With Special Guest, author Jim Northrup
$45/dinner
Special Dinner #96

Jim Northrup, Native American storyteller and author lives on the Fond du Lac reservation in Minnesota.  His writing is imbued with day-to-day reflections of life on the reservations and suffused with humor and political allusion. Jim writes the syndicated column Fond du Lac Follies and his books include Walking the Rez Road and The Rez Road Follies.  In order to give Jim adequate time to share stories, poems and speak about life, we will begin this evening early, and start with a short talk.

Also present will be Margaret Noori and Howard Kimewon, both teachers of Ojibwe at U of M, will speak about traditional Native American life, which means following the seasons, preparing, collecting, storing and preserving the harvest to use across the year.  The menu for this Native American dinner, crafted by James Beard-nominated Chef Alex Young will explore two harvests that possess cultural significance for the Native American tradition, rice and corn.

MENU:

Starter:

Smoked Duck & Blueberries

Soup:

Mandaamin (Howard Kimewon’s Corn) & Bacon

Entree:

Grilled Venison

or

Grilled Perch

Sides:

Manoomin (Jim Northrup’s Hand-Picked Rice)

Roasted Sweet Squash

Dessert:

Corn & Maple Pudding

$45/dinner
Special Dinner #95

James Beard-nominated Chef Alex Young began a garden 5 years ago now as a way to spend more time with his family and also make really great food.  They way he describes it, there was an added excitement in serving a special to guests which you not only cooked, but also grew, yourself.  Today, Chef Alex’s Garden is a full-fledged farm, growing over 130 varieties of more than 27 types of vegetables.  What began as a plot of heirloom tomatoes has doubled in size each year and now includes livestock such as pigs and cattle.

Cornman Farms has a passion for full-flavor and taste plays a big part in what plants are chosen to grow. Varieties are chosen for their flavor and their ability to thrive in the midwestern climate, then they are properly cared for by us. Throughout the growing season, vegetables are prepared and served just hours after being picked.

The late summer finds the farm and our menu awash in the colors of the harvest.  Tomato plants are yielding almost a hundred pounds daily of sunny orange-yellow, brilliant red, luscious green, and deep, dark purple fruits.  Lipstick peppers are a blaze of fiery red, and green kale, squash, carrots, radishes and potatoes fill out the spectrum.

MENU:

Appetizers:

“U-Pick” Radishes

Mini BLT’s

Stuffed Cabbage

Pickled Beets & Blue Cheese

Fried Farro & Squash Ravioli’s

Alex’s Tomato Bar

Mozzarella, basil & olive oil

Salads:

Celery Salad

Dill-Garlic Pickles

Entrees:

Wood-Fired Bratwurst

Lamb Stuffed Hungarian Peppers

Turkey & Potato Dumplings

Grilled Tuna Stuffed Genovese Tomato

Sides:

Grilled Kale

Roasted Carrots

Roasted Potatoes

Breads:

Potato-Dill Bread

Roasted Pepper & Cheshire Cheese Bread

Desserts:

Blueberry Crumble

Fried Apple Pies

Upside Down Peach Cake

$45/dinner
Special Dinner #94

James Beard-nominated Chef Alex Young began a garden 6 years ago now as a way to spend more time with his family and also make really great food.  They way he describes it, there was an added excitement in serving a special to guests which you not only cooked, but also grew, yourself. What began as a plot of heirloom tomatoes has doubled in size each year and now includes livestock including pigs, cattle, chicken and lambs.

Cornman Farms has a passion for full-flavor and taste plays a big part in what plants are chosen to grow.  Varieties are chosen for their complexity of flavor and ability to thrive in Michigan’s climate and then properly cared for by us. Throughout the growing season, vegetables are prepared and served just hours after being picked.

The flagship of the summer harvest and long-time passion of the Roadhouse are the heirloom tomatoes, which star in this dinners’ menu.  The focal point of this dinner is a raw tomato bar, which allows guests to sample each variety of heirloom tomato grown at Cornman Farms in order to compare the flavors and complexities of each one.

Menu

Starters & Salads

Heirloom Tomato Bar
Fresh Mozzarella
Tuscan Bread Salad
Zucchini Salad
Grilled Summer Succotash Salad
Wheat Berry Salad

Entree

Fresh Grilled Tuna Stuffed Tomatoes
Spring Lamb
Beef Kabobs
Pastured Chicken Sausage
Eggplant & Farro Lasagna with Pink Sauce
Candied Onions

Bread

Wheat Rolls

Dessert

Blueberry Cobbler
Peaches & Bourbon
Green Tomato Pie

$60/dinner (3 crabs and buffet-style sides)

Jennifer Elrod, one of our Front-of-House Managers, can’t wait to share this mid-summer coastal tradition with you.  Growing up in Ann Arbor, Jennie’s family vacationed every year in Maryland.  Nightly, her family dined at the same seaside locales, each smelling of Old Bay (THE signature spice of the region) and salt water. After long days at the shore they’d sit at makeshift tables covered in brown paper while crabs came steaming to tables on cafeteria trays.

Jennie’s hope is to recreate the community atmosphere of those seaside restaurants. Chef Alex will cook plenty of Maryland Blue crabs and lots of traditional sides.  We’ll be doing crab-picking demonstrations, so you won’t need to worry about never having picked a crab before. Join us for this traditional coastal feast.

MENU

Entree:

CRABS-CRABS-CRABS
Melted Butter & Lemons

Sides:

Corn on the Cob
Baked Beans
Potato Salad
Tomato Salad
Cole Slaw

Bread:

Parker House Rolls
Corn Muffins

Dessert:

Lady Baltimore Cake
Sponge Cake with Orange Icing
Tapioca Pudding with Berries