[HOT LIST] Spanish coffee

Spanish coffee. Photo source: The Internet.

The Spanish coffee is one of those holdover dessert drinks from the Reagan Era of steakhouse sovereignty. While once the grande dames of dining, these places are now mostly houses of old people food (though the "classic" steakhouse certainly seems to be coming back into vogue as of late). While other dessert drinks (like the ice cream-based Hummer) have been mostly relegated to the realm of revived steakhouses and horrible national chains with apostrophes in their names, the Spanish coffee has managed to attain a certain level of credibility, even amongst the craft cocktail crowd. Part nouveau trendy, part nostalgic throwback, the Spanish coffee is simply a lovely winter warmer and always will be. The places you'll find it are as varied as the recipes they use, but certain things are consistent: coffee, whipped cream, sugar rim, booze (usually coffee liqueur, brandy, rum, or any combination thereof).

#1 Tom's Oyster Bar (Royal Oak)
The secret to an excellent Spanish coffee is Tia Maria, a vanilla-infused Jamaican coffee liqueur. For many years, Tom's was widely renowned across metro Detroit for having the best Spanish coffee EVAH. This was because of Tia Maria. Then Tia Maria was suddenly and inexplicably unavailable in Michigan for a hot second (sometime in/around 2010-ish), and people took notice: Tom's Spanish coffee simply wasn't what it used to be. But then! Tia Maria just as suddenly and inexplicably became available in Michigan again (because the MLCC is awesome and is obviously a rational and consistent entity) and now Tom's Spanish coffee is just as awesome as ever. And not just because they set it on fire. But a little bit because of that.

#2 London Chop House (Detroit)
This is one of those recently-revived steakhouses of sovereignty but done so impeccably well (provided one can appreciate such painstaking throwback) that you just have to sit back (in the plush red leather booths) and enjoy the point at which historic preservation, well-funded nostalgia, museum-like reverence, and unapologetically untrendy classic steakhouse cuisine collide. The Spanish coffee is about half rich, creamy homemade whipped cream and half booze with a dash of coffee for warmth and color. With a lounge singer crooning hits from the Great American Songbook and a belly full of oysters and steak and starch and heavy cream sauces, it's hard not to get into the spirit of the place. The Spanish coffee is a perfect ending to a meal that is, by necessity, already over the top (and there's probably enough calories in that whipped cream alone to fully replace an actual dessert). They also serve that classic Hummer concoction, which they made famous back in the diz.

#3 The Emory (Ferndale)
They're not really known for their Spanish coffee, but they should be. Known best as a beer and burger bar (REALLY good beer and REALLY good burgers, and a build your own Bloody Mary bar on Sundays), their Spanish coffee is a local best kept secret. But if you're hanging out there one day and you see a blue flame and sparks emanating from behind the bar, that's their Spanish coffee - they light the brandy on fire and then spark it with cinnamon. Topped with rich whipped cream and a maraschino cherry, you totally won't feel like a wuss for ordering this because (a) fire, and (b) hipster bar. (Probably it's ironic?)

#4 Torino Espresso Bar (Ferndale)
Their Spanish coffee recipe is modeled after Tom's, right down to the orange twist, though it feels like it makes more sense here being that this is a cocktail bar with an emphasis on coffee and not a seafood house with an emphasis on oysters.

#5 Bacco Ristorante (Southfield)
Italian, Spanish, whatevs, there are no boundaries here. At Bacco you get a bowl of Spanish coffee to enjoy on its own (it's enough) or with one of their house-made pastries or gelato.

Bubbling under The Hill Seafood + Chophouse (Grosse Pointe), Santorini Estiatorio (Greektown), Clawson Steakhouse (Clawson), Terry's Terrace (Harrison Twp.), Fishbone's (Greektown, Southfield, St. Clair Shores)

 

[HOT LIST] Coffee (redux)

Anthology at MoCAD.

