Rowster New American Coffee | Grand Rapids, MI

Rowster New American Coffee (Facebook / @RowsterCoffee)
632 Wealthy St. SE (map it!)
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
(616) 780-7777
Open Mon-Fri, 7a-7p; Sat, 8a-8p; Sun 9a-5p
Accepts cash & credit/debit

Date of Visit: Saturday, December 29, 2012 at 11:00 a.m.

My hometown of Grand Rapids just keeps getting cooler and cooler. Why does this always happen after you leave somewhere? Following a breakfast at nearby Trillium Haven in Grand Rapids, we were in the mood for a little more coffee. We had noticed on Trillium’s menu that they served Rowster coffee, and when we asked our server about it she told us the roaster was just down the road. Very fitting for Trillium’s locally-driven menu.

We found Rowster’s corner storefront down Wealthy Street, a budding, brick-lined district that’s quickly filling in with new shops, bakeries, a theatre, and restaurants. Rowster has taken up a solid place in the neighborhood; their decor is a mix of old building wood floors and plus angular metallic accents.

The whole space has a very casual, open feel to it. There’s nothing of the tightly organized coffee shop tables with plugs for every laptop. Instead, there’s a high counter in the window, a short one overlooking the actual roaster (a clear centerpiece of the space), then a long bench against the right wall with polished wood stumps for tables. There’s no menu scrolled in chalk on the wall – you simply amble up to the counter and a barista asks what you’d like. If you’re not well versed in coffee shop menus, you might be at a loss for words. Or you just have to be bold enough to ask, “What do you serve?” The answer is that they serve the coffee roaster basics: shots of espresso, cappuccino, machiato, pour-over brews, and the like.

While you wait, you can browse the extensive shelves of bagged coffee, the brewing equipment that’s for sale, the small line-up of baked goods, or the charming collection of glasses holds spoons, sugar, stir sticks.

Coffee beans are available by the pound as well.

Their branding is pretty solid. I’m told this is called a propaganda-style: bold, square lettering, stars, patriotic coloring. It’s everywhere: the mugs, the coffee bags, the wall, the outdoor signage.

Except for their to-go cups, it would seem.

My wife and I ordered just a couple drinks. She had a cappuccino and dubbed it very good, while I tried a pour-over of their daily roast. They use a Chemex pour-over, which is one of the best methods for highlighting a coffee’s flavor profile. I forget the exact origin of the beans they brewed for me, but the result was – like every pour-over I’ve had – a rich array of flavors, foremost of which was a dark cherry or blueberry. I love the reminder that my cup of coffee originated as a berry.

Although Rowster is a younger company, they’ve established a solid brand and identity, and the busy space shows that the customers are finding them. Coffee and coffee education is at the forefront of their game, as you can see from the equipment and the highlight of their roaster in the dead center of the space. I’ve only experienced Rowster at one restaurant and at their store, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in more places around the city, and the region, soon.

Beyond Breakfast: Yesterdog | Grand Rapids, MI

In some ways, I can’t even begin to write about Yesterdog, because it’s such a major part of my upbringing. This little hot dog joint has been around since my dad was younger, so he and my aunts and uncle and grandmother remember going there long before I was born. Yesterdog is one of those decades-old institutions that every city brags on, where regulars flock regardless of how good the food really is. Oftentimes, the less complicated the food, the more people love it. Hot dogs are probably one of the least complicated of American staples, so any visit to a hot dog joint is easily justified by, “Let’s go for lunch” or “Let’s go out with the family” or “Where do we eat at 1 am?” Under that guise I’ve eaten at Yesterdog countless times: parties and family occasions growing up, late night college runs, and now nostalgic visits when we’re home.

Yesterdog is a centerpiece of Grand Rapids’ Eastown district, a budding little neighborhood with brick streets, big murals, and an eclectic mix of shops and bookstores and restaurants (including a very good breakfast at Wolfgang’s). The main entrance is a barely-visible screen door, with your first sign warning you that they are a cash (and oddly, check) only business. Seriously, don’t even ask about using a debit card.

The entryway leads into a long, crammed space facing the “kitchen.” If you’re a regular, you know to shuffle in and wait until the next employee starts taking orders. If you’re a newbie, it can be a little intimidating, because it’s typically packed and people are yelling at you. Some tips on your first visit:

1. Line up to the left if you haven’t ordered. Line up to the right if you have.

2. They’ll start with hot dogs, then do drinks and chips. Don’t even try to customize your dogs. Just order from the menu. Seriously, there are only five hotdogs. Odds are, you’ll find one you like. (Hint: they’re all good.)

