Krista and Steve Conyers & Jeff Hoffman

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Jeff Hoffman has a weakness for the beef brisket at Slows Bar BQ. // Photograph by Joe Vaughn

Krista and Steve Conyers of Kirk’s Bar-B-Que in Birmingham love to go to Lafayette Coney Island for coney dogs and chili cheese fries. “It has become a family tradition,” Steve says. “After the Auto Show Charity Preview event, our first stop was Lafayette Coney Island.” Krista also has a taste for the cod sandwiches at Mitchell’s Fish Market, and the lettuce wraps at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, while her husband admits to a fondness for Philly steak sandwiches and Scotch eggs at the Redcoat Tavern.

In November, Jeff (Hoffa) Hoffman will celebrate his 13th anniversary as executive chef at Café Cortina. When he’s not in the kitchen at the Farmington Hills restaurant, “My first choice is to be at home and cook with neighbors. They all have a great passion for cooking and bring a lot to the table.” Chef Hoffa (a nickname he got while working at the Rattlesnake Club) has a backyard barbecue pit, “where I cook with real wood — oak, cherry, apple.” He especially likes barbecuing salmon on a cedar plank. “It’s like eating the best prime rib,” he says. And speaking of prime rib, his favorite spot for that dish is Bob’s Place in Alanson, Mich. Their potato-crusted whitefish also gets his approval. About the beef brisket at Slows Bar BQ, he says, “It’s a complete thing. It doesn’t need barbecue sauce.” Another favorite is the special yearly English holiday dinner at The Lark in West Bloomfield Township, which he’s managed to fit into his schedule for almost 10 years.