So my sister-in-law Lynette, along with her husband Robert and son Wyatt, sent me a belated birthday card with a Best Buy gift card enclosed. And after my last birthday shopping expedition, I knew exactly where to head when I got to the store: the music section, and specifically the Putumayo titles. I agonized over their choices, finally settling on Putumayo Presents: Cajun. I was looking for something lively, and it's hard to get more lively than Cajun music. I've only heard samples of this CD so far (been too busy working and posting tonight); but I already love what I've heard. (You too can hear samples here.) This is another disk that I can listen to from time to time, and think of the relatives who made it possible. Thanks, Lynette, Robert, and Wyatt!

And there's a bonus: the lyrics are almost completely French (albeit Cajun style French). So there's one more incentive to keep up my French lessons!

While I was at Barnes & Noble last week (picking up Pimsleur Instant Conversation French), I picked up two other Putumayo disks: Mediterranean Odyssey: Athens to Andalucia and A Jewish Odyssey. I've been too busy with travel, business, and French to listen to the latter yet, other than samples. It has some klezmer-style songs, and also some songs with sort of a Middle Eastern style. And yet there are other songs on there which are reminiscent of classical Spanish works, including Spanish guitar (a favorite style of mine). And yet other pieces sound almost Slavic or Eastern European in tone. It's like you can hear the whole Diaspora in these songs.

And as for Mediterranean Odyssey, I listened to this on a trip to visit my in-laws. And what I found interesting in this one was how, even though the songs came from different cultures along the Mediterranean, there were familiar sounds that echoed from one song to another. The songs aren't alike, but bits of one will often remind you of bits of another.

So while A Jewish Odyssey showed musical variation within one cultural tradition spread out across different nations and times, Mediterranean Odyssey shows common musical elements shared by many different cultures that happen to be joined in commerce and other interchange by the Mediterranean Sea.

Building on my preceding post, I have what may be an obvious observation to some, but is quite enlightening to me: I'll bet that you can tell a lot about the historical interactions and progressions and travels of different peoples by looking at their languages and their music, and seeing what they have in common, what they borrow from each other, and how they respond to each other. Add in comparative literature and religion, and I'll bet you get a vastly more intimate view of history than you will just by looking at major events. These elements of a culture are shaped by the day-to-day interaction with other cultures, not just by wars and such.

Oh, and food. Gotta throw food in there. I have long suspected that I could draw a direct line of food relation from Japanese to Hunan Chinese to Szechuan Chinese to Thai to Indian to Persian to Middle Eastern to Turkish to Romanian to Greek to Italian. Yes, I've missed a few steps in there; but I've had all of those cusisines, and I haven't had any of the missing cuisines (Pakistani, Afghani, Bulgarian, Hungarian, and probably others). But what I find delightful (again, if obvious) is how two cuisines that I find similar in flavor and style will usually be close together in geography. It says something about the migration of people and ideas and traditions. I'm nowhere near enough of a scholar to really explore these interconnections, but I still find them fascinating.

So while I was in Montreal, two different restaurant menus that I saw listed an item called "Hamburger Michigan". Now I have to tell you: I've lived in Michigan all my life; and as far as I know, there's nothing unusual about how we serve hamburgers here.

So I was curious; but other things on the menu tempted me. I didn't want to end up with either a plain hamburger or something unrecognizable. So instead, I had a gyro platter from Kostas Souvlakis for Wednesday dinner, and a smoked meat sandwich (another popular menu item) at Orly's Restaurant (can't find a Web site for that one). The gyro was one of the finest I've ever had (so good that I called them back to offer my compliments to the chef, and I've never done that before), and the smoked meat was tasty; so I don't mind my choices. But that still left me curious.

And a Web search left me even more curious, because a search for "Hamburger Michigan" turns up incredibly few hits. A Google search for the exact phrase turns up only 71 hits. (Of course, that will be 72 when Google gets around to indexing this entry.) And most of the ones that it does turn up are restaurant menus. Most of those in French. Most of those from restaurants in Montreal. And none of them define what Hamburger Michigan is. It must be one of those things that if you're from Montreal, you just know, and nobody need bother to explain (I'll bet he would know); and if you're not from Montreal, you would never have heard of it, and so you would never think to ask.

The best possible answer that I found came from all the way down on the third page of the Google search. It led me to an entry on Cooks.com. Now the entry had moved over time; but a search on Cooks.com led to these entries for "Michigan Sauce". They all seem to be recipes for what sound like sloppy-joe-like sauces of tomato paste and crumbled hamburger, to be served on hamburgers or hotdogs. (Meat sauce on meat. Go figure...)

I also found a comment thread somewhere (but now I can't find it again, naturally) where people discussed Michigan Sauce and traded recipes on it. No one there seemed to know why it might be called that.

So I'm at a loss. Is this what they mean by Hamburger Michigan? I guess I'll have to go back to Montreal to find out. Why have I lived 43 years in Michigan and never even heard of it before now? And why is it called that? That may be one of those rare answers that just isn't to be found on the Web.

So I went back to the same restaurant. I ordered the delightful Chicken Bacon Dijon Pannini, substitute the small fruit cup; and of course, the Chai Tea Latte. The cashier priced the order right and handed me my fruit cup. Because I asked, she handed me a fork. Then when I got my sandwich, there were no chips (which was correct), but there was a fork. Bravo!

And now for a great meal while I get some work done.

...to this.

Dear Mr. Shoemaker,

Thank you very much for your insight and thoughts on our "process". I think you make some great points in observing this and other cafes. I have already forwarded your link and initial comments to Greg Collins, our District Manager. There are continuously ways to improve our products, service and environment and we are very open to Associate and customer suggestions. Like I said, your comments have been passed on and we appreciate your time in providing us with your insight.