In EID's first-ever Hot List (June 20, 2011), we took a look at our favorite coffee spots in and around Detroit. This simultaneously prompted a more in-depth piece for Metromode on some of our local roasters, and later a shout-out from yours truly on Curbed Detroit christening Detroit as the new Seattle. (For the record, I said it FIRST.) But so much has changed just in the last year, it's already time to re-visit.

Alas, metro Detroit's growing coffee culture has taken a recent hit with the closing of Thistle Coffeehouse, but the seeds have spread and already two more cafes are positioned to take its place: the Bottom Line in Midtown (opening July 23) and the Roasting Plant in the CBD coming this fall. What many of these places have in common is that they are of the next wave of coffeehouses -- the third wave and beyond. Many roast their own beans in-house and are exquisitely conscious of sourcing; the others may not roast themselves but source beans from some of the top roasters in the country (Stumptown, Intelligentsia) who are themselves known for their exquisite sourcing. What you can take away from all of this is that we sure do brew some good java in this here food desert.

#1 Anthology Coffee (Midtown/Corktown)
They sprung onto the scene as a finalist of the first-ever Hatch Detroit seed funding competition last fall, and are now featured in a regular pop-up at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit as they work on the build-out of their very own permanent location in Corktown. Yes Corktown, where Astro Coffee resides, but one can hardly call it competition when Astro uses Anthology's coffee. Given the ample seating, ease of parking and wholly accessible WiFi at the MoCAD space, if it's Anthology's coffee you seek you should probably just go there, the end. Roaster Josh Longsdorff, who still roasts for Birmingham's Commonwealth as well, is a master craftsman and his coffee is probably the best in Detroit. If you'd like to show your support, they're currently crowd-funding for their new roaster and you can pitch in a few bucks in exchange for some goodies here.

#2 The Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co. Institute for Advanced Drinking (Midtown) / Torino Espresso + Bar (Ferndale)
How to choose between two places that serve both coffee AND booze??? You don't. Therefore, tie. The IFAD is newly-opened in Midtown and is already my new favorite place ever, which isn't to say I love my old favorite place ever (Torino) any less. The two establishments might both focus on coffee, cocktails and cheese + charcuterie platters, but the similarities end there. The vibes of each space are entirely different: Great Lakes is a little more rustic-modern, like Brooklyn and LA had a baby in Detroit, where Torino is more urban contemporary, Miami by way of the Midwest. Both have great patios. Be sure to check out the IFAD and if you find you can't decide between coffee or beer, they have the perfect daytime transition beverage: the 50/50, half Short's ControversiALE and half cold brew. As for Torino, they're celebrating their one-year anniversary on Sunday, July 29 with a pork party.

Summer galette from Pinwheel.

#3 The Red Hook (Ferndale)
Stumptown Coffee and Pinwheel Bakery. That they ever close is a source of continual sadness, as is the fact I don't live inside. One of the best pour-overs you'll find in all of greater metro Detroit, and also one of the best bakeries with both sweet and savory treats for every craving. And for realsies, all of it is outstanding.

#4 Commonwealth (Birmingham)
Don't let the fancy Birmingham hausfraus fool you, this place is legit. Outstanding coffee (DUH) and exceptional sustainably-sourced food make this pretty much one of the only places worth ever going to Birmingham for. And I also don't hate that parking in the nearby garage is free for the first two hours. If only there were more places worth visiting in that time ... but screw it, Commonwealth FTW.

#5 Germack Coffee Roasting Co. (Eastern Market)
It might sound ridiculous, but until Germack Coffee Roasting Co. opened in Germack's snazzy new digs in Eastern Market, the market had no coffee roaster to call its own. Now Germack, best known for those pink pistachios, has an adorbs cafe (with WiFi!) and store selling items from local producers like Slow Jams Jam and McClure's Pickles, as well as a variety of looseleaf teas and their own house-roasted coffees. The coffee still has a way to go while they hone their skills, but it definitely shows promise and hey, I can walk there, which on certain days makes it the best place in the whole entire world.

