Special Event: African American Foodways Dinner with Adrian Miller

An evening in support of The NEW Center and transforming the future.

Tuesday, September 12th 7:00pm
$90 with options for additional donations

Mark your calendars for the biggest event of the year at Zingerman’s Roadhouse! We are thrilled to be able to bring back one of our most beloved special events, the African American Foodways dinner, in celebration of our 20th anniversary. More importantly, we are honored to welcome back our longtime friend Adrian Miller, and our friends at The NEW Center in Ann Arbor.

Adrian Miller is a food writer, James Beard Award winner, attorney, and certified barbecue judge. He has been a special guest for previous African American Foodways events at the Roadhouse, where we have been entranced by his incredible knowledge about the history of African American food. For this event, we look forward to hearing stories from his award-winning book, Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue. It’s an in-depth, intriguing and insightful look at the history of barbecue in Black communities all over the U.S. The four course menu for this dinner will be based on mouth-watering recipes from the book!

At this dinner, we will be raising funds in support of our friends at Ann Arbor’s NEW Center (Nonprofit Enterprise at Work), along with their loving and revolutionary work. NEW’s focus is to help those in underserved communities to start and run healthy organizations, and in doing so help our ecosystem to thrive with more diversity. NEW’s work helps to dismantle systems of oppression and build resilience by cultivating relationships with leaders, thinkers and visionaries to transform the future of our community. With their partners, NEW is imagining radical new ways of being and working that ensure every person in our community is seen and supported.

Yodit Mesfin Johnson, President and CEO of NEW, says: “We believe that transformative change is achieved by working hand-in-hand with the communities we’re in and those we serve. Whether with grassroots initiative or other values-aligned organizations, we’re investing in relationships. We’re fostering collaboration and creating platforms for communities to take charge of their own destinies.”

Last year, NEW began an inspiring project, called the NEW Center Transformation, to take their work to the next level, and with this dinner we hope to help them achieve their vision. With each ticket purchase, there will be an opportunity to donate more than the ticket price to NEW.

The Roadhouse is honored for this opportunity to celebrate our 20th anniversary by serving our community! Join us at the table for an incredible evening of cultivating relationships over delicious food, as we hear stories from Adrian Miller and offer support to NEW and the transformation of the future of our community.

NEW Special Dinner BBQ Menu
Including recipes from Adrian Miller’s book, Black Smoke.

Plated Appetizer:

BBQ Pâté
Pit-smoked whole hog pâté on fried saltines, with Fred Wheeler’s honey hot sauce.

Family Style Entrées

Texas-Style BBQ Short Ribs
C.B. “Stubb” Stubblefield’s Austin Texas-style slow-cooked smoked Bar-B-Q Brisket.

Memphis-Style Chicken
In the style of “Big Moe” Cason’s smoked BBQ chicken, with red tomato BBQ sauce.

Family Style Sides

Mashed Potato Salad
In the style of the recipe used at the New Zion Missionary Baptist Church in east Texas. With mayo, yellow mustard, pickle relish, green onions, and hot pepper sauce.

Smoked Cabbage Slaw
In the style of Jason Pough’s east Virginia buttery smoked cabbage.

Roadhouse Buttermilk Biscuits

Koolickles
Cherry flavored Kool Aid-soaked pickles, a deliciously strange, but old Southern tradition.

Plated Dessert
Roadhouse Banana Pudding with Nilla Wafers.

***Donations can be made on the checkout page!***

Donation Levels for NEW:
– $100: Support visionary leaders
– $200: Advance cultures of belonging for all
– $500: Nurture evolving communities
– $1,000: Transform the future