(upbeat rock music) - [Tom] On this awesome episode of "UTR," we bounce over to beautiful Brighton for a captain of cuisine, a dandelion of a bookshop, actually two, and some southern bourbon comfort food.

We'll even go to a historic building full of artisanal ales.

Get ready to explore the cool people, places and things that make Brighton your best bet.

(upbeat rock music) (classy music) - [Narrator] 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 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 Daldin, and this is "Under The Radar Michigan."

(upbeat music continues) Well, guess what everybody?

Brighton is back.

Well, it didn't actually go anywhere, but with what they've done to the downtown, we'll make you wanna hang around.

And when I say stick around, I mean come eat, stay and play here, because not only is Brighton one of the greatest places in Michigan to live, now that they've totally transformed and re-energized the downtown, this is a place you'll be telling your friends about.

They even have a social district so you can well, politely, socialize with your libation.

I mean, heck, if you lived here, you'd be home by now!

Think about it.

It's also wonderfully walkable, full of great places to eat, unique shops that can't be beat and is nestled right next to Little Mill Pond, a great place to ponder, just how awesome this town really is.

It's like living up north, but without the drive.

Bonus.

And if you're a lover of Michigan's great outdoors, it's also close to amazing and gigantic recreation areas, like Brighton, Island Lake and Kensington Metro Park.

Yep, Brighton has a ton of reasons why you need to come and explore it.

So for starters, why don't I tell you exactly where it is?

Beautiful Brighton is located in Southeast Lower Michigan, right off I96 and halfway between Detroit and Lansing.

Easy to find, easy to love.

Well now that we're here and you know where we are, it's time to meet a caring captain who connects with people via his palate pleasing pizzas.

Mmm.

And that's because Nick Mannisto here at Captain's on Main figured out very early in life that he wanted to give back to his community.

And he does it by way of his culinary consciousness, and by that, I mean some of the best wood fired pizza to ever enter or exit an oven.

Yep, Nick and his fabulous fiance, Lauren, are a positive force for sure.

But before we partake in their piping hot pies, let's get a bit of the backstory, shall we?

I understand that when you were young, which is not that long ago, because you're still young, you were an eagle scout who dreamt of being a weatherman when he grew up.

But you made this really good chicken dish, and now you serve pizzas.

Okay, elaborate.

- Yeah.

- I mean, boy, take me through that.

- I still love weather today though, but back then, I wanted to be a meteorologist.

It was the first merit badge I got in scouts, boy scouts.

I did a cooking competition at boy scout camp.

We did a cooking camp out there, and I cooked over the fire.

I cooked a Dutch oven chicken.

- So that inspired you.

It's like everybody raved about this chicken.

You're like, "Gosh, thanks everybody!"

- Captain's, the wood-fired pizza, it all brings it together with the fire.

It all brings back to the fire.

So that's why I like cooking with fire.

- And you gravitated towards pizza, thank you very much because it's my favorite food on the planet.

But Lauren, tell me, the kind of pizza you guys serve is?

- So the pizza we serve is thin crust, a bit of a New Haven vibe to it, but honestly it's his own take on that.

So you'll see a little bit of charring, all wood fired oven.

- It's the way how I like my pizza.

So I'm gonna give it to you how I like my pizza to you.

- Yeah, you and I are kindred pizza spirits because I love char.

I mean, some people, you give 'em their pizza, "My pizza's burned."

No, that's called char.

It's flavor.

I like light cheese.

- [Lauren] Yeah.

- [Tom] A good tangy sauce, and like you said, it's just a little bit of olive oil.

And that's the way it was meant to be.

And New Haven is by far, I've been to Frank Pepe's.

It's, yeah, that's great, great pizza.

The name Captain's on Main and the hats, I love the hats.

Where'd that come from?

- It came from, it was my birthday, so one of my friends bought this for my birthday.

- And then you would wear it at that brewery where he was cooking pizzas outside.

He would always wear the captain's hat.

It just happened that way.

And they all started calling him the captain.

