- [Tom] On this episode of UTR, we're back in southeast Michigan with more for you to see and do.

We'll find historic wood that sounds good, a market on a mission, and a place that has all the stuff you didn't even know you needed.

Then we'll munch on a mouthful of Moroccan and peruse the Penn Theater.

Get ready to explore the cool people, places, and things that make Michigan a great place to be.

- [Announcer 1] Pure is what you make of it.

It's taking it all in and never taking anything for granted.

The sun sets, the moon rises, and you realize the end of one perfect summer day is the beginning of another.

Pursue your pure in Pure Michigan.

- [Announcer 2] A visit to the Stahls Auto Collection will take you back to a time when cars were more than just a way to get around.

A fantastic assortment of gas pumps, neon signs and automated music machines dating back 150 years that must be seen and heard.

Info at stahlsauto.com.

(upbeat rock music) - [Tom] I've been around the world, but there's one place I keep coming back to.

And the more I explore, the more I realize it's the place to be.

I'm Tom Dalton and this is Under The Radar, Michigan.

(upbeat rock music) Well, we're back in the most populated part of our great state with five more reasons why this is the most populated part of our great state.

And if you understand what I just said there, you're going to love what we found.

That's right, Southeast Michigan is home to millions of Michiganders who love everything about where they live be'cause almost everything they're looking for is right here to enjoy.

There's urban adventure, natural beauty, a plethora of palette pleasing places to peruse and enough sports, art and culture to make you feel downright civilized.

So grab your official UTR cool counter and commence to clicking be'cause here we go.

(graphics whooshing) Now, in our first adventure, you're gonna meet a guy that takes some of Detroit's most historic buildings and turns them into guitars.

Wait, what?

You heard right.

Mark Wallace saw some of the city's most iconic buildings headed for the trash heap, had an idea, said hold on a minute, and is now creating incredible sounds heard around the world on his Detroit Wallace guitars.

Why does this old wood sound so good?

Let's ask Mark.

Now, I'm not just saying this ''cause I'm a musician, at least I like to think I am.

But what you're doing is so cool.

I mean, your guitars are like a musical manifestation of the history of this great city.

- Yeah.

- But how did it all happen?

I mean, how did you come up with this really cool concept?

- I've been obsessed with music forever, ever since I was a little kid.

I grew up listening to the Beatles and the Association.

My family was all about it.

So, I've always had that music vein and I've always loved the music story of Michigan man, whether it's, you know, the MC5, whether it's Eminem, you know, Jack White was hitting right when I was coming through college.

- [Tom] Yeah.

- You know, and it gave us Stooges coming out of Ipsy, right?

Like, I mean, just amazing, amazing heritage there.

So, I had this sort of Detroit thing and this music thing, and anybody who lives in Detroit, you know, you look around, you see all these vacant houses.

But I started thinking, what could you do with those vacant houses?

So I was working in real estate and a friend of mine introduced me to a friend of his who was working in a non-profit that was taking these houses down, the ones that were well beyond repair.

- Right.

- And realizing that there's amazing wood inside those houses.

- Just sort of go over the process when the wood comes in, how it's made into, like, what happens?

- Yeah, yeah, for sure.

So we get the wood from the non-profit architectural salvage warehouse of Detroit, and you know, when it comes in, they have to plane it down.

So that takes the outside edge off, and then they have to glue it up into what we call the slab, which is, looks like a cutting board.

It's a big piece of laminated wood.

Usually a body like this will have four or five pieces that come together and then we sand that down and then we cut out the shape and then we start to put it together and assemble it.

So it goes from really rough, ratty stuff to really beautiful, almost overnight, which is really great.

You know, Michigan has the music history, but Michigan also has the maker history too, right?

- Yeah.

- You think about Henry Ford walking around these streets and everybody had to come up with new ideas to make the cars evolve so quickly.

Yeah, and when I was growing up, I had so many friends who had a dad with a wood shop in the basement, or a dad with a, you know, a pretty good mechanic shop out in the garage.

- [Tom] Yeah.

- So, it's nice to be able to kind of fit into that space as well.

And I've found really good people, the folks who work on these guitars are really, really smart and brilliant at what they do too.

So it's nice to take something that's got that sort of maker history from Michigan.

- Yeah, I just love the fact that they're part of the history of the city.

They're beautiful guitars.

- Thank you.

- Every one is different.