3. After they’ve taken all the orders, they’ll collect payment. Remember, cash or check only. Marvel at the employees adding up your order in their heads (I’ve never seen them get it wrong), and then they’ll ring you up at the old cash register complete with real “cha-ching” sound.

While you wait, see if you can sink some coins in the tip jar (upper right corner, above). You can begin taking in all the retro decorations and passive-aggressive signage. The small space is crammed full of them.

5. Remember your order. They make giant trays of hot dogs all at once and bring them to the counter to divvy up into orders. They’ll ask you what you had, so don’t forget.

Then take your tray laden with hot dogs (be careful not to spill your drinks – I speak from experience) and find a seat in the restaurant. Take time to absorb all of the old signs. There are multiple boards filled with photos of customers who got their pictures taken around the world or with famous people while wearing their Yesterdog T-shirts.

The service may be a little surly at times, but that’s part of the experience. If you’re concerned about absolute cleanliness or about being treated like a king while you order hot dogs, you’re in the wrong place. It’s a hot dog joint, for goodness sakes.

One of the restrooms.

The Yesterdog space hasn’t changed much over time. It boasts big wooden floors, sweeping from the front of the store to the back.

Lots of signs. Old booths. Tin ceiling.

The booths have been carved up with initials and messages over the years. It didn’t used to be like this when I was younger, but over time it started and couldn’t be stopped. I saw an interview with the owner in which he said they once tried painting and fixing the carvings up, only to have it happen again. Given that the restaurant is run by a small crew and open late into the night, it just wasn’t worth their effort to constantly repaint all of the booths. Too bad, I guess, although it adds some of the “charming” rough-around-the-edges feel.

The hot dogs themselves are boiled and the buns are steamed. The menu includes five items:

Yesterdog: chili, pickles, onion, ketchup, & mustard

Cheddardog: chili & cheese

Veggiedog: cheese, sauerkraut, onion, pickles, ketchup, & mustard

Krautdog: sauerkraut, ketchup, & mustard

Ultradog: chili, cheese, onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard

As you can see: simplicity. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn that their ingredients all come from Gordon Food Service. Nor would that stop me from visiting. Aside from the hometown comfort factor, I love these hot dogs because they’re soft and the ingredients are generously piled on. The chili has a little bite to it, the kraut is sour enough, and I love the texture of shredded dill pickles. It’s impossible NOT to make a mess of yourself when eating these (there are stacks of napkins on every table). I typically order a handful of Ultradogs, and they are always, always good. Time of day, time of year, company, occasion, doesn’t matter. I’ll always eat more of these.

Speaking of which, if anyone from Grand Rapids is headed through Ohio soon, let me know…

If you want to visit:
Yesterdog
1505 Wealthy St. SE (map it!)
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
(616) 262-3090
yesterdog.com
Also on Facebook and @Yesterdog1505
Open Mon-Sat, 10:30a-2:30a; Sun, 10:30a-9p
Cash/check only!

Beyond Breakfast: Little Africa | Grand Rapids, MI

I didn’t grow up an adventurous eater. It wasn’t until college and grad school that I began discovering world cuisines beyond Americanized Mexican or Chinese, with the occasional foray into Indian or Japanese food. And my hometown of Grand Rapids, MI isn’t exactly known (or at least wasn’t 10 years ago) as a hotbed of international cuisines. But just as my wife and I were finishing up college, a friend introduced us to a little restaurant just east of downtown called Little Africa. That’s where we first tried Ethiopian food, and it blew us away. Nearly every visit to my hometown includes a stop here to see the owner Loul Negash and enjoy a platter of his vegetarian food. His food is so incredibly rich and flavorful that eating it is almost like revisiting an addiction. I could easily consider Little Africa one of my favorite restaurants of all time.

Saying that sets the bar high, so maybe I should add that hometown restaurants tend to have a special place in my heart. So there’s a comfort factor that other places just can’t replicate. The Little Africa is simple and quiet, a single room with a few rows of booths. Ethiopian music (I’m assuming) plays quietly over the speakers. Loul clatters around in the back.

Every meal starts with tea. Loul serves other beverages, but we’ve never gotten them. Why? Because this tea is a delicious, complex, steaming, crack-laden drink of the gods. It’s hot and heavily spiced. We once tried asking him for the recipe, and he quietly deflected the question (understandably). From what we can taste, there are hints of cinnamon, clove, ginger, mint, and everything else that is delicious in this world.