Bubbling under Courage Coffee (Hamtramck), Chazzano Coffee Roasters (Ferndale), Cafe Con Leche (SW Detroit), Astro Coffee (Corktown), the Ugly Mug Cafe (Ypsilanti), Comet Coffee (Ann Arbor), Chez Zara (Detroit), 14 East (Midtown), the (espresso) bar (Ann Arbor), the Lab Cafe (Ann Arbor), Zingerman's Coffee (Ann Arbor), HenriettaHaus Coffee Roasters (Ferndale), Renaissance Roastery (Detroit)

 

[HOT LIST] Salads

The Arugula Salad at Olga's Kitchen. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Salad. That most underrated course of culinary creations. For too many restaurants, it is merely an afterthought. For too many diners, it is too much filler between the appetizers (small plates! tapas! ...a rose by any other name would surely still be a rose, unless you call it "extra special trendy new never-seen-before rose;" thus how "appetizers" evolved into "small plates") and the entrees. It is usually denigrated to the lowly position of "side," and is munched on seemingly out of pity as the diner patiently awaits his or her "real" food. As an entree choice, salad is a laughingstock and so is the person who orders it - it is considered "girly," often imbued with smug accusations of insecurity over appearance - "diet" is a four-letter word, as is "girl." "Vegetarian" isn't, but it might as well be for all the snide comments that meat-eaters make about them (because meat-eaters eat ONLY meat: every meal is meat wrapped in meat on a meat bun with meat sauce and sides of meat cooked in meat fat).

But a good salad is an art - not merely shredding up some lettuce, throwing on whatever toppings are nearby and slathering it in some uninspired dressing like ranch (*shudder*). A good salad can highlight the very best of Michigan's bountiful produce (second only to California in diversity, and THOSE people know their salads), incorporate unexpected flavors and textures, and be not just the intermission but the highlight of an entire meal. These salads do exactly that, and not one of them is made with iceberg lettuce.  Iceberg has about all of the nutritional value as a handful of wood chips. Which honestly isn't even fair to wood chips, which probably have more flavor. It's time to demand and appreciate a higher class of salad!

Prosciutto Salad at Zin. Photo by VATO.

#1 Zin Wine Bar Plymouth
Still the new guy in town over in Plymouth, which is quickly becoming the new go-to downtown restaurant destination thanks to places like 5ive and the even-newer Sardine Room, up-and-coming Chef Justin Vaiciunas gets the importance of salad, and just how creative a chef can actually be with it. The menu at Zin changes seasonally, but recent salad options included a roasted heirloom beet salad with citrus foam, brussels sprouts salad with black garlic aioli, and a shaved prosciutto salad featuring a pile of prosciutto (MEAT motherfuckers!) over lemon mascarpone and drizzled with Italian white truffle oil. Check your salad prejudice at the door.

#2 The Root Restaurant White Lake
Executive Chef James Rigato (another serious up-and-comer) is passionate about produce, specifically Michigan produce. The overarching ethos of the Root is fresh, local and seasonal, and this is reflected as much in their salads as in any other menu item. Their take on a roasted beet salad includes arugula, goat cheese, pickled onion, orange and marcona almond with a Michigan honey and sherry vinaigrette. For the summer they've got a vegan greenhouse fattoush salad, a strawberry arugula salad, and their signature "Orchard Salad" with green apple, red leaf, marcona almond, dried Michigan cherries, Michigan bleu cheese, pickled onion, crispy house-made bacon (!), and Spicer's hard cider vinaigrette.

#3 The Majestic Detroit
House salads usually suck: "here's a pile of crappy lettuce with chopped up three-day-old tomatoes and canned olives with bottled Italian dressing on top" (and if they're fancy it will be called "Italian vinaigrette"). At the Majestic Cafe, the house salad is one of the best things on the menu, and they've got a damn good menu. Order as a full portion or just as a side (but a side that can certainly hold its own): baby arugula, Saga bleu cheese, candied walnuts and apple tossed in a Michigan maple vinaigrette. And, like, a big-ass HUNK of Saga bleu. No fooling around with this one.

