Farm-to-table is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in the restaurant industry. Some restaurants may guarantee farm fresh food but fail to follow through on that promise. Risen Breakfast and Bakery, opening in downtown Mason this fall, will source all of its ingredients from local farms in the area. more

Across the Northern Hemisphere at about this time, garlic plants are reaching for the sun. Each clove planted last fall has divided and swollen into a bulb of cloves, while the flowers emerge in a circuitous path.  more

I had given up on bok choy, because I was caught in a rut, adding it to my soggy stir-fry and not much else. I felt bad about it, because the truth is, I wasn’t giving up on bok choy. What’s there to give up on? Bok choy is delicious, versatile and blameless. more

While shopping at ALDI the other day, I heard a young girl beg her mother, “Can we go to the farmers market? Please?” more

This time of year, the radishes stand out like bright bunches of candy. Sometimes, at the farmers market, I ask the vendors what to do with their pretty orbs because I am chronically at a loss for ideas. The most common guidance, by far, is to use radishes in salads and stir-fries. In other words, the farmers are just as clueless as I am. more

Grilled pizza does not immediately sound like the highest use of a grill or a pizza. You’d think the bottom of the crust would burn into a blackened crisp, while blocking the coals from melting the cheese on top. But that notion didn’t seem to dawn on Johanne Killeen and George Germon, two art students from Providence, Rhode Island, who met while working for Dewey Dufresne, a young chef with a big future of his own.  more

Know what makes a fine summer day even better? The answer should be obvious: a great drink. No matter how you like your alcohol served to you, Lansing has a ton of spots for you to check out this summer. We’re going to break the drinks down by style and provide you a list of where to find them.  more

Enjoying delicious food and drinks with friends and family in the warm daylight is one of the best ways to spend a summer afternoon. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic pretty much robbed us of that last year, unless you happened to have a nice private patio to enjoy takeout. For the rest of us, Lansing has a number of restaurants with great patios, and we have years’ worth of Top of the Town voting data to sort out the best of the best. Here are a few of the most popular spots to check out this summer. more

Temperatures in the mid-90s and heavy rains this week reminded us Michiganders that summer is rapidly approaching. If you crave the tastes of the ocean but can’t make it out to the coast, these Lansing eateries have you covered. Throw on some sandals, maybe a Hawaiian shirt, too, and try out some of the best seafood our area has to offer.  more

Strawberry shortcake never changes. You can tweak it, but the basic trifecta of strawberries, cream and cake is so stable that there isn’t much room for improvement. This means it’s near … more

A cocktail of rain, wind and even a little snow assaulted the farmers market last week. The fair-weather hipsters stayed home. So did the lemonade stand. Altogether, more farmers showed up than customers, and coffee was the only thing that sold out because everyone’s hands were cold. There was a steaming cauldron of chicken congee for sale at the Vietnamese sandwich stall, and had the cardboard bowls not run out, the congee would probably have sold out, too. more

Once, when my mom was out for a visit, she made egg salad sandwiches. The kids wolfed them down before I had a chance to nab a sample. Their mouths were still full when they asked for another round. more

Aharon Hebert and Will Green, co-owners of Bangos food truck, are opening up a new restaurant called Babe's Corner. more

Drinkers of bubble tea are bracing for the worst. Boba balls, the tapioca-based spheres that collect at the bottom of a cup of this wildly popular Taiwanese beverage, are reportedly in short supply. more

With coronavirus vaccines rolling out and the weather finally warming up and staying comfortable, it looks like it might finally be a good time to enjoy some fresh air and some good food in Lansing. more

Lansing 5:01 is hosting Michigan's very first rosé wine festival Saturday at Cooley Gardens. You can enjoy the latest burst of warm weather and pop the corks of delicious bottles of rosé wine.  more

My farmer friend calls them Chinese chives. She’s from China, so she would know. She sells them in painfully cheap bunches that I collect like firewood each week and stack in the fridge next to the eggs. more

Calling Westlund’s Apple Market a Lansing mainstay is quite an understatement. On April 11, the market reached its 100th anniversary — a remarkable milestone no matter what industry you’re in. more

Gardening is a conversation with the earth. The gardener does something, and the earth responds via the outcome. If you plant a tomato seedling upside down, for example, the earth will happily swallow it, thereby ending the discussion. more

With vaccines available to every Michigander over 16, restaurants in the Lansing area are hoping to prepare for a return to business as usual. The warmer weather won’t hurt, either. If you’re looking to venture out into the world again after a year of isolation, consider trying one of these restaurants that have recently cropped up. more