- Yeah, and that's one of the other cool things is you got wood, which has effectively been harvested at the same time, as like, you know, 1955 Fender would've been harvested, but you have modern electronics and modern tune machines, modern necks.

So you get, kind of, the best of both worlds.

You've got the resonance and the history of the wood with the modern setup.

- Yeah, it's just, I mean, when you look at these guitars, I've never seen guitars with wood that beautiful.

It's like you don't want to finish over them because it's all about the wood.

- Yeah, it really is.

And the wood is like a fingerprint.

I mean, every single one has its own characteristics.

- Exactly.

- And, you know, a lot of these you can see, you know, sort of the relics.

Now this guy, you know, these are old nail holes, right?

I mean, that's where... - Yeah.

- There was a nail, it got rusty and it sat there for a hundred years and then we tore it down, filled the hole and turned it in.

But I mean, look at that.

It's just a gorgeous thing.

This guy's still got a little piece of metal, hunk of metal still stuck in there too.

- Yeah, I mean, every one's different, every one's unique, every one is a piece of history.

It's just, yeah...

I wish I had thought of something this cool.

(Mark laughs) Darn it.

Somebody else always thinks of the cool stuff.

(Mark laughs) Oh yeah, I guess we do a TV show, I guess that's pretty cool.

(both laughing) Well, being a bit of a guitar slinger myself, I asked Mark if I could shred a bit on one of his awesome guitars and I think I made quite an impression.

(guitar plays out of tune) I thought you said these guitars sounded good?

- It just depends on who's playing it.

- [Tom] I love seeing people's unique and creative ideas come to fruition, especially when it's something this meaningful and fun.

So if you're looking for an incredible guitar that's part instrument, part art, part history, and a whole lot of Motown, check out Detroit Wallace guitars.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I got more shredding to do.

(guitar plays out of tune) Okay, Mark, is that an A chord?

- No, Tom, that's a C. - Darn it.

(graphics whooshing) - Now what does Detroit's public radio station WDET have in common with a small neighborhood health food market?

Well, you're about to meet two of them.

Ann Delisi is a legitimate Detroit radio legend who still musically entertains and enlightens an engaged audience every weekend on WDET.

And Lisa Brancato, who until recently worked at WDET, as director of Strategic Partnerships, has been steeped in Detroit radio ever since she was, well, a grown up.

What are they doing at the Sprout House Natural Foods Market in Grosse Pointe Park?

Well, believe it or not, they went and bought this adorable little place.

I don't usually get nervous before I do a conversation like this, but I'm such a huge fan of both of you that I'm kind of verklempt.

It's like, I mean, Lisa, you and I have worked together for, I mean, we worked back at WRIF.

- Oh my gosh, long time ago.

- The morning crew was there, Karen Savelly, Arthur Penhallow.

And Ann, oh my God, at our house we call ourselves Ann fans.

- Oh, you guys are too nice.

- I'm serious because you fill our cars and our home with music every weekend, every Saturday, Sunday, you and Rob Reinhart.

It's like, that's what we listen to at our house.

So, and my wife said to say hi.

- Oh, well tell her I said hello.

And that's really nice of you guys to listen.

- I'm such a fan of what you do and what you guys are doing right now.

- Thank you.

- So now that I got that out of the way, now for my investigative reporting.

- Yeah.

- Okay, good.

- What are you doing here?

Like, what made you- Whose idea was it?

And don't do one of these.

- No, no, no, no, no.

- This is all on her.

- [Tom] Whose idea was it to buy this market?

- It was me.

So, here's how the story goes, I am sitting at home, I live in the neighborhood, it's covid times.

I'm working at WDET and I'm working, working, working all the time, rolling out of bed, walking to the dining room table thinking, is this how I'm going to continue with my life?

What am I gonna do next?

So I'm reading the local paper and this little tiny ad says "Health food store for sale".

- Lisa, read me!

- And I thought, huh, I wonder if that's the Sprout House.

The Sprout House that I go to all the time.

And the next week I'm reading the paper and I'm just skimming it.

And that ad just all of a sudden became bigger and kept catching my eye.

So finally I made a phone call, struck up a conversation with the owner, and I thought, gosh, you know, maybe I could do this.

Maybe this is my next chapter.

Yes.

- But you guys do food.

I mean, explain what you do here.

- Well, a lot of the prepared foods we do here are why people really love to come here because the sandwiches we make, the salads we make, they really can't be, you know, you can't get them anywhere else.

And the fact that we make all of these vegan and vegetarian soups.

