[NEWS BITES] Detroit Restaurant Week Fall 2013 Edition by the numbers

From Detroit Restaurant Week, here is the wrap-up from the fall 2013 edition:

Thousands of patrons celebrated the latest edition of Detroit Restaurant Week, held September 20-29. Seventeen of Detroit’s finest dining establishments presented specially-crafted three-course meals for just $30 per person.

Shinola, the presenting sponsor for Detroit Restaurant Week fall 2013, also hosted the highly acclaimed Guns + Butter pop-up dining experience at their flagship store in Midtown.

"The pop-up for DRW was a tremendous success. The food, atmosphere, service and all-around team effort reached professional heights that everyone was proud of,” says Craig Lieckfelt, founder and executive chef of Guns + Butter.  “It was an honor to collaborate with Shinola. Without question, they are continuing to push the entrepreneurial boundaries of those looking to start a business in Detroit. They lead by example with a creative and hard-working team,” he adds.

Detroit Restaurant Week’s most recent addition, The Jefferson House, located inside the new Crowne Plaza Pontchartrain Hotel in downtown Detroit, experienced similar success as well:

“We killed it,” says Chef Justin Vaicuinas. “It was great seeing so many people back at the Pontchartrain. We had a great time with DRW and look forward to the next edition,” he adds.

DRW once again showcased specially crafted menus that highlighted many unique culinary creations, featuring several seasonal ingredients rarely utilized in area kitchens, many of them locally-sourced as well. Brizola's (Greektown Casino Hotel) Chef Christian Borden offered up Michigan Rainbow Trout prepared with watercress, apple cider and crispy onion, while Roast's (Westin Book Cadillac) Chef Daniel Campbell presented their Hanger Steak, served with giardiniera and smoked sunchokes. Cuisine's (New Center) Chef Paul Grosz dazzled with his Smoked Duck Ham Breast, served with Dauphinoise potatoes with red wine-braised blueberries. Chef Chris Franz from The Rattlesnake Club (Stroh River Place) satisfied many a sweet tooth with his PB & B Bread Pudding dessert, a mouth-watering collision of peanut butter and banana, with roasted banana ice cream and salted chocolate and caramel drizzle.

In total, close to 290,000 people have enjoyed the first nine installments of Detroit Restaurant Week to date, which has helped generate an estimated $5.5 million in sales for our participating restaurants, not including non-DRW menu items, such as beverages, etc. Just as importantly, DRW along with our participating restaurants, have again pledged to help Forgotten Harvest provide over 10,000 meals to help feed our area's hungry.

Dates have not yet been scheduled for the spring 2014 promotion, but fans should keep an eye on the Detroit Restaurant Week social media channels and DetroitRestaurantWeek.com for the latest news and information.

History of Detroit Restaurant Week: The Detroit Restaurant Week concept was created in 2009 as a partnership project between Paxahau Event Productions, the Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP) and its partner organizations in Midtown, Corktown, Eastern Market and New Center to support and promote fine dining restaurants in greater downtown Detroit. Almost 290,000 diners have enjoyed DRW to date, generating almost five and a half million dollars in sales for our participating restaurants. In 2013, DRW along with our partner restaurants empowered Forgotten Harvest to provide over 20,000 meals to metro Detroiters in need.

About Shinola

Shinola was founded in 2011 with the goal to make quality products and to make them right here in America. As makers of modern, handcrafted watches, bicycles, leather goods, and journals, Shinola is proud to be based in Detroit, a community-minded city with a strong manufacturing legacy. As a new company with a storied name, Shinola stands for skill at scale, the preservation of craft, the beauty of industry.

About Paxahau Event Productions & Management

Paxahau Event Productions has earned the reputation over the past decade as an elite promotions organization. Initially established to promote electronic music, Paxahau has grown to become a year-round event production company. In addition to producing the annual Movement Electronic Music Festival in Detroit, they also direct operations for the Detroit Jazz Festival and will manage production and operations for Moogfest 2014 in Asheville, North Carolina. Paxahau has booked talent and provided production services for Motown Winter Blast; Red Bull Air Races; Arts, Beats & Eats; North American International Auto Show events; BravoBravo! and the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. Visit www.paxahau.com to learn more.     

