restaurant

A graphic with the text “2025” in large rainbow numbers across the center. Overlaid in black script is the phrase “Best of.” Below, in bold black block letters, it reads “Station Favorites.” The background is light gray with vertical stripes of green, blue and purple along the left and right edges.

Community

2025 Year in Review: Staff Favorites

Kalloli Bhatt

It's been a busy year for all of us, so we thought we'd bring you some of our favorite stories throughout these 12 months. Give them a listen and hope you enjoy them!

A person in a plaid shirt and ball cap sits on the porch of a log cabin in the woods.

Stateside

From Chicago fine dining to Michigan’s wild peninsula

Ronia Cabansag, Mercedes Mejia, Elinor Epperson

A Michelin-star chef serves locally sourced and foraged ingredients at an off-grid bed and breakfast in the Upper Peninsula.

Tanya and Wasinade Raphael outside their food truck.

Stateside

Fry bread and family traditions in Peshawbestown

Ronia Cabansag, Mercedes Mejia, Etai Smotrich-Barr

Tanya and Wasinade Raphael are the mother-daughter team whose food truck is drawing long lines at powwows across Northern Michigan.

Brittany March, chef/owner of It's Food Detroit, stands in front of a mural featuring the faces of Alkebu-lan Village. Alkebu-lan offers a wide range of youth programming. March borrows Alkebu-lan's kitchen and dining space, and provides culinary training to some of the older kids in return.

Arts & Life

Flipping the script on Detroit pizza, one vegan slice at a time

Ronia Cabansag, Mercedes Mejia

From elevator tech to pizza visionary: Meet the woman redefining Detroit-style pizza.

Josh Schaeding, in a baseball cap and blueish-gray t-shirt, in the forefront holding a plate with ground walleye burger and reuben in the Maple Grille kitchen.

Stateside

Hemlock's Maple Grille cooks farm fresh with fire

Mercedes Mejia, Ronia Cabansag, Kalloli Bhatt

Josh Schaeding serves up some burgers and local history at the Maple Grille.

Paola Carlson, owner of Pochis Sweet Designs

Stateside

The chef bringing Colombian flavors to Grand Rapids diners

Yesenia Zamora-Cardoso

A restaurant owner's journey to bringing Colombian flavors to downtown Grand Rapids.

Kinsler-Holloway pours honey ricotta cheesecake batter over graham cracker crust in a springform pan. “I think texture is very important with cheesecake and we do a really good job with that as a base,” he said.

Stateside

Stateside Podcast: "The Dish" serves up EK's Cheesecakes

Mercedes Mejia, Ronia Cabansag

"The Dish," Stateside's spinoff podcast for foodies, took a trip to EK's Cheesecakes in Milan, Michigan.

“You know, from selling marijuana to selling cheesecakes is pretty crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way,” Eric Kinsler-Holloway, owner of EK's Cheesecakes, said.

Stateside

How EK's Cheesecakes became a second chance

Mercedes Mejia, Ronia Cabansag

Eric Kinsler-Holloway talks about his journey to sobriety, and opening a bakery in Milan, Michigan.

A picture with six columns of lightly dusted, blueberry and apple pączki in focus at New Palace Bakery in Hamtramck. Differentiating the flavors are placards placed above the sweets with the words "blueberry" and "apple," respectively.

Stateside

Pączki Day: A Polish tradition with a modern twist

Kalloli Bhatt, Mercedes Mejia, Ronia Cabansag

Suzy Ognanovich, owner of New Palace Bakery, walks us through her Pączki Day preparations. Plus, we learn about the tradition and history of pączki.

Outside the Bomber Restaurant. A yellow awning with "The Bomber" written in red lettering next to the image of a bomber airplane.

Stateside

Stateside Podcast: Diner scrambles for affordable eggs amid bird flu outbreak

Kalloli Bhatt, April Van Buren

Johanna McCoy, owner of The Bomber Restaurant in Ypsilanti, talks about how the spread of bird flu—and the resulting surge in egg prices—is impacting her business.