Five Quick Questions with Gail Offen & Jon Milan
Authors of Iconic Restaurants of Ann Arbor
Welcome to Five Quick Questions, The Ribbon’s ongoing mini-interview project. We’ll send five (quick!) questions to authors on their book tours, in advance of their readings at our store. Gail Offen & Jon Milan present from their most recent book, Iconic Restaurants of Ann Arbor, on January 18th.
What are you reading now?
JM: M Train by Patti Smith and Historic Ann Arbor, An Architectural Guide by Susan Wineberg & Patrick McCauley, Words Without Music, Philip Glass, Lapham’s Quarterly, Winter 2017
GO: American Heiress by Jeffrey Toobin (great combination of history, anarchy and comedy), The Short Stack Cookbook, and What Narcissism Means To Me by Tony Hoagland (the book is just as good as the title)
Which section are you most likely to be caught browsing in at Literati?
JM: Local interest and history, biography, staff picks
GO: Staff picks, cookbooks, travel. I love to learn what the world eats.
If we could conjure up anyone profiled in your book, and from any period of time, to join you in conversation after the reading, who would it be? And what would you ask them?
JM: Julius Seltzer, the anarchist associate of Emma Goldman, whom we learned from Ari Weinzweig, opened a restaurant on South University in 1911. I would be interested in the political climate of the town at the time, both patron and students.
GO: The woman (Alice? Agnes?) who baked the incredible layer cakes (mmmm, coconut) at Drake’s Sandwich Shop. I’d love her recipes. And ask Andy Gulvezan how he came up with so many legendary Ann Arbor hangouts.
Both: Ask Clint Castor about the early days of the Pretzel Bell, — and ask Don Glaser, U of M professor and winner of the Nobel Prize for physics in 1960 if he really came up with his idea for a subatomic particle bubble chamber, by staring at his glass of beer at the Pretzel Bell.
Are there any Ann Arbor Restaurant trends, customs, or staples that you miss?
Both: The atmosphere at Drake’s, the old wooden booths and the selection of candies and teas. A place where time truly stood still for over 70 years.
The way the Del Rio was run as a collective, with the employees making all the decisions together. A very rare, and very Ann Arbor kind of place.
Very late-night barbecue delivery from DeLong’s.
Affordable student eateries with character(s), like the Parthenon, Steve’s Lunch and Donburi.
The smoky, blues-filled basement of the old Blind Pig, where creative bistro food would arrive in a dumbwaiter.
When you could truly drive through the Drive-Through Beer Depot!
Seein’ Shakey Jake… and spotting him at a favorite restaurant.
And are there any you do not miss?
Both: We don’t miss the attempted encroachment of the fast food chains — the old “cathedral” McDonalds on Maynard and the underground Burger King at Maynard and Liberty always seemed cold and unwelcoming — and completely out of place. Luckily, gone.
And we would like to miss all the high-rises and chains that are changing the Ann Arbor landscape, both physically and culturally. Kids, go to places like Frank’s, Le Dog, Pizza Bob’s, Afternoon Delight and the Brown Jug while you still can!
