The latest venture from popular and successful Detroit restauranteur Frank Taylor is Detroit Fish Market at Paradise Valley, and it is now open.
Taylor is the man behind many other visionary dining concepts in the city, such as the soul food-infused fine-dining jazz club Seldom Blues, the ultra-chic brunch spot Detroit Breakfast House, and the chic ultra-lounge and gourmet pizzeria South Beach Ultra Lounge inside the Fisher Building (the concept sounds strange, but the inside is straight out of Miami and without benefit of a website or hardly any promotion it has become one of Detroit's most popular nightlife destinations).
Yes, Taylor knows how to open a restaurant (and keep it open). Detroit Fish Market is his newest offering to the city's culinary scape, and it takes a very serious approach to freshness. Specials are made daily with the freshest catches flown in from Atlantic to Pacific, and the raw bar (I'm going to hope this does not include sushi based solely on principle but I do not know for sure) is open late on weekends. The atmosphere is all Detroit--loft-like with floor-to-ceiling windows and exposed brick, with rich mahogany tones, polished wood floors, warm oak tables and trim, and soft light from antique street lamps completing the preserved historic "Detroit" look. Both elegant and urban, this is the kind of place that will fast become a Detroit favorite.
Plus, it is the only true fishhouse within city limits, which makes it both noteworthy and bragging-rights-worthy.
Detroit Fish Market is located at 1435 Randolph Street in Paradise Valley (formerly Harmonie Park). Hours of operation are Mon.-Thurs. 11:30AM-10:00PM, Fri. & Sat. 11:30AM-11:00PM (raw bat open 'til 2:00AM), and Sun. noon-10:00PM. Call 313-963-3003 for reservations or menu information.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Supper Club at Angelina
Here's a press release for you (shhhhhh...you're the first to know!):
Detroit Synergy’s popular epicurious experience Supper Club is back for the new year with a brand-new restaurant on deck: Angelina Italian Bistro, located at 1565 Broadway in a highly visible location right off Woodward. For the still-low recession-friendly cost of just $30.00 per person (inclusive of tax and tip), participants can enjoy a full four-course meal specially selected for this event. A very nice optional two-glass wine flight is also available for an additional $10.00. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, January 28th beginning at 6:00PM to take part in experiencing this newly-opened hotspot with 40 or so new friends!
“We are honored to be a part of Detroit Synergy’s Supper Clubs,” says Angelina proprietor Tom Agosta. “I worked with them on one of their first projects back in 1999 and am thrilled that Angelina is getting the spotlight this month.”
Tom has created a mouth-watering menu highlighting the restaurant’s specialty, South Italian cuisine with a Mediterranean flare:
~Tasting Plates (served family-style at each table): Bruschetta Trio—tomato basil, marinated mushroom, toasted chick peas; Crispy Calamari with a carmelo dipping sauce; and Kalamata Pizza, made with kalamata olive tapenade, tomatoes, caramelized onion, and blended cheeses
~Insalate: house salad made with organic field greens, herb vinaigrette, and red onions
~Large Plates (choice of): Shrimp Risotto made with baby organic vegetables and basil; Parppardelle Bolognese made with classic meat sauce and parmesan reggiano; Carmelized Onion and Gorgonzola Strucolo made with potato hash, wild mushroom, and grilled fennel; Herb Pine Nut Crusted Lake Superior White Fish made with Italian couscous, spinach, and basil oil; and Chicken Scallopini made with Amish chicken, vermicelli rice, mushrooms, rapini, and marsala sauce. (Vegan vegetable pasta also available upon request.)
~Dessert selections
Tickets can be purchased in advance on the Detroit Synergy online store http://www.dsgstore.com/ or can be purchased in cash at the door. You must RSVP to attend this event; email supperclub@detroitsynergy.org with reservation requests or questions. ***Editor's note: Tickets are not available for purchase yet so check in a day or two!***
Angelina Italian Bistro is already a hit amongst Detroit’s most trend-conscious food lovers. A great place both for the food and the socialization, Angelina offers urban chic ambiance paired with some of the most tender yet firm pastas, rich sauces, creative martinis and Michigan-made wines and brews. It was a fast favorite amongst foodies and scenesters alike from the day it opened, and with plenty good reason. Come see it for yourself!
