Whether the words “home cooking” make you cringe or recall your favorite Steak Au Poivre recipe, we all have strong feelings about it. Some claim to be ramen noodle experts, while others use every square inch of their counter space to store the latest kitchen gadgets. With a rise in one-pot meals and BuzzFeed Tasty videos over the past year, it’s never been easier to call yourself a home chef.

For some of us, getting through a meal without any pain is just too boring. Most spice fanatics opt for Indian or Thai, but if you’re looking to expand your spice horizons, West Michigan has plenty to offer. We’ve rounded up some of the most blazing hot dishes around that don’t sacrifice flavor for suffering.

There’s a new French restaurant in the heart of Grand Rapids and frankly, it’s about time. Most western cooking dances around — if not completely bows in supplication to — classic French cookery and technique, but it is understandable, however, that a region so laden with Dutch heritage could dodge a brasserie for so long.

Well, it’s a new year. We’ve all white-knuckled our way through the first full year of our 45th President, and perhaps our self-care routines have lapsed a little? I know mine have! So let’s eat right. 

Here’s my experience on a one-day tour of salads from around Grand Rapids, some from rookie establishments and some old favorites.

For Thanksgiving, you could make your own pies, but to save time (or save face, if your crust game is lacking), leave it to the pros. Whether you're looking for the perfect dessert for a get-together or craving something hot and hearty, we’ve got you covered. 

This month, Revue sat down with Ed Collazo of City Built Brewing to talk about the recently opened brewery’s clinical approach to beer and a 101 course on Puerto Rican food, including some choice words about taco styles. In short: two corn tortillas are one corn tortilla too much. Food fight?

A few places to find beer mingled with your food — including mussels, french fries and even chocolate.

You remember your first Asian restaurant. No, come on, now — not the one with a hundred blessed dishes to choose from, each with the gooey, gloopy consistency and a Day-Glo sauce to match. The real one.

Justin Whitman, the bar manager at Donkey admitted to us that when he and his staff have trouble coming up with cocktail names, they tend to lean on band names. Well bravo, team. The Velvet Underground manages not only to taste like a smoky NYC bar circa 1964, its Day-Glo orange also looks like it could have doubled as a prop in Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable.

When helping to create Buffalo Traders Lounge, Grand Rapids’ latest cocktail bar, Duncan McCargar decided that we as a city had skipped a step in our zeal for specialty spirits. “It was like we tried to be New York’s inventive cocktail scene before we ever even had a place to get a reliable classic.” Truth.