American Weekender's Top Stories of 2023
From Great Lakes getaways to New England seaside retreats to the low country cuisine of South Carolina, here are your favorite stories of the year
Dear Weekenders,
Welcome to the weekend! When we launched American Weekender last summer, the newsletter was the product of years of brainstorming sessions by the shores of Lake Michigan, lengthy discussions over cocktails, and obsessively poring over our favorite travel magazines.
Like many ideas, American Weekender was born out of the pandemic in 2020 — a time when our wanderlust was tempered by the realities of the day but our consumption of travel journalism was off the charts. In 2021, we started our American Weekender Instagram — a place to put some of our favorite travel photos. In 2022, we launched americanweekender.com with our first Field Guides filled with our favorite travel itineraries. And this summer, after years of over-thinking, the American Weekender newsletter went out to our first subscribers.
We want to extend a thank you to everyone who has added their name to our mailing list, bought a subscription, downloaded a guide, or just liked a post. Your support has meant the world to us. We would also like to offer a special thank you to our American Weekender Explorers. Your contributions to American Weekender make this newsletter possible.
For our final issue of 2023, we’re taking a look back at some of your favorite stories of the year. From Great Lakes getaways to New England seaside retreats to the low country cuisine of South Carolina, we’re thrilled you’ve enjoyed reading our stories so far. Please join us in raising a glass to what’s to come in 2024.
— Amy Cavanaugh & Kenney Marlatt
NO. 10: AN INTERVIEW WITH A FAVORITE SMALL-TOWN CHEF
Cover Story: Tasting the Bounty of Western Michigan
SAUGATUCK, MI — Every time we visit Saugatuck we have a serious discussion — how many meals should we have at Pennyroyal Cafe & Provisions? This gem of a restaurant and shop, co-owned by executive chef Missy Corey and her partner, Starflower Farm farmer Ryan Beck, is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so you could conceivably eat every meal of your visit there (unless it’s Tuesday, or in January, when the restaurant is closed).
NO. 9: THE BAR SNACK TREND OF THE YEAR
On the Menu: Deviled Eggs Have Taken Over
No matter what American city you’re in, it seems like chefs and bartenders are embracing a certain era of nostalgia lately, with menus reading like we’re at a 1965 cocktail party (to be clear, we are here for this). On the drinks side, classic martinis are happening in a big way, and every day I see menus with some combination of shrimp cocktail, pimento cheese, olives, and deviled eggs.
NO. 8: A BEAUTIFUL NEW ENGLAND GETAWAY
Featured Destination: Exploring Portland, Maine
PORTLAND, MAINE — As someone who grew up going to Maine each summer (I’ve somehow been visiting for three decades!) it doesn’t surprise me that the state has become an eating and drinking destination for people outside New England. Yes, everyone knows there’s plenty of lobster. And there are also things like wild blueberries, whoopie pies, Moxie soda, Allen’s Coffee Brandy, and electric red hot dogs, the food and drinks that are quintessentially Maine.
NO. 7: A CLASSIC, AWARD-WINNING MAINSTAY
Weekender Favorites: Wood-Fired Fare at Detroit's Selden Standard
DETROIT, MICH. — When the 2023 James Beard award finalists list was announced this spring, three of the five nominees for Best Chef Great Lakes came from Detroit (the other nominees, Diana Dávila of Mi Tocaya AntojerÃa and ultimate winners Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of Kasama, are based in Chicago). We took that as a sign that we needed to head to Detroit for a weekend to try the nominees’ restaurants, and made dinner reservations at Marrow and Selden Standard and popped into Saffron De Twah (which is temporarily closed) for lunch. Selden Standard wasn’t just our clear favorite of the three — our dinner was one of the best we’ve had all year.
NO. 6: A BELOVED SUMMER RETREAT
Featured Destination: Escaping to Door County, Wisconsin
DOOR COUNTY, WIS. — While Door County, a collection of small towns on a narrow peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan, is a favorite Midwest summer destination, we treat it as an escape in all seasons. Fall is a beautiful time to visit; with vibrant foliage and smaller crowds, it’s easier to snag a table at places like Wickman House, and the weather is still nice enough to go for a hike. We also love it in winter. Though some restaurants and bars will have closed for the season, others stay open and you can have a very cozy weekend — not to mention take in the New Year’s Eve Cherry Drop in Sister Bay; we attended the first annual event!
