Welcome gastronauts! Here you can find and visit all of the great businesses that work with Fork in the Road with Eric Villegas. Some are underwriters, some are product sponsers and some are culinary artisans, ranchers and farmers. Regardless of what they do they are here because they are the best at it - Enjoy!

All-Clad Metalcrafters LLC
World Famous Stainless Steel Cookware. Chef Eric loves this stuff! All-Clad means cookware that looks good and makes cooking a pleasure. Try it and you'll see why All-Clad is America's Premier Cookware Company.

Cameron's Cookware (Stovetop Smoker)
Cameron's is a supplier of high quality stainless steel cookware and accessories such as their unique stovetop smoker, wood chips, smoker cook book, beer can chicken roaster, stock pots, roasters, and paper towel holders. Cameron's has a help line and encourage you to call for assistance in areas such as lobster pots, fish smoking, and vertical chicken roasting. They also have a great microwave bacon maker called the Mak’n Bacon, which is a must for every kitchen.

Champion Juicer
Every once in awhile you find a company that makes only one product and make it really, i mean really well - Champion Juicer, based in Lodi, California is one of those companies. Their jet black 2000+ "masticating" juicer is an odd looking beast. It chews the food rather than squeezes it, then discards the abused pulp leaving only pure juice behind. It's the only way unkle e will make his classic parsley oil.

Clancy's Fancy Hot Sauce
Eric's favorite hot sauce. Ann Arbor's own great hot sauce is available in mild, hot and extra hot.

Clancy's Fancy Hot Sauce is delicious and special. You'll be using it as a regular table condiment right next to the salt and pepper. Be careful though, if you get a bottle, and put it on your table it'll disappear.

There's no website for Clancy's Fancy Hot Sauce, but we do have a phone number and if you want to know more about hot sauces try this website: http://hotsauce.com/

Phone: 734.663.4338
Address: 410 West Washington Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48103

Culinary Classics
Makers of Classic Chefwear and Chef Eric's personal tailors. They specialize in chef uniform design, tailored shirts, aprons, pants and hats. Chefwear from Culinary Classics far surpass the products and services of other chef uniform companies. For the professional look that Chef Eric enjoys it's Culinary Classics.

Great Lakes Buffalo Company
Is it Buffalo or Bison? The American Buffalo is not a true buffalo. Its closest relative is the European Bison or Wisent and the Canadian Woods Bison, not the buffalo of Asia or Africa, such as the Cape Buffalo or Water Buffalo. Scientifically, the American Buffalo is named Bison and belongs to the Bovidae family of mammals, as do domestic cattle. Because our history has so ingrained in us the name "Buffalo", we still use it, although "Bison" and "Buffalo" are used interchangeably. Whether you call it buffalo or bison you call Orv Kabat at the Circle K Ranch in Rudyard, Michigan to find out where you can buy this delicacy in your area or, of course, they'll be glad to ship you some.

Honey Crisp Apples
Look for them at your local farmers market. This apple is hot! And mighty crisp. Combines unusual color and excellent sweet flavor with a great bite. Use it for fresh eating, fresh-cut slices or cut up in salads. To the best of our knowledge honey crisp apples need to be asked for at the local farm markets and groceries during the apple season.

Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet
A leading producer of stainless steel grills, Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet has been manufacturing stove and grills in Kalamazoo Michigan since 1906. For the very latest in modern outdoor grilling equipment and recipes check out their website.

KitchenAid
From the iconic stand mixer to the spinning double sided waffle maker, KitchenAid products have been the choice of culinary professionals and hip home cooks across the United States and overseas for decades. Their new ice cream attachment for the classic mixer is a fav of Eric's - not to shabby for a company based in Benton Harbor Michigan eh?

Lodge Manufacturing Company
The Finest Cast Iron Cookware. Lodge Manufacturing has been making cast iron cookware since the early 1800's. Not even the most expensive stainless or aluminum cookware can rival the even heating, heat retention and durability of cast iron. It's legendary cooking performance keeps it one of the kitchen essentials for great chefs (like Chef Eric) and home cooks the world over. For questions and answers about cast iron cooking CLICK HERE.

Michigan Apples (Michigan Apple Committee)
All about on of Michigan's most productive fruit crops; Apples. You'll find information and recipes as well as production information.

Michigan Cherries (Cherry Marketing Institute)
All about Michigan Cherries with great recipes and information.

Michigan Department of Agriculture U-Pick Directory
A directory of farms and orchards where you can "pick your own".

Michigan Hard Cider (Al-Mar Orchard)
Jim Koan and his family run this certified organic orchard (in Genesee county, just west of Flint).

Michigan Maple Block
Genuine Maple Wood Cutting Boards. Made here in Michigan. Michigan Maple Block Co. and Bally Block Co. have been manufacturing products since 1881. Their "Wood Welded" Butcher Block line includes kitchen countertops, wood countertops, kitchen islands, kitchen carts, wood cutting boards, dining tables and dining table tops, carving boards, bakery tables, workbench tops, laboratory tops, shuffleboards and locker benches. Their End Grain and Edge Grain Butcher Block products can be found hard at work in professional kitchens, like Chef Eric's, and many others around the world.

Michigan State Horticulture Society
The Michigan State Horticultural Society is organized "to encourage among the people a greater love for choice fruit products, to awaken a larger interest in Michigan's horticultural possibilities, and to offer practical suggestions along modern cultural and marketing methods". Each year the society sponsors the Great Lakes Expo.

Michigan White Shrimp
Farm raised shrimp

Russell Allen of Seafood Systems, Inc.
Email: ShrimpOne@aol.com
Phone: 517.347.4999

OXO
For a company with only 41 employees and over 400 products their impact on the culinary world has been explosive. Specializing in small kitchenwares unkle e loves the simple and innovative construction. His favorites? Plastic tipped metal tongs so as not to scratch nonstick cookware and the measuring cups that you don't have to bend over to read - why didn't I think of that?

Restaurant Villegas
Eric's restaurant has received accolades in every aspect of the hospitality industry and is considered a leader in contemporary Midwestern cuisine. The facility not only houses the 100-seat restaurant and bakery, but offers full take out and Villegas Catering services as well.

Thomas Organic Creamery
Producers of Organic Whole Milk. Harley and Linda Thomas and their daughter Rachael operate Michigan's first organic dairy and bottling plant right at their farm in Henderson, Michigan.

Fork in the Road with Eric Villegas visited the farm in the third show of the 2005-2006 Season (Show #303).

Westwind Milling Company
Lee and Linda Purdy established Westwind Milling Company with the intent of creating a completely locally based general store. Not so long ago, people ate food and got their basic supplies from within their own community. This lifestyle allowed people a connection with the land, with people in their community, and a sense of place that is hard to come by these days. Westwind Milling returns to the days of locally produced organic, stone ground flour. In addition to great flours and mixes from certified organic grain, they also offer many organic or sustainably grown and raised Michigan foods. You can drive over for a visit or reach them at their website.

Zwilling J.A. Henckels
This German company has been producing arguably the best knives in the world since 1731! Ole unkle e hasn't been using them quite that long but picked up his first "four star" blades back in '82 and hasn't used anything since! When he caught wind that classic cutlery company introduced a groundbreaking new line he had to see for himself! Check out the new gold standard in knives, the TWIN series and the ultimate TWIN CERMAX M66!