Something new for summer

Soup Spoon Caf expands its menu for the season; check out the new Dawg in East Lansing

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If word of mouth had monetary value, The Soup Spoon Caf wouldn’t need an advertising budget.

The popular east side bistro added a dinner menu recently and, last month, expanded its offerings for the summer.

New on the dinner menu are the grilled walleye ($18), with a lemon-brown butter sauce and the East Side Chicken ($16), a breast stuffed with spinach, dried cranberries, garlic and goat cheese.

The Spoon-I-pino ($21) is also new. Server Eric Austin, an enthusiastic ambassador of all things Soup Spoon, explains that the Spoon-I-pino concept is an interpretation of cioppino, a type of fish stew originating from Italian fisherman immigrants who settled in the San Francisco area. In the original recipe, fisherman tossed the leftovers from the catch of the day in a pot for a rustic stew. 

At Soup Spoon, it’s a bit more elegant: a tomato-tarragon clam sauce brings together scallops, shrimp, chicken, chorizo and vegetables over a bed of linguine.

The goat cheese points ($8) are light and delicious. Crunchy medallions of French bread are topped with a smear of tangy goat cheese, diced tomatoes, a hint of garlic and herbs. A sweet balsamic syrup is drizzled over top, balancing the piquant cheese.

A few new items have found a summer spot on the sandwich menu, too.  Whitefish tacos ($7.99) boast a lemon-tarragon aioli; the Cubano should delight sandwich fans with its savor combination of pork, caramelized onions and more pressed on a sundried tomato bun; and the kobe-wagyu ($11.99), with its top-shelf beef, gorgonzola cheese and the works on an asiago bun, makes for a gourmet burger you’ll have difficulty finding anywhere else in town.    

What Up Dawg?

“What up dawg.”

That’s how you’ll be greeted when you enter or call East Lansing’s newest hot dog shack named, appropriately enough, What Up Dawg?.

These slingers of tube steaks opened five months ago on M.A.C. Avenue, and the business fits right into the college town atmosphere with beer on tap, irreverent T-shirts declaring the wearer has, indeed, done it “dawgy style,” and periodic eating contests.  

The Big Dawg Challenge (for those whose pride eclipses his or her brain) dares a contestant to down all nine specialty dogs on the menu within 20 minutes.  Accomplish this Herculean labor and earn the privilege of creating your own hot dog for the menu and, for posterity, your photo will be placed on the wall. 

Like an earnest freshman at Michigan State University, What Up Dawg makes an effort to be economically conscious.  Michigan-made products crowd the menu: Dearborn Brand and Kowalski (Detroit) hot dogs; Bell’s Brewery (Kalamazoo) beers; buns from Detroit’s Brown’s Bakery; and Faygo soda and Better Made chips — both Detroit institutions.

Even the potatoes are Michigan-based, purchased from a Detroit wholesaler.

“I will not cut an Idaho potato,” general manager Bill Schramm says, adding that the What Up Dawg?’s fries are hand cut.

Chili topping for dogs or fries comes in two styles: Detroit style, which is saucier and works well on fries, and Flint-style, a meatier version that stands out more on hot dogs.

Schramm likens the Smokey Dog ($4.50) to a sensory explosion in your mouth, with its smoked sausage, barbecue, bacon, grilled onions and cheddar cheese.  It’s messy, that’s for sure.

Italian sausage is the vehicle for the simpler Consigliare Dog ($3.50) that gets topped with grilled peppers and onions.  And the Chicago Dog ($3.50), with a Kowalski all-beef weiner, gets the classic blend of tomato, raw onion, neon relish, sliced pickle, sport peppers, mustard and a pinch of celery salt.    

What Up Dawg?
317 M.A.C Ave.,
East Lansing
(517) 351-3294
www.theyummydawg.com
Noon-midnight Monday-Wednesday
Noon-3 a.m. Thursday-Saturday
Noon-9 p.m. Sunday
TO, BW, OM, WiFi

Trailer Park’d parked at last

It’s hard to blame a transient merchant for not settling down.  But after a handful of relocations, Trailer Park’d has found a stable home.

The restaurant on wheels, with its commitment to the slow and local food movement, will be pleasing the public in Lot 56 of Old Town (where Turner Street dead-ends into Grand River Avenue) throughout the week. On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, Jesse Hahn and company will be serving up gourmet street food from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

You can still catch the trailer at the Allen Street Farmers Market from 2:30 to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, and at the East Lansing Farmer’s Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.

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