[HOT LIST] Fall events

Not all falls are created equally. And this fall is about to put all other falls to shame. From spankin' new events to expanded old events, bon vivants have plenty of opportunities for dining and drinking in the coming weeks. Here are the highlights.

#1 Dine Drink Detroit October 10-16
In the afterglow of the grand dame of Detroit dining events, Detroit Restaurant Week, check out the brand-new Dine Drink Detroit. If the comparison had to be made, DDD is DRW's scrappy DIY cousin. And that suits these particular Detroit joints. Thirteen of Detroit's most interesting bars and restaurants that don't really fall into the realm of "fine dining" (as in, $32 a plate) will offer food and drink pairings for $15 each, no reservations necessary. Follow them on InstaBookEr via the hashtag #DineDrinkDetroit. Participating restaurants are: El Barzon, Great Lakes, Green Dot, Mercury Burger Bar, MotorCity Wine, Mudgie's, Ottava Via, Rodin, Slows, St. Cece's, Sugar House, Traffic Jam, Woodbridge Pub.

#2 Ferndale Restaurant Week October 7-13
Also hot on the heels of Detroit Restaurant Week is Ferndale Restaurant Week, a new effort by the Ferndale DDA chaired by Beth Hussey, co-owner of One-Eyed Betty's. It was important to Hussey to create the kind of event in which ALL Ferndale restaurants could participate, everyone from Treat Dreams and Easy Like Sundae to Assagi Bistro and Local Kitchen + Bar. So Ferndale Restaurant Week has options for breakfast, lunch and dinner in $10, $20, and $30 increments. Check out the very cool website to see the full list of 24 participating venues and what they will be offering, including the brand-new Public House, which just so happens to be opening to the public at 5 p.m. today.

#3 Hamtramck Food Week September 23-28
So hot on the heels of Detroit Restaurant Week it's actually happening at the same time, the first-ever Hamtramck Food Week, which starts on Monday, features ethnic cooking demonstrations, food history tours and tours of Hamtown Farms and Srodek's, a pop-up biergarten, as well as $10 dinners at participating restaurants. Plus, both Rock City Eatery and (revolver) will be open just in time!

#4 REVOLVE Detroit Art + Retail on the Avenue
REVOLVE Detroit's new Art + Retail on the Avenue makes its debut tonight as part of the Detroit Design Festival's Light Up Livernois event. Art + Retail on the Avenue includes four new permanent retailers, eight pop-up concepts, nine art projects, and additional programming and events. Check out the new Local Social Ice Cream + Good Cakes and Bakes, a combination ice cream shop and bakery, and Regal Cafe, a coffee shop and arts space, as part of the new permanent retailers on the Ave. Pop-ups include the Fresh Food Co-op with food from known pop-up food businesses the Batata Shop, Treats by Angelique, Beautiful Soup and Fresh Corner Cafe; True Indulgence, a specialty bakery; anf Fill-Anthropy, a pop-up nonprofit bar.

#5 Detroit Restaurant Week September 20-29
Since launching in 2009, DRW is still the grand dame of Detroit dining events. Add-ons this year include Jefferson House and Guns + Butter, and all the old favorites are returning. As always, prime time reservations fill up quickly, so make your reservations now or plan your outing mid-week to secure your spot.

Bubbling under Detroit Beer Week October 17-27 (events will be announced soon), Michigan Brewers Guild Fall Beer Festival October 25-26 (Saturday is sold out; Friday tickets still available);  Theatre Bizarre: The Procession October 18-19 (for the first time ever, Theatre Bizarre is hosting a Preview Gala the night before the main event, masks required; if you purchase tickets to both events, you will also receive a limited-edition signed and number giclee print from Theatre Bizarre artist John Dunivant entitled "Edgar Balloon" from his Expatriate Parade series)

