Jennifer Hewlett

If you own a Lincoln or a Mustang Jennifer Hewlett has had her hands on your car, sort of. For the last six years she has been working at Ford, in Dearborn, as an interior designer. She's the reason the fabric in your 'stang is what it is. She's the one that picked the leather, or whatever other material is used, and the color for a number of cars in the Ford lineup, including some of the show cars, which is her favorite to work on.

So, who better to ask about what to do in Dearborn than Jennifer Hewlett, someone who makes style decisions for the masses for a living.

Hewlett, a 28-year-old Center for Creative Studies graduate, has gotten a feel for what's good over the last six years of employment in Dearborn. From breakfast, lunch, dinner, going out, and what to do on a clear, warm, summer day, Hewlett has the answers.

Dearborn's Breakfast, Lunch, And Dinner

Before work isn't really an ideal time to go out for breakfast, since most of us are usually running five minutes behind schedule. But incase you have some time to kill before work during the week or on the weekends after a night out she has some options.

"M&M café of Holiday (Grill) Coney," she says. "I go for eggs or pancakes and coffee, a lot of coffee." She laughs then offers a suggestion. "Get the turkey burger on Wednesdays, it's excellent."

For lunch, her and her Ford crowd spend their hour at Annam, a Vietnamese restaurant in West Dearborn.

"It's a nice, relaxing lunch," she says. "It's light and airy and fresh. We will go there a lot for dinner, too. The have excellent soup and curries and a coconut, peanut chicken that's cooked in clay pots."

Of course rarely will someone who works, lives, plays, or eats in Dearborn will fail to mention Miller's Bar.

"We go to Miller's for the best cheeseburgers around," she says. "A cheeseburgers and a beer is great. But a light beer. We have to keep it light to offset the burger."

She also says you can't go wrong with the food at La Pita.

Going Out

They do a lot of things together over at Ford. They grab lunches together, dinners from time to time, and, naturally, head on out to the bars. It's not a small crowd so they need the space and a place that will lend to a diverse group of people. She says Bailey's Pub & Grille is the place for that.

"As a group, we need a lot of room so we'll go to Bailey's," she says. "It's kind of like a sports bar and it fits all of us. And it's loud, so we can be loud."

Bailey's, in West Dearborn, offers drink specials, pool tables, and 37 big-screen TVs for your sports viewing pleasure.

For a smaller crowd she says Crave is ok for ambiance and is something a little nicer or Miller's Bar –it's not just a burger joint – if you're looking for more of a dive-y place.

Shopping

For Hewlett, in Dearborn, her shopping revolves around Fairlane Mall.

"We frequent the mall. There aren't really many specialty shops we got to here. The mall has Diesel and stuff like that for us. So shop there a lot," she says.

If shopping for food and not jeans, she says Dearborn is filled with a ton of delis and places to get fresh meats, amazing sausages, and fresh produce, places she'll go during the summer for a nice picnic in the park.

"I love the parks," she says. "In the summer we'll grab some food, go to the park, and get away from work. We usually go to Ford Field." Ford Field is a park in West Dearborn, not where the Lions "play" in Detroit.

Last Thing

She says that Dearborn is more than just a place for Middle Eastern cuisine; there is something for everyone in both East and West Dearborn. However, at the same time, she says that the Middle Eastern food here can be taken for granted.

"There are so many Middle Eastern restaurants here you can take them for granted," she says. "But when you leave Dearborn, on the outside, you realize how amazing the food here is."