Alex

san, I assume you asked about coffee shops, not coffee roasters -- is that correct?

I can't give you any specific recommendations, but you (or your wife) may want to contact the coffee shops near home or work and ask which roaster they use for their espresso beans. I was pleasantly surprised to run across a shop in K'zoo that uses (and sells) Intelligentsia beans. There also are some excellent alternatives to Illy and Intelligentsia. For example, my favorite place here in GR uses beans from Caffe D'Arte in Seattle. You also may want to contact Intelligentsia directly and see if they'll tell you which shops in your area, if any, are wholesale customers of theirs.

I think Kigma's might be it- its one of those places I just drive to without thinking about what its' name is. The one I'm thinking of is on the west side of Plainfield, and would be about a mile south of the 96 interchange. They use to be more of a produce place primarily, but now they carry a ton of international cheeses, and have made their meat department much, much larger. The Cascade Meijer just underwent a major remodel and it seems they have stepped it up another few notches when it comes to specialty meats and deli. Sadly they stopped carrying a few products I love in the international isle, and with my allergies, finding new brands is not easy- luckily other Meijers are still carrying them for now. I lucked out a couple weeks ago there when they had some of the Certified Angus Beef on sale, when they then marked it 40% off due to close date. It ended up being $1.60/lb for TriTip and another cut...so you know what my deep freezer is full of waiting for me to try out my Sous Vide setup. And at that price, even if I only use it to make ground beef, its worth it. I'll have to check Heffron out- I go to Harvest Health Food in the Cascasde/end of 28th St all the time and my doctors office just north of that shopping center. Is the Plainfield one in the shopping center right across from 96? Another thought in GR would be Forrest Hills Foods- they also have a very good meat department with real butchers. ← Yes, that's Kingma's. Some good friends of mine live just a few blocks from there. They do have a good selection of cheeses, at better prices than any other place I've shopped at in GR. They carry some nice specialty foods as well. The produce quality is variable, though. Do check out Heffron. It's on the same side of the shopping center as Harvest Health. And yes, the one on Plainfield is in the shopping center right by 96, the one with MC Sports. Come with a cooler and ice pack, as all of their products are frozen. Thanks for the Forest Hills Foods mention. I live walking distance away, so I'm there at least every other day. I generally buy only locally raised meats, organic whenever possible, so I haven't made use of their butcher service, but that's a good idea to ask them about veal bones. I do buy fish there, though. In fact, today I bought some lox and some hot-smoked salmon. The next time you're there, you should pick up a bottle of BLiS Bourbon Barrel Maple Syrup (at the deli counter) and a loaf of Little Rooster bread. Have you been to Grand River Grocery in Ada, on the south side of Ada Drive just west of Fulton? They carry Zingerman's bread and bakery items, tasty sandwiches, lots of specialty products, and a small but decent wine selection.

Might you be thinking of Van Ball's Prime Beef, between I-96 and Four Mile Rd? Or perhaps Kingma's Market, about a mile south of I-96? I'll be doing stuff on Plainfield this weekend, so I can stop by either place and ask. I live relatively close to the Cascade Meijer, so I can inquire there as well. There's also a butcher in Ada I can check with. Speaking of organic/minimally processed meats, have you ever shopped at a Heffron Farms market? There's one on Plainfield at I-96 and another in the shopping center on Cascade Rd. where 28th St. ends.

Yes, welcome and where are you? (And greetings, Sam!) As you can see, I'm in GR, which probably is not all that close to you. Maybe you, Sam, and I can meet at an equidistant point (Restaurant Villegas?). I used to get some made-from-scratch veal demi every so often from a restaurateur friend, but he no longer has his own place.

Here's an extensive Frontera Grill/Topolobampo thread. And here's an extensive non-Bayless Mexican restaurant thread. Yes, the day after Thanksgiving is crazy busy, with huge sales -- sort of like Boxing Day in Canada. Look for ads in the Tribune and Sun-Times, if you're into that sort of thing. For kitchen stuff, your hotel is walking distance from a Williams-Sonoma store on North Michigan Ave and a Sur la Table store on E. Walton, but I don't know what kind of sales they'll be running.

Her New York Times obituary From The I Hate to Cook Book: "Start cooking those noodles, first dropping a bouillon cube into the noodle water. Brown the garlic, onion and crumbled beef in the oil. Add the flour, salt, paprika and mushrooms, stir, and let it cook five minutes while you light a cigarette and stare sullenly at the sink." An eGullet thread with some posts related to the book

Umm, Thursday, Nov. 22 is Thanksgiving Day. Otherwise, the topic linked to in nsxtasy's post (and here) is a good one. In addition to the Metromix links in that thread, you also can start an Open Table search here. If your original post is accurate, and you'll indeed be in Chicago on the 23rd and 24th, then most places should be back open. Re your hotel, you can read some customer reviews at TripAdvisor.

Restaurant Bloom is moving downtown (and finally getting their liquor license).