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

ICYMI:
~The new Two James Spirits distillery is the first licensed distillery in the city of Detroit since before Prohibition, and they are now ready to start serving you. Here's a look inside, and keep an eye out for their grand opening in the next month! [EID]
~Hamtramck is getting a new table d'hôte restaurant called (revolver), which is now accepting its first reservations for Hamtramck Food Week. [Model D]
~Interested in learning more about this new concept in Hamtramck, (revolver)? Want a sneak peek at opening week menus? Check out this Q+A with co-owner Tunde Wey here. [EID]
~Last week a story I wrote on coffee squatting ran on Fox News. While the edited version was appropriate for Fox readers, my nature as a writer is to give things a bit more cultural context. Here is the full version of that story, which reads a bit...differently. [EID / Fox News]
~The impact of metro Detroit's ethnic Arab population is hugely significant on our culture and heritage. A new FREE walking tour of Eastern Market Corporation called YallaEat!, hosted by the Arab American National Museum, takes you through the history of the market's many Arab vendors and producers. Visit the market's Arab-owned businesses and meet the owners on this tour highlighting just one aspect of what makes this multi-cultural market so great, and one of the most culturally interesting things about living in metro Detroit. [EID]
~Remember when Tour de Troit was just a few dudes on bikes with a cooler? TdT is this weekend. Here's a goodie from last summer in which I profile one of the organizers, Bil Lusa, along with other biking beeries like Steve Johnson of Motor City Brew Tours. [Metromode]
~Dig cocktails? Check out the Old Smokey at Urban Cellar inside The Jefferson House. [RDW]

With respect to the usual suspects for being really good at media outreach, it's rather refreshing to see a pizza of any other origin get named the best in the state (on a list that wasn't researched by typing "best pizza in Michigan" into Google). Motor City Brewing Works "Mary Did Have" 'za gets the nod from USA Today as being the definitive Michigan pizza. [USA Today]

American Coney Island is profiled as one of 6 historic hot dog joints in the company of meat tube giants like Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, Superdawg, and Pink's Hot Dogs. [Fox News]

In case you've lost track, here's a great big reminder of all of the restaurants and bars opening in Midtown v v soon. [MLive]

Check out the new sexytime website for Dine Drink Detroit! All the details (the whos whats wheres and whens) are on there plus a few categorizations to help you tailor your experience to your own interests. (Like beer. And what places have the most of it.) Starts October 10! #DineDrinkDetroit [DDD]

Detroit Restaurant Week starts this week! Have you made your reservations yet? 'Cuz you might want to get on that. [DRW]

I have a serious crush on Eastern Market Corporation and how the folks in charge have completed redefined that district since they took over in 2006. Randall Fogelman is one of those people. Read about him and his work at the Market in Urban Innovation Exchange. [UIX]

Another old bar has been destroyed by a fire; this time it was Hippo's Bar in Hamtramck. [Freep]

Surely this HAS to be fake, right? [Craigslist]

Now the question remains: do headlines translate into customers to sustain such high wages at Moo Cluck Moo in Dearborn Heights? [The Daily Beast]

Crain's Detroit Business asks the question and Moo Cluck Moo says yes. They even want to open more locations. [Crain's]

Can Whole Foods save your love life as well as Detroit? Writer Ryan Patrick Hooper thinks so. Here is this Whole Foods Cassanova's guide to picking up girls at Whole Foods LIKE A GENTLEMAN. [HuffPo]

And now we have reached phase 2 of Detroit 2.0: from corporate philanthropy to corporate bullying. [MLive]

The founder of Shatila Bakery has passed away, after years of battling cancer. Truly an example of a tireless entrepreneurial work ethic, Mr. Shatila grew his business into one of the best-known Arab-owned sweet shops in the U.S. with a thriving mail order business. They also make some of the best ice cream I've ever had. The store has a huge selection of delicate Arabic and European pastries and savory items, as well as Arabic coffee, smoothies and raw juices, and THE ICE CREAM. Definitely one of the best food businesses in metro Detroit, hands-down. [Freep]

Vegans, etc. [AnnArbor.com]

Northern Lakes Seafood Company is moving to Troy. [Freep]

Absinthe and Kuhnhenn Brewing Co. beers? Sounds like the good kind of trouble. Or just the straight-up bad kind. [Freep]

SO MANY fantastic people and projects on this list: $2.1 million total is being distributed to 56 winning local arts programs and projects, both new and existing, including (but certainly not limited to) Alonso del Arte's ice cream truck which will play Anton Bruckner’s March in E-flat major, the new Detroit SOUP truck, Public Pool's Good Tyme Writer’s Buffet, the new Trinosophes museum, big-time winner (receiving $100,000) Theatre Bizarre, and so so many more! [Knight Arts]

