Long has the debate raged over what constitutes “American” food. There are primarily two camps in this fight, either you believe that, like the nationality, American food is merely composed of other ethnic foods, amalgamated and reproduced for our eating pleasure, or that American food equals Southern food, which appears to be the only thing we’ve come up with on our own.
Up until the last ten years or so, one could rarely find a restaurant which touted itself as “American,” and places would usually go with labels such as “steak house” or “diner-style.” With post-modernity and its apparently ravenous, identity-seeking obsession with “heritage” infiltrating even the culinary arts at this point, highbrow restaurants have begun to explore the idea of American food, working to create an actual identity by exalting recipes long sequestered as old-fashioned or comfort food.
Personally, I take the stance that there is no such thing as true American food with an authentically original heritage. What has become labeled as haute in current restaurant circles are primarily the products of Germanic, Celtic, or Anglo immigrants and really cannot be delineated from our more recent Italian, Eastern European, or even Asian brethren. Even Southern food is the product of immigration. What we think of today as Southern soul food is purely afro diasporic and can be found on a multitude of continents in a variety of forms.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bothered by the neo-American food movement. In fact, I find it to be quite delicious, and some rather good examples exist out there which should be experienced by our generation. One of the best of these is Ann Arbor’s The Raven’s Club.
The website of The Raven’s Club describes the inspiration for the decor as coming from early 20th-century jazz clubs and speakeasies, and it does not disappoint. Upon entering, a massive bar filled with layer upon layer of craft liquors and other beverages immediately catches one’s eye. The antique lighting, including massive lampposts installed in the center of the restaurant, transports one to a time utterly Fitzgerald.
I should be quick to mention that The Raven’s Club is as much a bar as a restaurant, and in that way, very much captures the pre-prohibition tradition of a “public house,” where food and drink were there to assist in people engaging in community, not getting drunk or sated. The bar there can only be described as awe-inspiring; an ever changing list of affordable cocktails, beers, liquors, and wines graces every table, and an immensely helpful staff will direct you to whatever your heart may desire. At The Raven’s Club, they specialize in what could be described as craft or obscure, and oftentimes they will have just received a shipment of something I had read about days before. They currently even carry the ever elusive, over-priced, rumored-to-be-a-scam Pappy Van Winkle’s bourbon, and are one of a very few mid-western institutions that do so.
Their menu is as superb as their drinks list, and the quality of their “American” food truly astounding. Like every restaurant trying to participate in the neo-American food craze, much of their food is locally sourced and of outstanding quality. The menu is also very seasonal, constantly shifting to the point where expecting a particular favorite on the menu is a futile endeavor. A constant presence, though, is their charcuterie board, the contents of which may change, but always satisfies any cravings one might have for premium cured meats.
Their entrees will invoke almost medieval imagery. Delicious heavy meats in delicious heavy sauces grace the singular page of a menu. Maybe this is the American aspect I’ve been looking for, but then I remember that these seem all too familiar in German cuisine. Despite that, the food, much like German cuisine, is all delicious. Whether it be pork shanks or lamb chops, all of it is good.
The desserts are wonderful as well as seasonal. Currently, try either the apple fritter or the potted chocolate creme. Both are delicious, and both will assuage any sort of sweet tooth you may have.
Ok, so American food might not be a thing, but whatever sort of amalgamation of cuisines we have come to call American food can be a beautiful thing. The Raven’s Club provides the perfect example of what the 21st-century restaurant should look like: simple, farm-to-table, elegant. They also provide the perfect 21st-century bar: everything anyone’s heart could desire. Go to The Raven’s Club, not to feel “American” but to feel like a damn human being.