This is perhaps one of the most beautiful sites in the (culinary) world to me: a fresh platter of Little Africa’s vegetarian fare (they only serve vegetarian dishes, although a lot of Ethiopian cooking does involve meat. But just look at it. The colors. The textures. The variety. Different legumes and vegetables and spices. I couldn’t tell you the name of a single one of these dishes; we just tell Loul that we’d like the vegetarian platter, and he brings out enough for the number of diners. But I know that there are dishes made with lentils, peas, injera, grape leaves, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, beets. We’ve had items made with pumpkin, too. Probably my favorite of the bunch is the dark orange/brown pile, just above center. It’s made with shredded injera mixed with a fairly hot spice.

Ethiopian food is eaten with your hands. Before the meal, Loul brings out small plastic bowls with a pinkish liquid: a lightly soapy concoction in which you wash your hands. The food is served on top of a bread called injera, made by fermenting teff flour, a grass that’s indigenous to Ethiopia. Injera is moist and spongy and a little bit sour. You tear off pieces of it and scoop up the food.

Ethiopian food is rich with spices and oils, so by the end of the meal the injera is soaked, which keeps any of the deliciousness from going to waste. I have never not left an empty plate for Loul to clean. I simply can’t. There is always more room in my stomach; my tastebuds are always eager for another a bite. My family still makes fun of me for the one time I polished off the leftovers by rolling the injera into a burrito and downing it. But I stand by my decision.

We’ve had other good Ethiopian food, but nothing has come close to Little Africa. Perhaps, because it was our first foray into the cuisine, it automatically became the standard by which we judge all similar fare. Regardless, this food has such special meaning to us, to the point that I think it has healing properties.

If you want to visit (and trust me, you do):
Little Africa
956 E. Fulton St. SE (map it!)
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
(616) 222-1169

The Koffee Kuppe | Fremont, MI

The Koffee Kuppe (Facebook)
46 W. Main St. (map it!)
Fremont, MI 49412
(231) 924-1046
Open Mon-Fri, 6:30a-10p; Fri, 7a-9p; Sat, 8a-9p
Accepts cash & credit/debit

Date of Visit: Wednesday, July 31, 2012 at 10:00 a.m.

IMPRESSIONS: Chalk this up as one of those simple, I-just-had-to blog posts. But I’m always excited to find THAT coffee shop, the one that’s bustling with activity, filled with locals, and smack dab in the middle of a smaller downtown.

The interiors are always new and nicely appointed, and they serve the full range of coffee drinks well. On our recent vacation in western Michigan, we stayed in Fremont and enjoyed a week of boating in the lake, tubing down a river, and other good family times. While jetting around town, we stopped in Koffee Kuppe a couple times. My guilty pleasure is an iced chai with a shot of espresso, and they did this very well.

But I was surprised to find a fairly comprehensive breakfast menu, including breakfast sandwiches, burritos, and paninis. They also had a peanut butter apple crisp (PB, apples, and granola in a honey wheat wrap) and the Jam ‘N’ Bananas, with cream cheese, strawberry jam, bananas, and granola in a flour tortilla.

One fascinating bit was the omelet bar. In a coffee shop. At first it seemed like a crazy idea, but after a moment it made more sense: you load up your ingredients, just like at a salad bar, then turn them over for the kitchen to whip into an omelet. Brilliant!

Overall, Koffee Kuppe made for a welcome respite and some delicious iced coffee on a busy vacation. Always nice to discover these places!

OTHER LINKS:

The Grant Depot | Grant, MI

The Grant Depot
22 W. Main St. (map it!)
Grant, MI 49327
(231) 834-7361
Open Mon-Thurs, 5:30a-8p; Fri & Sat, 5:30a-9p; Sun, 8a-3p
Accepts cash & credit/debit
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? Y/N/N
Kid-friendly? Y

Date of Visit: Tuesday, July 30, 2012 at 9:30 a.m.

IMPRESSIONS: In case I haven’t said it before: Dekkers like trains. I could just as easily started Trains With Nick as I did with Breakfast With Nick five years ago. There’s just something so fascinating about them. They’re big and unstoppable. They’re noisy. They travel along definite paths. They’re a piece of history still rolling today.

So when the ENTIRE Dekker family is on vacation in western Michigan, and we decide to go out for breakfast, then OF COURSE we’re going to the restaurant that was an old train depot and still has active tracks running mere feet away from it.

