Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Coneys in the desert

Former Flintoid Jim Cummer and his wife, Solange — who is from Brazil but spent a year in Clio as an exchange student — have a restaurant that transports the sublime joy of Coneys to Tempe, Arizona.

"Our customers who never had this style of Coney have shared with us their pleasure: most expected a cheap, tired, old hot dog drenched in canned chile on a stale bun," Jim reveals. "Our Flint style Coney is a genuine Koegel's casing hot dog, imported from their Flint factory, housed in a steamed bun, covered with our own fresh homemade Flint style Coney sauce, topped with mustard and crowned with fresh sweet onions. This is a Coney symphony!"


11 comments:

  1. $4? I mean $4 for a coney? That can NOT be right. I guess that's the price you pay to live in an area with single digit unemployment rates.

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  2. I wish someone would bring that symphony to Vienna - there's a sausage stand and schnitzel joint on every corner here, but there's NOTHING even REMOTELY resembling that fine, mouth-watering work of art called a coney!

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  3. Jeez Louise, four bucks? Starlite Coney Island (Center and Davison Roads) serves the best coneys in the Flint area today, and they are only $1.79...and it's a pretty good place to take the family.

    The original Angelo's on Davison road today can be summed up in one word: yuck. Nothing there, including food and atmosphere is worth it anymore. I remember the days when stopping there for a meal after Saturday night or Sunday morning mass was a real treat.

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  4. Strangely, after 13 years in California, $4 sounds cheap to me. If it were San Francisco I'm guessing it might be a tofu coney for $8 (double the price of a gallon of gas so it's easy to remember.)

    Plus, if you live in Arizona and you're longing for a coney, you're only other options a flight to Bishop.

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  5. I had a coney from the guy down the road from Joan's Kitchen (or what he's calling a "coney"); they're charging $5.99 for one dog; the dude has the nerve to call his place a "Coney Island." My experience was that his "coney" was nothing more than a cheap-ass hot dog, some canned chili and a stale bun. If Joan's is selling real Koegel's and a Flint-style sauce, it's cheaper than ordering them online and safer than going back to Flint!

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  6. the worst "coney" in the world is made in albany, n.y.. we stopped in a mom and pop place,(the name has thankfully been erased from my brain!), and saw on the menu a "michigan sandwich", w/the explanation that it was a coney. well, being born and reared on Angelo's, Genesse Coney, Petko's, etc., we gave it a try.Itcame out on a cup saucer....a "hot dog, wrapped in a slice of whitebread, covered in ketchup. when we were done laughing, we explained to the waitress the gastronomical delight whose praises we sing. she could'nt have cared less....

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  7. Just had one of these last weekend. Rediculously expensive and the crowd was so big that by the time I got the coneys they were almost cold. But I had just discovered the Underground Music Archive that same week and expensive or not, driving to get a coney while listening to Medulla Oblongata reminded me of home.

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  8. Hey Mookie, This is Jim from Joan's Kitchen. We apologize for your almost cold coney...and if you want to try us again, just identify yourself as Mookie from Flint Pats and the first coney will be on me. We've worked hard to recreate the Flint Coney experience, including importing Koegel's fresh each week, direct from the factory. Shipping is now by size and weight...so it ain't cheap. Our 2 coney's, fry and drink at $7.75, tax included, is the best we can do. Kind regards, Jim from Joan's Kitchen

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  9. I have visited Joan's Kitchen during the week and they have excellent fresh home cooked meals. The turkey was fabulous. I have also gone in on their Saturday Coney Day and will pay $4.00 for one or $7.50 for two. You cannot find these dogs anywhere here in Arizona. I understand on how much the cost is to ship them from Flint to here. Please try this wonderfule Kitchen!

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  10. Jim Cummer ... Jim Cummer ... I know that name ...! Clio High School? One year behind me, maybe? Clionian staff? Also remember a Brazilian exchange student at C.H.S. Wonder if there's a connection here ...

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  11. http://www.yelp.com/biz/joans-kitchen-tempe
    This is a review of Joan's Kitchen and some photos.
    I think it is so cool that someone in Tempe Arizona is recreating the Flint coney. They are very different from Detroit style coneys. I like them both!
    The meat sauce is culturally Macedonian/Greek because of the immigrants from there who brought over their families recipes to Michigan and because they have meat dishes in Macedonia/Greece that cook meat that way. (Flint coney sauce) Joan's Kitchen has a
    The Original Clio Road" Sloppy Joe as well. I wish they the best!

    RoadsideDinerLover

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.