Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a menu tasting at Olga’s Kitchen in Sterling Heights. Olga’s has always been a Detroit favorite of mine. Their new menu items were very impressive, and I had a great time.

The first time I visited Olga’s kitchen was when I was very young, probably about 9-10 years old. I was on a field trip in Ann Arbor for Future Problem Solving. The experience was very memorable, as it was my first time in downtown Ann Arbor. I was in awe of the place, just walking around downtown, goofing off with my friends and checking out all the shoppes. We went to Olga’s for lunch, and the food was so good that I kept bugging my parents to take me back there for a long time afterwards.

Olga’s is a staple of Michigan eateries, and well known for their founder, Olga, who sported a giant perm in TV ads, even long after they went out of style. They are known for their gyros and Greek cuisine, but they always brought a much better dining experience than your average Greek coney restaurant.

To start out we had a variety of appetizers to munch on. The Snackers seemed to be the favorite among the group, but I was particularly fond of the fried zucchini. It came with some kind of crazy horseradish that was very delish.  The snackers were also very good though and came with Swiss almond cheese.

For our entrees, they recommended that we try their new menu items, which is a line of pita burgers. I had the South of the Border Burger which came with pepper jack cheese, avocado, tomatoes, lettuce and chipotle mayo. I am always a sucker for a burger with avacado and anything chipotle, but putting the burger in a pita instead of the traditional bun made it a delicious remix of the classic hamburger. My second choice would have been the Black N Bleu Burger, which also comes wrapped in a pita and is topped with peppercorn mayo, bacon, carmalized onions and crumbled bleu cheese. Next time I go I’m definitely going to try that one.

For dessert I had one of the most amazing dishes I’ve ever had in my life. They call it “French Toasted Cheesecake.” It was cheesecake, smothered in some kind of crazy noodly thing and topped with strawberry sauce. I have always said that mankind has spent hundreds of years trying to invent a dessert that is better than the chocolate chip cookie, but has failed miserably. Olga’s came pretty close with the french toasted cheesecake, and I will definitely save room for that the next time I’m there.

I got to talk with their social networking guy, and learned some interesting things about the company. They do offer health insurance and retirement benefits to their full-time employees and there are great opportunities for advancement. They do not franchise their stores, so they are able to operate under a more lean management system than your average restaurant chain. In my opinion, this business model allows the company to take better care of the employees at the bottom, and there is a lot to be said for that in this economy. Not that there is anything wrong with franchising, but you can run into situations where some franchises are taking better care of their employees than others.

They are also making very good use of social media, including Facebook and Twitter. Social media is becoming a big part of many Michigan company’s marketing plans, and has made a big impact on the way people do business. Some companies make the mistake of misusing social media, and don’t understand the importance of using it to engage with their customers. Not Olga’s though, they are doing a great job of engaging and interacting with people, hopefully picking up new customers along the way. For a person like me, they are a friendly reminder that they are still here, and I will be visiting them more often because of that.

I’d like to give a big thank you to all of the people at Olga’s Kitchen for allowing us to participate in this menu tasting. It was fun, informative and delicious, and I would recommend them to anyone who is looking to have a good meal and keep their money circulating right here in Michigan’s economy.

I typically don’t write about new music a whole lot. The reason is because there just isn’t very much good music coming out these days. As a fan of hip hop, I have come to appreciate that there are very few artists that are doing anything new and exciting. It’s not all bad though, because hip hop is more of a collective than a focus on individual talent. Hip hop is more about hanging out with my friends and having a good time than breaking down new walls and pushing the limits of music creativity. I can’t hate, and in fact, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Every once in a while I am absolutely humbled by an artist that makes me feel the same way I did when I was a kid and I heard great songs by Jimi Hendrix, Boston and Electric Light Orchestra for the first time. It’s that feeling you get in your soul, and the tingle that goes down your spine when you hear the guitar solo in Hotel California for the first time. Sometimes I miss that feeling a great deal. This is how I feel lately when I hear new music coming from John Forte.

I wrote about him a little while back, when he was pardoned by George W Bush. His incarceration was all the proof we will ever need of how backwards the war on drugs in this country has become. While it’s upsetting that one of the artists behind the highest grossing hip hop album of all time was made an example of by the federal government, despite the fact that his crimes were not violent in nature, the real story is how prison made John Forte the man he is today. He is not out there preaching about the injustice that was done to him. Instead, he is probably the most humble man on the planet Earth, and he’s letting his music do the talking.

During the seven months since his release from prison, he has already accomplished a lot. He is currently teaching at the City College of New York, recording with Talib Kweli, writing his memoirs and working with “In Arms Reach,” a Harlem-based initiative that works with at-risk children who have parents serving time in prison.

Forte will be releasing a new EP next week, titled “StyleFREE.” Today he has released a song from the album, “Play My Cards For Me,” which John describes as “the journey of a man, and the willingness to relinquish control to his loved one in the event of his demise.” This song is truly a masterpiece in both soulful interpretation of personal strife and gratuitous display of raw talent. He plans to release a full-length album next year.

Take a listen to this song with me, and rekindle that joy you had listening to music as a kid. If by the end of this song there is a tear in your eye, take that as proof that you are still human.

John Forte – Play My Cards For Me

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