- But what I love about you guys too is that you also, you source locally, you go out of your way to support other businesses and, you know, the farmers and the food that you guys serve.

And you also do a lot for the community.

I mean, you guys do some charitable stuff too, right?

- Mhm, yes.

This is a medium.

Pizza is a medium for me to give back.

The whole goal, so we really support Slice Out Hunger.

February 9th is like around International Pizza Day.

We donated to Bountiful Harvest, the local food soup kitchen here.

And so the motto I like to say is, we're the pizza that gives the slice back.

- I would be remiss if I did not mention also that you have Michigan spirits here and Michigan Wines here.

That's how much you believe in the state and that, I appreciate.

- Oh, yes.

- This state's awesome, so.

We got the best beer, we got the best wine.

We got the best spirits.

They're awesome.

And we highlight them, we highlight them during the festivals downtown here.

The goal is just bring everyone up, so.

- [Lauren] Well when you focus on that local, you're able to just create more together, you know?

It's not someone who's far away.

I mean, you could call 'em up and we can have some kind of event together, some kind of fundraiser.

There's just so much more there to work with when you're working with your community and your Michigan businesses.

- Well, you look for a brick and mortar and you found it.

Now right now, I'm looking for a Margherita pizza.

- Oh yeah.

- Do you think there's one in my future?

- Oh yes.

- Yep.

Absolutely.

And it's got that Captain's twist.

We put pesto on our Margherita.

- And remember, it's got char.

- Oh it does.

(laughs) - [Tom] Well now that we've all shared a slice of Nick and Lauren's productive lives, it's time to share a few slices of their popular pizza.

And I have to say that wood fired is my very favorite.

And this is some of the best I've ever sampled.

If you wanna call my feeding frenzy sampling, watch your fingers.

I also have to say that this community is so very lucky to have Nick and Lauren because people and pizza like this make the world a better and tastier place to be.

Okay, just one more slice.

Now, when was the last time you got lost in a really good book?

We found a place right here in Brighton where you can do just that.

And I didn't get lost finding it or nothing.

Oh!

You heard right.

2 Dandelions Bookshop is owned, operated and lovingly orchestrated by Jeri Kay Thomas and Jeanne Blazo, two wonderful women who absolutely personify the passion so many of us have for a good book and a comfy chair.

So they retired from teaching, pulled up their bookmarks and realized a dream of sharing the written word with the world.

Oh, and if you ever heard the saying that reading is fundamental, these two delightful dandelions are the reason fun is even in that word.

Well you said it's been your dream for a long time.

You guys were both elementary school teachers.

- Actually, kindergarten.

- Kindergarten.

I have to thank you for your service.

I'm dead serious.

Teachers are my hero.

They really are.

I say that all the time.

It was my dream to be an elementary teacher or a kindergarten teacher when I was in college.

I really wanted to.

So I thank you for what you do.

It means a lot to so many of us.

The bookstore, what made you decide to do this?

- Okay, well here's what happened.

Jeri Kay and I met many, many, many years ago, kind of knew right away that we were gonna be buddies for a long time.

And we would talk about opening a shop.

We would walk up and down Main Street and say, "Oh, there's an empty spot."

And we'd look in the windows and we'd say, "Oh, we can put this there and this."

So we had a dream a long time before this actually happened.

And then we finally said one day, "Okay, what does it take?

What is it gonna mean?

What do we do?"

And we sat down, crossed the street, didn't have any paper, had to ask for a little guest check and that's our first business plan.

And we got serious.

And we worked for a year, a solid year, and made it happen.

- Another thing I love about you guys is you have so much fun and you can feel it when you come in this bookstore, how much fun and how much you guys love what you do, how much passion you have, because you guys have all kinds of programs.

You have, I mean, go through some of the stuff that you guys do.

- [Jeanne] Well, we have story time, every single Saturday morning at 11:00.

We have children's activities all summer long.

We have lots and lots of Michigan authors that we highlight that maybe people don't know.