Every day, there's four different soups and there's everything from, you know, Ethiopian red lentil to Thai peanut to Indian red lentil.

You know, these are all like, you know, we try to investigate different cultures and different flavor profiles and it's really exciting for us to be able to share, you know, different kinds of soups and people get excited.

You know, they wanna know, you know, what we're making and how it's gonna be different.

And it really is exciting for us to not just do this, but to be able to cook for people that, you know, they want, they're adventurous, you know, with what they eat.

And so that's been really fun.

- And they wanna be healthy.

- They wanna be healthy at the same time.

- I love what you guys are doing.

So if you want to eat healthy, you want to go to a little, like I said, this is like you're in Europe, it's a little neighborhood market where you can go to get what you need every day.

Come to the Sprout House and if you wanna listen to good music, listen to Ann on WDET.

There, I did a plug for WDET.

- Thank you.

(all laughing) - [Tom] This awesome market really is a natural for anyone who wants to eat with a conscience and connect with a community.

And both Lisa and Ann personify the passion people have for this iconic little place.

So if you're looking for tasting natural offerings offered up in a friendly fashion, ring the little doorbell at the Sprout House Natural Foods Market in Grosse Pointe Park.

Ann and Lisa will love you for it.

(graphics whooshing) You know, a lot of people go to Detroit's historic eastern market for food, glorious food, and for Michigan made artisan offerings.

And I go there for those things too.

Ah, but I also go to find those things that I didn't know that I absolutely had to have.

Yep, I'm talking about Vintage Eastern Market, a place where you can find the wacky and wonderful, along with cool clothing, collectibles, and a crazy compilation of righteous retro items you'll just have to, well, have.

Martin Nickens is the connoisseur of cool collectibles who wanted to share his awesome obsession with the world.

And from the looks of this amazing place, he's doing a really good job.

Martin would you like a brandy?

- I'm good, I don't drink on the job.

Thanks Tom.

- I am really upset because I had this whole bit for the end of the segment where I was gonna try and find a lamp.

Well, I should explain.

When we were up north, Jim went to a place similar to this and found a lamp called Boy with Grapes.

Right Jim?

And it's so bizarre and weird and hideous.

It's beautiful.

- I know the lamp well.

- I know.

Yes, I know.

And I was, and there was a lamp here that I saw when I was here last time, a couple months ago, and it was so, again, wonderfully weird and hideous.

It was beautiful.

Looks like somebody made it in their basement and then they thought, oh dear Lord, I can't put that in my house.

And somebody bought it.

- So logically you wanted it for your home.

- Yes, I wanted to try and outdo Jim's lamp.

But yeah, how did, I was gonna ask you, how did you get into collecting and selling and finding vintage?

A, how did you get into it?

B, where do you find this cool stuff?

- So how I got into it, like most of us that do this kind of thing, I blame my grandma.

(Tom laughs) So when I was little and it was summer and my parents were working and she was watching me, she would take me garage sailing and I was just, you know, fascinated with all the cool stuff that I'd never seen before.

And then you'd get into conversations and people would tell you about it.

And, you know, my wife and I, even when we were teenagers and dating, we wouldn't go to dinner and a movie.

We'd go thrifting and then go to dinner and then go home and love our haul.

So I had an abbreviated military career due to some illness.

I retired and I was finishing my degree at Wayne State and found my way into the thrift store that I used to, or the, excuse me, the antique store that I used to skip school and come and see.

(Tom laughs) It was still there.

They had a booth available.

I thought, why not?

And then the opportunity presented itself when the old owner retired and I picked it up and changed, tweaked it a little bit, and we got, this is what we have now.

- Yeah.

Well, what's your slogan again?

I love your slogan.

- Nothing you need, everything you want.

- Which is perfect.

I mean, the array of quality, weird, wonderful, retro, cool, clothing and knickknacks and things and stuff that you have here is mind blowing.

- Yeah.

We do that and thanks to our vendors, we have some of the best curators in all metro Detroit and probably the region.

But with 26 of them that go out and they really, they scour the area, sometimes the country.

We have guys that go to Vegas on regular buying trips and the West Coast and stuff.

And they just find that stuff that, we try to focus on, just household goods, stuff that's usable, that's, you know, on current design trends that people want to take home and use and not so much collect it, you know what I mean?

- Yeah.

You guys in the summer do antique or vintage alley?

- Yeah, vintage alley.

