[NEWS BITES] Santorini Estiatorio opens in Greektown today

The hive has been buzzing over the last couple of weeks with sightings of people dining at Santorini Estiatorio, the new wholly Greek restaurant in Greektown replacing the former Mosaic (but with the same owners, daughters of longtime Greektown business family the Papases). Usually a restaurant will spend a couple of weeks with invite-only friends and family events to test-run the restaurant and get the servers up to snuff, but that always means the opening is imminent. Well, the wait is over: Santorini opens to the public today, and is offering a lunch special to boot.

Read the full press release below. 

On Monday, Nov. 12 Santorini Estiatorio, located in Greektown, will open its doors to the public after the three-month restoration project. Located in the space formerly known as Mosaic, the new, family-owned restaurant’s menu boasts a wide variety of traditional Greek dishes, wines and cocktails.

“We’re excited to reintroduce customers to Greek food,” said Athina Papas, partner, Santorini Estiatorio. “Our menu is a mix of traditional, well-known favorites like Saganaki and Moussaka and specialty dishes that many people have probably never heard of.”

As part of their grand opening, Papas is offering a lunch special: buy an entrée and receive a complimentary dessert.

Some specialty menu items include:

Appetizers
· Saganaki Feta – Crispy feta wrapped in phyllo dough, drizzled with Greek honey, topped with sesame seeds.
· Octopodaki Skara s– Grilled marinated octopus in a balsamic reduction sauce and caramelized onions.
Salad
· Salata Torta – Chopped lettuce, carrot, tomatoes, arugula, cashews in feta cheese dressing. Serves two.
Entrees
· J.P.’s Lamb Chops – Marinated in a Mediterranean mix of olive oil with rice or potato and vegetable.
· Arni Kleftiko – Lamb baked with potatoes, carrots and zucchini, served in a parchment ‘purse’.
· Solomos – Pan-seared salmon with asparagus and rice, topped with an orange vodka sauce.
· Lavraki – Classick Greek presentation of whole fish, baked in sea salt, served with a mixture of oil and lemon, rice or potato and vegetable.

Using the original, local building designer, John Janviriya of JJV Design Group, the entire look and feel of the restaurant has been redesigned to make customers feel like they have been transplanted to an island in Greece. Patrons will find features including Grecian shutters, light colors, open windows and a boat hull constructed locally. On Monroe Street, the wall was replaced with floor-to-ceiling windows and French-style accordion doors and a patio will be installed in the spring.

“Our family has been doing business in Detroit for more than 30 years and we couldn’t imagine it any other way,” continued Papas. “We’re committed to reinvesting in Greektown and bringing back the Greek.”

Santorini Estiatorio will be open seven days a week serving a full lunch and dinner menu.

Santorini Estiatorio is located in the heart of Greektown at 501 Monroe St. in Detroit. For more information and updates, visit www.facebook.com/SantoriniDetroit.

[Deadline Detroit] The Community is Creating a Coffee Shop on the East Side of Detroit

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

About five years ago there was a coffee house in the Lafayette Park shopping plaza on the corner of E. Lafayette and Orleans. It was called Paris Café and it featured stale coffee and puck-like bagels that could break car windows, but at least it was THERE. And then it closed.

Since then that same shopping plaza has seen a lot of turnaround. The space that was once the café became a short-lived barbecue joint; it is now a Metro PCS retail outlet. Restaurants and nightclubs have come and gone. A first attempt at a grocery store failed, but a second attempt, Lafayette Foods, seems to be doing well. But still no coffee shop.

Enter Jordi Carbonell.

Read more.

[HOT LIST] Thanksgiving events

In the interest of all things in one place (not to mention hayZeusFUK Thanksgiving is in two weeks), here is a list of various tasting events and such to get you started on your holiday planning, as well as some events happening on Thanksgiving Day and other stuff happening in the next two weeks just for funsies. From wine tastings with pairing suggestions to cheese tastings because, hi, cheese, these are some great pre-Thanksgiving tastings (and one post- because, hi, cheese) to help you plan your holiday dinners. Or to just carry on like normal and go to fun tastings and brunches because they're fun and it's just this thing that you do. Also, everyone loves a parade. And shopping. And whatever. Here is a list of whatever. There will be another as the day of the Fat Man and Little Boy approaches. (It's okay to reference nuclear warheads in jest when speaking of Santa and the baby Jesus???)  #holidays2012

Friday, November 9
Art for the Holidays at the Detroit Artists Market, 5-9 p.m.
What it sounds like. You know what's better than an impersonal gift card or trying to guess another person's pant size and personal taste? Art. Just go buy art. $10-20.

