Wednesday, January 19,2011

Prepare to be bowled over

With choices galore, Zoup! aims to please downtown diners

by Joe Torok

Catch Zoup! at the right time during a lunch rush and you’ll have no problem understanding all those exclamation points, as soupistas shout for steaming pots from the kitchen and a bustling crowd squeezes into a line that stretches from the counter to the door.

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Wednesday, January 12,2011

Soul food with a Cajun twist

Granny Bee’s features many Southern classics, from gumbo to po’ boys

by Joe Torok

So with relatives from the likes of Yazoo City and Baton Rogue and Shreveport, La., McWright has developed a menu that intermixes regional styles of authentic Southern recipes that any Cajun ' or Creole-phile ' would love, although the heart of the menu, McWright says, is soul food.

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Thursday, January 6,2011

Adding that personal touch

Owner Ofilia Diaz takes a hands-on approach at El Burrito

by Joe Torok

Owner Ofilia Diaz took over the taqueria in early October, stepping in on a Tuesday after the previous owner called it quits on the preceding Sunday. Diaz came armed with cookies and cakes, adding sweets to an authentic menu specializing in tacos and burritos.

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Wednesday, January 5,2011

Looking Back & Looking Ahead: Dining

Cooking up changes and serving up variety

by Joe Torok

First, the moving. In January, after contentious barbs slung back and forth between vendors and developers, nostalgic citizens intent on preserving history and city managers eyeing energy costs, the new Lansing City Market opened its doors a stone’s throw closer to the Grand River.

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Wednesday, December 29,2010

Mass appeal

A Vietnamese feast in a Catholic church

by Joe Torok

Raised Catholic, I quickly realized I enjoyed two things about Sunday service: sipping wine at Communion and watching the final procession of lector, altar boys and priest march out past the congregation into the vestibule, ending the Mass. The end of Mass meant one thing: coffee and donuts.

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Wednesday, November 24,2010

Delhi Café: a family affair

by Joe Torok

Thank Zeus this country isn’t really a melting pot. If it were, with one homogenous lump remaining at the bottom of the kettle, we wouldn’t have the pleasure of experiencing our American hodgepodge, in which Greek, Mexican, Italian, Chinese and a medley of other nationalities share their cultures with the rest of us.

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Wednesday, November 17,2010

'It's gotta come from the heart'

Veteran restaurateurs combine their talents at D&L Heart and Soul

by Joe Torok

The most salient evidence of D&L Heart and Soul Café's commitment to food done right is the sausage. First of all, it's homemade, a labor-intensive detail that demonstrates this breakfast diner believes hungry people need more than platitudes and something recently thawed. Pork is gr...

Put some deli in your belly

’Meat-acular’ is the word for State Side’s specials

by Joe Torok

Owner Spencer Soka, 30, who grew up urrounded by sandwich-slinging shops in the Detroit suburbs, has tasted his way through Chicago, New York City and Philly, and he realized this area sorely lacked what he thought of as a true, red-blooded, sandwich-lovers paradise.

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Wednesday, November 3,2010

Home is where the hummus is

Familiar favorites shine in new Woody’s Oasis

by Joe Torok

With shiny new digs only 500 feet west of its former home in the Trowbridge Plaza, Woody’s Oasis is now showing off its kabobs, hummus and schawarma in style, even if it was difficult to say goodbye to an almost 25-year-old store that spawned what...

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Wednesday, October 27,2010

Wok this way

Golden Wok owner promises customers, ’I will make you happy’

by Joe Torok

Golden Wok in East Lansing kept two menus for a long time because owner Ginny Cheung wasn’t sure how receptive (or adventurous) diners would be in the Midwest. She’s been pleasantly surprised ' so much so she’s combined the two menus into one. Cheung spent nearly a year thinking about, tinkering with and finalizing the new menu.

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