COMMUNITY
FOODIE
FIVE THINGS YOUR KIDS WILL LOVE
My Beef with Indochine
The short ribs are irresistible
at Da Nang in Clawson.
By Esther Allweiss Ingber
ometimes, you keep coming back to one particular
restaurant for one particular dish. My recurring
craving is for the beef short ribs with vermicelli at
Da Nang, a Vietnamese treasure in downtown Claw-
son.
At dinner with a group of friends, my enthusiasm
persuaded most of them to order my favorite: Bun Thit
Bo Nuong, grilled boneless beef short ribs with fresh
vegetables and thin vermicelli (rice) noodles, topped
with crushed peanuts ($12; $14 including a fried Impe-
rial roll). The house special sauce comes on the side, so
you can adjust the level of seasoning.
Available at lunch and dinner, the meal-in-a-bowl is
notable for its generous helping of the delicious short
ribs — you aren't just given a few strips of meat at the
top and then left with mostly noodles (or rice, if you
wish).
You'll be happy throughout the meal, but not over-
filled. Other vermicelli choices feature grilled boneless
chicken or pork, or sautéed shrimp, but why miss out
on the short ribs, I always say.
Kim Dao-Waldis opened the French-influenced
Vietnamese restaurant with her own recipes in March
2009. The"French" comes through in house-made
desserts like crème brulee, assorted sorbets and a
delectable, not-too-sweet coconut cream pie.
The restaurant's specials change about every two
weeks. Recent choices were eggplant tempura, spicy
shrimp and fish balls soup, and mango-papaya salad
with choice of shrimp, grilled chicken or beef.
Dao-Waldis was a child in 1978, the year her family
left Da Nang, a port city on the south-central coast of
Vietnam where a major American air base was located
Da Nang's Chicken with Pineapple Chunks is one sweet
dish.
Da Nang
1 S. Main Sreet (corner of E. 14 Mile Road)
Clawson, MI 48017
(248) 577-5130
danangrestaurant.com
$$ out of $$$$
during the war.
Now, her homeland is recalled in the restaurant's
music and the lovely slide show projected on screens
in two dining rooms. Large, black metal-framed mir-
rors also provide decoration on the burnt orange walls.
Da Nang is more upscale than most Vietnamese
restaurants in Metro Detroit, and has the only liquor
license among the local places, Dao-Waldis said. Most
of the dishes are also gluten-free.
Freshness of ingredients is essential for her and
Chef Melik, who she trained. Everything at Da Nang
is made to order: "Our customers know to allow more
time because the food takes a little longer to prepare,"
Dao-Waldis said.
In addition to the vermicelli dishes, Dao-Waldis said
soups comprise the most popular menu category. The
eight varieties listed are meals in themselves and fea-
ture varieties made with beef, chicken and shrimp, and
also Vietnamese-style chicken and beef curries.
In Vietnam, pho soup "is our national dish — served
at breakfast, lunch and dinner,"she said."It's like ham-
burgers and hotdogs, only better. You can get it from
restaurants and street vendors."
Recently, I decided to check out Pho Tai Bo Vien
($12) — a large bowl of soup with thick rice noodles,
thinly sliced pieces of round steak and homemade
beef meatballs. To that, I added crunchy bean sprouts
and a spritz of lime, bypassing the option of sliced hot
peppers. With four sauces available to enhance the
dish, I made the broth my own with a few dashes of
the sweetish, house-made hoisen.
While waiting for my pho to arrive, I asked the solo
diner seated behind me for the name of the steaming
bowl of soup just brought to his table. Surprise — he
had ordered the same dish as me. Smiling broadly,
he remarked that pho with meatballs is the dish he
always craves at Dan Nang.
I so understood. RT
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March to Your Own Beat
in Detroit this November
AMERICA'S THANKSGIVING PARADE
If you're itching to rise and shine early Thanksgiv-
ing morn (and even if you're not), head downtown for
America's Thanksgiving Parade; at 85-years strong, it's one
of the country's oldest. Kicking off at 9:20 a.m. at the cor-
ner of Woodward and Mack, then winding its way toward
Congress, this year's theme is "So Much To Believe In."The
kids will get a kick out of the clowns passing out candy,
costumed characters from the papier-mâché Big Head
Corps, bands and enough floats to thrill the whole family.
For details, visit paradecompany.org .
LIONS' DEN
As if you needed it, here's another reason to head to the
zoo: a new home for Bikira, Perceval and friends. When the
Detroit Zoo opened in 1928, the then-groundbreaking
3,500-square-foot lions habitat, featuring a moat rather
than the standard bars, was one of the park's first animal
exhibits to debut.
The cats' new digs, under construction since February,
will become a million-dollar home expanded to 7,500
square feet. The moat has been filled in and replaced with
a 17-foot-tall wall of 60 tempered glass panels with "warm-
ing" rocks nearby to give a toasty perch while we gaze at
each other from just feet away. A grand way for the zoo's
six lions — five of which were rescued from unstatesman-
like gigs like guard duty at a crack house and a sentry in a
Kansas junkyard — to live like kings.