So we, again, we have 26 vendors inside that are permanent, full-time small business owners.

And then during the pandemic we found that a lot of people were starting resale businesses or trying to sell their art.

So we honed in on some of the people that were selling stuff that was in our style and we had a alley in the back of our building that was overgrown and neglected for about 25 years.

I went to work with a flat shovel and cleaned it up, created a space for them to come and set up a popup event on Saturdays during the summer to get some exposure to the Eastern market crowd.

And it's about opportunity for small business.

- Well I want you to personally shake the hand of every vendor you have in here because everything in here is marvelous.

- And thank you for such a glorious compliment.

I appreciate it, it means a lot to me.

- [Tom] So with all that being said, I set out to find yet another crazy lamp that would rival Jim's 'Boy with Grapes'.

So I browsed and I browsed and I browsed some more.

Oh, nice vintage TV set.

I even got distracted by an awesome array of hats.

Nope.

Oh boy.

Really?

I don't think so.

Say what?

Oops.

Ah, that's the ticket.

Well, I continued my search and just when I was ready to give up, there it was.

Ooh.

A lamp like no other.

So weird that it was absolutely wonderful.

Take that, Jim.

So if you're looking for, you don't know what, something specific or you're just in the mood to enjoy an endless assortment of eye candy, check out Vintage Eastern Market in, well, Detroit's Eastern Market.

And trust me, you'll find the best of everything you never even knew you needed.

Heck, I do it all the time.

Oh yeah, that's me.

(graphics whooshing) Now next up we jump from Eastern Market to the east side of the city for some food you're gonna wanna find.

Now if you know Africa, you know that that's where Morocco is.

And if you know Moroccan culture, you know that their food is amazing.

And if you have a car, you don't have to go far because Saffron De Twah is right here on Gratiot Avenue.

Chef Omar Anani is a passionate powerhouse of food facts who made flavor his best friend.

He's a rising star that's shooting across the culinary cosmos.

And when it comes to both pleasing and educating people's palates, this guy's on a mission.

So from Food Truck to James Beard nominee.

- Yeah.

- Chef, seriously, that's, congratulations.

- Yeah, it's been a rollercoaster to say the least.

Food trucks aren't recognized the way brick and mortars are.

And so to actually be in a brick and mortar and have recognition, I'm still flabbergasted at like, when we opened this, the whole goal of this restaurant was to be a community based restaurant where food was affordable, accessible to the community.

And it's important to me that, like, even with all these awards and nominations, that we still stay true to that core value.

Because the last thing I'm gonna do is start inflating prices and start shrinking portion sizes and a lot of the things that you see.

And it's very important for me that people understand that we still are who we are and we're still just trying to deliver fresh, great food at an affordable rate.

You know?

- But you're the only Moroccan restaurant in Detroit, correct?

- Yes.

My main concern was choosing a region and being very hyper specific.

However, with Middle Eastern food and North African food, there's so many stigmas that come with being from that region or being Muslim or being, you know, this, that or Arab or...

So what do they all say?

It's Mediterranean.

So it all gets lumped into this Mediterranean bubble.

So in Detroit where you're used to predominantly Lebanese cuisine, if you eat a Palestinian falafel, you're gonna be like, this doesn't taste right.

Well, it's not that it doesn't taste right, they make it different than the Lebanese.

The Egyptians use fava beans.

- When did you get bit by the food bug?

When you were a kid?

- I'm half Egyptian, half Palestinian, so I spent some time in Morocco, but the bug for me hit when I was a child.

I remember as a kid we were baking cupcakes one day and my mom's like, "Here, you can decorate this cupcake".

So I'm taking everything on the counter.

I'm just mashing them into this cupcake.

It was probably the most hideous thing on Earth.

But I put all my favorite candies into this cupcake and I'm like, "Look mom, look what I made".

And she looks at the cupcake and she's like, "Oh wow, you can eat it".

I'm like, "I can't eat it, it's too pretty".

I was like, what are you gonna do with the cupcake?

So I remember hopping off the counter, I take this cupcake to my sister and I told her that I love her and it's the first memory in my mind of her smiling.

And so, the emotions and the memories that food creates was something that I knew as a child that I was in love with.

And it just kind of grew from there.

The food scene is changing in its diversity first.

And then you're seeing a lot more vegan options now, you're seeing a lot more gluten-free stuff.

And that comes back down to, you know, America's, like you said, a huge melting pot, right?

