s'mores, sandwiches, and cupcakes

Last night, a friend and I got together for s'mores and a movie at the Michigan Theater, an historic theater on campus. We saw Vicky Christina Barcelona, which I recommend. So, the theater is pretty cool and the interior is like a live theater with a stage, not a movie theater. I am definitely glad that we checked it out.

I spent my last day in Ann Arbor ducking in and out of art galleries downtown. Lots of paintings, pottery, and art that I cannot afford. In a couple of the galleries, the artists were staffing the front desks so I got to chat with them.

So, my favorite sandwich places ever: The Big 10 in Minneapolis, the Meeting Street Cafe in Providence, and now Zingerman's, this popular deli in Ann Arbor. So, here's a strange thing about myself: I don't like to make sandwiches. I will spend embarassingly (is that a word?) lengthy amounts of time baking and cooking, but I hate making sandwiches. I have a friend who, when she eats out, refuses to order sandwiches because these are something that she can easily make at home. I, however, am completely the opposite: rarely will I ever put anything between two slices of bread. I love sandwiches, especially when other people make them for me. So, even though Zingerman's garners rave reviews and several people told me to give it a try, no arm twisting was necessary.

Zingerman's was busy, which was to be expected on a Saturday afternoon. In addition to the deli, Zingerman's has a coffeehouse and a store where it sells pastas, olive oils, gourmet condiments, and baked goods. (Oh, and it is supposed to have an excellent selection of chocolate bars, but I was too focused on the cheese and bread samples to give them a try.) It boasts a friendly staff eager to help and offer samples. Below, you stand in line and place your order; then you head outside or next store to the coffeehouse to take a seat and wait for someone to bring your food. The great customer service keeps everything organized and running smoothly to ensure an experience that could otherwise be very chaotic and unpleasant.

Outside, there were a couple of food tents. Here, I sampled freshly made mozzarella, salami, prosciutto, and bread and olive oil.

The service was quick, and the staff easily found me, patiently and eagerly waiting for my food. Although Zingerman's has a huge selection of sandwiches, it did not take me long at all to decide upon the Reuben- corned beef, Switzerland Swiss cheese, sauerkraut & Russian dressing on grilled, hand-sliced Jewish rye bread. In a NYC Slow Food corned beef taste-test, a panel of judges that included Mario Batali and Jeffrey Steingarten, voted Zingerman's the Best of Show. (Uh, I think I just plagiarized from the website) Why would I order anything else?

The sandwich is huge! (This is the small- I can't imagine what a regular looks like) It was so, so good. Even though it was stuffed with meat, sauerkraut, and cheese, eating it was not nearly as messy or as difficult as I had anticipated. I would have liked to have tried out Zingerman's baked goods (a friend recommended the chocolate cake-but it was rumored to be the size of my head), but I had no room for dessert, so I bought a chocolate chip cookie to eat later. Dubbed the "funky chunky chocolate cookie," Zingerman's chocolate chip cookie did not disappoint. LD recommended that I try the cookie (for my chocolate chip cookie mission research, of course), and I'm glad that I heeded his advice. This cookie was full of bittersweet Belgian chocolate chunks and toasted walnuts in an all-butter batter. Soft, chewy, wonderful. After my adventure at Zingerman's, I stopped at Cake Nouveau.
The chef and owner is a trained artist, and Cake Nouveau specializes in wedding cakes and special event cakes. They sell cupcakes (with rotating weekly flavors) in this small, intimate, and very cute store. It had a good vibe, and the employee who helped me out was very nice. The chef/owner has won some cake challenge competitions on the Food Network, so it is no surprise that the cupcakes and cakes on display were absolutely beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.

It seems as though cupcakes are all the rage now, and normally I don't cave in and buy them in bakeries, no matter how delicious they may appear. I think that bakeries trick its customers: it spends too much time making food look really good and not enough time making sure it tastes good. So, I tend not to buy baked goods because the critical pessimist in me is sure that I'll be disappointed. (plus, the cupcake snob in me believes that I can do better) Well, I'm glad that I broke this guideline today. I chose the Chocolate Truffle cupcake. I was not sure what to expect; I kind of expected the cupcake to taste mediocre, only because I did not think it was possible for something to look good and taste good. I was wrong. This cupcake was moist and oh so chocolate-y, with a light and fluffy chocolate buttercream frosting. Clearly, the chef makes sure that her cakes and cupcakes look and taste impressive. This was absolutely fabulous. My only complaint? That I did not discover this place earlier!

So, that wraps up my trip to Ann Arbor, and I am headed back to Southern California tomorrow morning. I cannot believe how fast this past month flew by!