U.P. Pasties - Plymouth, MI

      As you may or may not know already, I live in downtown Plymouth.  I like to ride my bicycle everywhere, instead of driving my cage, so as I rode my festooned antique Schwinn 10-speed up to the Mayflower Party Store for yet some more beer, I noticed the pizza joint had transformed into U.P. Pasties.  Huh?  Whaaaatttt?!?!?!?    DROOL!   I love pasties, and every time I'm up in St. Ignace or thereabouts, I always stock up on frozen pasties, since as you well know, good ones are near impossible  to find in Metro Detroit. 
     Lucky for me, the owner was behind the counter, and I struck up a conversation with a very friendly lady, and she told me that they'd used the pizza place's ovens to make pasties after hours, to sell in the Plymouth Farmer's Market, and when the pizza place decided to shut down, she took over the place and is now making pasties, pot pies, and mini-bites full time.
     As for the pasties, I ordered a chicken (w/ chicken gravy on the side), beef (w/ beef gravy on the side), and a veggie (for my Vegetarian wife - Hi Lynda!).   I must add, that these pasties are on the larger side, which is good - I judged that I'd not be left hungering for more after tackling one of these pasties.   The owner was very fastidious to use a dedicated "veggie only" spatula to retrieve the vegetarian pastie, so no "meat" would touch the pastie - attention to detail like this really pleased my Wife.   While you can get em heated up in the store, I didn't, for I was going to have them later for dinner.   That said, I'm anxious to try the Chicken Pot Pie, as well as the Mini-Bites (miniature pasties), but that will have to wait for another visit.  But, anyway - upon returning home, I turned my oven to 350, and popped em in the oven on a perforated metal pizza stone.  It's recommended to leave the refrigerated pasties on the counter for a bit before ploppin' em into a hot oven.  Doing so ensured that my pasties crisped up very nicely, and I gravied em up, and dug in......
     AAaaahhhh.....I felt as though I'd been transported to St. Ignace, upon the first bite of the beef pastie.   Tender beef, and the potatoes, carrots, and rutabaga really play well together.  The veggies in the pastie really tasted fresh (not canned), and that lent it a very vibrant flavor - combined with the crispy crunch outer and the gravy, it really was delicious - same deal applies with the Chicken version too.     My Wife really loved her Veggie pastie too, but lamented that she couldn't use the gravy.  I guess ketchup will suffice.  
    So, in closing, I'd have to say U.P. Pasties is a smash hit - I'm so stoked to have such a favorite food so close to home.  The owner told me that you can also request custom pasties, and pre-order vast quantities if you want, and she'll even make veggie pastie bites if you pre-order them - I anticipate having them make up a bunch of mini-bites for parties - they'd be a hit for sure.  These pasties are truly made with care, by someone who cares, with FRESH ingredients, and I couldn't be happier to have em as a neighbor!  Try em, you'd be silly not to!

U.P. PASTIES COMPANY

Sardine Room : Plymouth, MI

Our streetside table + PBR Pint

My wife and I decided to ride our bikes downtown to grab a bite to eat at one of the various sidewalk seating restaurants that populate Downtown Plymouth.  Seeing the hustle and bustle of the setup for the Art Fair, we decided to try the new Sardine Room.   We placed our names for an outside seat, told we'd be waiting 1/2 hour, so we left with our Sardine Room buzzer to have a drink outside at the next door 336 martini bar (great $6 blueberry vodka mojitos!).  

Our buzzer went off, after 1/2 hour, and we arrived at our table - nice clean aluminum tops and chairs - I'm liking it already.   Our server, Alyssa was very friendly and cheerful and took our drink orders right off the bat.   The wine prices are a bit spendy per glass, but anytime you can get a can o' PBR for $3 bux, at a nice restaurant, is a treat (I'm a recovering beer snob), so I evened out my wife's spendy wine selection with a frosty draft PBR pint.  

I hadn't eaten since breakfast, so I needed some hearty fare.  The Sardine Room menu has a variety of intriguing items on it, and thankfully, they do live up to their namesake and offer "Portuguese Sardines", as a small plate.   I probably would have left, if they didn't have sardines!   If you've been to tapas places before, you'll know they can vary wildly in portion size, so I ordered somewhat more than I'd planned on.   My wife got the Chop Salad (she's a vegetarian so she left off the Sopressata meat).   She absolutely loved it - way more than the Cauliflower side order she also ordered.   For myself, I availed myself of the aforementioned Portuguese Sardines, the Chicken Livers small plate special, and the Pulled Pork Poutine.

The  Chicken Livers arrived first.   This is a tapas you really don't want a lot of, for chicken livers (or any liver) is incredibly filling.   The livers were sauteed, and mixed in with a brownish sauce, accompanied by a couple crustinis smeared with a cold chopped liver spread.  I like it when the little livers are cooked so they begin to break apart, and these little crumbles thickened up the sauce incredibly well - dab a little liver and sauce on the crustini, and prepare for major flavor - it was a wonderfully gluttonous dish, and I loved every bite. 

Portuguese Sardines appeared three on a plate, drizzled with a spicy olive oil, and some different style crustinis.   The sardines are those big chubby short ones, and after eating the chicken livers, I couldn't believe how full I felt, but endeavored to gobble up all three sardines.  I found it somewhat humorous that I struggled to ingest three sardines.....That said, I really enjoy sardines, especially the tiny little delicate "sprat" style smoked ones (Riga Sprats @ Hillers - the best!).   The Portuguese Sardines are of a more burly/meaty variety, and a bit on the salty side, but not objectionably so.   Still, they were quite good, and I would get them again (my wife said I couldn't get em' again because they smelled too 'sardine'ey' - ha ha!  As they properly should!).

Pulled Pork Poutine + neglected PBR

Now, I'm really feeling double full, and my poor PBR is neglected, for I really am really running out of room in my gullet.  I'm hoping the Pulled Pork Poutine indeed lives up to the portion size everyone associates with Tapas restaurants - small!......But, no - the Pulled Pork Poutine that I received was gigantic.  Normally, I'd be overjoyed, but there was no way I could gobble all that food.   But, I'll still try it.   The Pulled Pork Poutine fries looked really thin and crispy.  Large chunks of cheese curds populated the upper level, sharing the space with slivers of jalapeno peppers and plops of pulled pork, all of which was bathed in a thin brown gravy sauce.  It was quite delicious, and I could see myself ordering only the Pulled Pork Poutine as a full meal.

The Sardine Room has so many other interesting items on the menu, and I'll definitely be back to explore the menu.  If you can, wait the extra 1/2 hour to sit outside, weather permitting.   The service is great (plates cleared promptly, water refilled, and utensils supplied without needing to ask), and the the place definitely achieves an upscale, yet casual vibe that's so hard to manufacture - I like it!  The Sardine Room definitely surprised me, and really adds to the fun of Downtown Plymouth.  Try it!