Detroit Synergy’s popular epicurious experience Supper Club is back for the new year with a brand-new restaurant on deck: Angelina Italian Bistro, located at 1565 Broadway in a highly visible location right off Woodward. For the still-low recession-friendly cost of just $30.00 per person (inclusive of tax and tip), participants can enjoy a full four-course meal specially selected for this event. A very nice optional two-glass wine flight is also available for an additional $10.00. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, January 28th beginning at 6:00PM to take part in experiencing this newly-opened hotspot with 40 or so new friends!
“We are honored to be a part of Detroit Synergy’s Supper Clubs,” says Angelina proprietor Tom Agosta. “I worked with them on one of their first projects back in 1999 and am thrilled that Angelina is getting the spotlight this month.”
Tom has created a mouth-watering menu highlighting the restaurant’s specialty, South Italian cuisine with a Mediterranean flare:
~Tasting Plates (served family-style at each table): Bruschetta Trio—tomato basil, marinated mushroom, toasted chick peas; Crispy Calamari with a carmelo dipping sauce; and Kalamata Pizza, made with kalamata olive tapenade, tomatoes, caramelized onion, and blended cheeses
~Insalate: house salad made with organic field greens, herb vinaigrette, and red onions
~Large Plates (choice of): Shrimp Risotto made with baby organic vegetables and basil; Parppardelle Bolognese made with classic meat sauce and parmesan reggiano; Carmelized Onion and Gorgonzola Strucolo made with potato hash, wild mushroom, and grilled fennel; Herb Pine Nut Crusted Lake Superior White Fish made with Italian couscous, spinach, and basil oil; and Chicken Scallopini made with Amish chicken, vermicelli rice, mushrooms, rapini, and marsala sauce. (Vegan vegetable pasta also available upon request.)
~Dessert selections
Tickets can be purchased in advance on the Detroit Synergy online store http://www.dsgstore.com/ or can be purchased in cash at the door. You must RSVP to attend this event; email supperclub@detroitsynergy.org with reservation requests or questions. ***Editor's note: Tickets are not available for purchase yet so check in a day or two!***
Angelina Italian Bistro is already a hit amongst Detroit’s most trend-conscious food lovers. A great place both for the food and the socialization, Angelina offers urban chic ambiance paired with some of the most tender yet firm pastas, rich sauces, creative martinis and Michigan-made wines and brews. It was a fast favorite amongst foodies and scenesters alike from the day it opened, and with plenty good reason. Come see it for yourself!
Monday, January 12, 2009
No Reservations, No Hesitation
Anthony Bourdain's popular Travel Channel series "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations" (a concept born of Fear Factor-style gag-reflex-triggering gross-outs) hit Detroit last week to film material for this season's episodes, and while it will probably be several weeks before any of the Detroit footage airs, I simply must wonder what shock-value food item indigenous to the Detroit area was the reason for the high-profile visit.
I've got an answer: blood sausage.
Thank the Polacks in Ham-town for kiszka, or blood sausage, made with a mixture of pig's blood and buckwheat porridge stuffed inside pig's intestine.
Mmmm-mmm. Now that's good eatin'.
At least it got someone to travel to Detroit...
I've got an answer: blood sausage.
Thank the Polacks in Ham-town for kiszka, or blood sausage, made with a mixture of pig's blood and buckwheat porridge stuffed inside pig's intestine.
Mmmm-mmm. Now that's good eatin'.
At least it got someone to travel to Detroit...
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Opinions are Like Vegetarians
I don't believe in vegetarianism. Much like the concepts of God or global warming, I just don't believe that the arguments in favor of this lifestyle choice and value system outweigh the much more sizable arguments against it...for me, I (a) don't care about the animals (and recognize that there wouldn't be a whole lot of cows, pigs, or chickens running around if we didn't raise them for slaughter), and (b) believe that since the human body is built to digest such animal products--and in fact, needed such products for survival back in The Day of hunter-gather societies before cheap, pre-packaged, mass-produced foods--it therefore stands to reason that we are meant to be eating them.
