This episode of Wild Abundance finds us back in one of our favorite food towns, Ann Arbor, MI where we talk to James Beard nominated Chef Alex Young at Zingerman's Roadhouse.  Among many flavorful topics we discuss:

• Creating the Roadhouse - an appreciation of American foodways
• Menu Ambitions
• Developing Recipes - food intuition, crafting the perfect donut
• Ingredients the Zingerman's way - full flavored and traditionally made
• Cornman Farms - the farm in Chef Alex's backyard
• Intuitive Service
• Sourcing - chickens without borders
• A Day in the Life of Chef Alex - passionate devotion to the restaurant and farm
• Cheap food - the opposite of wild abundance
• Favorite Foods

The Roadhouse is the 7th business in the Zingerman’s Community, joining the Deli, the Bakehouse, Catering, Mail Order, ZingTrain, Coffee Company and Creamery. As with everything we do, the Roadhouse focuses on traditional, full-flavored food. In this case, we’re working to bring as many of the great traditional tastes of North America to Ann Arbor eaters as we can possibly find. Over the last four years, we’ve had a great time learning ever more deeply about American cooking traditions and tastes, trying country hams, oysters, cheeses, wild game, great free-range antibiotic-free pork, real pit barbecue, stone-milled organic grits and much more.

The results of all our learning are extensive and the good news for you (we hope!) is that there’s a wide range of really good American food for you to try. Things like: Really great fish (although you can’t see it from just looking at a menu, there really are big quality differences in fresh fish and you really can taste the difference!). Pit-smoked Eastern North Carolina barbecue. An array of fresh oysters from all three coasts. From really amazingly delicious hamburgers (From Niman Ranch beef, ground fresh and hand-shaped every day) to Tennessee-style buttermilk fried chicken. Homemade macaroni and cheese made with Martelli (I know it’s not American but it’s so darned good that I can’t justify not using it . . . ) macaroni, raw milk Vermont Cheddar and a homemade cream sauce. Crab cakes made from fresh Maryland crab. Great grits from South Carolina, really wild wild rice from Minnesota, Pennsylvania Dutch creamed corn (made from traditional dried corn). We also bring an abundance of local produce to the Roadhouse. We’re particularly exicited about the meats and the heirloom varietals of tomatoes, peppers and more that we grow at our own Cornman Farms just up the road in Dexter.

www.zingermansroadhouse.com