#4 Olga's Kitchen Detroit
Newly opened on the main floor of the Compuware Building in downtown Detroit's Central Business District, Olga's Kitchen was met with a mix of excitement and, to a much lesser extent, disdain. (Disdain: "Waaaaaaaah, it's corporate." Rebuttal: It's a Michigan-based chain! Disdain: "Waaaaaaaaah, you have to order at a counter right inside the door and that's weird and unfamiliar and I don't like it." Rebuttal: this speeds up service by cutting out the middleman and besides, fine dining it ain't; your food is still brought right to your table.) They've got a large selection of salads, but try the one that's inexplicably buried under the "starters" portion of the menu: the Arugula Salad. Baby arugula, tomato bruschetta, candied bacon (BACON!!!), red onions and feta tossed in their signature dressing. They also have a surprising selection of Michigan craft beers (like Frankenmuth Dunkel) - on a recent visit the salad with an order of Olga Snackers (bread + cheese) and a beer was under $11 and the food came out lightning-fast.

#5 Torino Espresso Bar Ferndale
They've got a small but mighty selection of salads to match their small but mighty menu. Their Caesar is made with house-made Caesar dressing and prosciutto bacon, but for something light and simple try their house salad -- arugula, Parmagiano Reggiano, olive oil, lemon juice and balsamic. The best part is you can order one of their outstanding panini and swap out the chips for the house salad for only $2.50 ... totes worth it.

Bubbling under Pizzeria Biga (Royal Oak), Le Petit Zinc (Detroit), Anita's Kitchen (Ferndale), Meriwether's (Southfield), Roma Cafe (Detroit), Mr. Paul's Chophouse (Roseville), Inn Season Cafe (Royal Oak), Big Rock Chop House (Birmingham), 24grille (Detroit), Hudson Cafe (Detroit), Forest Grill (Birmingham), Hilton Road Cafe (Ferndale), Roast (Detroit), Palazzo di Bocce (Lake Orion), Tony Sacco's Coal Oven Pizza (Novi)

[HOT LIST] Best bars to work in

Torino Espresso + Bar. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

As a freelancer I know what is probably a disproportionate number of other freelancers in Detroit, and we all seem to share the same basic three needs: the need for strong coffee before noon, the need for strong drink any time after noon, and the need for endless reliable WiFi. While we often work from home, we are also known to occasionally seek out the company of other humans by putting pants on long enough to crawl out of our respective holes and stumble our way to the nearest coffee house or bar.

Coffee houses are great. We love coffee. Coffee makes our work possible. But sometimes we need to imbibe in a beverage stronger than Joe. Sometimes we need Jack, Jim or Jose (or really their crafty equivalents; we're not savages). We also need these drinks in a place that offers flowing streams of beautiful, beautiful bandwidth (for free) in an environment where our kind are welcomed and appreciated - not somewhere where opening a laptop will be met with looks of "Who farted?" Using my own personal experience and polling some of my freelancer friends (both writers and photogs), I've determined these bars are the most freelancer-friendly.

#1 Torino Espresso + Bar (Ferndale)
Torino wins by automatic default because they are both a coffee house AND a cocktail bar. Plan your day right and you can put in a full 12-hour workday starting with coffee and ending with cocktails and even get a few snacks in between (the panini are delish). Heck, you can even move around to different parts of the restaurant to suit different moods ("...and now I shall sit in the lounge"). It also helps that Torino happens to have really freaking good coffee and really freaking good cocktails. And, they play the Black Keys a lot. I'm known to spend long hours working here and I also hold the majority of my business meetings here, so this place is pretty much my office now. I hope they don't start charging me rent...

