Grand Rapids Road Trip - Part 1
Author’s Note: We took a cross-state road trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan, just before the shit hit the fan with Covid-19. We held off posting because what could be worse than reading about killer food and not being able to partake (well lots of things, but you get my drift). All of these eateries are open for take out, so let’s wait no longer!
The Vegan Mary’s first official taste-everything-in-sight road trip! I set off with the intention of absorbing and eating my way through this west Michigan city. I’d heard a lot about GR (that’s what the hip folks call it), and its reputation as a growing art scene, business hub, and foodie central. So I loaded the car with vegan snacks (fruit, granola bars, and last night’s leftover veg scramble) and hit the road! Yes, even when I’m going on a food road trip, I still pack snacks just in case!
Will travel for donuts.
On the way, I took a small detour through Lansing, Michigan’s capital and home to some of the state’s cutting edge food fare. I had a hot lead on Strange Matter, a killer bakery offering a daily assortment of vegan donuts.
It doesn’t take much more than that to get this vegan interested. And ever the student, I called ahead to ensure that they were fully stocked. And indeed, they were. *Squeal*
The free parking directly in front of Strange Matter was a sure sign that the universe was thrilled I was stopping there. Inside, the cafe presented the warmth of a local coffee shop but the decor and light of a city eatery. This combo was dynamite. Taking a look around the bakery, I obviously wasn’t the only one who thought so. There was an eclectic mix of coffee connoisseurs throughout the bar, seated at high-tops and lounge areas. My fellow patrons appeared to be grandmas and hipsters, professionals and students. All welcome. All feeling at home.
I ordered one of every vegan donut (a glorious assortment of Boston cream, glazed, maple, Biscoff cookie, blueberry, and peanut butter) – Mary is my name and thoroughness is my game. I was ready to just perch at the bar and start shoving donuts right into my face, when a very kind woman behind the counter offered me a plate. Ah yes, that would be the civilized way to go about this. Manners apparently fly right out the window at the mere thought of my first sugary, doughy bite of heaven.
My recently acquired plate and I shared the bar space with Julia, a fab new friend who was gracious enough to ignore the dozens of pics I was attempting to take: coffee with donuts, donuts on a plate, donuts in the box, and The Vegan Mary artistically posing with aforementioned donut combinations. What’s with all the snaps, you ask? Still working on my Instagram picture game, friends!
I am proud to report that I did restrain myself. I tried only the Boston cream while at Strange Matter. It was everything I hoped it would be: billowy dough encasing rich, creamy custardy filling. I was tempted to keep on sampling, but some version of a sugar coma while driving kept flashing through my mind and I thought better of it. So I bid farewell to my new friend, my new fav donut shop and hit the road for Grand Rapids.
Fast forward fourteen hours.
It is now 3am. I have arrived safely in GR and am tucked away in the plush bed of my hotel room. Wide friggin’ awake. Spoiler alert: I enjoyed a healthy sampling (that adjective would be a reference to the portion size rather than the nutritional value) of my donut box contents around 9pm in this very cozy bed at the Amway Grand Hotel. Donuts for dessert sounded like a fabulous idea. Perhaps that level of sugar intake was not. All of the self-restraint I had shown at Strange Matter earlier disappeared. I plowed through almost every single donut, leaving mere crumbs behind. That said, I did manage to savor the flavors. The glaze and maple were my favs. Perfectly simple. Perfectly light. I got after the other flavors too – Biscoff cookie, blueberry, and peanut butter. Sugar coma ensued shortly thereafter, and I happily drifted off to sleep, until 3am. The good thing about being up at 3am is it affords the opportunity for plenty of time to write. The not so good thing is that it can really mess with your breakfast plans.
You snooze, you lose.
My dad used to say this when I was the last one up on Saturday morning and there were no more cinnamon rolls left. Well, the morning of my Rise Authentic Baking Co. visit, snooze I did.
After my interrupted sleep the night before, I managed a bit of rest from about 6 to 9am. I strolled into Rise with high hopes, around 10:30am, and was greeted by a menu sign with nearly all items crossed out. Yup, we missed out on all the goods. No avocado toast, no grilled banana bread, no golden overnight oats. Sigh. I managed to snag the very last breakfast sandwich by some stroke of good luck. I also nabbed a blueberry scone to push me outside of my pastry comfort zone (i.e., baked goods without any frosting, icing, chocolate, or good ol’ pat of vegan butter).
