Tag Archives: coffee shops

Delaware, Traveling

The Unexpected Foodie … or not, in a familiar place

Was it really a surprise that food would become the primary attraction on a series of travel adventures in which social activities had to be mostly secondary? I guess not, but it still took me by surprise. While back in Delaware for the first time in nearly a year, and the longest time in 7 years, I wasn’t able to go to my former workplace for a purely social visit, but I was able to get that cup of coffee, that quesadilla, that blondie … and of course, that sales tax free item or two.

Older times of personal state representation!

            Let’s look at that cup of coffee. Brew HaHa wasn’t even my favorite place to go when I lived in the neighborhood. It must have been sometime after I left the ‘hood that the Yin/Yang, a tasteful mix of white and dark mocha, became a must-have drink. So it took a top place on the growing list of “items I must consume while back in Delaware” pretty much from its establishment. This time, Brew HaHa was dutifully one of the first places I hit up … only to find it a shell of itself, with the spacious interior relegated to glorified storage area, and emphasis placed upon online rather than in-person ordering. I got the hang of the system, and eventually was rewarded with a well-timed free beverage on my last visit of the stay. I also noticed the regular barista had learned my name, presumably from reading the slip that she attached to the drink as it was placed to claim, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her I was leaving town.

            And about that blondie. This was also not a new item on the list. The Centerville Café (or is Montchanin Fine Foods?) could be easy to miss or dismiss. In fact, the sandwich I had from them was a major disappointment among my dining out food choices of this Delaware stay. But the blondie is a classic, and hopefully always will be. Key features include NO NUTS, a decent size, and a fresh out of the box emphasis on flavor. At one time I thought the blondies were trucked in from somewhere else, but now I feel they are original.

            You can’t forget the quesadilla. Or the burrito. Or anything else from El Diablo. A proud export of the Wilmington area, yet comfortably staying close to its roots, the small chain was even smaller when I first knew it. Now they have several locations, but the one I had frequented is one of the originals. And, happily, the taste remains the same. It seems hard to believe that a Spanish food item in DELAWARE would be as good as it might be in CALIFORNIA, but I realized the key at El Diablo is their emphasis on natural and not embellished ingredients. I would have gone back on other occasions, but my stomach was well-filled after a single meal.

            Let’s take a detour to the focaccia bread. And back up to Massachusetts, the home state, where a medium-sized statewide group of chain restaurants was born. I was unaware that Not Your Average Joe’s had foraged into the mid-Atlantic, yet pleased when I noticed their logo on the edge of a shopping plaza I had once frequented. They offered outdoor dining and that sealed the deal for a family visit there on a Friday night. As mentioned, the focaccia bread was the main attraction and it did neither disappoint nor negatively affect the memory of previous bites, filled with just the right amount of seasoning and olive oil. The entrée also lived up to the high standards of the bread. On this visit the choice was a stir fry that managed to have enough flavor to not seem bland or over-cooked.

            And since we’re on the subject of chains, a nod is due to my series of visits to the local Starbucks, mostly for a vanilla latte, but once or twice for something else. Before this trip, I’d actually been moving away from the flavored lattes, but it seems the specialty flavors (hello, pumpkin!) lured me back for now. The consistency of the visits – I ended up alternating days between Starbucks and Brew HaHa – also sent me back to a past habit of compiling exact change for the order I would be choosing. A process made easier by lack of sales or meals tax, so the $4.45 for the venti option would be just that. Looking at that routine now, a few weeks later, makes it more apparent that it was mostly one of circumstantial than actual enjoyment or delight. I went to Starbucks because I could (I can’t in my present living arrangement) and not necessarily because it was something I would be doing all the time in another setting. Nonetheless, it was the right choice for that moment.

The coffee comparing actually peaked after my return to Massachusetts.

            I drove away from Delaware with a sudden and surprised realization that I hadn’t been on a highway for at least a 10 day period. It was clear that I’d focused well on what the surrounding neighborhood and surroundings offered, from a culinary, social and exploratory based perspective.

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Michigan, Movies, School, Theatre

Focusing in on the Minutiae

Some blogs do a great job of focusing in on the little details, the big moments in their author’s memories that seem to stand out in their author’s memories. Or maybe they have been embellished for detail and only the author knows the truth. In any case, this is a detail that I feel like my writing is only periodically successful with, and it’s something I’d like to work on. So I present this entry in a deliberately more active style.

Today, the Monday before Thanksgiving break, had that “ehh…” feeling that most Mondays tend to have. It was likely amplified for a variety of reasons, including our impending time off from the academic calendar (which will start tomorrow night for me), the sense of just hanging around after my midday class concluded, and, broadly, Michigan’s sudden shift back into winter weather this weekend, with up to a foot of snow in some parts of the state, and a relatively mild dusting here in metro Detroit.

Two brief interactions over the course of my day (which hasn’t ended yet, so there could be more!) made me feel like I had an invisible “(YOU CAN) TALK TO ME!” stamp on my face.

A recent morning view from Tim Horton's

A recent morning view from Tim Horton’s

In the first instance, I ordered my usual beverage at my on-the-way-to-work Tim Horton’s (where I’ve just recently crossed over into being “a familiar customer”), and an older man in his 40’s or 50’s was sitting near the counter. He suddenly started talking to me about gas prices and how it is notable that Michigan prices have recently fallen to around $1.75 per gallon or higher (which completes a cycle of up then down that started at the beginning of this calendar year.) I replied with some standard conversation and seemed to surprise him when I said the lowest gas prices I remember are around 89 cents per gallon in the late 1990’s.

I’d also like to note my impressed feeling that this Tim Horton’s location is often a hangout for US-Canadian Border Patrol officers.

In the second instance, I’m in my work elevator, which is generally the usual spot for awkward silences, since it draws a mixture of faculty and students. The fellow passenger actually engaged me in conversation, and I don’t remember what it was about! I do remember a similar instance sometime last week where the elevator briefly stopped in its path and seemed to be deciding whether to actually get stuck or continue, (it did proceed) – but the next day, the power went out in the building for at least an hour, and I wondered if that was a precursor.

Maple Theatre

Visiting the Bloomfield Great Lakes Coffee (inside the Maple Theatre), January 2015

A detailed blog post could be written about the venue where I am writing at this moment, known as the Great Lakes Coffee Company. It is a small chain of fair trade coffee shops in the metro Detroit region, and this location also has a beer and wine license. In the past I have enjoyed another of their locations adjacent to The Maple Theatre in Bloomfield Hills, where I took the picture displayed here at one of their very classy jazz evenings, but it is no longer as convenient a trip for me in my current living arrangement.

Nonetheless, this location on Woodward Avenue in Detroit could easily be seen as a hipster capital of Detroit, and I once heard it referred to as “capital of the New Detroit” (though I forget who or what said that) – meaning that the people who have flocked to Detroit within the past 5 years are more likely to turn up here than long-time residents. A friend says that the venue once served as a music club, and it’s easy to see its roots with exposed brick walls and rough hardwood floors. For a time I felt like I was watching the place change, as it instituted an awkward reserved seating policy involving hosts and table service, and seemed to want to deliberately elevate itself to a fast-casual type of place. I also felt like I didn’t particularly want to associate with that “new Detroit” energy (although I admit I could be seen as part of that same crowd) coming here and being seen, just because.

But … things seem more relaxed this time around, and it’s only the second or third time I’ve been here since returning to Detroit for the school year. I can’t tell if this is a permanent relaxation or increased comfort among the venue itself, but I think it does warrant a return visit sometime down the road.

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