The third-annual Detroit Design Festival kicks off this week. This is probably one of the most exciting events in the city, always way more on offer than the usual bands and booze and food trucks (not that there's anything wrong with that). Very cool stuff happening as part of this event. [Crain's]

Oh, Detroit. [Freep]

Oh, Detroit. (Redux.) [Detroit News]

According to DBusiness, Prime29 Steakhouse in West Bloomfield is trying to get on MAN VS. FOOD with their $240 "Colossal Surf + Turf" which features 7 pound of meat and potatoes. Oh, Michigan. #XTREME [DBusiness]

Nice title, Bloomberg. [Bloomberg]

Interested in TEDxDetroit? Here's the speaker lineup for the Oct. 2 event. Lots of Detroit doers involved, including Amy Kaherl of Detroit SOUP. [Yahoo Finance]

Tickets to one of the country's most wicked Halloween parties, Theatre Bizarre, are now on sale through the online store. Zombo thanks you in advance for your support. [Theatre Bizarre]

Beerie
~I support the more beer movement. #morebeer [Detroit News]
~Witch's Hat Brewing Company came out strong, but overall Warren wins with each of its three breweries - Kuhnhenn Brewing Co., Dragonmead Brewery, and Falling Down Beer Company - making it into the Final Four in MLive.com's best Michigan brewery search (the public voting round). [MLive]
~IS IT FALL YET???? Start making plans for all of the fun fall things happening this year! Like the third annual Great Pumpkin feast at The Root Restaurant and Bar, with beer pairings from Jolly Pumpkin Brewery. [The Root]
~MLive.com will be in Detroit and A2 for their best brewery search this Thursday and Friday! [MLive]
~Downtown Royal Oak's Michigan Beer Stroll is happening this Saturday, tickets are $40. Lots of Michigan breweries, lots of Royal Oak restaurants. [Royal Oak Patch]
~Tashmoo Biergarten and other stuff is happening on Belle Isle this Saturday from 12-6. [Tashmoo]
~Powers Distributing is once again in the running for Craft Beer Distributor of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival next month. The Michigan-based distributor won the award in 2011 and is the only Michigan distributor nominated this year. [Detroit News]

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

ICYMI:
~Detroit Restaurant Week has announced the lineup for the fall edition happening next month; new this year is a DRW series of the popular pop-up Guns + Butter being held at Shinola Store Detroit, but the reservations won't come easy. [EID / Crain's]
~No reservations? (And I'm not talking about the Bourdain show here, but he was indeed at Guns + Butter once IN CASE YOU FORGOT.) The first-ever #DineDrinkDetroit will happen October 7-13, featuring a combination of food and drink at 13 independently-owned Detroit restaurants for only $15, no reservations needed. It's kind of the un-DRW. [EID]

Dilla's Delights doughnut and coffee shop will open in Harmonie Park this fall in honor of the late Detroit producer J Dilla. There is a rap crossover joke in here. Also one about rappers making money long after death. Did 2Pac like tacos? I would really like to see 2 Pacos Tacos also happen. [Detroit News]

Dally in the Alley is happening next weekend. [Dally FB]

Check out the Batata Shop at Germack Coffee during Eastern Market Tuesdays through October. [TBS FB]

Kate Daughdrill - artist and farmer who was one of the founders of Detroit SOUP and more recently of The Edible Hut in Detroit's Osborn neighborhood - is also behind Burnside Farm in "Banglatown," a place where art and agriculture intersect. [UIX]

The new Firebird Tavern is a gorgeous space with good high-quality bar food (check out the menu and the dill pickle wings) and very friendly staff. Located right in Greektown by Old Shillelagh, perfect for pre-/post-gaming. From the former owners of Pulse. [EID FB / DBusiness]

Zagat has once again named their "50 states, 50 sandwiches," choosing the pasty for Michigan. Now, Detroiters might instinctively think it should be corned beef, what with because of ALL of the corned beef, but that's more of a (metro)*Detroit* thing. For the state of Michigan as a whole, the pasty (which is so much more than just a sandwich - it is a full meal in a beautiful buttery crust easy to carry and eat and brilliant in its simplicity) makes more sense. Though it is perhaps more closely related to the pie than the sandwich. Maybe it is a sandwich pie? [Zagat]