So we bring them in, they do book signings, they do chit-chats they do in conversations with, and then you can talk about all the other, outside the bookshop things.

- Well, we've had some big book launches where we've been offsite and collaborated with other businesses.

This summer, we did a huge "Where's Waldo," scavenger hunt downtown which included 29 businesses.

Every spring break, we have activities for kids to do through that week as well.

- Speaking of that, I was gonna ask you, what's the brightest thing for you about living in Brighton?

What's the best part of it?

- Ooh.

Well, besides coming to the shop every day, the connections with people.

It's just like great families, great people, intelligent, smart people that, you know, have real conversations with you.

- And I would add, I mean, Jeannie and I have lived in Brighton over 30 years and raised families here.

We taught here and retired from here.

And now with the bookstore, I mean, the roots are deep and we feel very connected.

But Jeannie was saying also, meeting new people and making new connections all the time is just tremendous.

And I do also wanna mention our downtown community, our Main Street merchant community is so supportive and collaborative.

And that has been, I guess, inspiring and a huge benefit for sure.

- Well, and my final question for you is, now this is a very poignant and pertinent and important question.

What's with the turtle?

(Jeri laughing) - He's the best pet.

- Myrtle the turtle.

- That's Myrtle the turtle?

- Yes!

- It's Myrtle.

- Oh my gosh.

I don't know how bookstores survive without a turtle.

She is a celebrity.

- [Tom] Right.

- Adults, kids all ages love Myrtle the turtle.

She was in my classroom, so she was a classroom pet at some point.

And then when I retired, where else would Myrtle go but the bookshop?

And she has quite a following.

She has her own buttons.

She has her own stickers.

- [Jeanne] She's on the bookmark.

- [Jeri] She's on a bookmark.

She is a draw.

There were two kids just sitting there reading to her earlier.

So she's kind of magical.

Yeah.

- So she can't read.

- Not yet.

And we have a turtle expert who takes care of her tank, - Yeah.

- Who's a reader also.

- Is it Michelangelo or is it Donatello or is it one of those guys?

- Ooh, it could be.

That's a good idea.

(laughs) - [Tom] Well wait just one minute, Mr. TV show host.

You totally forgot to ask these two delightful dandelions where the name came from!

So I did.

So I forgot to ask you, where'd the name come from?

- Well, that is a great question.

There was a lot of thought put into the name because we discovered that dandelions are persistent, they're resilient, they can be a little stubborn, and they're hard to get rid of.

And that's how we thought our shop could be characterized.

And the best part.

- Well one, they're the color of yellow, which is the color of joy.

And at the very end, you have the wish.

- And you spread literacy everywhere.

- [Tom] What I truly love about independent bookstores is that passionate people put the whole world right before your very eyes.

And they do it not just because they wanna sell you a book, but because they really want to share what they love with you.

If you're looking for a cool place to get hooked on a book, check out 2 Dandelions Bookshop in Brighton.

Your sense of learning, mystery and adventure will thank you for it.

Oh, and so will these two lovely ladies.

Now when you name a restaurant, it's very important to clearly state the very essence of what that place is all about.

So with that being said, ladies and gentlemen, I give you "Bourbons."

You heard and will soon taste right, because "Bourbons" here in Brighton is all about awesome ambiance, cool cocktails, upscale southern comfort food, and of course the loved libation after which it's named.

Yep, if you wanna live it up like they do down south, this is a stylish eatery you need to enter.

So being the southern gentlemen that I am, well Southern Michigan, that is, I politely pulled up a chair and sat down with owner extraordinaire, Hana Filipovic.

Before we even get to your Bourbons, and believe me, we'll get to the Bourbons, - Okay.

- I just walked inside.

This place is so easy to fall in love with.

- Thank you.

- It's beautiful.

What made you fall in love with southern hospitality, southern food, southern?

- You're right.

Absolutely.

So I did go to school in Atlanta, Georgia.

I graduated from Georgia State and being so close to the south, visited a bunch of states and cities around there.