NO. 5: COLLEGE NOSTALGIA ON A HOAGIE ROLL
Weekender Favorites: Garlic Cheeseburgers Find a Second Home in Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. — Regional burger aficionados associate Minneapolis with its unique burger style: the Juicy Lucy. For the uninitiated, a Juicy Lucy is a cheeseburger made by sandwiching cheese between two uncooked beef patties and then pinching the sides of ground beef back together, thus sealing the cheese inside. The burgers are then grilled, forming a molten core of liquid cheese that oozes out of the burger on your first bite.
NO. 4: A FOND FAREWELL
Cover Story: Mike Holmes and the Evolution of Door County
ELLISON BAY, WIS. — Our first visit to Wickman House was a quick one — we were on a hastily plotted Wisconsin fall weekend trip in 2015 that included a night in Green Bay, a day admiring the leaves in Door County, and a night in Milwaukee. While in Green Bay, we ran into an acquaintance who asked us if we were going to dinner at the Ellison Bay restaurant the next night — we said no, since we had a dinner reservation in Milwaukee. He urged us to reconsider.
NO. 3: FINE DINING SIMPLIFIED
Cover Story: Charleston's Chez Nous is the Place to Be
CHARLESTON, SC - Whenever I’m planning to dine at a restaurant, I start obsessively reading the menu days in advance, trying to figure out exactly what to get. I keep the menu open in a tab on my browser so I can plot my order between other tasks. To dine at Chez Nous, a lovely restaurant that opened in Charleston in 2014, there’s no planning required. The menu is posted each morning on their Instagram, and there are just six dishes — two starters, two entrées, and two desserts (plus an off-menu cheese plate available for dessert or a pre-dessert course). The menu is so tight that if you dine with one other person, you can get everything.
NO. 2: HAM BISCUITS, HOT DOGS, AND PEPPERONI ROLLS
On the Road: West Virginia's Favorite Handheld Snacks
WEST VIRGINIA – I’ve spent many hours driving West Virginia’s winding, mountainous roads. This beautiful state, tucked entirely within the Appalachians, forms a bridge on drives from the South to the North, Midwest to the East, and back again. It's not just its vistas that encourage lingering — it's also the food. There are pepperoni rolls, pocket-size snacks that miners toted down into the mines for lunch, available singly or by the dozen at gas stations and convenience stores. There are West Virginia-style hot dogs, loaded with chili sauce and slaw and nestled into soft buns. And there is Tudor's Biscuit World, where tender biscuits come filled with everything from country ham to bologna. You can try each of these classic foods all over the state, so it’s easy to have them all in a single day.
NO. 1: YOUR FAVORITE STORY OF THE YEAR
Overnight Stay: Grand Rapids, Michigan
GRAND RAPIDS, MI — If you know the Grand Rapids food and drink scene, it’s likely because of the beer. There are a number of notable breweries, like Brewery Vivant, which focuses on Belgian and French styles (it’s worth stopping for a Farm Hand saison at the taproom, which is located in a historic funeral home and has stained glass windows behind the bar), Arvon Brewing Co., with New England IPAs and sours, and, our top pick, Speciation Artisan Ales, which we’ll explore more below.
This month, paid subscribers to American Weekender received our newsletter featuring some of our favorite spots in New York’s Hudson Valley. You can download all of our picks for the area in our Field Guide to the Hudson Valley, a 24-page digital dining guide formatted for your phone. During the month of December, paid subscribers can snag a complimentary download on our website using the code found in this month’s Featured Destination newsletter. (Paid subscribers also get 50% off any other Field Guide they’d like!) Upgrade your subscription today and get your free Field Guide to the Hudson Valley.
Want more? Download our Field Guides, check out our archives, or follow us on Instagram @americanweekender. We’ll be back next week.
