Ann Arbor’s Hidden Gems Podcast: Local Coffee, Korean Flavors & Live Jazz

A coffee called “Lobster Butter Love.” A bookstore where you can leave a message on a typewriter. A shop owner with a wedding story that takes us to Mount Everest. Ann Arbor, Michigan, has plenty of surprises—and the best way to discover them is with the people who call it home.

In my latest Travels with Darley podcast, I explore downtown and Kerrytown through independent shops, local food and music. Along the way, I meet entrepreneurs and creative locals whose personal stories give each stop its character.

Coffee and creativity at RoosRoast

My downtown walk begins with Ashley Schafer, executive director of the Main Street Area Association. On Liberty Street, she introduces me to RoosRoast and a coffee blend whose name immediately gets my attention: Lobster Butter Love.

I love lobster. I love butter. But in my coffee?

Inside, art director Laura Garbarz explains how art and coffee come together here. Owner John Roos is an artist, and the colorful walls and original merchandise reflect that creative spirit.

General manager Andrew Duncan shares more about the shop’s playful personality and its popular blend. I ease in with a cinnamon iced latte before enlisting Ashley to try Lobster Butter Love with me. The name gets us talking, and the smooth coffee gives us a reason to linger.

Leave your words at Literati Bookstore

Our next stop is Literati Bookstore, where Tom Wolan introduces me to a locally owned shop filled with books and activity.

One of its most memorable features is a working typewriter in the basement. Visitors can sit down and leave messages for strangers to discover—a small invitation to participate in the life of the bookstore.

As an author, I have to give it a try. If I’d written my recent book on this typewriter, I might still be working on it! But there’s something satisfying about hearing the keys and that familiar ding.

Shop local at Ferne Boutique

At Ferne Boutique, Laura Horwath shares how she built a business around something she wanted to find herself: a welcoming place to shop for clothes, try them on and get help putting an outfit together.

The store also brings in plenty of university pride through its own collegiate apparel designs. For visiting Wolverines—or anyone shopping for one—it’s a fun downtown discovery.

Meeting Laura adds another dimension to browsing. You hear the thinking behind the business and see how an entrepreneur’s idea becomes part of a neighborhood.

A Himalayan connection in downtown Ann Arbor

At Himalayan Bazaar, Pem Sherpa brings a little of Nepal to Michigan through gifts, woolen hats and singing bowls.

A climber and outdoors enthusiast, Pem also has an extraordinary connection to Mount Everest: his wedding story. It’s the kind of conversation I love finding on the road, when stepping into a shop leads somewhere completely unexpected.

He introduces me to the sounds and vibrations of singing bowls, and I step inside a large bowl to experience them myself. That certainly wasn’t on my mental itinerary when I pictured visiting a classic American college town.

Make a little music in Kerrytown

In Kerrytown, Heather O’Neal introduces me to the Kerrytown Chime, a seven-ton instrument at Kerrytown Market & Shops.

Heather explains that the idea grew out of the owners’ travels to Cork, Ireland, where they encountered bells the public could play. They brought that inspiration home to Ann Arbor.

Here, numbered songs help beginners join in. With Heather guiding me, I try playing the University of Michigan fight song while the bells ring out over the neighborhood and nearby farmers market.

There’s a little pressure when your practice session becomes a community concert! Thankfully, I get better—and earn a sticker for my efforts.

Korean heritage meets Michigan ingredients

Chef Ji Hye Kim’s restaurants, Miss Kim and Little Kim, offer another way to experience Kerrytown.

Miss Kim serves Korean food in a relaxed, upscale setting, while Little Kim offers a fast-casual vegetarian concept. Both reflect the chef’s heritage, personal journey and relationships with Michigan farmers.

Ji Hye tells me how missing her mother’s food while attending the University of Michigan helped inspire her to cook. Today, she brings Korean traditions together with what grows around her, including heirloom Korean seeds planted by a local farm in Michigan soil.

Her food tells a story of family, adaptation and community. It also makes me very ready to eat.

Taste Michigan at Echelon

Back downtown, I meet Chef Joseph VanWagner at Echelon before dinner service.

His approach centers on Michigan’s agricultural community, with local ingredients helping shape the restaurant’s cooking. He describes a relationship with growers that goes both ways: their harvests inspire dishes, and conversations in the kitchen can inspire farmers to grow something new.

The connection to Ann Arbor extends into the dining room, where wallpaper depicts buildings that have shaped the city. From the ingredients to the setting, there are local stories to discover throughout the experience.

Finish with live jazz at Blue Llama

I close out my visit at Blue Llama Jazz Club, where Wendy Jackson welcomes me for an evening with Three Piece Swing.

The intimate room, starry ceiling and live music make it a memorable place to settle in after exploring. After trying my own hand at the Kerrytown Chime, I’m happy to let the professionals take over.

Hear Ann Arbor through its local voices

What stays with me about this trip is how often I get to meet the person behind the experience. A conversation over coffee leads to art. A bookstore invites visitors to contribute their words. A meal connects Korean heritage with Michigan farms.

Listen to “Ann Arbor: Coffee, Local Flavors & Hidden Gems” on the Travels with Darley podcast to join me at these stops and hear the stories firsthand.

For more Ann Arbor discoveries, listen to my companion episode, “Ann Arbor: Open to Explore,” featuring gardens, river adventures, museums and people working to make travel more accessible and welcoming and coming out next week.

For trip planning tools and resources, go to visitannarbor.org.