Yes, there's lots of good stuff. This is not your father's Grand Rapids. The Green Well Naya Restaurant Bloom (Chowhound thread) Marie Catrib's (local GR web site) Bistro Bella Vita Tuscan Express (restaurant.com info) San Chez and Mezze Leo's Zeytin (Turkish food -- Chowhound thread) The Heritage at GRCC is closed next week, otherwise I'd highly recommend it. There also are various Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, etc., restaurants. Where will you be staying? Will you have a car? I'll be glad to provide more specific info and/or personal opinions and recommendations. Just ask... ← Thanks, Alex. You've given me a lot to choose from. I'm going to be at either the Amway Grand or the JW Marriott. I will have a car. I would be very interested in a good Vietnamese restaurant. ← Re Vietnamese food, a recent sort-of review in the GR Press liked Dong Phuong very much. (Take 131 South to 28th St, turn left on 28th to Division, turn right on Divi sion; restaurant is on the right.) Bistro Bella Vita, San Chez/Mezze, and Leo's are within walking distance of both hotels. Also within walking distance, on Monroe Mall, is Tre Cugini. A couple of doors from Tre Cugini is Four Friends Coffee House, with the best espresso-based beverages in the city, imho. Of course, the Amway Grand has Cygnus 27 and The 1913 Room. I haven't been to either in a long, long time, so I hesitate to comment. I forgot to mention Wealthy Street Bakery, a very short drive from downtown (on Wealthy near College). The Green Well, Restaurant Bloom, Marie Catrib's and Gaia Cafe (simple vegetarian) are close to each other and also are pretty close to downtown (Fulton to Lake Drive to Diamond/Cherry). Naya is about a 10-minute drive, Tuscan Express and Zeytin about 15. I don't know how much time or inclination you'll have for non-dining recreation, but two places to consider are the new Grand Rapids Art Museum (right by the hotels) and the spectacular Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park (allow at least 2-3 hours).

My cousins, who live in DC and are extremely fussy, er, discerning restaurant-goers, especially when it comes to seafood, love Hook. Here's some more info.

Yes, there's lots of good stuff. This is not your father's Grand Rapids. The Green Well Naya Restaurant Bloom (Chowhound thread) Marie Catrib's (local GR web site) Bistro Bella Vita Tuscan Express (restaurant.com info) San Chez and Mezze Leo's Zeytin (Turkish food -- Chowhound thread) The Heritage at GRCC is closed next week, otherwise I'd highly recommend it. There also are various Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, etc., restaurants. Where will you be staying? Will you have a car? I'll be glad to provide more specific info and/or personal opinions and recommendations. Just ask...

You're welcome. However, the posts on my Chowhound link are all from the past four months, including a moderately detailed report about Everyday People and Journeyman on July 31. You must not have found that one in your search.

Restaurants: Journeyman Cafe in Fennville Everyday People Cafe in Douglas Bistro on the Boulevard in St. Joseph The Belvedere Inn in Saugatuck LTH forum link 1 (general area) LTH forum link 2 (Journeyman Cafe) Chowhound link 1 (Saugatuck/Douglas) Sample the products at American Spoon Foods in Saugatuck. B&B: Wickwood Inn. Julee Rosso (of Silver Palate fame) and her husband own and run the place. Very expensive, but not outrageous. Here's their upcoming Food and Wine Weekend.

The closest I've been able to locate so far is Bin 36, in River North. I'd also like to hear if there are any others, especially ones that are not doing a buffet.

White truffle ice cream. Oh, yes. One of the best things I've ever eaten. I hope there's some left when Ms. Alex and I roll into town next month. Here's my post about the white truffle dinner that jesteinf, yellow truffle, and I had at S & S two years ago.

Tsuki, definitely, on Fullerton just east of Ashland. They also offer a $30 five-course prix fixe menu on Sundays Basic web site Flash web site Metromix listing

There's a terrific Tuesday night special at Opera -- $28.95 prix fixe for three courses, any items on their menu. It's at Wabash and 13th, which is very close to your hotel. There still should be a good coat selection; you may even catch the tail end of post-Thanksgiving sales. Sometimes there's a bargain to be found at Filene's Basement, on State at Madison, iirc.

I'm afraid I'm bereft of ideas (which doesn't happen very often) about this one, as I don't use frozen vegetables except for peas and corn. Milagai's pulao sounds really good, though. No matter what the recipe, I'm glad to see your thoughts (not literally, although wouldn't that be interesting?) returning to the joys of food and cooking.

Simple is the way to go! Might we persuade you to post it to RecipeGullet?

He writes for the Jewish News, doesn't he? Does he write "real" reviews or are his pieces more reportage than review? Does he focus on the NW suburbs or does he venture downtown, to the Grosse Pointes, etc? I used to write restaurant reviews and other articles for Metro Times, but that was 25 or so years ago. Sigh.

The roasted cauli, guajolote's beet salad., and, of course Ah Leung's (hzrt8w) oeuvre.

Funny, I was thinking about exactly this when reading the following transit information in today's Trib; fortunately, the days you're planning are right before the construction they're talking about, so you should be okay: ← Yeah, Ms. Alex got caught up in a Blue Line closure between Western and Jackson when she headed out for dinner at West Town Tavern (Chicago station) last Saturday night. There was a shuttle bus that followed the same route, but it was kind of a pain.

Some folks put it down, but I happen to like Bin 36 a lot. I think I've dined there as much as, if not more than, any other restaurant in Chicago, and have never had a bad meal. (I haven't been to Bin Wine Cafe, but I know it's much smaller than Bin 36.) The only drawback is that it can get really loud, but you'll be going mid-week, so that should help. It's just a few blocks from the Clark station, so that's a good thing. To keep yourself apprised of the latest Blue Line construction, though, you might want to check the CTA website just before you fly in. Thanks for the invitation. Of course, I've heard and read wonderful things about Vancouver. I might not take you up on it, though, because if I visit I'll probably just wind up staying there, which might cause a problem with my wife and my school, not to mention Immigration.

Ask Dr. Knowledge, from The Boston Globe