadhouse. Funds raised at Vampires’ Ball benefit Food Gatherers Community Kitchen and Job Training Program.

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Dinner Package (6:00 – 11:30 PM): $200 each (limited quantity available)

• Drinks and appetizers
• Seated, multi-course dinner prepared by Chef Alex Young in the farmhouse and dessert from Zingerman’s Bakehouse
• All items included in the Drinks & Dancing package

Drinks & Dancing Package (7:30 – 11:30 PM): $60 each

• Dancing and entertainment, including music, costume contest, tarot card reading, and photobooth
• Two complimentary drink tickets
• Late-night snacks from Zingerman’s Roadhouse
• Premium goody bag

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Sponsors

Batty Benefactor:

Ghoulish Gift:

With special thanks to:

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About the Food Gatherers Community Kitchen and Job Training Program

The mission of the Food Gatherers Community Kitchen is to engage and nourish our entire community. Located in the Robert J. Delonis Center, Food Gatherers staff and volunteers serve more than 100,000 meals to people in need each year.

The Community Kitchen Job Training Program provides low-income and at-risk youth (ages 17-21) with instruction in basic culinary arts, food safety, work ethics and life skills. Students build firm foundations for success in future careers while decreasing the chances of entering the shelter system or other emergency services.

The Food Gatherers Community Kitchen and Job Training Program are essential efforts in our overall plan to alleviate hunger and eliminate its root causes in our community.

A Harvest Dinner to Fund Local Community Outreach Programs

Now in its 10th year, the Westside Farmers’ Market brings incredible, locally-sourced food to Ann Arbor’s Westside every Thursday afternoon during the summer. Zingerman’s Roadhouse is proudly supporting the market with a celebratory fall harvest dinner featuring Westside Farmers’ Market vendors to raise funds for three new Market outreach programs in 2016:

• School to Market program in collaboration with Agrarian Adventure
• Senior Community transportation to the Market
• Educational Market group tours

The vision for these three programs is to increase market access and awareness throughout the Westside community while improving the Westside Farmers’ Market long-term sustainability. Your support will help make this vision become a reality.

James Beard award-winning Chef Alex Young has created a menu featuring the beautifully grown produce and sustainably raised meats from Westside’s vendors. The meal will also feature Laurentide wine pairings, one of our favorite vendors from Leelanau, Michigan. We invite you to enjoy the peak flavors of the season at this fundraising dinner, and we look forward to seeing you each week at the market!

Reserve your seat here

See you there!

Chef Alex Serves Up Dinner for 120 at the USA Pavilion

Alex Young, Executive Chef at Zingerman’s Roadhouse and a member of the U.S. State Department’s American Chef Corps, has been recruited to join the schedule of guest chefs at the James Beard American Restaurant in the USA Pavilion at ExpoMilan 2015.

The restaurant, located atop the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a four-story double arcade and national landmark in central Milan, will provide a showcase for notable American chefs to show off some of the gastronomic delights of our country. The Beard Foundation has invited chefs from all over the U.S. to showcase the finest American ingredients and cuisine in a series of five-course, regionally focused prix-fixe menus. Chef Alex will step into the kitchen on Friday, September 11th, and Saturday, September 12th.

The theme of this year’s Expo is ‘Feeding the Planet: Energy for Life,’ an idea that particularly resonates with Alex. “The planet’s population is estimated to be nearly 9 billion people by 2020. And we have to find a way to make healthy, sustainable agriculture work to feed all those people.” Appropriately, the James Beard Foundation selected chefs based in part on their commitment to sustainability, as well as their unique culinary talents.

Alex hopes ExpoMilan 2015 will help raise awareness of the importance of sustainable farming methods to help keep the planet fertile and productive for a growing population. With that in mind, he chose to focus his Expo menu on how grains can be made more nutritious by using traditional processing methods. “For example,” he says, “sprouting, fermenting, or souring grains helps to begin the breakdown of the grains, releasing all of the stored nutrients within.”

The planned fare for the evening will include such Zingerman’s Roadhouse favorites as BBQ oysters, goat cheese canapés with bacon-pepper jam, and fried green tomatoes. Entrées will include pulled pork served with Appalachia red grits and braised mustard greens, and planked river trout served with roasted potatoes and sautéed kale. And, in keeping with his emphasis on grains, Chef Alex will prepare a traditional New Mexico posole soup made with corn processed using the ancient nixtamal method, buttermilk-graham bread made with soured grain, and a salad made with soured, parched, and sprouted oats.

Chef Alex will have a full kitchen staff at his disposal at the James Beard American Restaurant, as well as the familiar help from San Street Chef Ji Hye Kim, and Ethan Young (Alex’s son), who works in the Zingerman’s Roadhouse kitchen.

If you happen to be in Milan this September, please stop in an say hello! 

Twice the fun!

Zingerman’s is celebrating Cinco de Mayo with two tasty events next week that will bring a little bit of Mexican sunshine to the Mitten.

Cinco de Mayo Cocktail Class at Cornman Farms: Terrific Tequila

Tequila is a truly unique liquor distilled from the agave plant and made only in certain regions of Mexico. This spirit is at once sweet, peppery, grassy, and spicy. It can be smooth, dynamic, complex and invigorating. Tequila is the spirit of Mexico, literally and figuratively! Tequila is great in lively and refreshing cocktails and pairs well with complex, spicy foods in a way that most liquors simply can’t. On Tuesday, May 5, 7pm, we’ll explore this liquor that is both exotic and familiar to the American bar scene. We’ll learn about the history of tequila and different varieties of the liquor. We’ll make three distinct cocktails; each will highlight tequila in a different way. We’ll also enjoy farm-fresh snacks created by our own talented culinary team. Guests will end the evening with recipes and the know-how to craft these tasty tequila cocktails at home.

Reserve your seat here

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Cinco de Mayo Dinner at Zingerman’s Roadhouse

Join the Roadhouse for a journey into the Mexican State of Campache. Located in the Yucatan Pennisula, Campeche has long been referred to as the lesser-known jewel of the peninsula, with its lush fish markets and intermingling of Spanish, Mayan and Mexican cultures.

Roadhouse Chef Bob Bennett, a longtime Roadie and student of Mexican culture, takes us on a stroll through the streets of Campeche with stories of Campechano culture, Mayan history and of course, food.

MENU

APPETIZERS
Calamares Rellenos
fried calamari stuffed with smoked sausage
Camarones en Chilimole
shrimp served with a charred chili sauce

SOUP
Sopa de Lima
chicken and lime soup

ENTRÉE
Pompano en Verde
fresh-caught pompano served with a tomatillo and parsley sauce
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Carne el Pastor
pineapple and chili marinated sliced pork loin

SIDES
Chile Tamulado
Arroz Negro

DESSERT
Flan de Manzana del Anacardo
cashew apple custard

Reserve your seat here

See you soon!