[NEWS BITES] Dine. Drink. Detroit.

Wine at Great Lakes Coffee. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Detroit Restaurant Week is coming up September 20-29. (This year is kind of a big deal with the addition of the already sold-out Guns + Butter pop-up.) Now, we've all been through this before, and I'm not talking about the three-course $30 prix fixe dinner menus. I'm talking about the race for reservations. The disappointment when your restaurant of choice is booked for the evening you're free. Having to settle for your seventh choice. Trying to wrangle together groups of friends who all have different availability and want to go different places. Trying to have a normal dinner at one of these places during these 10 days, forgetting exactly what 10 days they actually are, and finding them unable to accommodate you. Yes, for all the fun there is to be had, it can also be a bit stressful. Especially for those of us (hi) who are loathe to ever plan anything in advance.

Fear not! For now there is Dine. Drink. Detroit. #DineDrinkDetroit brings together 13 slightly-less-than fine dining establishments offering a combination of food and drink for $15 - no reservations, just a special offering available at each of these locally- and independently-owned establishments.

The first-ever #DineDrinkDetroit will be held October 10-16. More details for this event will be forthcoming but for now, mark your calendars for an extra special week of celebrating all that which is dining and drinking in Detroit!

#DineDrinkDetroit is the brainchild of Scott Rutterbush from Great Lakes Coffee and Kate Williams of Rodin. 

[HOT LIST] Detroit Beer Week 2012 (again)

Once again, I am extremely anal. To wit: when events are not announced and promoted with appropriate lead time and then compiled in one place (if it's a series of coordinating events), I get anxious. And so I'm following up last week's Detroit Beer Week Hot List with yet another one as several more coordinating events have been announced since last Thursday.

Also I've been, like, SUPER busy with other stuff and, you know, I don't get paid for this.

Okay, so everything from last week plus these new announcements and updates.

TONIGHT
New Belgium Tap Takeover at One-Eyed Betty's 
Wednesday, 10/24
Yes, this was actually supposed to happen on Monday, but because of an eff-up on the distributor's end it didn't. So it's happening tonight. All your New Belgium favorites like Fat Tire and Shift, plus the extremely rare Lips of Faith Series (and I'm told La Folie alone is worth it -- SOUR POWER!).

Jolly Pumpkin / Leelanau Brewing Happy Hour at Slows Bar BQ
Wednesday, 10/24 4-7 p.m.
DID SOMEONE SAY SOBREHUMANO???? And also Baudelaire Series iO Saison, Leelanau Brewing's Whaleback White and Petoskey Pale Ale, and the jolliest of pumpkins (according to the Wall Street Journal and Serious Eats: Drinks anyway), La Parcela. Try them in flights, or just pound the shit out of some Sobre. Yeah, yeah, it's not the seasonal trend right now, wah wah, but for real once it's gone it's GONE. That is until I convince my friend Ron to brew it again.

Witch's Hat Tap Takeover at Foran's Grand Trunk Pub
Wednesday, 10/24 5-7 p.m.
You know, you have to kind of love a brewery that lends itself so well to the season. You'll love the tap handles even more (pssst...made by the Glass Academy). For this they'll have their Train Hopper IPA (6.9% ABV), Big Doedish DIPA (9.0% ABV), Edward's Portly Brown (5.5% ABV), Royal Rumble Double Red (a double Red Ale brewed on Friday the 13th and with Blood Oranges and heavily hopped with Warrior and Chinook hops), and Ryeizenbock (8+% ABV; a beer brewed specifically for the Brewed In Michigan Beer Festival in Milford, a Weizenbock brewed with rye malt).

Jolly Pumpkin Happy Hour at Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company
Thursday, 10/25 4 p.m.
La Parcela, Weizen Bam and De Viento on tap. Now THESE guys "get" sour power. (De Viento is their partnership brew with JP.)

Founders Tap Takeover at Slows Bar BQ
Thursday, 10/25 4-7 p.m.
Some of the biggies: Breakfast Stout, Pale Ale, Imperial Stout, Devil Dancer, Backstage Series 2011, Backstage Series 2012 -- Frangelic Mountain Brown, and the highly exalted KBS. KBS barrels last for about six seconds when it's released so this is a rare opportunity for this rare beer.

Bell's Tap Takeover at Mercury Burger Bar
Thursday, 10/25 5 p.m.
They'll have This One Goes to 11 Ale, Debs' Red, Hell Hath No Fury, Black Note, Third Coast Old Ale, Best Brown, Sparkling Ale, Oberon, Oarsman, Octoberfest and Kal-Haven Ale. Black Note, This One Goes to 11 and Sparkling Ale being the ones for which that most bricks will be shat.