A single June day compensated me for the months I've spent freezing running from heated house to heated car. For me, nothing is more amusing than roaming the streets of downtown Ann Arbor in quest of my next nosh. And the food scene has never been more interesting and fun!

I met my son for lunch at the reinvented Miki's Japanese restaurant on Ashley. We began with a Grilled Octopus Salad then went onto a roll combining spicy tuna and scallops with an eel sauce. If you're a fan of creative rolls, you will be in sushi heaven over their new roll menu (I lost count after reading the description of their 50th roll.)

Then, a short walk down the street to Mark's Carts, which, according to their website, "...offers an array of fresh ethnic dishes every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., in a brand new courtyard garden on Washington Street between First and Ashley." Check out the site for detailed information about the new vendors.

I ran into friends of mine, Cathy and Shaun Jackson, in the cart courtyard. Cathy has sampled items from every cart and went into enthusiastic detail describing how incredible the food was. She recently visited the Los Angeles area and says the calibre of food from Mark's Carts put the food she'd sampled from the Los Angeles carts to shame.

The noble pig is well represented in the eclectic fare. Head Cheese Hoagies, Pulled Pork Tacos and Korean Pork Buns are just a couple of items I jotted down.

Helen O'Conner was happily munching on a special from Darcy's Cart. The bright green vibrancy of the kale caught my attention. It was a Sweet Potato Cake with Sautéed Kale and Sauerkraut. Ms. O'Conner pronounced it exceptional.

Kudos to Mark Hodesh, owner of Downtown Home and Garden, for bringing these long overdue food carts to downtown Ann Arbor. It gives talented chefs a platform to take risks and excite the palates of an enthusiastic audience with exceptional, creative fare — all for affordable prices.

If I were a younger lass, I would love to open up my own cart. Perhaps one of my menu items would be a Pork Belly Taco, an item I blogged about last year. Pork belly is the essence of porkiness flavor; if you don't enjoy a juicy, well-marbled pork chop, it's unlikely you'll enjoy pork belly. I do remove half of the fat after cooking it and savor small amounts with gushing abandonment.

Yield: Approx. 6-8 tacos
Time to braise pork: 3-4 hours, mostly unattended

Ingredients

2-3 pound slab pork belly
2 cups shredded green cabbage
Juice from 1 lime
4-6 tablespoons your favorite salsa, such as tomatilla or chipotle
6-8 (6-inch) soft, white corn tacos
8 teaspoons crumbled queso fresca
2 tomatoes, washed, cored and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Directions

1. With a sharp knife, lightly score pork belly on the fat side by making 1/6-inch slashes in 4 places. Season both sides of belly with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. In a heavy-bottomed pan or Dutch oven large enough to accommodate the pork, over high heat, sear pork until golden brown on each side.
2. Add water to cover up to 3/4 pork. Cover with a tight fitting lid or aluminum foil and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Remove lid, taking care not to let the steam burn you, turn pork over, and add additional water if depleted. Cover and continue simmering until pork is easily shredded with a fork. Let cool several minutes in cooking liquid then remove from liquid to carving board, and cut or shred into small pieces, removing or retaining as much fat as desired.
3. Combine shredded cabbage with lime juice. Toss pork belly with 4 tablespoons salsa, adding additional salsa and kosher salt to taste.
4. In a dry skillet, cast iron preferred, heat the tortillas over medium-low heat until they are softened. Wrap in aluminum foil until ready to use.
5. To make the tacos, in this order, divide the cabbage, pork belly, queso fresco, tomatoes and cilantro over each taco and serve.