Now. I'll give you the growth hormone toxins/excess of consumption arguments. Those I will give you. Because of the scarcity of meat back in The Day, our ancestors' bodies were not conditioned and did not evolve to be able to process large quantities of meat regularly consumed. Our American meat-and-potatoes diet is surely detrimental to our health--as is the growth hormones used in the livestock and the pesticides used in the livestock's feed, etc. No argument from me there. (Plus, organic beef really is that much better.)
What I can't stand are the self-righteous "meat is murder" types, or those who argue that the human body isn't "meant" to digest animal fats and proteins. Homosaywhat? The human species is classified as omnivorous for a reason--we eat things that are dead. And get by the interim periods with things grown in the ground. But I suppose those hunter-gatherers must have had it wrong, eh? If only they had been enlightened enough to realize they could survive on nuts and berries.
I long ago surmised that ailments such as insecurity, anxiety, and the complusion to yammer to a therapist about them are distinctly White People Problems. I'd actually like to see a breakdown of psychologists' clientele by race: I'd wager that the white-to-brown ratio reads like the Lions' losses-to-wins. By extension, these are also the afflictions of wealthy people in a welathy country with nothing else to worry about...if you spent a majority of your time worrying about how you were going to put food on the table and pay your gas bill, you probably wouldn't spend so much time concerned over how you interact in social situations and whether or not your parents didn't love you enough or loved you too much.
White People Problems.
Vegetarians have much in common with the kind of people outlined above. In fact, I'd clump "vegetarianism" (and oh by God veganism) into the "Stupid Shit White People Do" categorization. How many black vegans do you know? (Aside from the occasional Earth Mama and slam poet who claim Nation of Islam but have mostly Caucasian dread-sporting, patchouli-stinking friends.) How about strict vegetarian Latinos? Ever met a hungry African who refused a slab of beef, citing animal cruelty and the poisoning of the body's temple?
No. No, you haven't. Because those are White (American) People Issues, that the Rest of the World couldn't give a pig's entrails less about. The French eat fresh monkey brains, for chrissakes. Leave it to greedy, slovenly, self-serving Americans to give the world McDonald's and then judge everyone for eating it. This rampant spread of fad vegetarianism is also a uniquely American symptom: see, in other countries, where traditional cuisine has been stabilized over centuries, people didn't pump their cattle full of growth hormones that gave them all cancer a few decades later and excess has never been a way of life. In America all we ever seem to want is everything in the extreme: extreme sports, extreme home makeovers, triple beef patties wrapped in a quarter pound of bacon and slathered in special sauce for $3.99.
And then you have the extreme reactionaries, the people who think the only solution to the problem they see is to fling themselves in the polar opposite direction. And so we have vegetarians (or, in the most extreme, vegans). The solution can't simply be "eat less meat," no. Now the solution becomes "eat no meat at all" (or, in the most extreme, eat nothing made from an animal, including dairy and eggs).
But you know what? Whatever. I'll quietly judge you and think to myself how ignorant and misguided you are, as I do most people. I'll mostly keep it to myself unless I find myself in the vicinity of a friend who finds my hypercritical observations humorous. BUT. When you make a decision to go all polar-opposite extremist on everyone, DO NOT EXPECT EVERYONE TO CATER TO YOUR SELF-IMPOSED DIETARY RESTRICTIONS.
Case in point: prix fixe menus. Says one vegetarian to another, "Oh! This really nice restaurant is offering a fixed-price menu for pretty cheap! I've always wanted to check that place out; we should go!" Says the other in response, "Well. They aren't offering any vegetarian options, so we can't go." And the other says back, "The nerve. How dare they offer a special tasting menu at a fixed price and not include a vegetarian option. I hate it when places don't take us into consideration."
*Ahem*
Your self-righteous diet is none of the chef's concern (in fact, I often wonder if [white] people don't make the decision to be vegetarian in order to justify increased levels of self-righteousness). When you visit a 4- to 5-star dining establishment, you do not expect the Michelin-rated Chef de Cuisine who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris to completely rearrange his specially-prepared dégustation menu designed based on what his personal specialities are, what ingredients are in season, and what dishes best represent his restaurant and the region to suit you. You pompous pain in the ass.
I am dating a person who unforutnately has a number of food allergies, and even he isn't nearly as demanding or self-entitled as these people are. For them, it is not a matter of it being a favor on the part of the chef to prepare them a special meat-free dish just for the sake of their incessant whining, no...it is an expectation that this will be done, and further an inconvenience when they are forced to ask.