Food + Wine names the coolest crowd-funded projects in the country. Among them is our own Drought. Check them out at Shinola Store Detroit! [F+W]

Tommy's Bar is another local bar that served as a blind pig during Prohibition (with archeological evidence to prove it). [Detroit News]

Get punchy at The Oakland or The Sugar House, or do it yourself at home with these recipes. [Detroit News]

Luxe Secondsies. (Now open in GP.) [Detroit News]

Is our collective self-esteem really so low that we need constant validation from poorly-written copy+paste "travel blogs"? Because here is another one. [Roam Right]

Beerie
~Check out the new website for Detroit Beer Week; events and venue details coming soon! [DBW]

~MLive is now on the hunt for Michigan's best brewery. This should be interesting. [MLive]

~Batch won Hatch, and another pile of free money. Here's a story that dates back to their first pile of free money. [Real Detroit]

~Warren's Falling Down Beer Company is getting a much-needed facelift and ditching the old Big Boy booths. [FDBC FB]

~A freak accident rocked the craft beer world this week as fellow brewers mourn the loss of Matt Courtright, who got his start in professional brewing at Liberty Street Brewing Co here in Plymouth. [BeerPulse]

~To celebrate their launch in Michigan, The Bruery (i.e., one of my favorite not-Michigan breweries) is running an Instagram contest through Sept. 10. Click on the link for details and try to find some Russian stacking dolls. (Click on the link, it will make sense.) [The Bruery Official]

Misc.
~Meanwhile in the rest of the world... [Reuters]

~The takeaway here: #putaneggonit [First We Feast]

[NEWS BITES] Detroit Restaurant Week participating restaurants announced, adding Guns + Butter pop-up series to lineup

Shinola in Midtown. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg. 

For the fifth annual installment of Detroit Restaurant Week's fall edition, organizers are adding the popular pop-up Guns + Butter to the lineup of coordinating DRW programming with a series at DRW sponsor Shinola, the flagship luxury goods retailer in Midtown. Deets below.

Detroit Restaurant Week returns Friday, September 20 through Sunday, September 29 for fall. Sixteen of Detroit’s finest restaurants, including the award-winning Coach Insignia and Roast, will once again offer specially-priced three-course dinners for only $30 per person.

Shinola, the presenting sponsor of Detroit Restaurant Week for fall 2013 will also host Guns + Butter, an exclusive, intimate pop-up dining experience provided by Chef Craig Allen Lieckfelt. "Partnering with Shinola to showcase the flavors of the season in their beautiful venue is a real treat,” says Lieckfelt. “Bringing the experience of food into a unique and unexpected setting sums up who we are as a business. We are excited to be a part of DRW this season,” he adds.

Bridget Russo, director of marketing for Shinola says they’re proud to host Guns + Butter at their Shinola flagship store located at 441 W. Canfield St. in Midtown, Detroit. “It's exciting for us to be able to support local culinary talent through Detroit Restaurant Week, which does so much to encourage Detroiters to get out and explore all the incredible restaurants in the city,” she adds. 

The DRW edition of Guns + Butter will be held on Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21 as well as Thursday, September 26 through Saturday, September 28. Reservations can be made by email at reservations@gbdetroit.com. Seating will be extremely limited.

The restaurants participating in the ninth installment of the biannual fine dining event are: 

24Grille – Westin Book Cadillac Detroit	Andiamo Detroit Riverfront – GM Ren Cen
Angelina Italian Bistro – Downtown	Brizola – Greektown Casino Hotel
Cliff Bell’s – Downtown	Coach Insignia – GM Ren Cen
Cuisine – New Center	Da Edoardo Foxtown Grille – Foxtown
Detroit Seafood Market – Paradise Valley	Fountain Bistro – Campus Martius Park
Guns + Butter – Shinola Detroit, Midtown	La Dolce Vita – Palmer Woods District
Rattlesnake Club – Stroh River Place	Roast – Westin Book Cadillac Detroit
Roma Cafe – Eastern Market	Santorini Estiatorio – Greektown
Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria + Cucina – MGM Grand Detroit

Visit www.DetroitRestaurantWeek.com for the latest updates about menus, upcoming events, and to sign-up for the exclusive Detroit Restaurant Week e-newsletter. “Like” Detroit Restaurant Week on Facebook and follow @dineDRW on Twitter.

