In Detroit, hot dogs with chili, raw onions and mustard are called Coney Islands or Coneys. This concept is brought to its late night perfection at Lafeyette Coney Island in Downtown Detroit. Their chili is more of a secret sauce than a chili. Its unusually tasty and it complements the mustard, onions and dog perfectly. Perhaps even better than the Coney Island is an item i have never heard of — the “Loose Burger”.  The somewhat off-putting name fits the item pretty well; it’s basically loose hamburger meat on a hot dog bun with mustard, onions and chili. The pattern here is clear; its all in the chili, mustard and onions. This spot is definitely in my top 10 late night food excursions.



For a slightly more refined experience, try O’Betty’s Red Hot Dogs and Sausages. Its based in Athen’s Ohio but I visited their stand at the Nelsonville music festival. They were out of brats so I got the Dixie, which is a spicy hot dog with onions, mustard, cheese, and chili. The Lafayette Coney Island wins on overall experience, but this dog is nothing to be passed up. Next time, however, I’m getting a brat.

Tuna sandwich on marble rye served with fries and a side greek salad at the Star Brick Restaurant in The Inn at Hocking College in Nelsonville Ohio. Gotta love the simple things.

(Before I get to the pies, I would like to explain a couple of interesting combinations I learned this weekend. In Portland, a friend of mine introduced me to a new late snack, onion rings dipped in milkshake. Sounds gross, but it is good. In Seattle, people eat their hot dogs with cream cheese. This actually is gross.)

Okay, so the Dap-Kings are in Vancouver today and a special treat awaits us at the Commodore theatre. The nice people at Tartine Bread and Pies (770 Beach ave)  are fans so they gave us 8 pies — sour cherry, blueberry, chocolate pecan, sour cream raspberry, Dutch apple, double crust lemon, strawberry rhubarb and pumpkin pecan. This is my dream come true. I have been craving this quality of pie every since I saw the movie “Waitress”. Being the food critic that I am, I must have a piece of every one of these pies. Every pie is pretty much perfect. An interesting one is the chocolate pecan pie, which is a pecan pie and a chocolate brownie all mixed into one. I can’t pick a favorite because every time I eat a piece, it becomes my favorite. 

I awake to the soothing smell of bacon. I am still at the Roth’s in Riverside and I am looking forward to breakfast. I go downstairs and find Sharon Jones, the queen of funk herself, frying up the bacon. Next to her is Binky Griptite, Dap-Kings singer and guitar man, scrambling some eggs. Fulfilling the toast requirement, is Fernando “boogaloo” Velez, our percussionist. Needless to say, the breakfast is great. Sharon cooks the crap out of some bacon. Binky put his special touch on the eggs by adding onions and basil. And Fernando has perfected the art of toast.  

Cleveland is the band’s last stop on the first U.S. “100″ days tour and we all decide we want Italian. After doing a couple of google searches, we choose a restaurant and head towards it. All of the sudden, we see a little sign that says Little Italy. Little Italy in Cleveland, who knew? It’s monday night so there is not much action on the main strip, but there are a couple of places still open. We end up in Guarino’s at 12309 Mayfield road. Turns out this is the oldest restaurant in Cleveland. The band feasts it up on classic Italian fare. I order chicken parmigiana with a side of fettucini (pictured above). The tomato sauce is sweet and tasty. While the food is not great, it is comforting and it is just what we were looking for. Perhaps the best thing about this place is the vibe and the decor. I couldn’t get a good picture to represent the decor, but our waitress (pictured below), gives off a pretty serious vibe.

Well, the European tour is over, and I would like to take some time to thank all the support we had in Europe. Thank you Guido and Uta for being the best tour bus drivers ever and for being the happy couple that you are. Thank you George for flying all the way from Australia to do our sound, for being a kick ass sound man, and for making life on the road easy and mellow. Thank you to the Frenchies (Mathieu and Lauren of Ter a Terre, our booking agency), for supporting us in Europe (try not to freak out when you read this, 30). Thank you Jorg for hooking us up in Germany (even though you did not make the meatballs that you promised). Thank you Daniella for getting us good press in Germany (Sorry, I don’t have a picture of you). And thank you all the people who came and supported the band. We had a great time! 

p.s. This doesn’t mean the blog is ending.  This culinary voyage will continue through the US.