These people, much like the people who whine about prices, need to stay out of fine dining restaurants. You don't belong there, you don't appreciate it, and your loud demands sully the dining experience of all those around you. I'll make you a deal: I'll stay out of your PETA meetings and your various greening initiative grassroots organizations if you stay out of my restaurants. Go bother the people at Whole Foods, and leave me to my sweetbreads and foie gras drenched in thick, rich cream-and-butter sauces. Deal?
No, of course not, because you think the whole world needs to cater to you, you useless American.
Next time you see an announcement for one restaurant or another offering a limited prix fixe menu and you see it does not include a vegetarian option, instead of showing up anyway and demanding one, just don't go. Just don't go! See how easy that was? Or go, but order off the regular menu and do not demand the prix fixe menu be altered for your sake. If you have religious reasons for not being able to eat certain animal products at certain times, don't go during those times! See??? See how easy????
Much like my boyfriend does not have a hissyfit everytime he sees a menu heavy on nuts, dairy, and shellfish (he had a hell of a time in New Orleans, let me tell you) because he understands that the majority of the rest of the world is able to digest these items without issue and does not expect culinary artists to alter their creations for his benefit, so should you refrain from doing so.
Thank you, and happy dining.
"I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat animals who are." --Groucho Marx
"'Vegetarian'--that's an old Indian word meaning 'lousy hunter.'" --Andy Rooney
Now. I'll give you the growth hormone toxins/excess of consumption arguments. Those I will give you. Because of the scarcity of meat back in The Day, our ancestors' bodies were not conditioned and did not evolve to be able to process large quantities of meat regularly consumed. Our American meat-and-potatoes diet is surely detrimental to our health--as is the growth hormones used in the livestock and the pesticides used in the livestock's feed, etc. No argument from me there. (Plus, organic beef really is that much better.)
What I can't stand are the self-righteous "meat is murder" types, or those who argue that the human body isn't "meant" to digest animal fats and proteins. Homosaywhat? The human species is classified as omnivorous for a reason--we eat things that are dead. And get by the interim periods with things grown in the ground. But I suppose those hunter-gatherers must have had it wrong, eh? If only they had been enlightened enough to realize they could survive on nuts and berries.
I long ago surmised that ailments such as insecurity, anxiety, and the complusion to yammer to a therapist about them are distinctly White People Problems. I'd actually like to see a breakdown of psychologists' clientele by race: I'd wager that the white-to-brown ratio reads like the Lions' losses-to-wins. By extension, these are also the afflictions of wealthy people in a welathy country with nothing else to worry about...if you spent a majority of your time worrying about how you were going to put food on the table and pay your gas bill, you probably wouldn't spend so much time concerned over how you interact in social situations and whether or not your parents didn't love you enough or loved you too much.
White People Problems.
Vegetarians have much in common with the kind of people outlined above. In fact, I'd clump "vegetarianism" (and oh by God veganism) into the "Stupid Shit White People Do" categorization. How many black vegans do you know? (Aside from the occasional Earth Mama and slam poet who claim Nation of Islam but have mostly Caucasian dread-sporting, patchouli-stinking friends.) How about strict vegetarian Latinos? Ever met a hungry African who refused a slab of beef, citing animal cruelty and the poisoning of the body's temple?
No. No, you haven't. Because those are White (American) People Issues, that the Rest of the World couldn't give a pig's entrails less about. The French eat fresh monkey brains, for chrissakes. Leave it to greedy, slovenly, self-serving Americans to give the world McDonald's and then judge everyone for eating it. This rampant spread of fad vegetarianism is also a uniquely American symptom: see, in other countries, where traditional cuisine has been stabilized over centuries, people didn't pump their cattle full of growth hormones that gave them all cancer a few decades later and excess has never been a way of life. In America all we ever seem to want is everything in the extreme: extreme sports, extreme home makeovers, triple beef patties wrapped in a quarter pound of bacon and slathered in special sauce for $3.99.
And then you have the extreme reactionaries, the people who think the only solution to the problem they see is to fling themselves in the polar opposite direction. And so we have vegetarians (or, in the most extreme, vegans). The solution can't simply be "eat less meat," no. Now the solution becomes "eat no meat at all" (or, in the most extreme, eat nothing made from an animal, including dairy and eggs).