Hipstergram photo by RPH.

#2 Bronx Bar (Detroit)
(Editor's note: one of my fellow freelancers loves this place so much he wanted to do the write-up for me. This meant less work for me, of which I am always a fan.)
The Bronx is Midtown’s king dive bar. It sits proudly on the corner of Second and Prentis, offering a bird’s eye view of gentrification in action. Sure, it masquerades as a Wayne State college bar on the weekends. But in this economy, we’ve all got to moonlight as something. No one’s judging so long as the sweet-and-salty Charlene governs the weekday afternoon shift, piping in classical music and allowing me to type away at my laptop in peace. The challenge is resisting smuggling a beer into your stomach before the clock strikes 4:00pm and not wrapping your arteries around the best damn cheeseburger (and overall bar menu) every time you set up shop. If you can resist the Bronx’s siren call, you’ve found yourself the best damn pop-up office the city has to offer. - Ryan Patrick Hooper, freelance writer and Bronx bar staple.

#3 Honest?John's (Detroit)
Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Honest?John's is one of those divey Detroit bars that we all love and feel compelled to frequent. The best part about this place is not the food (greasy and good, but none too noteworthy) or the drinks (the selection is meh and the pricing is not quite divey enough) but the ambiance. Neon signs sport cheery sayings like, "Men Lie" and "Sobriety Sucks." The bathrooms are covered in years of drunken graffiti, and the jukebox kills (along with the Bronx, it's one of Detroit's best). Ashley Catherine Woods, Entertainment Producer for MLive, even says she has "a favorite booth, waitress and jukebox selection for the am." This is the kind of place where regulars rule.

#4 Cass Cafe (Detroit)
It's a restaurant-slash-art gallery serving healthful, globally-inspired food that is vegetarian- and vegan-friendly, and they also have killer drink specials. Located in the heart of Midtown, Cass Cafe gets a strong turnout of Wayne State and CCS students, artists, area hipsters and what-have-yous, and has always been a relaxed place for some good food, cheap drink, and sweet, sweet WiFi. Fire up the Mac and you'll fit right in, day or night.

#5 Woodbridge Pub (Detroit)
It's a restaurant-slash-art gallery serving healthful, globally-inspired food that is vegetarian- and vegan-friendly, and they also have killer drink specials. Located in the heart of Midtown, Cass Cafe Woodbridge, Woodbridge Pub gets a strong turnout of Wayne State and CCS students, artists, area hipsters and what-have-yous, and has always been a relaxed place for some good food, cheap drink, and sweet, sweet WiFi. And while Woodbridge has many surface similarities to Cass Cafe, one's a little artier and one's a little grittier, appropriately reflecting their respective neighborhoods. I fancy this one for their robust local beer selection, bottomless mimosa brunch, Internet jukebox, and pretty pretty bar. And on weekdays after the lunch rush but before the evening crowds, freelancers practically have the place all to themselves.

Bubbling under The Emory (Ferndale), Foran's Grand Trunk Pub (Detroit), Angelina Italian Bistro (Detroit - great for evening work meetings when WiFi is needed), Park Bar (Detroit), the Rock on Third (Royal Oak), Motor City Brewing Works (Detroit), Andrews on the Corner (Detroit), Traffic Jam and Snug (Detroit)

[Oakland County Prosper] A Feast for the Eyes

Torino Espresso + Bar. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

There has been a flurry of restaurant opening activity in Oakland County lately. Ferndale has seen One-Eyed Betty’s and John D Bistro both open within the last two months, with Woodward Imperial (which will serve California-style gourmet tacos) and Local Kitchen and Bar (serving contemporary American and upscale comfort food) opening soon. The Roberts Restaurant Group – which operates Streetside Seafood in Birmingham, Town Tavern in Royal Oak, and Beverly Hills Grill in Beverly Hills – recently opened Roadside B&G in Bloomfield Hills in the former Brandy’s location, and are currently working on their next concept, Bar ML in Birmingham. Craft beer lovers have a new mecca at Clubhouse BFD, which just opened in February in Rochester Hills. And there are about a dozen other upscale, big-budget concepts currently in the works in Birmingham and Royal Oak which just goes to show the restaurant industry is on an unprecedented upswing in 2012.