Saturday, November 10 (and every Saturday through the end of the year)
Weekly Wine Tastings at Toasted Oak Grill + Market, $10.
Like what you tried? Buy it at the market. Might as well pick up a house-made charcuterie or Michigan cheese platter while you're there, or maybe some of Chef Steve's famous bacon caramel (that's a pretty unique gift, eh?).
Nov. 10 - "Birds and booze" (Thanksgiving-friendly wines served with brie and country terrine)
Nov. 17 - Holiday tasting (15 wines hand-selected for holiday pairings, gift-giving and value, plus meats, cheeses and house-made accoutrements from the market)

Tuesday, November 13
Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co. "Sparkling wine will get any party going, ja*," 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Sample several dry sparkling natural wines and be speechified by two of my favorite wine guys, Antoine Przekop and James Cadariu. Snacks. $40.

*"ja" added for emphasis.

Thursday, November 15
The Wine Garden's Nouveau Day 2012, 5-8 p.m.
The third Thursday of November is traditionally known as "Nouveau Day," when French producers rush to get their Beaujolais nouveaus released. There won't actually be any Beaujolais nouveau at this tasting, but there WILL be plenty of other lovely French wines as well as roast turkey so you can see for yourself how it all pairs. Free.

Hugh Grand Opening, 8-11 p.m.
Detroit's Original Pop-Up(TM) is celebrating the grand opening of its permanent location in Midtown. With refreshments, naturally. Check it out for masculine housewares and gift items from proper beer glasses to vintage Playboys. Also: refreshments. Free.

Friday, November 16
MotorCity Wine November Wine Tasting, 6-8:30 p.m.
18 different wines to try before you buy, paired with cheese, charcuterie and antipasti. $25.

Paper Ink + Earth Launch Party, 5-8 p.m.
A pop-up within a pop-up. Comment l'avant-garde! Snacks and wine and shopping. Free.

Thursday, November 22

Thanksgiving Brunch at Atlas Global Bistro, 8 a.m. - parade ends
Watch the parade from their windows while drinking Bloodys and eating bacon. $40 adults, $20 kids 10 and under, $15 extra for bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys.

Thanksgiving Brunch at the Majestic Cafe, 7 a.m. - noon
Breakfast buffet and prime parade seating. I've done this a few times and while the food pretty much sucks, it's still a fun experience. $20 adults, $15 kids.

Wednesday, November 28
Go Wisconsin! at Zingerman's Roadhouse, 7-10 p.m.
A Wisconsin cheese tasting paired with Death's Door cocktails. Because, hi, cheese. $50.

[NEWS BITES] Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria + Cucina opens tonight

In the wake of last night's monumental election results (the times, they are a'changin'), representatives for MGM Detroit ninja'ed this announcement into their morning emails: Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria + Cucina, Wolfgang Puck's newest restaurant at the MGM Grand Detroit, is opening today at 5 p.m. They will be open for dinner only, 5 p.m. -10 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 5 p.m. - 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, closed Monday and Tuesday. Executive Chef Marc Djozlija, a longtime Puck veteran, is once again at the helm.

Below is the full press release. (Note the little added announcement at the bottom.)

Celebrated chef Wolfgang Puck returns to MGM Grand Detroit, the city’s premier entertainment destination, with the opening of Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria + Cucina, the first of two new Puck restaurants at the hotel casino.

“It’s great to return to Detroit and to the MGM Grand with the opening of our casual Italian concept,” said Wolfgang Puck. “Our Pizzeria + Cucina is the perfect place to relax with family and friends. Great Italian food is all about great ingredients. It doesn’t have to be complicated, just delicious!”

Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria + Cucina offers guests a warm and inviting atmosphere in a comfortable setting with an approachable Italian menu.