But you know what? Whatever. I'll quietly judge you and think to myself how ignorant and misguided you are, as I do most people. I'll mostly keep it to myself unless I find myself in the vicinity of a friend who finds my hypercritical observations humorous. BUT. When you make a decision to go all polar-opposite extremist on everyone, DO NOT EXPECT EVERYONE TO CATER TO YOUR SELF-IMPOSED DIETARY RESTRICTIONS.
Case in point: prix fixe menus. Says one vegetarian to another, "Oh! This really nice restaurant is offering a fixed-price menu for pretty cheap! I've always wanted to check that place out; we should go!" Says the other in response, "Well. They aren't offering any vegetarian options, so we can't go." And the other says back, "The nerve. How dare they offer a special tasting menu at a fixed price and not include a vegetarian option. I hate it when places don't take us into consideration."
*Ahem*
Your self-righteous diet is none of the chef's concern (in fact, I often wonder if [white] people don't make the decision to be vegetarian in order to justify increased levels of self-righteousness). When you visit a 4- to 5-star dining establishment, you do not expect the Michelin-rated Chef de Cuisine who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris to completely rearrange his specially-prepared dégustation menu designed based on what his personal specialities are, what ingredients are in season, and what dishes best represent his restaurant and the region to suit you. You pompous pain in the ass.
I am dating a person who unforutnately has a number of food allergies, and even he isn't nearly as demanding or self-entitled as these people are. For them, it is not a matter of it being a favor on the part of the chef to prepare them a special meat-free dish just for the sake of their incessant whining, no...it is an expectation that this will be done, and further an inconvenience when they are forced to ask.
These people, much like the people who whine about prices, need to stay out of fine dining restaurants. You don't belong there, you don't appreciate it, and your loud demands sully the dining experience of all those around you. I'll make you a deal: I'll stay out of your PETA meetings and your various greening initiative grassroots organizations if you stay out of my restaurants. Go bother the people at Whole Foods, and leave me to my sweetbreads and foie gras drenched in thick, rich cream-and-butter sauces. Deal?
No, of course not, because you think the whole world needs to cater to you, you useless American.
Next time you see an announcement for one restaurant or another offering a limited prix fixe menu and you see it does not include a vegetarian option, instead of showing up anyway and demanding one, just don't go. Just don't go! See how easy that was? Or go, but order off the regular menu and do not demand the prix fixe menu be altered for your sake. If you have religious reasons for not being able to eat certain animal products at certain times, don't go during those times! See??? See how easy????
Much like my boyfriend does not have a hissyfit everytime he sees a menu heavy on nuts, dairy, and shellfish (he had a hell of a time in New Orleans, let me tell you) because he understands that the majority of the rest of the world is able to digest these items without issue and does not expect culinary artists to alter their creations for his benefit, so should you refrain from doing so.
Thank you, and happy dining.
"I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat animals who are." --Groucho Marx
"'Vegetarian'--that's an old Indian word meaning 'lousy hunter.'" --Andy Rooney
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Reveling in Reveillon: Eating My Way Through New Orleans
Laissez les bon temp roulez!
On a recent trip to New Orleans, much of my pre-trip reconaissance work was dedicated to a thorough background check of New Orleans cuisine. I had an extensive list of places and dishes I wanted to try (truth be told, a bit too extensive...I only had a grand total of 48 hours to cram it all in)--among my must-haves were anything with satsuma (check), turtle soup au sherry (check), gumbo (check), and beignets (check). On the list that didn't make it were po' boys (the Louisiana version of a sub or grinder, made with their unique baguette bread and usually filled with seafood and deep-fried), a muffaletta sandwich (akin to our Italian subs, made on a Sicilian flatbread similar to focaccia and layered with Italian meats like capicola, salami, and mortadella, as well as provolone and emmanthaler cheeses and a marinated olive spread, which orginated in New Orleans's Central Grocery), Andouille sausage, crawfish etouffee, and Louisiana-style pecan pie with rum caramel.
Hey, I did my best.
