Thursday, January 21, 2010

Huron Hotel: Woodruff's Grove Restaurant

Here's a piece of Huron Hotel history; a menu from its 1980-1989 restaurant, Woodruff's Grove. The cute bit of this restaurant is that the menu choices are themed, with names reflecting tidbits from Ypsilanti history. Dusty Diary's favorite is "Asa Dow's Crab Legs." I can just imagine him saying, "I BEG your pardon!"

There's also the Judge Woodward (steak, but should be something more Detroit-y), the "Raftsmen," featuring a water creature on a li'l English muffin raft, and the Salad Demetrius, which is appropriately Greek. Were Dusty D to have lunch there today, she would choose...hmm, the "Fire of 1851," yummy.

The "Fence Watcher" burger confused Dusty D till she read on the back of the menu, in a little glossary there: "Fence Watcher: (mid 1850s)--A one man job riding property lines making sure fences were in good repair; prevented livestock from wandering and becoming the center of ownership disputes." Ah.

3 comments :

Unknown said...

Can someone explain the Ypsilanti Vigilante reference? I know there was a song by that name on the YpsiSongs album -- and here it is again on the menu...

Unknown said...

That one caught my eye, too. The only reference I could find was for the Ypsilanti Vigilante Society (formed in 1838) in a Ypsilanti Gleanings timeline. The timeline says who founded the society, but nothing about its purpose.

Paul A. said...

An anti-slavery group? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigilance_Committee