And the first thing really, honestly, that I noticed about the south was, when I stepped foot there, was the hospitality.

You know, so that's the business I'm in.

So I figured, why not bring it to the Midwest?

- [Tom] I can tell.

When people come in here, they're not customers.

They're guests in your home.

- They are, very much so.

Thank you for noticing that.

Having a little southern charm goes a long way.

So from Atlanta, moved back home to Michigan, and I've always been in the restaurant business.

And so when this location came up about seven years ago, my sister and I who runs Brighton Barn Grill decided, we knew exactly what we're gonna do.

We're gonna put southern food in the Midwest in Brighton with shrimp and grits, fried chicken, collared greens, three potatoes, is the way we want.

- It's like you've taken southern comfort food and you've taken it up a notch, correct?

- Yes, absolutely.

It is a casual upscale and a hint of southern cuisine everywhere.

Thank you.

- Oh my goodness.

Look at this.

- Thank you.

- You think I'm special.

I'm not special.

- You're so special.

What are you talking about?

- What is this - This is our smoke old fashion.

It's our signature drink.

And so we smoke the bourbon.

- Oh my gosh.

- [Hana] And we make it in and old fashion.

- [Tom] It smells like a s'more.

- [Hana] Yeah.

- [Tom] This is awesome.

- [Hana] And I have the Rosemary sour.

It's a bourbon Rosemary sour, delicious, refreshing feather cocktails.

- Okay, now I'm ready to get into the bourbons.

How many bourbons do you have here?

- Hundreds.

Hundreds.

Most of them are extremely rare.

Hard to find, certainly on a shelf.

If you can't find 'em in your local store, you can certainly come in and try them by the ounce or two ounce for whichever you like.

But we have almost every rare hard-to-find bourbon.

- Well, it makes sense because when you think of bourbon, you think of the south.

It's the signature comfort drink for the south.

- Yeah, it is.

And it's wonderful.

It goes great with the cigar.

And conveniently, we sell a cigar at the bar.

You can take it and walk to the streets.

We have social dystrophy, which we provide a special cup for that.

And then you could take a cigar and a bourbon on a stroll, yeah.

- Well, one final question for you, and this is very important.

I'm gonna see if you're a real southern girl.

Regular tea or sweet tea?

- In the south, sweet.

However, in the Midwest, it's regular.

I'm sorry.

- No, darn it!

I like sweet tea.

- I know!

I love sweet tea too.

I love it as well.

But folks up here don't like that sugar that much.

- [Tom] Well, it was time to enjoy some good old fashioned southern hospitality, AKA excellent eats and adult beverage treats.

So I ordered up and let the experience take me away.

Every single thing I sipped or sampled was sensational.

And I think I may have even become a little bit classier, just by being here.

If you want a dinner that'll make you feel like a Kentucky Derby winner, come enjoy some southern cuisine in cool comfort at Bourbons.

Y'all won't regret it.

I guarantee.

Now if you like beer, I mean really like beer, have I got a palate pleasing adventure for you.

Ooh, beer.

Because this is where beer lovers go when they wanna taste and learn even more about this historical and magical adult malted beverage.

It's also where this community comes to kickback, relax, and connect over an interesting brewer to.

Some might call this beer heaven, but here in Brighton, they call it Brewery Becker.

Yep, if you wanna dive deep into the wonderful world of beer, this is a pilgrimage you'll take plenty of times.

But this being my first time, I thought it wise to sit down and sample with the brewery's namesake himself, Matt Becker.

You know Matt, you have to have a pretty cool brewery to put your name on it.

And you, sir, you sir have an extremely cool brewery.

The history here alone is mind boggling.

- Thank you.

- Tell me about the building.

- The building was built in 1871.

It's on the National Registry of historic places.

It was a railroad hotel.

So the depot was the next building down the tracks and after the depot came in, they built a hotel to capture the railroad halfway between Detroit and Lansing.

- And the beer garden here, I've been to many beer gardens in my life, I must tell you, sir.

This one really, when you walk out here, it hugs you.