With the help of Lousiana-based food critic Robert Peyton, who has since become my favorite foodie blogger (he makes sarcastic-like, which I like), I whittled down my enormous and ungainly list to being simply ungainly (he wished me luck with that; he's a funny guy, and was also not wrong). In between forgetting our pre-printed passes to check out the Prospect.1 New Orleans art installation, ambling through the French Quarter, arriving too late at the infamous above-ground cemeteries to be able to walk through them, touring the Oak Alley plantation (where Interview with the Vampire was in part filmed), taking the St. Charles Streetcar out to the Garden District only to decide not to have brunch at the Columns Hotel's Albertines Tea Room, and generally just trying to soak in the vibe of all that which is New Orleans in an extremely limited amount of time, we were also able to enjoy both the old and the new in New Orleans cuisine.
Night 1: Bar UnCommon and the Bombay Club
At Robert Peyton's suggestion, our first (attempted) stop after landing at 9:00PM was over to the Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel to check out Bar UnCommon. Peyton informed me that Chris McMillian is the best bartender in the city, and my trip would not be complete without a Sazerac from him. We beelined straight there only to find an empty bar with the bottles already removed from the shelves. It was then that we learned in the wake of Katrina, many places don't hold the same late-night hours as they once did. Which is unfortunate, as Bar UnCommon is exactly the kind of bar I would have liked to sip a martini and have a leisurely evening at.
We attempted once again the following night, only to have the same results.
After a comedy of errors in finding another bar to suit our sophisticated drinking needs, we ended up at the Bombay Club. We were presented with a menu featuring some 70+ martinis, all of which sounded absolutely decadent. We were also served by a bartender who is a part-time pirate (he goes to conventions and everything). Our tour of New Orleans dining and drinking was off to a good start.
Until we discovered Jean Lafitte's Old Absinthe House on Rue Bourbon. The place has been open and in its same location since 1807 (save for a spot during Prohibition), and is once again legally serving absinthe, a black-licorice-flavored liquer made with wormwood (amounts of wormwood are controlled nationally by the FDA so there are only trace amounts in legally imported absinthe). Collectively we decided that this experience would be a good and necessary one. We were wrong.
However, this did increase our enjoyment of Bourbon Street, which is an otherwise vulgar place.
Day 1/Night 2: Galatoire's and Iris
Once again on the suggestion of Robert Peyton, we headed out to Galatoire's in the French Quarter for a long, leisurely lunch. Galatoire's is another historic spot in the Vieux Carre, having been in its Bourbon Street location since 1905. It has also received various recognitions from Wine Spectator and Zagat's, being most recently voted by Gourmet Magazine one of the top 20 restaurants in the country. I was told that this is a "New Orleans institution," I only found out later what that means.
The first sign that something wasn't right was the fact that it took nearly 10 minutes for us to be greeted by our waiter, and when he did finally vaporize he uttered hardly a word of apology and none of explanation (to be fair, I had not seen him milling about prior to his sudden appearance, and can only assume he was unaware he had been seated and was attending to some bathroom/phone/cigarette-smoking business in the back). I then asked for the server Robert had recommended to me, and was informed he was not there that day. Suddenly our service became helpful and attentive. They even gave us complimentary garlic bread.
For my meal, I chose to start with the gumbo (one of the many items on my list of must-tries). It was mildly spicy with a thick brown broth. As good as something you would order from a local diner and say, "That was pretty good." I then moved on to the Godchaux salad, a pile of iceberg lettuce topped with large, generous lumps of boiled shrimp, lump crabmeat, and a Creole mustard vinaigrette, topped with pinenuts and anchovies. The seafood was cooked well and all was served cold; the occasional remnant shell aside, I was satisfied with it. I then opted for the Poisson Meunière Amandine (rhymes with "bland"). To say I was disappointed would be a gross understatement. Greasy deep-fried flavorless fish with a handful of sliced almonds on top in a light (as in barely there) browned butter sauce (nothing else, just liquified butter). Bland. Boring. And really just not that appetizing.
In the meantime, we were surrounded by old, wealthy (and wasted) New Orleanians. We found out later that one does not go to Galatoire's for the food. One goes there for the experience. It was confirmed that indeed their food is not that good, but that people go there for the experience of going there (a "see and be seen" scene for old New Orleans families dating back generations). And also, if you ask for a menu, you are immediately targeted as one "not from around here" and are treated as such.
