Scenes from a Crawl
Roadfood, Steve Carter Food Crawl, May Erlewine, Justin Verlander, Chucked Chairs
Welcome to my weekly newsletter. I hope you enjoy the picks and pics.
Fave Five 4: Scenes from a Crawl. Directions for driving and dining (Roadfood), seven stops for Steve (DC Food Crawl), a special singer/songwriter (May Erlewine), a postseason pitcher (Justin Verlander), and Chucked Chairs.
My good friend Steve Carter died on June 7, 2016. Steve and I shared a love of food, baseball, music, road trips, euchre, conversation, and laughter. We both lived in Omaha, Nebraska; St. Louis, Missouri; and Northville, Michigan.
His sons, Tyler and Zach, and my son, Roger, are also food lovers. Steve and I went on a father and son food crawl in Milwaukee in 2008 with Tyler and Roger. When I was recently in the DC area, where Zach and Roger live, we went on another father and son crawl to honor Steve’s memory. The seven places we visited are featured as this week’s Restaurant Recommendations.
Steve and I went on seven food crawls together:
April 2005 St. Louis Final Four
August 2008 Milwaukee Father and Son Food Fest
April 2010 Indianapolis Final Four
May 2011 Austin BBQ Trail
April 2012 New Orleans Final Four
October 2012 Wellfleet OysterFest
October 2013 Memphis and Arkansas Roadfood Tour
I edited Steve’s Dive of the Month blog posts from 2009 to 2013. To get a feeling for the kind of guy he was, watch this video featuring Carhartt (where Steve was VP of Sales and Customer Service) and Biercamp (his favorite food purveyor in Ann Arbor).
Tribute to Steve from my son Roger on June 12, 2016
This was Breakfast No. 3 during a walking and eating tour of New Orleans four years ago. Steve Carter, attacking this burger like he attacked most everything, was a colossus. He would barrel into your day with a jolt of a heartfelt hello. He would knife through small talk, give like Santa Claus, warm up the diner with a laugh, and savor whatever moment he was in. All around the country, waiters and restaurant owners -- not to mention his family and friends and colleagues at Carhartt -- appreciated Steve for his generosity, his genuine curiosity, his knack for making an absolute stranger feel like a pal. "How's business today?" he'd ask through his moustache and a grin. A breath of the freshest air. When a waiter was strange or smelly or rude or inept, Steve had some endearing way of describing the lad or lass. "Rex's guitar is, well, it's just a bit out of tune," he might say. Or, "Jennifer must have taken a wrong turn in that labyrinth of a kitchen back there.
"It's all good."
Steve woke up every day and made the choice to be friendly. I loved him for many reasons, but mostly for that. May he rest in peace.
Steve Carter Tribute Playlist
Book Best Bet
Roadfood (10th Edition): An Eater's Guide to More Than 1,000 of the Best Local Hot Spots and Hidden Gems Across America by Jane & Michael Stern
My sister Joan told me about this book, and I bought two of the earliest editions and two similar books by the same authors. I loved trying the places Jane and Michael recommended. In 2013, I met the authors on a tour hosted by Roadfood.com and and suggested to me by Steve Carter. The kind of places featured in Roadfood are my kind of places.
From Amazon: A cornucopia for road warriors and armchair epicures alike, Roadfood is a road map to some of the tastiest treasures in the United States.
First published in 1977, the original Roadfood became an instant classic. The 40th anniversary edition of Roadfood includes 1,000 of America's best local eateries along highways and back roads, with nearly 200 new listings, as well as a brand new design.
Filled with enticing alternatives for chain-weary travelers, Roadfood provides descriptions of and directions to (complete with regional maps) the best lobster shacks on the East Coast; the ultimate barbecue joints down South; the most indulgent steak houses in the Midwest; and dozens of top-notch diners, hotdog stands, ice-cream parlors, and uniquely regional finds in between. Each entry delves into the folkways of a restaurant's locale as well as the dining experience itself, and each is written in the Sterns' entertaining and colorful style.
This is a book that you should carry with you, no matter where you are going in these United States. It's a treasure house of information. - James Beard
The bible for motorists seeking mouthwatering barbecue or homemade pie. - USA Today
Books I Own by Jane & Michael Stern
Dining with Roadfood and Michael Stern
I was on the final three Roadfood Tours and at one Eat Your Way Across The USA event:
October 18-19, 2013 Memphis to the Heart of Arkansas with Steve Carter
October 17-18, 2014 Charlotte, North Carolina with my son Roger
February 25, 2016 Dinner With Roadfood: Naples, Florida with Barb and our friends, Bob and Janelle Burke
On May 26, 2019, Barb and I had dinner with Michael at Apizza di Napoli in his home town of Aiken, South Carolina.
Restaurant Recommendations
From our September 25, 2022 DC Food Crawl
We stopped at 7 places in honor of the 7 food crawls I did with Steve:
Meats and Foods - Washington, DC: Cheesy Half-Smoke, Sausage Biscuit, Chilito
A. Litteri, Inc. - Washington, DC: Italian Classic Sandwich: Capicola, Genoa Salami, Mortadella, Prosciuttini, Provolone, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Hot Peppers, Italian Dressing and Seasoning
Stellina Pizzeria - Washington, DC: Cacio & Pepe Pizza: Cacio di Roma, pecorino Romano, mozzarella, toasted black pepper
Bun'd Up - Washington, DC - Union Market: Pork Belly, Beef Bulgogi, Korean Fried Chicken (spicy)
Laoban Dumplings - Washington, DC - Union Market: Ginger Chicken Dumplings: Free range, hormone-free chicken, ginger, scallions, and a hint of honey; Beijing Pork Dumplings: Berkshire pork, Chinese chives, and garlic; Livin’ on the Vedge Dumplings: Bok choy, shiitakes, scallions and Chinese chili crisp
Som Tam - Washington, DC - Union Market: Thai Crispy Herb Wings
2Fifty Texas BBQ - Riverdale Park, Maryland: Pork Spare Ribs, Prime Brisket, Pulled Pork, Sausage Links, Caramelized Pineapple, Mac N Cheese, Coleslaw, Corn Bread
Marvelous Musician
May has wonderful new album, Tiny Beautiful Things. I love her singing, songwriting, and positive spirit. I have seen May perform many times, both solo and in various groups. She performed in our back yard in Northville, Michigan on August 12, 2022. She lives in Traverse City, Michigan. Here she is at our house concert:
May Erlewine Playlist
Tour for Two
On October 23, 2022, Barb and I attended May’s Tour for Two with Anthony da Costa at Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor. During the show, May conducted a giveaway of a vinyl copy of Anyway. She said to look under our seats to find the winner. I didn’t realize there was something taped under my seat until later. By then another deserving fan had already been awarded the prize. But I have the receipt:
Sports Star
Justin won the first game of the ALCS against the New York Yankees. This started a four-game sweep, leading to his fifth World Series appearance (2006, 2012, 2017, 2019, and 2022). Justin is the overwhelming favorite to win this year’s American League Cy Young Award, which will be his third. He has pitched two no-hitters and come close many times. And he was the American League MVP in 2011.
As a rookie in 2006, Justin helped lead the Detroit Tigers to the World Series. They lost in five games to my former favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals, but it was the start of a Hall of Fame career. I was sad to see him leave Detroit, but happy for him when he won his first World Series with Houston in 2017. Tiger fans will always love Justin.
Picture Pun
This doesn’t sit well with me. Instead of being discarded, they could have been donated to a chairitable organization.
