A Visit to Michigan's Farm Garden

This is, perhaps, my favorite exhibit at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. I have never lived in a farm, but I have romanticized about the experience of being one with one's environment. Walking through the farm's garden's, barnyard, and farm house is worth the price of admission if this was the only exhibit you have to see.

Below is the description of Michigan's Farm Garden from the Meijer Garden's website along with more photos I took of the farm.

"Michigan's Farm Garden is reminiscent of a 1930's family farm. The farmhouse, barn, gardens, sugar shack and animal pens are reminders of a bygone era when the land supplied the family with groceries and income, a time when every family member helped with chores.

Central to the Michigan's Farm Garden is the 1880's farmhouse. It is a three-quarters scale model of Lena (Rader) Meijer's childhood home. The wrap-around porch has rocking chairs for visitors to reminisce and escape from the summer heat. The windmill was an important feature on the farm, supplying water and powering other machinery. Restored to its original glory, the windmill is from the Rader family farm.

The century-old barn was moved from it's original site with the help of Amish craftsmen. Awarded "2005 Barn of the Year" by the Michigan Barn Preservation Network, the barn remains a symbol of a vanishing way of life.

Farm animals are represented by bronze sculptures. Pigs, goats, sheep and horses all played a role in keeping the family clothed and fed. Do you recall stump fences along farm fields? We have them in bronze at Michigan's Farm Garden.

The vegetable gardens and flower beds are dedicated to heirloom varieties – open pollinated types used for more than 50 years. Appearance and short shelf-life of fruits and vegetables were not important to the 1930's farm. The well-tended bounty was grown for quality in flavor and much was used fresh. Nothing went to waste; great emphasis was placed on preserving, canning and storing food for the whole year."

Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar, Washington, D.C.

arugula salad - black trumpet mushrooms, pecorino, pine nuts, red wine P3 vinaigrette

I love stumbling into restaurants I have never been to or heard of when I travel. Such was the case for Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar on Capitol Hill. It was well past 1 PM and the entire Aquino clan and some friends were all starving and ready to take a break from the sweltering DC heat.

The interiors of Sonoma has clean lines and a comforting ambiance. The wine bar dominates the first floor main dining
room. The restaurant has a wonderful event space upstairs complete with soft seating for up to 175 guests.

We chose Sonoma partly for its mission of using the best naturally-raised ingredients and locally sourced products. I can always learn from these visits and see what we could implement in six.one.six restaurant back in Grand Rapids.

The food reminded me a lot of Chez Panisse in Berkeley. From the Arugula Salad with trumpet mushrooms that tasted like it was just plucked from the backyard garden to the house-made Spaghetti with garlic, ricotta and egg yolk. I ordered the Stuffed Calamari with potato, salumi and squid ink aioli, and to my surprise, my son Jules loved it and we had to order him another portion. My good friend Luigi ordered the Mushroom "burger" with hand cut fries which was nourishing as it was filling despite not having a slab of beef in between the buns.

You can count that I will be back in Sonoma on my next trip to DC. Hopefully, when the weather is a bit cooler.

the wine bar

house made spaghetti - ricotta, garlic, egg yolk, oregano, black pepper

stuffed calamari - potato, salumi, lemon, squid ink aioli

mushroom "burger" - grilled onions & hand cut fries

the long banquette seating

smashburger: No Ordinary Burger Joint

Secret "Vegas" style smashburger

I really don't frequent chain restaurants. A couple of times a year; mostly  on the road when there are not a lot options in the middle of rural America. Once a year, I would crave a Big Mac meal, but that's about it. Now, things would be different if there was an In-N-Out burger in Michigan - the one chain that I love.  However, there is a new "kid" in town and that frequency might have to increase because this chain is worth the trip.

Smashburger officially opened its 110th restaurant in Grand Rapids in July; the chain's first in the Grand Rapids area. I
was fortunate enough to be invited to the press sneak peak at its Medical Mile location. In fact, you can see from my receipt that I was smashburger's first customer (hey, I thought that was cool)! Expecting another "burger," I was surprised to see fresh Angus beef patties (same day delivery) and options galore to customize each burger. SB also emphasizes the local culture by featuring a Michigan Olive Burger and a Michigan Cherry BBQ sauce. Each SB location offers a local signature dish.

