Coney Detroit

Homemade Coney Recipe

The Preacher's Wife loves to cook -- and to write about it on her blog.

Lucky us.

She has posted a yummy recipe for homemade Coneys that sound about as good as the real deal. She says they live in Michigan, but about two hours from any Coney places -- hard to imagine in Michigan -- so this is her homemade solution.

You'll see that she uses the right ingredients, including Koegel's hot dogs.

Her secret is the ground-up cheaper hot dogs that go into making the sauce.

Thanks, Preacher's Wife!

 

Was That the Stanley Cup at a Coney Island?

If you were in the Greek Islands Coney Island restaurant on Tuesday morning and thought you saw the Stanley Cup, your eyes weren't deceiving you.

Tradition has it that National Hockey League players whose teams win the Stanley Cup get to spend a day taking the trophy to wherever hey want.

Tuesday was the day for Detroit Red Wing comeback Darren McCarty.

McCarty, his mom, his ex-wife, their kids and Stanley started the day with breakfast at the Greek Island. From there it was off to a barber shop, an ice cream store -- where they used the cup as a giant, shiny sundae bowl -- and other businesses in Birmingham, Mich.

Read about Stanley's trip -- and McCarty's road back, on the Hockey Hall of Fame Web site.

The photo is by Mike Bolt and is from the Web site.

NBC's Today Show Put Coneys to the Test

In all the excitement about having Ann Curry and Al Roker of NBC's Today Show in Detroit recently, the real point of their visit has been obscured.

They were in Detroit to settle, once and for all, the debate about Detroit's classic Coney dogs, specifically, American vs. Lafayette.

Roker said, "To be frank, Ann, this was a doggone tough assignment!" He really did.

American's Grace Keros said, "It's a friendly rivalry, it really is, even though we still claim our product's better, because it is."

Lafayette's Ali Al Homi said, "They like the food, they like the service, they like Lafayette the best."

Curry did not say much.

After sampling each dog, Roker made his decision.

He declared them both to be the best.

A New, Familiar Old Story

We read in the Livingston County Daily Argus and Press a story that sounds vaguely familiar somehow.

It is about a family that emmigrates from Greece to Michigan and opens a small clutch of restaurants.

Since arriving from Kalamata, Greece in 1969, Stamatopoulos family has opened several restaurants. They now have Coney Island resataurants in Pinckney, Dexter and Jackson and pancake houses in Saline and Tecumseh.

The reporter, Christopher Behnan, interviewed Bob Stamatopoulos over Coneys at the family's newest venture, the Pinckney Diner. The restaurant, which Behnan says is the town's new hot spot, created an estimated 35 jobs.

Coney Flats -- a New Twist

Leave it to Michigan, where Coney Island is a food and not a place, for people to innovate and invent with one of the favorite local foods.

We have seen (and eaten) Coney dogs, Coney pizza, Coney tacos and Coney Island potato chips.

In East Lansing, we found another variation at a place called Flats Grille, "Home of the flat sandwich."

The eatery is located at 551 E. Grand River Ave., just next to Flat, Blackand Circular, a record store, at 541.

In Flats Grille, you can order all manner of sandwiches and a pretty good shake.

The Coney Flat is unlike anything we've seen before. It is basically a cut-up hot dog with a beany chili inside a folded flour tortilla. The concoction is cut into wedge-shaped pieces and looks for all the world like a quesadilla at a Fourth of July picnic.

We gave Flats points for creativity and initiative and suggested that, for true Detroit authenticity, they find a beanless chili. Onions and mustard would help. too.

McCain, Coneys and Campaigning

Presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain stopped off to press the flesh at the Kerby's Coney Island on Telegraph Road near Maple in Bloomfield Township this week.

There, he chatted with people having breakfast in this largely Republican area. Brent Coburn, a spokesman for  Deomcrat Barack Obama's campaign told The Detroit News, "Buying breakfast in Bloomfield Hills is the first thing John McCain has done right for the Michigan economy."

So, there.

One month earlier, McCain stopped off at a Senate Coney Island in Livonia and told diners, "It's time for meaningful sanctions (against Iran), either by the United Nations or by individual states acting together." Alex Lunberg of the Observer newspapers got the scoop.

That also was a breakfast stop.

If We're in Flint, This Must be Koegel's

Folks in Flint like their Coneys every bit as much as the people down I-75 in Detroit.

However, while you might find sausages from Dearborn or National in Detroit, you'll have a hard time explaining to Flint diners why you would serve anything but a locally made Koegel.

The Koegel Web site says that the company, started in 1916 by Albert Koegel, now makes about 35 products that are sold almost exclusively in Michigan and delivered to each individual store. A new plant, just off Bristol Road, near Bishop Airport in Flint, is strategically situated near I-75 and I-69.

We have one beef with the Web site. It hosts a number of recipes including chili sauce both Detroit style and Flint style. The problem is that both chili sauce recipes contain tomato sauce, yet we have been told that neither sauce should contain tomatoes.

Can anyone help us out?

          

Tour of West Michigan Got Dog Joints

Grand Rapids Press reporter Troy Reimink continues his insanely suicidal survey of west Michigan hot dogs.

He has just posted reviews of The Fleetwood Diner, Logan's Alley, Gregordog, Froggy's and Mr. Kozak's II. It's like he is on a binge. It's publish or perish, I guess. Maybe both.

Troy eats so that others may understand.

Cincinnati Dog and Detroit Coney

I have to wonder if Detroit and Cincinnati are parallel universes.

I just read how the Cincinnati Coney dog -- sausage, Cinci chili, onions, mustard and cheddar, is being introduced in Nebraska at the Saucy Dawg Cafe in Grand Island, Neb.

The article traces its origins to Greek restaurateurs in Cincinnati in 1922.

That is so Detroit. Well, except for the cheddar and a different style of sauce.

I am wondering just how many places saw Coney Island restaurants of differing styles open up in the 1920s?

Angelo's Coney Island

A big thanks to Adam Isaguirre for this yummy photo from Angelo's Coney Island in Flint.