One thing all of these places seem to have in common is a whole new focus on interior design. Previously it seemed that design aesthetic in restaurants and bars was never anything more than an afterthought; if the bar itself was interesting (glossy polished wood perhaps, or industrial chic metal and concrete) the rest sort of fell by the wayside; the emphasis was all on the menu, the wine list and the staffing – the rest would just get covered in tablecloths anyway.

Read more.

[HOT LIST] Grilled cheese

A build-your-own grilled cheese (sourdough, cheddar, bacon) from Mae's in Pleasant Ridge. Covert phone photography by Nicole Rupersburg.

Take some cheese, stick it between two slices of bread slathered in butter, grill it until the cheese is all melty-bubbly, then eat it. So simple a child can do it, which is probably why we all almost universally have fond memories of it from childhood - memories so fond that we seek to recreate them as adults, only with a certain grown-up twist. No longer is it American cheese and Wonderbread; now it's artisan sourdough with aged white cheddar, heirloom tomatoes and arugula. Grilled cheese is the ultimate comfort food, not to mention something of an art (and a growing national food trend). These places take their grilled cheese seriously, and almost every single one of them adopts the mantra that everything is better with bacon.

But first, a caveat: the grilled cheese at Cafe Muse in Royal Oak has been featured in Esquire, Reader's Digest and the Oprah Winfrey Show as one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches in America. Made with havarti, fontina, mozzarella, basil and tomatoes on organic bread with just a hint of honey, this delicate, refined presentation of what is often a gloppy mess may or may not be one of the best in the country, but it is hands-down the best in metro Detroit. (It is "the Grilled Cheese that Launched a Thousand Yelp Reviews," as I've noted previously.) That being said, in fairness to its subordinates, Cafe Muse stands alone here, and is not included in the top 5 rankings.

Woodbridge Pub.

#1 Woodbridge Pub (Detroit)
It resisted the "gastro pub" label when it first opened by serving good old down-home country cookin' - spare the butter, spoil the child; that sort of thing. Now, while no one would really call it a "gasto pub" nowadays - the shaggy artschool hipster crowd, college students, and neighborhood residents really don't comprise the clientele one imagines at a "gastro pub" - the Converse sneaker would certainly fit. The menu at Woodbridge has become increasingly health-conscious and sustainable over the last couple of years, though a commitment to sourcing locally has always been their raison d'être. Their original "Cheese to the Seventh Power" (with seven different kinds of cheese and lots of butter) was one of the Best Sandwiches I've Ever Had(TM); alas they ditched the gluttony in favor of gourmet, but it's still one of the best damned grilled cheese sammies in town. Pinconning cheddar, Michigan fontina, goat cheese and tomato on Avalon rustic Italian bread - flavors, textures and proportions are nailed for sublime chewy, melty grilled cheese goodness.

#2 Majestic Cafe (Detroit)
Speaking of going gastro, the Majestic Cafe underwent an overhaul in the kitchen last year, and now their focus is on classic American comfort foods with a modern, sustainable spin. They use high-quality, local, seasonal ingredients (including produce grown in their own organic community farming plot). Their grilled cheese has havarti, tomato and arugula on whole wheat and is served with soup (a timeless combination like beer and cigarettes peanut butter and jelly). Or you can take that and LOBSTERIZE it: their Lobster Grilled Cheese is their regular grilled cheese plus succulent lobster meat. Another option in the grilled cheese family is the Bacon and Apple Melt with sliced apple, Dearborn bacon, arugula, white cheddar, and Dijon mustard on whole wheat.