I ordered a Create Your Own burger with grilled onions and a fried egg which was beautifully presented in a metal mesh tray. The burger was seasoned perfectly, and along with my toppings, made for one delicious meal. The counter attendant coerced me into ordering the Sweet Potato Fries which was equally good.

Tom Ryan, the founder of smashburger was on hand to introduce his creation to his hometown. Tom is a graduate of West Catholic High School and Michigan State University. He invited me to "smash" my own burger in the kitchen to really see the quality of preparation that happens with each burger. Each patty is literally smashed for ten seconds to cook the burger surface evenly. There is no shortcut to the method.

Tom also brought out their humungous Michigan Harvest Salad Bowl and SB's secret 'Las Vegas" style smashburger. Let's just say that either would be sufficient for your entire meal for the day.

While I don't plan on visiting the hospital food court soon, I am anticipating the opening of the next smashburger on East Beltline and 28th street (former Blockbuster video). Good things are always worth the wait.

smashburger Medical Mile
25 Michigan Street

First Smashburger inside the Medical Mile Food Court

My Smashburger with Sweet Potato Fries

Smashburger with Fried Egg

Michigan Harvest Salad with Grilled Chicken

First customer!

Founder Tom Ryan, a West Catholic and MSU grad

Each Smashburger is "smashed" for 10 seconds

Hercules Restaurant- Saugatuck

Grey Goose Martini at Hercules

Hercules is my new favorite hangout in Saugatuck. You have to get past the name of the restaurant. There is nothing herculean about this garden restaurant tucked away from the bustling sidewalks of this artsy community. In fact, Hercules is cozy and intimate and a delightful setting for  drinks or dinner with friends. A group of us took the 45-minute drive from Grand Rapids to Saugatuck; finding ourselves spending a good four hours in conversation, martini's and indulging in small plates. Later on, two other friends joined us for a drink, and to our delight, they

picked up our entire four-hour tab. If that isn't a herculean task, I don't know what is. It's good to have wonderful friends.

The backyard garden

Jimmy, Sin, Marike, Elena and me

Check-In: CityFlatsHotel - Grand Rapids

Check-In: CityFlatsHotel, Grand Rapids

The Scenario: My wife and I invited a Dutch friend(from Netherlands) who works in the Caribbean to the cozy CitySen Lounge at the hotel to start off our weekend this past Friday night. My good friend Jimmy happened to be dining with another friend, Chip, so we joined them. I contacted my friend Sin, who was dining in six.one.six at the JW, to join us. Sin brought two people with him. Another friend, Bonzi, happened to call Jimmy from The BOB, so he
joined us with his girlfriend Shelly and their entourage of four friends. We were later joined by friends Nick and Ashley after they called Chip. Forget the fact that between our group, we had other friends sitting in the bar, in booths and friends who happened to just walk-by the lounge. What was meant to be a chill-night at a new establishment, turned out to be quite the get-together of friends and new acquaintances.

The Vibe: CFGR evokes a more personal charm than its sister property in Holland. The designer did a wonderful job of creating an inviting space out of a small footprint. CFGR reminds me a lot of the boutique hotels you may discover in Zurich, Amsterdam and Berlin. The lounge itself, with its illuminated bar, exposed brick walls, booth seatings and outdoor terrace, is stylized to reflect a hotel in a younger urban center. The staff in the lounge were friendly and accommodating and were gracious enough to offer our party a room tour. The rooms are smartly appointed with glass showers, flat screens, cork floors and bathroom fixtures worth photographing (as you can see below). CFGR is a very cool place and MHL highly recommends staying here.

Bonus Points: LEED certified, sidewalk terrace, original "FOX" jewelers sign behind the bar, good small plates, friendly staff, modern rooms, and nice touches with the interiors such as warm lighting, layout design and bathroom sinks.

Tweak: dim lighting in the lounge (they are working on adding dimmers), intentional music program, better task chair in guest room, scenting, flatscreens in rooms we toured were not optimal for bedside viewing.

CityFlatsHotel - Grand Rapids
83 Monroe Center NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
616.608.1720
cityflatshotel.com

28 Guest Rooms; starting at $149