ATMOSPHERE: The Grant Depot is housed in, well, the old Grant depot. The restaurant is packed with railroad paraphernalia: trains, lights, posters, photos, even some working equipment. (See the bottom of the post for more pictures.) They seated our large group in the upper room, although I’m not sure what was so upper about it…

…given that it was on the exact same level as the lower dining room. But I certainly won’t complain. The restaurant was busy and yet they easily accommodated a giant group like ours.

FOOD: We of course started with coffee. I love that small-town breakfast joints have the customized mugs or paper placemats with local advertising.

FOOD: With a big family, we ordered a lot of different things, so I’ll let the line-up of pictures mostly speak for themselves.

The whole meal was a curious mix of homemade plus bulk-made. Usually restaurants lean one way or the other, but Grant Depot mixed it up. Take this plate, for instance: probably frozen hash brown patties + powdered eggs. The eggs were too uniform of a consistency, from one dish to the next, to be cooked fresh.

And then there’s toast made with giant slices of homemade bread! Like I said, a confusing mix.

Country fried steak and gravy.

Side of biscuits and gravy.

French toast.

And a breakfast burrito. All pretty straightforward stuff. Nothing out of the ordinary, but nothing bad.

SERVICE: Our server was (I think) the manager, and he was nice but seemed very harried the whole time. But we liked how he designated the different families when we split up our checks. We had to wait a little while for our food – not surprising with a large group – but that afforded us time to wander outside near the train tracks. The manager said about two trains a day come through Grant. Sadly, not while we ate breakfast.

OVERALL: The Grant Depot is more remarkable for its location and decor than its food, but sometimes a fun atmosphere and good company are more important than the meal anyway. If you need a good breakfast and a history lesson and you’re near the small town of Grant, give the Depot a try. Plus, the area is perfect for vacationing!

OTHER LINKS & MORE PICTURES:

Pictured above is a still-working floor scale near the entryway of the Depot.

Sign-in book up front.

The Depot in its heyday.

Out front is an old caboose and the water tower, apparently a signature piece of history along with the Depot.

Phoenix Street Cafe | South Haven, MI

Phoenix Street Cafe 
523 Phoenix Rd. (map it!)
South Haven, MI 49090
(269) 637-3600
Open 7 days a week, 7a-9p
Accepts cash & credit/debit
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? Y/N/N
Kid-friendly? Y

Date of Visit: Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 9:15 a.m.

IMPRESSIONS: I always say that my favorite way to get to know a city is by experiencing its breakfast. Example: we’re in South Haven, Michigan for some friends’ wedding. Even though I grew up an hour north in Grand Rapids, this is only the second time I’ve been to South Haven. So it’s time to grab some breakfast. We met with a group of friends on a busy Saturday morning, and South Haven’s little beach town vibe was in full swing. Phoenix Street Cafe (oddly enough, located on Phoenix Road, according to Google Maps) is located on the main drag, a fairly small storefront amongst a variety of shops, restaurants, bars, and the like. Phoenix Street/Road leads directly to the harbor and to the South Haven beach.

ATMOSPHERE: The vibe that morning was quintessential West Michigan Saturday going-to-breakfast: people breakfasting with purpose. As you might expect, there was a line at the door and the place was packed.

Phoenix Street has chosen a lot of warm, bright colors for their cafe. The space itself feels fairly new; I’m guessing this restaurant is only a couple years old, or was recently renovated. There’s a lot of seating – although only a small waiting area – and it was all full when we visited.

A fun little detail that I liked: syrup served in an olive oil container.

Ah the small-town cafe, with their paper placemats full of local advertising. It’s always fun to read these while you wait. They give you some sense of the local businesses.

FOOD: The nice thing about eating with a big party is that you get to see and photograph more dishes. This is the sampler breakfast, with eggs, meats, potatoes, and toast.

And the mini breakfast. It seems like Phoenix Street can handle the basics well. Eggs done right, pretty good meat, potatoes seasoned nicely, wide variety of bread choices.

Here was a first for me: quinoa oatmeal! I haven’t seen that on a menu yet, although it makes perfect sense. This is the version with raisins and bananas.

And a version with raisins and cranberries. Our friends who ordered it said they liked it. Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is a very protein-rich grain.

My wife ordered the California benedict, which is essentially a benedict with avocado and some crumbled bacon. Beautifully plated and well-made, although not the most mind-blowing benedict. I think the hollandaise could have used a little more seasoning.

A friend ordered the crispy chicken sandwich from the lunch menu, Florentine style, with provolone, roasted red peppers, and artichokes, and gave it a thumbs-up.