#3 Torino Espresso + Bar (Ferndale)
I really, really love this place. Not for any one particular thing, but for everything. It may seem banal to say that it's the kind of place where everyone feels comfortable, but after half a dozen visits over the last month  (from weekday mornings to weekend nights) and observing the crowd dynamic at all days and times, I can definitively say: it's true. They recently introduced a rotating weekly specials board so there's always something new to try, or you can stick to their standard Euro-style bistro menu which includes a grilled cheese panini. Muenster, Swiss and Irish white cheddar on Zingerman's ciabatta, and you can add pancetta for $1. And you should add pancetta for $1. This is the closest thing you'll get to a true Italian panini on this side of the Detroit River.

#4 Avalon International Breads (Detroit)
Pick two cheeses (provolone and mozzarella is a good combination, especially for fans of Avalon's old Inside Old Grilled Cheese), two add-ons (can't go wrong with tomato and basil) and your choice of their Farnsworth Family Farm or Wheaty Wheat Bread, and you've got yourself a perfectly-grilled ooey-gooey Grown Up Grilled Cheese. Parking, seating, etcetera etcetera, I can't help you with, but it certainly doesn't seem like that's stopped anyone before.

#5 Bagger Dave's (various locations)
A Michigan-owned chain with half a dozen locations including Berkley and Novi, Bagger Dave's Legendary Burgers Tavern emphasizes Michigan-made products and local/regional sourcing, and also has a handsome selection of Michigan craft beers. The burgers are decent, but the Michigan Meltdown is a star. Swiss, mozzarella, and Great Lakes mild cheddar melted together with sliced tomato, onions, and fresh basil on sourdough; once again, you can add applewood-smoked bacon for$1 and once again, you should.

Honorable mention One-Eyed Betty's (Ferndale)
It just opened two days ago but this craft beer and comfort food bar is an instant favorite. With 47 beers on tap and over 100 by the bottle, this place has huge potential to make one of those "America's Best Beer Bars" lists in the future. For now, enjoy the stripped-down atmosphere, the sizable selection of whiskey and bourbon, and the fantastic food. The menu is comprised of beer-friendly dishes like cheese and charcuterie boards, oysters (served a variety of ways), and a Ridiculously Good Grilled Cheese. (It is.) Build your own beer flight, and don't miss the Beer Cheese Soup Au Gratin.

Bubbling under Cass Cafe (Detroit), The Lunch Cafe (Berkley), Royal Oak Brewery (Royal Oak), Mudgie's Deli (Detroit), TRIA (Dearborn), Toast (Birmingham, Ferndale), Mae's (Pleasant Ridge), Detroit Beer Company (Detroit), Mosaic (Detroit), the Panini Press (Berkley)

[Metromix] Torino Espresso + Bar

Photo by VATO for Metromix.

There aren’t many places in metro Detroit where you can get a shot of illy® espresso at 6 a.m., then end your night with shots of limoncello at 2 a.m. Torino Espresso + Bar in Ferndale is in a class by itself there. Childhood friends Noah Dorfman, Samer Abdallah and Jim Culliton wanted Torino to be the kind of coffee bar-meets-BAR bar hangout popular all over Europe but rare to find in the States (and almost unheard of in metro Detroit).

“We wanted to be able to showcase this European experience that metro Detroit really doesn’t have,” says Dorfman. “It’s been really nice [to be able to do that]. Some people come in here with their laptop and order a martini; you can’t do that at Starbucks.”

Read more.

[HOT LIST] Ferndale

Pete Steffy of Pete's Chocolate Co. at the Rust Belt Market. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

In a major upset that majorly upset city residents, #8 seed Ferndale massacred its CoD competition for "neighborhood of the year," becoming the first-ever winner of the prestigious fake Curbed Cup trophy. I haven't exactly been quiet on my feelings about Ferndale (also here, and all over the Facebooks), so I figured heck, let's trot this topic out for one more go-round before I've tired myself out on it. In honor of the first-ever winner of the prestigious fake "neighborhood of the year" award from Curbed Detroit, here's a look at some of Ferndale's best (by category). Some new (as of 2011), some old (as of before 2011), some borrowed (from Pleasant Ridge, which should really count as Ferndale anyway) and some blue (yep, it's that same picture from inside Red Hook again, but I like it oh so very much).

