Zingerman's Delicatessen

Make no mistake that what I speak is the truth. Zingerman's Delicatessen is one of the best Deli’s I’ve ever been to in my life. This is coming from someone who lives in Chicago, owned a café/deli, ate at multiple Deli's in New York and San Francisco. Sure Chicago, New York and San Fran have excellent deli’s in their own right but Zingerman has mastered the art of making a sandwich. All in the friendly town of Ann Arbor Michigan



I’m not sure why, but it could be because of the delicious meat they use, or the fresh baked bread that’s made on site, or the flawless service, or the specialty items they sell. Or it could be due to the large array of vegetarian sandwiches they have, or the fresh cheese that they make (Yes they actually make some of the cheese they use in their sandwiches). You get the point




They also have a great coffee shop.



What's left of my sandwich.




Melissa loved the sandwich so much she tried to eat the basket.


While we were there we got a chance to try a $238 bottle of vinegar. Acetaia Del Cristo Balsamic Vinegar from Italy which tastes phenomenal. A rich, thick smoky drop of goodness that I will not be purchasing anytime soon unless I strike it rich. $238! Wow!

Michigan Beer

Umm, Michigan has great deals on beer. So we took advantage of this little known fact. Also that mark on my wrist is not the mark of the beast. They stamped me upon arrival. Cheers!!

Who visits a farm at night?

Here’s the deal. We needed free range turkeys and chickens so that we could use them in our new sandwiches, so we took off and five hours later we arrived on a farm in Hartland Michigan.
While my friend Melissa was pretty calm once we arrived at the farm, I was acting like a kid in a candy shop. It was so cool. I’m such a city boy.


The farmers were nice and hospitable. After touring the farm we got some great deals on Free Range turkeys and chickens and also purchased some ham. I tried their pork roast as well which was good. I don’t eat a lot of ham but I have to say it was very moist and flavorful. We got a chance to view the chickens walking around freely (not stuck in a cage where they hardly can turn around.) and they looked very healthy. When this farm says it's free range, they mean it. We were greeted by a few chickens that walked up to us. The chicken ate grass and seed. No corn. This comes through in the taste


We woke the pigs up to see how they looked. Seemed like they were a mixed breed which I’ve heard is easier for the farmer to raise.




The lambs looked like they were in good shape too.


It was cool because we were able to get some nice radishes and mixed greens

Our Tasting Event

What's up Chicago?!

As you all know the Red Pandora tasting event went well we got a nice response. I’m still looking forward to hearing from more people who are interested in my venture since we all put a lot of work into it. Sunday Dinner catering was great and I’m still amazed that they were able to pull off working in such a tiny kitchen.


My goal was to give investors and friends a taste of what was to come in the new Red Pandora Restaurant and also to educate people on free range/organic foods. Everyone put so much hard work into it, and the final product came out good.



I thought the design concepts were a nice touch

Special thanks to Richard, the David Boykin Expanse, Melissa, Tessa, and everyone in Richards class at the art institute that helped

Cocktail Prep

Ok, so we spent a lot of time creating cocktails for the upcoming Red Pandora Tasting event. And we were all running around like mad the day before the event.

I have to say that although it was fun, it was a lot of work. Ok, I’ll be honest, we had a blast making the drinks, but getting the ingredients wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Our first drink the “SSWS” Consisted of:

Blood Orange Juice,
St. Germain (a liqueur made from Elderflower) Champaign


By the way people loved this drink!! And by the end of the day it showed

Always remember that if your using Champagne in a cocktail it does not have to be premium. But it shouldn’t be cheap. (No Andre’s people) Use something in the middle that’s crisp.

Getting the Liquor was easy, but try finding blood orange juice in the city, and you’ll find yourself running from specialty shop to specialty shop. Whole foods didn’t even have it. I finally found a fresh squeezed version of it from a little specialty grocery store called Piatto Pronto.


The owner was cool and had everything. If you haven’t tried Blood Orange Juice it pretty much taste like a super hi-bred version of regular orange juice but richer, more flavorful and complex with a great tartness and sweetness to it. It’s less acidic than regular orange or grapefruit juice. It's also very flavorful, and it should be at about $6 to $7 bucks a liter.


St. Germain is a beautiful aromatic, flavorful liqueur. That’s all I can really say about it. Trust me on this one. If someone is serving it in a bar have them use it in a cocktail for you

The next drink we created was a Pilsen Sour. The ingredients:

Fresh Squeeze Organic lemons
Aged Cognac
Organic Egg whites (this creates foam on the top of your drink)
Agave Nectar
Served shaken with ice until frothy

We got a rich cognac from our friends at Lush liquor store