This was clearly a neighborhood hot spot, nary a seat to be found. I found myself tucked into the rear hallway counter where they seemingly direct all latecomers.
The breakfast sammie had real potential but turned out to be a bit dry, as the tasty vegan eggs and cheese were sandwiched in between two mega biscuits making the overall roll-to-fixings ratio a bit off for my taste. Siracha to the rescue! Surprisingly, the scone was flavorful (not too dry!) and especially enjoyable with piping hot coffee.
Rise Bakery, we shall return. Early. And hungry.
Bar None.
You know it’s a sign of a good eatery when you don’t order a beer, you arrive and depart in broad daylight, and you still have a kick ass experience. Enter Stella’s Lounge.
It would be easy to stroll by this downtown lounge and mistake it for just another grubby hamburger-and-ribs poolhall. Thanks to a bit of research, I did no such thing. I ambled in (mercifully before the lunch rush) and found a booth near the front windows so I could enjoy the sunshine and the street views.
I’m a big fan of online prep research, which drew me to Stella’s, but I am always secretly scared of waltzing in and finding the actual menu is drastically different than the online version. Like someone forgot to update the website since, oh, 2017 and all the delicious vegan fare had somehow been replaced with surf n’ turf. I had this same nervous energy as the server brought me the laminated, way oversized menu.
Hallelujah! It was exactly as the website described: a classic downtown bar overflowing with kick ass vegan comfort food. I said a silent thank you to the universe, whoever Stella is, and started to narrow down my options.
Naturally, the Impossible burger screamed my name. I know you are sick hearing about my Impossible burger obsession, but this one had grilled pineapple and pickles. Hello Hawaiian style! Could it be more tempting? But alas, I kept looking for more varied menu items. (I am an oak, I know.) And find them, I did.
I started with avocado fries, mainly because I had never had them before. I know, what rock have I been living under? These were very well done, perfectly breaded, but here’s my take: avocado doesn’t need to be breaded and fried to be amazing. Maybe just leave well enough alone?
My second starter? Chickpea wings. My gut told me to order. Maybe it was the fond memories of Buffalo Wild Wings back in the day. I mean, I could kill a basket of buffalo boneless wings back in my chicken-eating youth. These dense, hearty chickpea patty-like bites brought me back! Seriously is there anything the chickpea can’t do? I challenge you to find out. And can we talk about the sauce? You can’t go wrong with the classic buffalo, but the tangy gold BBQ sauce was a game changer. The bursting flavor was a delight, kind of like drinking in warm sunshine with a hint of deliciously tangy mustard. I flagged down my server, Brittany, to inquire about this magic sauce. I was certain it must be someone’s grandma’s secret recipe. So imagine my elation when I heard that it was from a bottle. It’s called Cattleman’s Carolina Tangy Gold BBQ Sauce. Like any new devotee, I immediately found and ordered online.
After plowing through chickpea wings with the magic sunshiny mustard sauce, there was hardly room for my main course: a house-made sloppy joe. Now, normally this isn’t something I would order at a restaurant. I make a pretty decent version at home and I’m an absolute mess when it comes to eating loose sandwiches in public. It’s just plain embarrassing and somewhat childlike in the mess I can create attacking any handheld sammie. But I gave it the ol’ college try. It was served with crunchy onion straws and pickles and it was fabulous. Come to think of it, maybe it was smothered in that Carolina BBQ sauce too? As if that wasn’t enough, it came with fries. Crack fries. My description, not theirs. And while I’m not super keen on using drug-related verbiage for reference, sometimes you gotta go for broke. How good were these perfectly seasoned, perfectly spicy fries? I wish I could put into words! But alas, the seasoning is Stella’s secret. Suffice to say that the sauce-obsessed Vegan Mary didn’t use a drop of ketchup, mayo, or ranch for these fries. Mind. Blown. I used four full size napkins for my meal, and if that’s not the sign of killer bar food, I don’t know what is!
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our GR eating adventure!
(Reminder: all of the eateries included in this review are open for business. Wanna help these local establishments out? Maybe try some take-out!)