Detroit Restaurant Week is presented by Shinola, the Detroit-based manufacturer of premium Detroit-built wristwatches and bicycles as well as other consumer products. Quicken Loans returns as supporting sponsor.

History of Detroit Restaurant Week: The Detroit Restaurant Week concept was created in 2009 as a partnership project between Paxahau Event Productions, the Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP) and its partner organizations in Midtown, Corktown, Eastern Market and New Center to support and promote fine dining restaurants in greater downtown Detroit. Almost 230,000 diners have enjoyed DRW to date, generating over four million dollars in sales for our participating restaurants. In the spring of 2013, DRW partnered with Forgotten Harvest to provide 10,000 meals to metro Detroiters in need.

About Shinola

Shinola was founded in 2011 with the goal to make quality products and to make them right here in America. As makers of modern, handcrafted watches, bicycles, leather goods, and journals, Shinola is proud to be based in Detroit, a community-minded city with a strong manufacturing legacy. As a new company with a storied name, Shinola stands for skill at scale, the preservation of craft, the beauty of industry.

About Paxahau Event Productions & Management

Paxahau Event Productions has earned the reputation over the past decade as an elite promotions organization. Initially established to promote electronic music, Paxahau has grown to become a year-round event production company. In addition to producing the annual Movement Electronic Music Festival in Detroit, they also direct operations for the Detroit Jazz Festival and will manage production and operations for Moogfest 2014 in Asheville, North Carolina. Paxahau has booked talent and provided production services for Motown Winter Blast; Red Bull Air Races; Arts, Beats & Eats; North American International Auto Show events; BravoBravo! and the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. Visit www.paxahau.com to learn more.  

The Week(s) We Ate (The EID Week in Review Double-Header pt. 2)

ICYMI (um, for next year now I guess):
Here are many ways to avoid the Dream Cruise entirely. And for whatever reason they all seem to revolve around beer. I like beer. Also zombies. There's a thing about zombies. And pop-ups because pop-ups. [EID]

And then there were four. [Hatch]

Sometimes I bury really good nuggets of information in my posts just to see if you're paying attention. I've determined that you're not, but other local media persons damn sure are. So here's more on the new Kuhnhenn Brewing Co. production facility that will be opening in Clinton Twp. (as well as a new take-out location for Bad Brad's). [Macomb Daily]

Bistros fare better than big restaurants in Birmingham, in part because of a shift in customer interests, but also because of the much higher overhead with larger spaces. Crain's Detroit Business checks in with Commonwealth, TOWNHOUSE, Social Kitchen + Bar, and Forest Grill to see how their model of smaller spaces with plenty of outdoor seating and more casual atmospheres attracts more customers. Now the question is...how does this bode for the Stand? [Crain's]

DRW announced their fall dates (Sept. 20-29, FYI). [DRW]

No one does XTREME foods better than Detroit! And, really, are we at all surprised by this? HEY, let's have a food festival dedicated entirely to fried foods! EXTREME fried foods!!! [MLive]

Also, Michigan's biggest contribution to the world of chain restaurants is Domino's Pizza. But hey, at least we're not Illinois. [Thrillist]

First pumpkin beers, now cider mills are opening for the season. Well, the end of summer isn't ALL bad. Yates Cider Mill is now open! [Yates FB]

Lock and Key, the new lounge inside the Oxford Inn that was redone by Food Network Extreme Makeover: Bars, is now open for your judgement. [Detroit News]

Famous person drinks coffee. [Freep]

Looks like Ferndale is getting a big new development that will likely become four storefronts, which means, more likely than not, another restaurant or two. Looking for space for your own concept you want to open? Get in on this early. [Ferndale 115]

A sad: yes, iconic Ann Arbor institution Blimpy Burger has closed. A happy: they're relocating. A sad: they don't know where or when yet. A happy: the best restaurant closing photo in possibly history. [AnnArbor.com / EID / Michigan Radio]