Thanks,
Brian Campbell
Marketing Coordinator
Trigo Bread, a franchisee of Panera Bread

A little more than a form letter, but that's all. Still, it shows that they value customer relations, particularly since this came from a guy from the very store that I visited.

So there's this cafe chain, Panera Bread. My sister-in-law and I once agreed: they're sort of the counter-Starbucks. Starbucks has a wide range of coffee drinks, for which they're famed; and they also have some pastries and sandwiches, but hardly anyone actually goes there just for those. They go for the coffee. Panera has a wide range of pastries, breads, bagels, soups, and sandwiches, for which they're famed; and they also have some flavored coffee drinks, but hardly anyone actually goes there just for those. They go for the food. (Exhibit A in our theory is the shopping center near her house, where a Starbucks and a Panera Breads can both be found, and are literally a short walk across the parking lot from each other. Both are thriving. And that's not the only place I've seen them share a parking lot.)

I love Panera's food. I don't like their somewhat upscale pricing; but I don't dislike it enough not to go there. (And that was even before they put in free WiFi. In fact, I shouldn't say "there", I should say "here". I'm composing this post at Panera.)

But I worry about the mental state of whoever designed their stores.

The image below is more or less the standard layout for Panera Breads stores. Oh, I've seen minor variations; but this is pretty standard:



And here's a key:

Bakery Reg/Pickup. See, Panera tries to keep two separate customer streams for two separate kinds of customers: bakery and cafe. Bakery Customers are largely a takeout business: they ask for some bread or pastry, they take it, and they leave. They don't want to wait around. So the Bakery Reg/Pickup is the register where bakery orders are placed, and where coffee is ordered separately and picked up (whether ordered separately or as part of a meal).

BC: Bakery Customer. Someone who orders just pastries, breads, bagels, or coffee.

Cafe Reg. This is the register for placing food orders. But because food takes time and Panera wants to keep the stream moving, you don't pick it up here.

CC: Cafe Customer. Someone ordering sandwiches, salads, or soups.

Cafe Pick Up. Where the Cafe Customer picks up food. Note that this is always down the counter from the Cafe Register, with a wall defining a narrow corridor between register and pick up. (Customer seating is on the other side of that wall.)

BW: Bakery Worker. Someone who takes and fills bakery orders, including all coffee orders from either register.

CW: Cafe Worker. You get the idea.

Chef: Someone who prepares cafe orders.

Baker. Or this might also be Supervisor. Someone who, for whatever reason, needs to come out of the bakery in the back.

Now here's where the problem comes in. (Use the red numbers on the drawing to follow along if you like.) What happens when a Cafe Customer (1) decides to order both food (like today's special, Chicken Olivada — I've had better chicken sandwiches here, but it's pretty good) and a coffee drink (or in this case, Chai Tea Latte, a great warm-up on a chilly day). Where do I go for step 2? And then step 3? Do I head toward Cafe Pick Up? Or do I head for Bakery Pick Up? Depending on the time of day and current customer demands, either one might get done first. There's no sure predictor. Usually I head for the Bakery Pick Up, but sometimes the food is done first. Either way I choose, though, I and my bulky computer backpack have to weave among both streams of customers and down the long, narrow hallway at least twice. And if I guess wrong and my order comes up at one pick up while I'm at the other, then I have to quickly work my way to the other pick up and back, likely ending in three cross-stream trips. So in other words, a design to reduce congestion at the registers results in an awful lot of cross-stream traffic. I'll bet they could improve traffic flow a lot if they swapped the Cafe Register and the Cafe Pick Up.

But often it's worse than that. Take a look at step 4. See, some of their coffee drinks (such as the wonderful I.C. Caramel, a great cool drink for the summer) require some shots of various syrups. And the first time I ordered one of those, I was shocked to see where they kept the syrups: behind the Cafe Register, and therefore across the traffic route from the Bakery out into the counter area. Worse than that, the only place to stand and dispense syrup was right in the Bakery entrance. This layout was almost guaranteed to lead to collisions between Bakery Workers and Bakers or Supervisors. This one they seem to have figured out, at least: almost every Panera I have visited lately has moved the syrups to a crowded area near the Bakery Register. It's cramped, but at least it doesn't lead to collisions.

And as long as I'm picking on Panera... With most of their food items, they offer a pickle and chips; but for $1.39 more, they'll substitute a small fresh fruit cup for the chips. Well, their chips are nothing special (Krunchers, usually), and their fruit cups are good. So that's how I usually order. But I swear, it's like not a single Panera cashier or chef has ever read their menu and knows about this option. Most times the cashier doesn't know where to find the cash register button for that. Some times they think I'm ordering a fruit cup separately, and charge me the full $1.99 for it. Most times they also don't know that, unlike all the rest of the food in the building, the fruit cup is the one item that they are supposed to deliver to me, rather than the Chef or the Bakery Worker. (Or some stores will have the fruit cups out front, and I'm supposed to serve myself.) Very often, the chef will add chips to my plate out of habit, so I have to explain that, while I appreciate their unintended generosity, I'm really not supposed to get the chips. And in almost every case (including today), they fail to provide me with a fork for the fruit. They need to educate their staff on this small matter.

Thank you, Panera, for letting me use your free WiFi to point out some of your failings. It puts me in the mood for another Chai Tea Latte (yummm...).

And speaking of WiFi and Chai Tea Latte... If I could use the WiFi to go to your site and place an order for new drinks and food to be delivered to my table while I keep working, you might never get me out of your store!