[THRILLIST] DETROIT'S 10 BEST NEW BARS OF THE YEAR

Detroit had some outstanding restaurants open this year, but what about when you need a drink? Well, most of those restaurants have booze, but don't complicate things like that! Instead, head to these, the best bars that opened in Detroit this year:

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[THRILLIST] 12 STEAKS YOU HAVEN'T BEEN EATING BUT NEED TO

Thrillist.

Beef - it's what's for dinner. Too bad you've likely been limiting your dining options to overpriced cuts of steak. To prove it, we recruited chefs and butchers, the guys and gals who know beef best, and had them pit some of the most popular pieces of meat against lesser known (and cheaper) gems. We even laid out some average prices so you'll know exactly what your wallet is getting into. So say goodbye to the Rib Eye and how you doin' to the Denver Cut.

(While the cost of individual cuts will vary wildly, these price ranges are typical of most butchers... provided your butcher is not in Dubai.)

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[THRILLIST] DETROIT'S 11 BEST NEW RESTAURANTS OF 2014

Stockyard.

It seems like every year, eating in Detroit gets better and better (though some things never change). 2014 was no exception. Get yourself to the best places that opened this year as you build up a protective layer of warmth for winter. And if you've already been, these are 11 you'll want to be visiting again:

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[THRILLIST] THE 22 BEST BURGERS IN MICHIGAN

Redcoat Tavern. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Michigan obviously loves a good coney, but that doesn't mean we don't enjoy wrapping our mitts around a damn fine burger as well. Lucky for us, there are many people in our fine state who enjoy making damn fine burgers almost as much as we enjoy eating them. Here are 22 you shouldn't miss:

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[Metromode] Metro Detroit: Under the Radar

Rustic Cabins. Photo by David Lewinski Photography. 

There is no shortage of lists promising you the best sights, bites, scenes, and greens (like parks and whatnot) in metro Detroit. And all of these places are great and definitely worth your time to explore – after all, the D.I.A., Cranbrook, The Henry Ford, Belle Isle and the Detroit Riverfront, and Comerica Park are all part of your mandatory metro Detroit bucket list, especially if you live here.

But for those who have been there done that, what else is there? Plenty! In no particular order and with no claim to being definitive, here are places, events, and other random finds that you may have missed.

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[THRILLIST] DETROIT CHEFS RANK THE BEST DETROIT-STYLE DEEP DISH PIZZA

Buddy's Rendezvous. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

It's almost as contentious a question as, "which is better, Lafayette or American?" -- who makes the best Detroit-style deep dish pizza? Now, as we all know, not all deep dish pizzas are created equal. (We're looking at you, Chicago. Your deep dish is terrible and everyone knows it. Even Jon Stewart!). We might be just a BIT biased, but screw it -- the best deep dish comes from Detroit!

But naming Detroit's best deep dish isn’t a task to take lightly. To determine the best deep dish pizza in (metro) Detroit, we took it to our panel of experts, asking some of the area's top chefs (and one current Top Chef) to weigh in on their favorites. We asked them to give us up to five favorites. Top picks received 5pts, second choices 4, and so on. Here's what happened:

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[Metromode] How about them apples? Metro Detroit's craft cider industry

Photo by David Lewinski Photography.

It is officially fall, and in metro Detroit that means exactly one thing... well, one thing other than football.. cider season!

"Cider" used to strictly mean that particular kind of extra-special apple juice made from fresh-picked apples and pressed fresh for you inside an adjoining mill, sold by the gallon and served alongside hot cake doughnuts fresh out of the fryer, usually in a place where there are also U-pick orchards, a petting zoo with pony rides, and corn mazes. It is a Michigan tradition and a rite of passage, and one of the best things about Michigan's fickle four seasons.

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[Concentrate] A delicious homecoming: Takashi Yagihashi returns to Michigan with Slurping Turtle

Takashi Yagihashi at Slurping Turtle. Photo by Doug Coombe.

Metro Detroit has been slow to take up the noodle trend that has been dominating the trendy food scene of major cities all over the world for nearly a decade now. While casual Asian take-out eateries in strip malls are never in short supply, especially in cities with larger ethnic Asian populations like Novi and Canton and, a little further east and a little less glamorous, Madison Heights, the metro area's core – Detroit – was noticeably absent the kind of upscale and/or late-night noodle shop found in abundance in places like Chicago and Toronto (and still is, if you consider that the places now just recently serving this kind of food – Rock City Eatery, Katoi, and Johnny Noodle King – are all helmed by non-Asians).

