Stop and smell the chips!

Oh ok…it is really “stop and smell the flowers” but this time it really was chips.

You see…now and then we have to step outside our boxes and do something different.

Needless to say, retirement has not been easy to adjust to for Gary or me. Those that know me , know how true this really is.

This weekend I decided to throw caution to the wind and and take an overnight trip. I suggested we throw stuff in a bag and just go and we did. I think Gary is ready for a change too. He has not been nice to me lately and that is putting it mildly but he has had a huge change of heart and I had to go with the flow and give him another chance. Oh yea…call me stupid for setting myself up for another nightmare trip but in my heart I knew this was gonna be different and it was..oh my.

We headed off to Frankenmuth, Mi mid morning. Almost near there we saw a diner. The old fashioned kind. That is the pic above with me in front of it. As we passed Gary remarked that he wondered what it was like inside and I said that we always said that and never stopped in even though we always had good intentions of doing that on the way home. This time I said…”HEY…I am a bit hungry…it is nearly noon and a little lunch would be nice”. Now normally he would have zoomed straight to the hotel..always in a hurry to get settled in. This time he said…”yea…good idea” and we turned around and went in. I was in awe that he would do this too but delighted.

It was cute inside with original counters and booths and all set up like the 50’s and it also played 50’s music. It was just typical diner fare so we thought. Gary had a sandwich which was served with the house specialty…home made tater chips. All brown and crispy and sooo good. I then noticed a guy come out of the kitchen. He fussed with some things on the counters…went around and rearranged and fussed with stuff on other tables. I told Gary I bet he was the owner. We read on the back of the menu that it was owned by a couple who wanted to make it a home town feeling place. Sure enough…this guy then went to adjust the window blinds . I notice he was not wearing an apron but a chef’s smock. He looked out of place and New Yorkish. I cant' say just what made me fell that but he did. Tall, well groomed with stylish haircut..well...New Yorkish..lol

He came toward us and I spoke to him and sure enough…he was the owner and yes….a chef to boot. He told us a whole long story of how he worked in New York. He had a conference out here in Michigan and fell in love with the area. He wanted to open an upscale restaurant but could not afford the rent. Back home he went. In the meantime the little diner he worked in in NY was moved to Frankenmuth and ran thru several owners and was again up for sale when he attended the conference here again. The same diner he worked at in New York. It was vacant for 3 years and he thought to himself…why not …and bought it.

Being a tourist town, there is not much business during winter months of Jan-May so he does other things to keep going. One is having a small local cooking spot. I went to his web site to check that out. He has an application for people to come cook at his place and be on his show. If you want to know more, go there. I did.

Ken's Diner

I submitted several recipes. I have no idea if they are suitable but hey…can’t hurt to try and who knows…maybe I will be cooking queen for one day.

The chat was about 20 minutes and so delightful. And to think we would have missed all this if we rushed off to our destination first.I might had gotten the time line a bit off as he told us a lot and it was so interesting. But so cute he ended up in the same diner he worked at so far away.

Maybe this is not exciting to anyone but me, but it was an unusual experience to see a chef in a small town diner.

Thus the moral is stop and smell the chips...flowers...something.