“Our guests, who love Italian food and Wolfgang Puck, have been anxiously waiting for Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria + Cucina to open,” said Steve Zanella, general manager of MGM Grand Detroit. “We are extremely excited to welcome the restaurant to the MGM Grand Detroit family.”

At the helm in the kitchen is Executive Chef Marc Djozlija, former chef of Wolfgang Puck Grille and a 16-year veteran of the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group. The menu features Puck’s famed wood-oven baked pizzas and pays tribute to Italy through pastas and specialty dishes and is complete with Italian favorites including antipasti, salads, handmade pastas, and enticing entrees featuring delectable meats and fish.

The menu highlights multiple varieties of pizza to choose from including the Margherita Pizza with mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil; Wild Mushroom Pizza with goat cheese, leeks and basil pesto and Italian Sausage Pizza with rapini and roasted garlic.

Additionally, guests can find house-made pastas and rustic Italian dishes including Penne Carbonara with sautéed English peas and crisp pancetta; Rigatoni with Bolognese meat sauce; Seafood Linguini “Fra Diavolo” with clams, shrimp, calamari and spicy tomato sauce; Chicken Piccata with lemon-caper butter sauce; Grilled Salmon with white beans, artichokes and rosemary butter; and Grilled Ribeye Steak with Tuscanpotatoes and salsa verde.

As a perfect finale, Pizzeria + Cucina offers a creative and playful dessert menu featuring classic Italian favorites with a modern twist. Decadent creations include Butterscotch and Bittersweet Chocolate Panna Cotta, Ricotta and Mascarpone Cheesecake with fresh berries and Affogato with hazelnut ice cream drenched with espresso.

The bar features a dynamic beverage list complementing the menu’s exquisite Italian flavors including domestic and international beers and a comprehensive section of wines, many imported from Italy. The bar offers an array of perfectly executed specialty cocktails including the Cucina Manhattan made with Bullet Rye, Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth and Bitter Truth "Jerry Thomas" Bitters and the Il Professore with Nardini Grappa, Cocchi Barolo Chinato, Luxardo Morlacco Cherry Liqueur and orange juice.

Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria + Cucina is open for dinner only, 5 p.m. -10 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 5 p.m. - 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, closed Monday and Tuesday. To make reservations, please call 877-888-2121.

A second Wolfgang Puck restaurant, Wolfgang Puck Steak, will open at the hotel this December.

[NEWS BITES] Dave Gilbert leaving Forest Grill; Great Lakes getting retail sales license; Griffin Claw announcements; more

The Cafe con Leche del Este pop-up is now open in the Mies van der Rohe shopping plaza in Lafayette Park at the corner of Lafayette and Orleans. This pop-up was the collaborative effort of several organizations including the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and rogueHAA, a volunteer design and architecture group (co-founder Melissa Dittmer lives in Lafayette Park, as does anybody who's anybody. Yeah, I said it.). If all goes well, this could become a permanent second location for Jordi Carbonell and wife Melisa Fernandez, owners of Cafe con Leche in Southwest Detroit.

Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe is open and has a selection of craft beers and wines, but if it's variety you crave and increased options you desire, you'll be as thrilled to know as I was that the Great Lakes Coffee bar in Midtown is getting a retail sales license and you will soon be able to buy all your beer and wine at the same place you drink it. There is increasingly less reason to ever go anywhere else in Midtown.

This was on the hush-hush but apparently Downtown Publications already blurbed it so I guess the cat's out of the bag: Forest Grill's Executive Chef David Gilbert, a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation's "Best Chef: Great Lakes" earlier this year, is leaving the Birmingham restaurant and opening his own restaurant with his wife in Grosse Pointe Park. There is no name for the restaurant yet but Gilbert says it will be French-inspired food at moderate prices. Couple this with Mindy Lopus's recent announcement of the four ventures she plans in GPP and it looks like the Park is going to be the place to be come 2013. Birmingham is going all eastside!

At a beer tasting and construction update held at Big Rock Chophouse last night, it was announced that the new Griffin Claw Brewing Company in Birmingham is slated to open in April 2013. All production brewing will be moved over to GC with all-new brewing equipment (built here in Michigan in Lake Orion) and increased capacity for distribution. They will produce four year-round plus rotating seasonal beers in 16-oz cans for retail sales in addition to supplying other restaurants and their own brewpub and the Chophouse. Brewmaster Dan Rogers, Michigan's most award-winning brewer, will continue overseeing all production using some of Big Rock's most popular recipes as well as some new ones he has developed. Griffin Claw will feature indoor seating for 150, an outdoor beer garden that seats 75, and a very beer-friendly menu (think sausage, and lots of it).

