Since Mediteran (the original, not the amazing and recently reopened Café Mediteran) closed its doors downtown a number of years ago, a very specific void has existed. I want to find myself in a café where I don’t understand all of the words on the menu, where I can sip a dark, thick espresso paired with an achingly decadent dessert, and where the décor is charmingly off-kilter, a far cry from the quotidian fake plants and wicker baskets that you find in every whitewashed chain restaurant.
Making a side dish for a holiday get together is a rite of the season, and one for which we should be grateful. Because if you aren’t making the sides, you might be roasting some poor bird, or a soy-based approximation of some poor bird.
A BACKSTAGE PASS WITH THIS YEAR’S WINNERS
Social Sloth Bakery & Café has been cooking up delicious Turkish goods since opening amid the all-time tumultuous year that was 2020. Despite launching in troubling times, the quaint eatery has amassed many fans thanks to its cozy, friendly atmosphere and its unique offerings inspired by the Turkish heritage of Burcay and Aybars Gunguler, the husband-and-wife duo behind Social Sloth.
THE TOP OF THE TOWN: A BACKSTAGE PASS WITH THIS YEAR’S WINNERS
Each year, the Top of the Town contest highlights just how much delicious food Lansing restaurants have to offer. In every category there is a hard fought battle between the capital city’s finest culinary wizards. We’ve gathered some choice plates from a handful of the winning contestants. Just try to avoid drooling all over this scree.
New in Town
In the spirit of this special issue’s celebration of the Top of the Town victors, this New in Town column will look at the top three vote-getters for this year’s Best New Restaurant award. These restaurants have all begun to make their mark in Greater Lansing.
Kabocha, also known as the Japanese pumpkin, is a versatile and delicious winter squash. The flavor is starchy and sweet, with a firm body that can handle being cooked many ways, from tempura-fried to roasted to steamed to sweet purees. The seeds are plump. The hard skin is edible. The squash experience is complete.
I would have been OK with it if they were stealing our squash to feed their families, but it wasn’t the case. One of the thieves had a buttercup squash and the other what looked like a sunshine, both $4 sized. With no time to hide the squash as we drove up, they scurried away sheepishly while we checked the cash box, which was empty, at which point they turned tails and ran.
NEw in Town
If you’ve been craving something radically different from the usual routine of pizzas and burgers, there’s a new restaurant in downtown East Lansing with a diverse menu that might satisfy your urge.
More about food!