Red Hook. Photo by David Landsel.

#1 Coffee
As in, wake up and smell the. Chazzano Coffee Roasters has been around for a few years now and is still roasting and brewing some of the best coffee in Detroit. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Frank is not a roaster, he's a wizard. The Red Hook brought Portland's Stumptown Coffee Roasters into town (the first to do so since Commonwealth in Birmingham started roasting all their own), and more importantly brought back a storefront for Pinwheel Bakery. And the old sleeper AJ's Music Cafe continues to be a world-class coffee house in the traditional '90s sense with live indie music and a Guinness World Record.

#2 Breakfast, Brunch and Brinner
Ferndale is home of the teeny-tiny diner where everything is made from scratch and breakfast is king. The Fly Trap, Toast, Pete's Place, Hilton Road Cafe, Mae's (technically in Pleasant Ridge but SRSLY, it's Ferndale) - none of these are just diners, just plain old regular greasy spoon fuel stops for your food tank. These are houses of comfort food worship, and is there a comfort food MORE comfy than brunch? I think not.

#3 Lunch and Dinner
The one arena in which Ferndale falters a bit is in non-brunch dining. But things are starting to look up, and there are definitely a few favorites that have sprung up over recent years. The Emory has killer burgers and even more killer beer list (also an amazing Spanish coffee, check it). Torino Espresso + Bar - which could also go into almost every single other category on here (they serve illy coffee and Avalon pastries for breakfast) - has fantastic paninis as well as artisan cheese and charcuterie platters (any time is the right time). Rosie O'Grady's has bloody good burgers and pizza (they make their own pizza dough and sauce, and grind and patty their own burgers). Food trucks are also becoming a thing in Ferndale, with Jacques Tacos and Taco Mama taking the lead on that. Speaking of tacos, everyone's looking forward to Woodward Imperial opening in the coming months (the owner recently informed me he is just waiting on his liquor license and it will, he hopes, be open in 30-60 days ... they're gonna do tacos, in case you didn't get that from the context).

B. Nektar. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

#4 Food shops and whatnot
B. Nektar Meadery continues to kill it with crazy-awesome new releases like the drunky Funky Monky and wicked Zombie Killer, while their empire continues to expand across the States and their tasting room hours recently expanded to every Friday (5:30 to 10 p.m.) and Saturday (1 to 7 p.m.). 8 Degrees Plato Beer Company just opened in the fall and I love them already. The Rust Belt Market also opened this year and gave the world a much-needed and appreciated outlet for Rock City Pies, Pete's Chocolates and Perkins Pickles.

#5 Cocktails
I'm running out of ways to talk about craft cocktail culture in metro Detroit. (See: Hour. 944. NY Post. Eater. Metromix past and future. Ambassador. Couldn't even conjecture how much here and on Facebook.) Suffice it to say, it is a thing and these places are doing it. The Oakland is just OMFG NFW F-YAH. Valentine Vodka is the best vodka in the world, so if you're a vodka drinker you're in the right place (mix it with McClure's Bloody Mary mix for the best thing ever). And Torino Espresso + Bar does craft cocktails (house-made infusions and fresh ingredients with a culinary approach) with an Italian twist. Between these places, B. Nektar and the beer list at the Emory, Ferndale is pretty much a one-stop drinking destination. Because no one drinks wine anymore.

Bubbling under Grasshopper Underground, Sakana Sushi Lounge, Howe's Bayou, Treat Dreams, Danny's Irish Pub, Assaggi Bistro, Anita's Kitchen, Inyo, Christine's Cuisine, Dino's Lounge