I’m a sucker for a good chicken and waffle, especially when the menu says they’ll cover it in sausage gravy and give you a side of their homemade smoked Jack Daniels syrup. Again, beautiful plating, and all told the dish came together well: crispy chicken, the very smoky syrup, good waffle and gravy, although I do think the gravy needed a better punch of spices. That seemed to be a common problem with the food: good ingredients and plating, maybe a little more creative seasoning needed.

SERVICE: Our server was nice, although the food took quite a while to come out. Granted, we were a bigger group and the cafe was busy, but it felt inappropriately long. There’s also a little confusion at the door, where newly-arrived customers are unsure where to sign in or check in with a server. I’ve seen this problem at a number of cafes.

OVERALL: I think Phoenix Street is a solid visit if you’re in South Haven, even if there are a few misses. There’s a diverse selection of dishes, and although none of them were completely mind-blowing, there are some interesting things that don’t see everywhere: chicken and waffles with gravy, quinoa oatmeal, also some oatmeal cakes and a lox omelet. Be prepared for a big crowd and slower service on the weekends, especially if you have a big day of shopping and beach-reading planned!

OTHER LINKS:

Van’s Pastry Shoppe | Grand Rapids, MI

Van’s Pastry Shoppe (Facebook)
955 E. Fulton St. (map it!)
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
(616) 458-1637
Open Mon-Fri 6:30 am – 5:15 pm; Sat 6:00 am – 2:15 pm; closed Sunday
Accepts cash and credit cards

Date of Visit: Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 3:00 p.m.

IMPRESSIONS: Van’s Pastry Shoppe is a small pastry place in an easy-to-forget location on a busy strip of East Fulton Street in Grand Rapids. I say easy-to-forget because my wife and I have been frequenting an Ethiopian restaurant (the AH-mazing Little Africa) across the street for years, and yet have never stopped into Van’s. I think I realized only recently that it was a pastry shop – all the ceramic knick-knacks made me think it was another one of the antique shops that dot the strip. This is all a little sad, because I finally go to Van’s today, order some pastries, and read that the shop has been a family business for, oh, four generations and has been serving Dutch goodies since, oh, the 1920′s. Sheesh, Nick. Shame on you. These little neighborhood gems are the breakfast nooks I pine for.

ATMOSPHERE: Our visit to Van’s was a quick one, but even the ten minutes we spent there showed us a busy crew of four or five handling a constant stream of customers. The shop is small, with maybe ten small tables crammed together, facing the long counter. Van’s does some sandwiches, hot dogs, bread, coffee, cider, and other goods, but the pastries are clearly the featured item. The women behind the counter were all quick to take orders (kudos to them for keeping up with the customers) and get them out the door. I asked one of the girls if they were keeping busy, and she said it had been that way since they opened. Good to hear!

Oh, and don’t let the decor get to you. Van’s is absolutely packed with ceramic sculptures: all the shelves along the walls, all the shelves in the windows. Filled. Fortunately, there are some great retro items in there, so it’s fun to look through them. But don’t let the sheer amount of chotchky overwhelm the history of the place.

FOOD: We tried just two of fifty-odd pastries Van’s offered. Beth ordered a Shakespeare Curl – the standard curled puffed pastry filled with a light cream. I chose a traditional Cream Puff. As far as pastries go, they were delicious. It took us seconds to wolf them down. And I really trusted that they were baked earlier that day. Any place that’s that busy has to keep things fresh in order to feed their customers.

Beth said her Shakespeare Curl was great. I loved my Cream Puff, although it was a little crumbly. It split in the middle, where the two halves were joined around the cream. But the oozing sweet cream and the amazing chocolate on top made up for the loose construction.

SERVICE: Snappy and friendly. I wavered a bit while ordering, and let a couple people go ahead of me, but the girl behind the counter who originally asked what I wanted kept her eye on me. So when I finally did make up my mind, she stepped right in. Impressive. I would have totally forgotten in all the rush.

You can tell, too, that Van’s has its regulars, like any good breakfast or snack place that has been around for over 75 years. One customer came in, sat at a table, and lounged with his coffee. After a while he caught one of the server’s eyes and shouted a hello. She shouted right back and the two joined in conversation like old friends. “Sometimes you wanna go…”

OVERALL: I wish I had a little pastry shop like this around the corner from my house. Or maybe I don’t. Because just the smell alone – much less the good service, freakin’ delicious food, and the wide variety of hand-made pastries – would keep me returning every morning. And then I’d be fat.

OTHER LINKS:
-> a better picture of Van’s on Flickr