Mattie Armstrong and Ye Olde Tap Room were on Comedy Central's Drunk History. [somewhere on the internet]

Thrillist popped over to the newly-relocated MotorCity Wine, now in Corktown (and with a fab patio). Here is what they came up with for a first date (or any date, when you're still in that stage of dating where impressing the person matters) wine guide. [Thrillist]

Interested in getting involved with the growing local food economy? Have a small start-up food business that you want to get off the ground? FoodLab Detroit is having their first-ever member drive now. [FoodLab]

Alley Wine: now even closer to being almost open. [Alley Wine FB]

Small Plates is opening a second location in Syracuse, NY, with plans to make it a national chain. Probably like the Cheesecake Factory. Only plates will be small, instead of gargantuanly large. So that's a new twist. Remember a few owners, management teams, and years ago when this was one of the best restaurants in Detroit? Memories... [Syracuse.com]

Vegan news: The FBI's largest domestic terrorist organization is now trying to buy space for its propaganda in Detroit using the promotion of veganism as a lifestyle choice that will save Detroit as its excuse. [Freep]

Soooooo...Snack in the Box is opening soon. Somehow I don't imagine this was a pre-opening PR stunt. Oh, Detroit... [Motor City Muckraker]

Chinese fooooood? Yes and then. Here's a list of a few spots I've heard of and more I haven't because, honestly, this is really not my thing. But this is Freep writer Erin's thing! And she totally provides. I think. I wouldn't actually know. I like pizza. [Freep]

Bookies Bar N' Grille and The Oakland are both celebrating anniversaries this Friday. Something tells me there is not going to be a lot of audience overlap here. Like, "MAN, I TOTALLY wanted to go to the Oakland's party but then I'm going to miss out on Bookie's!" is probably something you're not going to hear. But maybe! But probably not. [Detroit News]

Beerie
~The best food bloggity-blog named Jolly Pumpkin's La Roja the best beer in the state. They are not wrong. [First We Feast]

~Let my people go. Or something. [Nasdaq]

~Here is USA TODAY's recap of a list made by The Daily Meal (which was probably aggregated from somewhere else) that says the exact same thing. So, once again, YAY Bell's Brewery and Founders Brewing Co., from now into infinity for every time they should appear on one of these lists, which is every time one of these lists is made and then aggregated in perpetuity. [USA Today]

~Why does The Big Lebrewski Brewing Company not exist yet? Why/ WHY???? [Spotted by Locals]

~People really expend a lot of energy wringing their hands over this. [Business Week]

~Five years ago, oh how people laughed. Now it is being said that craft beer is BETTER in cans. "Ugh, is that a BOTTLE in your hand? You sooooooo just don't get it." [Slate]

~As someone who goes to Vegas usually as few times every year, this news makes me very, very happy. Even as recently as last month when I was there for just a couple of days I noticed some new spots with an actual, bonafide, LEGIT beer list. I've been to both spankin' new Five50 Pizza Bar at ARIA and the very fine Sage at ARIA, and while I think it's a bit early to claim they have the BESTEST BEER LISTS EVAAAAAR as the article seems to suggest (they don't; still a lot of predictable brews and didn't see much evidence of these so-called rare birds), it's still vastly improved from what it used to be. I wouldn't make Vegas your next beercation destination, but give it a year - things happen quickly there. [Forbes]

Misc
~Seriously though, First We Feast is just fucking brilliant. And here is a rant about Cro-Tards and XTREME foods I could not possibly have written better myself. [FWF]

~The cronut. The waffacle. The ramen burger. Now Pepsi-flavored Cheetos. Please let this be the cultural nadir of the XTREME subset of "foodie" culture. [Food Beast]

~USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! [Top Info Post]

~I'm not sure how the math behind all this works (the claim is, essentially, that servers made MORE money despite the automatic gratuity being slightly less than their actual tip average prior to that AND adding tip-sharing with the kitchen crew), but here's another one to add to the "the tipping system in this country is absurd" category. [Slate]

~But for as long as our archaic tipping system is still in place, if you REALLY want to know how to get better tips, take a cue from this guy. Allons-y! [Stranger on Baker Street]