Had I known that I could have saved $120.00...or at least have put it towards a better meal.
Ah, but the wine list: of all the commendations they've received, this is the only one I can agree with. Pages and pages and pages of wines, with a heavy focus on French (some very old...some very expensive). The Big Five are all here: Latour, Lafite, Mouton, Margaux, and Petruce, all with their requisite $1,000+ price tags. Second to the French presence is Napa Valley, and all the big 'uns from that way (Opus One, etc.). But there is also a nice mix of Spanish, Chilean, Australian, and Argentinian wines, as well as some Italian heavy-hitters. While most are rather pricey, a discriminating wine drinker can still find a value. Just don't bother eating there.
After a foiled attempt to visit Martinique Bistro, we ended up inside our very own hotel, Bienville House, and the recently-relocated Iris.
Iris was formerly located in a tiny house Uptown, and has since moved to this much-more-spacious location in the French Quarter. Initially they were a BYOB destination, but just in time for our arrival they now have a full bar and wine list. What began as a quick stop for coffee when it seemed every cafe in the city was closed ("This is New Orleans, no one gets coffee after noon") quickly morphed into a full meal.
And what a meal it was. In my early research I had come across some glowing reviews of this place and was excited to see it was located in our hotel; however, I assumed that I would shun this place in favor of more well-known, glitzier establishments and didn't think I would end up having my best meal of the trip on an utter whim at its polished oak bar.
We began with the Kaffir Lime Guacamole, made with mint and olive oil and served with root vegetable homemade chips. The guacamole was superb, with large chunks of tomatoes and a nice hint of garlic, but it was the root vegetable chips, perfectly salted and full of contrasting flavor, that made the dish.
Next up was the Rabbit Spring Rolls, served chilled with peanut sauce to dip. The dough used to wrap the rolls was so thin I could actually see through it (an impressive feat to be able to work with what is surely such a difficult dough). Inside was all the typical carroty crunch of a spring roll (all raw), with tender, chilled rabbit meat to balance the bitters of cabbage and sprouts.
I then sampled the quail salad, served with a boiled quail egg, house-made vinaigrette, and shaved parmesan. The tiny quail legs were difficult to manage, but worth the extra effort. The salad itself was exploding with flavor, deceptively simple yet simply delectable.
From there I moved on to the Veal Cheek Ravioli, made with wild mushrooms, veal jus, parmesan, and cream. This was amazing; the veal jus-cream sauce was rich and full of tangy condensed flavor, balanced perfectly with equally rich parmesan and slightly bitter mushrooms. The ravioli themselves were firm yet tender, with tender shreds of veal meal tucked inside. This is the kind of dish you don't so much eat as savor, and I savored every drop of that decadent sauce.
My partner had a peppercorn-encrusted seared tuna, served with organic greens and a house-made balsamic vinaigrette. The tuna was seared to perfection and the peppercorn crust added flavor and kick; his only complaint was the excess of balsamic vinaigrette on the tuna (but I thought it was fine).
The wine list is still modest, but they do carry one of my favorites: Punto Final Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina. Mixologist Alan Walter also offers a host of specialty cocktails which utilize ingredients such as the locally-grown satsuma, sasafras tea, mint, and chicory. I guarantee that you have never seen a cocktail menu quite like this, which takes "creative" and mixes it with an upscale organic grocer. (See "Cold Snap": Brandy, Green Mangoes in White Balsamic Vinegar, Spiced Rum, Lemon, Proseco.)
Chef Ian Schnoebelen has achieved a masterfully playful and unique menu which fuses a variety of different culinary traditions in a light, clean presentation and atmosphere. Iris wins in both food and ambiance, and the service is both personal and friendly. You feel like you're at the neighborhood deli but you're eating like you're at an exclusive California-style 5-star. Owners Schnoebelen and Laurie Casebonne will also happily come out and greet you, in between joking with their staff and ensuring that everything is being handled exactly how they wish it to be. Their approach is very hands-on, and it shows in all the personal touches and the welcoming environment.