It's like, it's so comfortable and so green.

And well, I should say it's also open in the winter time, but I've never seen a lovelier, and I don't use the word lovely very often, I've never seen a lovelier beer garden than this.

- I'm glad you like it.

- Your beers, I've read that you make beers that aren't made anymore.

Tell me about the variety and the depth of your brewing.

- We do.

We make all kinds of different beers.

There's a lot of beer styles in the world, and you just don't see a lot of attention paid to most of them.

So, you know, I wanna drink every beer on the planet, right?

And the only way I can possibly do that is to make them myself.

So that's why we have like the Munsterlander Alt beer on right now, or the Krombacher which is an extinct, black German lager, was the first black beer in Germany before it was declared illegal in the early 1900s.

It had sugar in it, which was a sin in Germany, right?

So, yeah.

And so, and especially farmhouse brewing, I do a lot of farmhouse brewing.

We actually do, when we say a farmhouse brew, we actually brew on a wood system, medieval style, no instruments, yeast strings for yeast.

I mean, it's what you would've found on a 1000 AD farm.

- When beer lovers come in here and they see your menu and you start talking to them about the depth and the breadth and the history, do their jaws just hit the bar?

- Sometimes.

I mean, I definitely have people who, they come in and they know the beers and they recognize the style and they say, you know, "Oh my God, I can't believe you have this or have that.

Or I've never seen one of these before.

I've been looking for years to find one," and so on and so forth.

There are still several beers I have not managed to get to.

And there's some that are pretty esoteric.

I don't know if I ever will, but.

(chuckles) - Well, the world of beer is huge.

And like you said, it goes back thousands of years.

I think it's the reason we're here, at least that's the theory I'm going with.

I'm sticking with it.

I think beer is why we're here.

Hey, that's a slogan!

If you wanna borrow that, go ahead.

- Yeah.

We'll have the T-shirt ready for you, so.

- Like this place isn't historic enough, the tree, tell me about this magnificent tree that's out here in the beer garden.

- It's a catalpa tree.

It's probably the oldest one in the world.

There was one on the Michigan State Capitol, which was planted the same year, which is theoretically older.

But someone told me recently, he's no longer there.

I don't know if that's accurate or not.

If that is the case, it's actually the oldest catalpa tree in the world.

- [Tom] It's absolutely beautiful.

And from what you were saying earlier, it's wonderful to care for as well, isn't it?

- It is, it is.

They're messy trees and they make you know it.

So, but they sure are pretty.

- Another thing I love, like I don't love enough about this place, is the fact that A, it's dog friendly.

- It is, it is.

Yeah.

- B, you can bring your own food in here.

- You can, yeah - So I can order a pizza from "Captain's on Main."

- Absolutely.

- [Tom] Which I just might.

- We encourage it, even.

- And bring it down here, which is very cool.

I mean, so you can customize this place.

- I mean at the end of the day, it is a beer garden, right?

It's not a restaurant.

So it is about being a community space.

It's why we have the rental hall and the tap room.

And so we like to say it's a true public house, right?

And so people come in and they have their birthdays here, they have their weddings here.

They have their wakes and their baby showers here.

We have political fundraisers for all stripes of the planet who come in, doing community organization of different things.

And so it's a true old world style public house that's for use for every aspects of your life, right?

Whether that's bringing food in so you can have your favorite food or just meeting people after work, or whatever the community's needs are.

And these are the classic types of facilities that used to exist everywhere, which we're trying to bring back, so.

- [Tom] Well now that I know more about beer than I ever knew before, it was time for me to arrange for a ride and start doing some rigorous research.

And every brew they brought me was an exploration in excellence.

I had no idea the universe of beer was so vast.

So if you're ready to boldly go where your beer loving taste buds have never gone before, blast off for Brewery Becker.

And if you're looking for a new favorite town to hang around, pop over to Brighton as well because you'll fall in love with this town in three, two, one.

Told you so.

(classy music) - [Narrator] 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) (bright music)