Flint Surprises!

Flint, Michigan rewarded us with some great culinary surprises during our stay with Amanda’s Aunt Libby and Uncle Olle on their farm in the nearby town of Goodrich.  They took us on a tour of Flint that they call “the good, the bad, and the ugly.”  We drove through bleak urban landscapes of boarded-up homes and forlorn fields of factories past that reminded me of a modern day wild west.

While certain areas in Flint are in need of much improvement, our tour also revealed a vibrant side of the city that was both culinary and cultural.  We indulged in Swedish hor d’oeuvres, salmon and corn for dinner, shopped and ate at Flint’s bustling farmer’s market, and tasted superb Spanish Tapas at a hip new restaurant that is helping to revive the downtown!

Olle is of Swedish heritage, which is plain to see from a look in his pantry!  Shortly after arriving at Libby and Olle’s beautiful farmstead home, we tasted some of their Abba-brand spiced Swedish anchovies on traditional crisp bread and sliced Norwegian-Jarlsberg cheese.

Jarlsberg is a sharp Norwegian Swiss cheese that helps temper the strong flavor of Sweedish anchovies which have an aggressive saltiness and a spiced flavor of black pepper, cinnamon, allspice, and clove.  Swedish crisp-bread is a thin, round, cracker-like bread with an airy structure that breaks with a sharp, crisp snap; its coarse rye flour gives it a pleasantly grainy texture, perfect to serve with cold herring or salmon.

For dinner, we cooked wonderfully fresh summer corn and filets of vibrant Canadian-raised Atlantic salmon from a local meat and fish market.  I had the pleasure of preparing the fish that evening; we decided that it would be nice to broil the fish simply, with a very crisp skin.  I cut the fish into serving-sized portions (about 5 oz. each), seasoned them with salt and pepper, and left them to sit for an hour or so to cure slightly.

With the oven broiler preheated, I brushed the salmon with a little olive oil and placed  it skin-side-up, very close to the heating element (about an inch or so) and allowed the fish to cook until the skin was bubbling, crisp, and lightly browned (about 10 minutes).  When the skin was very crisp, I lowered the rack to finish cooking the salmon.  Everyone really enjoyed the salmon (and the skin)–even Amanda and Libby, who said they had never enjoyed fish skin before because it is usually not truly crisp!

The corn was the best we have had all year.  The ears were from the farm next door, snapped from the stalk just that morning.  We placed them into boiling water for the time prescribed by Libby herself: “Just six minutes, any longer than that and the corn gets starchy.”  We found this to be the perfect cooking time for corn that is supremely fresh.  The plump kernels were easily bitten off the cob and burst with sugary juciness for a flavor that is surely one of the sweetest “rites of summer.”

Olle and Libby agreed that the corn they grew up with was neither as tender nor as sweet as the corn we have now.  The corn of their youth needed plentiful pats of butter and several shakes of salt to be tasty, but today’s corn needs no embellishment and is best eaten boiled with no seasonings at all!  Considering that ancient corn resembled a tall grass and was bred over hundreds of years to become than the enormous ears of today, it seems natural that modern farmers work to constantly improve the flavor and size of the corn that they grow.
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The next morning, we went Flint’s vibrant downtown farmer’s market.  The market was bustling with shoppers and farmers buying and selling fresh produce, poultry, cheese, and more—most of which came from nearby Michigan farms.  Libby and Olle stopped by their favorite cheese vendor, who stocks a world of cheeses, to buy several of their favorites from Scandinavia and Spain.  We watched as the purveyor happily carved manageable size wedges from wheels of cheese, great and small, so that each customer could enjoy their favorite taste of regions far and wide!

While at the market, we ate a delicious breakfast in the restaurant above the market–Steady Eddy’s Cafe.  We dined while listening to the blues band jamming on the lawn below and watching the slow parade of neck-craning market-goers as they strolled past heaps of seasonal fruits and veggies.  I had a southwestern omelet filled with chili and topped with avocado, tomato, cheese, and sour cream. My omelet was accompanied by rye toast and jam.  Amanda had a turkey sandwich with tomato, avocado, and alfalfa sprouts on lovely toasted sourdough bread.  Her sandwich was carefully layered–to be structurally sound when eaten–and was fortified with plenty of sprouts to fill in any cracks.

Spanish Tapas may be the last thing you expect to find in downtown Flint, but that is what they are serving at the 501 Bar & Grill. A group of local investors started the 501 Bar & Grill and Wize Guys Pizza (the next-door pizza place) to help invigorate the downtown area and also to make sure there would be a great downtown restaurant to enjoy a delicious lunch or dinner!

501 Bar & Grill brings excitement back to downtown Flint.  The restaurant has a modern décor of warm colors, metallic highlights, original brick, and a transparent glass façade that welcomes in plenty of natural light and allows for an effortless transition between restaurant and city.  Families and couples dine from an exciting menu of globally influenced small plates and pizzas tadapted to appeal to the Midwestern palate.

The tenderness of the fried calamari was exquisite and it was sliced into long, thick strips which were breaded with a crispy crust to provide a satisfying crunch; it was served the tempered heat of good chili mayonnaise.  Sesame crusted tuna was dressed at the table sashimi-style with soy and wasabi, and was accompanied with a snappy red seaweed salad which added plenty of unique texture and a piquant kick to the dish.

The gourmet pizza we ordered arrived steaming from Wize Guys pizza kitchen next door.  The tomato sauce had a deep roasted flavor and the pizza was rich with roasted summer vegetables and gooey slices of fresh mozzarella.  Our server, Dion, who delivered the pie, was a local student at the University of Michigan-Flint.  He was charming and professional and made our meal special.

Even during hard times, the vitality of the people of Flint should never be underestimated.  It was inspiring to see how Flint supports its local farmers and restaurants and invests in the community.  Farmers and restaurants return the favor by growing and serving great food at excellent value.  With this in mind, I have great expectations for Flint!