And so specifically here, we have such a large Arab population and we have such a large Bangladeshi population and a Yemeni population.

And I think the people that are being more specific are gonna end up being more successful than those that try to feed everyone.

Because it comes back down to something my dad told me when I was younger.

"You're better off doing two things amazingly than five things average".

- Oh my gosh, that's one of my mottos.

Do a couple things really well, right?

- Exactly, be really good at one thing and not... - I'm still looking for my thing, but yeah.

- You know, if TV doesn't work out for you, I got a spot in the dish tank.

- Thank you.

- Yeah, no problem.

(Omar laughs) - [Tom] Everything we sampled at Saffron was sensational and the flavor profiles are so vast and complex, well, you're gonna need a bigger file cabinet.

If you're one of those people who find yourself through food, find your way to Saffron De Twah.

It's an adventure in the art of eat you'll wanna repeat.

(graphics whooshing) You know, we really need to save and preserve small town theaters because they're part of the history and fabric of the community.

Plus they're never gonna build them like that again.

So many of our local theaters have a rich and fascinating history and the Penn Theater here in Plymouth is no exception.

It was also, unfortunately, one of those theaters that was almost no more and had to be saved from the wrecking ball.

And for that story, I sat down with the Penn's proud proprietors, Joe and Ellen Elliot.

When you pull up in front of this theater and you see the amazing art deco design and the neon lights and everything, it's hard to believe that this place was ever destined for the wrecking ball.

But it was, right?

- It was, actually at the end of 2003, they closed for remodeling and stayed closed for almost two years.

So it was very close to being gone.

- Well, when was it built?

- 1941.

- [Tom] Holy cow.

- So, the place opened three days before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

- Oh, great timing.

- All this money went into build this beautiful theater and then that happens and everything changes in a minute.

- But it still provided, having it open and that newness of it, provided an opportunity for the community to come together in a safe place where they could feel maybe just a little bit separated from all the bad things that were happening in the world.

- Yeah, it was an escape.

- It was an escape.

And you know, that's the one thing is that it's always been a community gathering place.

- Because theaters like this, it's so neat to have a cool, funky, you know, authentic theater, right downtown.

'Cause you guys do more than movies here, right?

- Yeah, we do.

Once a year we host the Michigan Philharmonic and they come in and do their Christmas concert.

That's why we have the staging out here.

- I was gonna say, that's a nice stage.

- Yeah, so it actually comes out even further for when they're here.

So we do some of that.

We have a lecture series right now with the Plymouth Canton Community School District for a mental health series.

And so we've got speakers in here and it's a combination of public speakers and showing movies on that topic.

And we've got, that goes on year round.

- Not only do we provide entertainment, but it's an economic change difference for the community.

- [Tom] You're right in town.

- We are right in town.

And then you can go to one of the restaurants, you can shop.

It's all part of this complete package that makes Plymouth a really unique and special place.

And we're so happy to be able to have facilitated that, to keep this for the community.

'Cause a lot of times people, they just, I mean that phrase, you know, you don't know what you got until it's gone, is really true.

And to have this be anything but what this is would just be tragic.

- Well guys, you guys are a T H E A T R E, right?

- We are R E, yes.

- Good.

I like R Es better, I dunno what it is.

- It just feels more historic and more classic.

- It's classy.

- One last question.

Why does popcorn taste so much better at the theater?

- [Joe] We can't tell you that, it's a secret.

- [Tom] Darn it.

- Don't ask Jim either, because he's part of it.

He can't tell you either.

- He's part of this theater guild now.

- Jim can't tell you.

Teresa can't tell you, 'cause they know.

- You can really see and feel the history when you're in this iconic place.

And the entire town of Plymouth couldn't be happier about it.

Joe and Ellen have put so much passion, creativity, and energy into the Penn Theater and it shows.

Well, speaking of shows, it's about to start.

So grab some popcorn and join me.

Oh and Jim, could you gimme some raisinets?

Oh, bonus.

- [Announcer 1] Pure is what you make of it.

It's taking it all in and never taking anything for granted.

The sun sets, the moon rises, and you realize the end of one perfect summer day is the beginning of another.

Pursue your pure with Pure Michigan.

- [Announcer 2] A visit to the Stahls Auto Collection will take you back to a time when cars were more than just a way to get around.

A fantastic assortment of gas pumps, neon signs, and automated music machines dating back 150 years that must be seen and heard.

Info at stahlsauto.com.

(Mark playing guitar) (bright music)