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[THRILLIST] 11 NEW DETROIT RESTAURANTS YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT RIGHT NOW

The Zenith. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Summer is in the rear view, and it's time to start packing on the protective layers of blubber that'll allow you to survive another harsh Michigan winter. Luckily, Detroit's been blessed with plenty of exciting new establishments ready and waiting to feed you (and serve you drinks!), as Detroiters cannot survive on Vernors alone.

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[Thrillist] Detroit's 8 Best Places for Poutine

Nicole's Poutine at Rock City Eatery. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg - THE namesake Nicole of the poutine.

Poutine, that unholy trinity of French fries, gravy, and cheese curds, is one of Canada's great gifts to America. In Detroit, a city that's located right across the river from our benevolent Northern neighbors, it sure did take a while for the poutine trend to take root. Luckily, Detroit's come to realize that crossing the border for some late-night eats isn't really practical, which is why we've started making it everywhere. Here are the eight best spots to get it:

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[Concentrate] From cart to cafe: The evolution of two local food trucks

HELEN HARDING AND BLAKE REETZ AT EAT - DOUG COOMBE

It has been more than three years since Mark's Carts first debuted in Ann Arbor in March 2011, and since we first started to discuss mobile food vending in the city. Food trucks – as in, actual street-mobile roving kitchens on wheels – have yet to find their place in Ann Arbor, but thanks to Mark's Carts, there is at least a little corner of Tree Town that allows cart-based food vendors to operate.

When we first began discussing the benefits of mobile vending, and why Ann Arbor should embrace this new-ish business model rather than relentlessly block it, we explored how mobile vending is an ideal way to vet a new concept and build up a business before making the significant investment into a permanent brick-and-mortar location. Now we'll check in with two businesses that got their start as carts and have since transitioned to full-time brick-and-mortar café.

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[Metromode] Fermenta galvanizes women in Michigan's craft beverage industry

ANGIE WILLIAMS AT GRIFFIN CLAW BREWERY - DAVID LEWINSKI PHOTOGRAPHY

As a writer and a woman, I tend to feel a bit uneasy about writing about women in various industries in a way that is pointedly exclusive of men. "Listicles" proclaiming "Top 10 Female Brewers" irk me endlessly – why can't it just be "Top 10 Brewers" with a mix of men and women? The separate designation is akin to saying that women aren't really good enough to hold their own against men, thus necessitating their own special "lady list."

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[Metromode] Bustin' Up the Boy's Club: Metro Detroit's Female Mixologists

Jackie Foucha at The Oakland. Photo by David Lewinski Photography for Metromode.

Last week we ran a story about the rise of craft cocktail culture in metro Detroit and some of the key players who have pushed it forward. While forward-drinking female bartenders Lola Gegovic, Jacqueline Foucha, and Adrianne Martin were all name-dropped, the focus was all on the boys in the business. Through conversations with people interviewed for that story, it became glaringly obvious that female bartenders in metro Detroit get none of the press that their male counterparts do.

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[Metromode] The Rise of Metro Detroit's Mixologists

Shane McGrath at The Oakland. Photo by David Lewinski Photography for Metromode. 

Maybe it's because of metro Detroit's automotive history, but whenever a new trend hits we have a tendency to take it from zero to 60 with ear-splitting speed. We did it with food trucks. We did it with pop-ups. We did it with coffee and craft beer and artisan spirits. And we did it with craft cocktails.

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[Prosper] Oakland County Market Promotes Food Businesses with Grants for Business Education

Sweet Occasions, Oxford

The Oakland County Market has been operating since 1966, predating the Oakland County Parks system that now manages it. In that time, cultural attitudes towards "recreation" have changed significantly – instead of "recreation" referring to packing the kids up in the station wagon and heading Up North for a long weekend once a year, recreation is something that people consider a necessary part of everyday life, and a real quality of life indicator. It is part of an active lifestyle that people want to easily be able to access on a weekly (if not daily) basis in their own neighborhoods, including everything from trails for hiking and biking to lifelong learning opportunities and farmers markets where people can support local businesses and socialize. "It's not just about physical activity; it's about social activity," says Jon Noyes, Supervisor of Planning for Oakland County Parks. "We now have different expectations [for recreation]."

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On Going Vegan

Here's a picture of me and Elvis from a few years ago. He wanted to take me for a ride in his pink Cadillac. :/

Las Vegan, that is. (That's what they're called here. But it's pronounced "Vay-gan.")

By now you've probably heard that I've left the dirty D for the sunshine and neon lights of Las Vegas. It wasn't exactly a secret - I was very open about it on my personal social media accounts and discussed it at length with the food and beverage industry people closest to me as well as all of the media outlets I work for. I teased the announcement first in Model D here (which was followed up with something not entirely accurate but also not entirely inaccurate either). It was also announced in Real Detroit Weekly, with which I have a longer professional relationship than anywhere else.