Detroit Zoo, 8450 W. 10 Mile Road, Royal Oak.
(248) 541-5717; detroitzoo.org .
ALADDIN JR.
BAR FLY
Cupid's New Pad for Vodka Lovers
Valentine Distilling Co. sets stage for a spirited time.
BAR FLY HIT PARADE
•On The Spot Impression:
"I liked the music they were
playing, the whole atmo-
sphere of the building with
the dim shadowy lighting
and the rustic bricks;' says
Kris Bischak of Royal Oak.
•Drink Cost: Most cosktails
cost between $6 and $9 per
drink.
•Clientele: Early 20s and up.
It's a classy joint and most
of the clientele was semi-
dressed up on the night
we went. Nice jeans: Yes.
Ripped jeans: No.
• Music: Everything from
alternative to soul.
•Bar Appeal: Great for a
date. Not too loud but just
enough background noise.
•Accessibility: Metered
street parking.
•Queue Factor: Arrive early
if you want a seat. After 9
p.m. the place was packed
until last call.
• Location and Hours: 161
Vester, Ferndale (there is
no sign out front, just a
red light and an address
plaque); (248) 629-9951;
Wednesday - Saturday
4:30 p.m. - 2 a.m.
6 November 2011
tr)
ft rD THEM
Review By Natalie Sugarman
efore there was the Valentine Distilling Co. cocktail bar, there was the creation
of Valentine Vodka. Founder Rifino Valentine has handcrafted some world-
class vodka that, in truth, has stolen this reporter's heart.
"About eight years ago, when I really started working on this company, I spent
four years developing the recipe and the brand;' said Valentine, who asked aloud,
"'Why can't we make a world-class vodka in the U.S.?"'
The cocktail bar opened its doors last May offering up some great cocktails
featuring fresh ingredients and tantalizing vodka infusions. We were told that all
the ingredients used in the infusions and drinks are fresh from the farmers market
— plus they grow herbs onsite. The atmosphere is warm and intimate with plush
couches, dark wood high- and low-top tables and bar seating.
"This is a distillery that happens to have a cocktail bar attached to it,"Valentine
points out. "The cool thing about it is that you can come here and experience the
whole handcrafting liquor process, and have a real handcrafted cocktail at the
same time."
The flavor infusions featured on
the night we went included include
apple cinnamon, cucumber, spiced
pear, cherry, pineapple and straw-
berry.
Two of its signature cocktails
include the "Cucumber Chill" and
the "Detroit Dirty."The former is
made with the cucumber infused
vodka, muddled cane sugar, lime
and fresh mint topped with soda.
The latter is a spin on the"dirty"
martini where they use pickle
instead of olive brine, with the juice
imported from our own backyard
courtesy of McClure's pickles, and
garnish with a piece of pickle.
For a unique evening at a local
distillery — and a killer cocktail
— Valentine Vodka is the place to
Valentine Distilling Co. comes complete with
be. R, r
its own mascot: Sherbet the Sheepdog.
D
Take a magic carpet ride to see Fabulous Prince Ali,
Jasmine, the Genie and all the other Disney favorites
(singing Disney's Academy Award-winning songs) as a cast
of kids and adults perform Aladdin Jr. at the Farmington
Hills Youth Theatre, along with Sky's the Limit Productions
— winner of Nickelodeon's Parents'Choice Awards"Best
Youth Theatre in Metro Detroit Award."Thursday-Sunday,
Nov. 17-20. $10; free/children 3 and under.
Farmington Hills Youth Theatre, Costick Center, 28600
W. 11 Mile Road, Farmington Hills. (877) STL-PROD;
ci.farmington-hills.mi.us .
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Grab the'tweens and the grandparents for a bit of
tradition and celluloid magic. See Tevye kick up his heels
at the Redford Theatre in the epic tale of Jewish life in
pre-revolutionary Russia; adapted from stories by Sholem
Aleichem and directed by Norman Jewison. Arrive early to
catch a performance on the 1928 theater's original pipe
organ before each show. 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18; 2 p.m. and
8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. All seats: $4.
Redford Theatre, 17360 Lahser Road, Detroit. (313) 537-
2560; redfordtheatre.com .
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
Step right up to the only show business phenomenon
to have run in three consecutive centuries. Comedy,
music, suspense and great feats of athleticism have made
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus a national
treasure.
Arrive an hour before show
time for the All Access Pre-
Show to meet performers and
animals. Wednesday-Sunday,
Nov. 9-13. $13-$82.
Palace of Auburn Hills, 6
Championship Drive, Auburn
Hills. (800) 745-3000;
ticketmaster.com or
palacenet.com .
— By Lynne Konstantin
www.redthreadmagazine.com