Santorini Estiatorio in Greektown is getting ready to open soon, though I have not yet been able to confirm an official date.

And in news that will surely break a lot of hearts, the Fuddruckers on East Jefferson in Detroit has closed.

Up-and-coming chef Justin Vaiciunas done up and went. He has left Zin Wine Bar in Plymouth and is spending the winter out west in ski resort country. We can only hope he proves prodigal and returns.

Cork Wine Pub in Pleasant Ridge should be added to the list of brunch n00bs: they now serve brunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Sunday.

St. Cece's Pub in Corktown now serves a regular dinner menu, which features items like homemade soups; their course-ground Black Angus chuck, brisket and short rib signature burger; pulled pork sliders; salads; as well as whatever specials they might be running. They are now open Monday through Wednesday 5 p.m. to midnight (kitchen closes at 9 p.m.), Thursday through Saturday 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. (kitchen closes at 10 p.m.), and closed Sundays. Tuesdays are pop-up takeover days.

This actually happened late September, but Chou Anime Cafe in Midtown has closed after barely four months in business. The concept may not have appealed to everyone -- and there was a lot of eyebrow-raising and media gawking that amounted to little more than "ISN'T THIS BIZARRE AND CRAZY???" -- but it was also a very singular Detroit thing. As the only Japanese-style maid cafe in the country (and no, it was not akin to a Hooters for basement dwellers; think of it more like a daily tween Halloween, or cosplay for the initiated), it had the potential to really be something cool and unique -- sure, not for everyone, but then again what is? Metro Detroit has a pretty strong anime and gamer underground (not to mention two very prominent annual events, Motor City Comi Con and Youmacon, which was just held this weekend), but apparently not enough to keep the business open. Which leaves me pondering: what exactly is our criteria for deciding which new businesses to support and which to shun? Is the concept of 16-year-olds in frilly girlie costumes drawing Pokemon characters in chocolate syrup on your saucer really so alienating? Did it suffer from being too niche? Did the food suck? Hell, I never even had the chance to get over there myself, despite my own fascination with it and having enough understanding of anime culture to not find it off-putting. And I loved the ethnic diversity of all the maids and butlers, showing at the very least that nerd culture is color-blind. I suppose there isn't too much more to say on it, so allow this to be a eulogy for owner Oneka Samet's effort at making Detroit just that much more unique.

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

This week was all about wind storms and wind bags. Not much else happened. I blame Facebook's new post-burying policies. If only there were another way to get news.

Old people rule. "Nine dollars for a grilled cheese? Please." (70-year-old retired city worker James Bates on Corktown's renaissance.) [Wall Street Journal]

Hard cider is making a comeback, but then again we already knew that. It's presidential! [The Daily Beast / Hour]

Imperial's Dia de los Muertos art auction was pretty much the coolest thing ever. [Imperial FB]

From dud to stud! The Maple Theatre got quite the makeover, taking a page out of the Emagine playbook but keeping it all arthouse. "American" tapas; craft beer, cocktails and wine; leather seats with servers; and a second outpost for Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company that looks just as snazzy as their Midtown spot (with their own separate operating hours). Mai oui! [Thrillist]

Plus one for global warming: Michigan winemakers are hailing this year's harvest as one of the best yet. [Hour]

The trials and tribulations of Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe. [Crain's]

The Cafe con Leche del Este is now open in the Mies van der Rohe shopping plaza. It is quite spiffy-looking and design-y. [CcLdE FB / EID FB]

Santorini: is close. And Greek-looking. [EID FB]

[Deadline Detroit] Re-Opening The London Chop House: Genius Move Or Wishful Thinking?

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

It’s Saturday night, Sweetest Day no less, and I walk into the London Chop House without reservations. It’s fully booked for the evening, but the staff happily accommodates me and my dining partner. It helps there’s a no-show.

It’s no exaggeration to say the Mad Men-era restaurant that opened nine months ago (after being shuttered for about 20 years) continues to glow.

Read more.