On one of our server's recommendations, we then went to another New Orleans "institution," the revolving carousel bar inside the Hotel Monteleone. The Carousel Piano Bar & Lounge slowly revolves, which can confuse patrons who have had a few too many and return from the bathroom to find their friends "gone." If you like Blackstone wine and butchered renditions of "Piano Man," this is the place for you. Note the sarcasm.
Day 2/Night 3: Cafe Beignet, Reginelli's, and Martinique Bistro
Just as we're starting the get the hang of it, we're already on our last hoorah.
We started the day at Cafe Beignet, were I sampled another New Orleans "must"--the positively sinful beignet, a French-style pastry much like a doughnut served piping hot with powdered sugar, is a singular New Orleans experience. It is a soft, airy, pliable pastry with a slight crunch on the outside, light to the touch but heavy in the stomach. It's best to toss away all pre-conceived notions of "healthy dining" when in New Orleans, because the city's love of all that which is deep-fried and loaded with meat and dairy will do you in. Luckily, I am a lover of animal by-products, so I was in artery-clogging heaven.
Later we found ourselves in the Garden District on Magazine Street, and decided to stop in a place called Reginelli's Pizzeria, a Louisiana pizza and sandwich chain. As much as I love pizza, it was the Baked Brie Calzone that caught my tongue, a mini calzone stuffed with ripe brie cheese. Fab. They also have a great list of tasty pastas, salads, focaccia and pita sandwiches, and specialty pizzas. Their wine list was by the glass and presented on a printed list taped to a wine bottle on each table. Cute, and cheap. And once again, my Punto Final Malbec!
But that evening was what itI had been waiting for all along: experiencing Réveillon in New Orleans. Réveillon is a French dining tradition of a long dinner or party held on the evenings preceding Christmas and New Year's Days, which typically features foods of an exceptional or luxurious nature. A multitiude of New Orleans restaurants were participating in Réveillon and offered special prix fixe menus throughout the season. There were, once again, a number that I was salivating over, but the one I ultimately decided on was Martinique Bistro.
Chef de Cuisine Eric LaBouchere blends French and Caribbean cooking traditions with a dash of Italian heritage, making Martinique Bistro a classically uncommon cross-cultural culinary tour as befits many New Orleans dining establishments. The interior is tiny and quaint, almost cottage-like, where the outdoor courtyard is lush and tropical. The servers are knowledgable and helpful, and won't rush you out even when you've stayed long past your welcome.
So why was I so fixated on this place above all other restaurants celebrating Réveillon? One word: profiteroles.
We began with the Pork tenderloin Noisette "au Grillades" with poached hen's egg and Truffled Eggs with prosciutto in parmesan reggiano profiteroles. The pork tenderloin was tender and OMFG THE PROFITEROLES. They were ultimately the main reason I chose this restaurant and they were everything I wanted and hoped they would be and more. A rich, thick, heavy parmesan cream sauce surrounded the airy profiterole. Black truffles and julienned prosciutto rounded out the flavor explosion of opulence and excess; the only thing I could have done without were the eggs themselves.
I was also able to sample Turtle soup with Amantillado sherry; it was spicy. The turtle meat was tender. Turtle meat is notoriously difficult to extract, and you must be careful where you venture to try the New Orleans traditional soup. This being my one and only experience with it, I think I picked a winner.
I also had the Belgian Endive with saffron and Riesling poached pears, candied walnuts, maytag bleu cheese, and white balsamic vinaigrette. Endive is exceedingly bitter and needs to be tempered with a lot of sweet and/or strong flavors; a dried berry would have suited this salad better than the understated poached pears, but the bleu cheese and walnuts worked wonders.
For our entrees, we selected the Crispy seared duck breast a la satsuma with a confit debris cassoulet cake and the Sauteed medallions of cervena venison with Poire Williams braised pears and a gingerbread demi-glace. I got my satsuma, but the duck was stringy and the cassoulet cake, a common French comfort food, was bland and a bit too "squishy" for my palate.
For dessert I had the Baked Alaska with chocolate cayenne ice cream, while my partner tried the sorbet sampler with flavors like Strawberry Banana, blueberry habanero, and mango mint. The house-made ice creams and sorbets are wonderful, popping with unexpected flavor combinations.
The setting is very romantic, especially when you're the last table on the patio. While not every dish was a winner, those that were so were amazing.
The next morning saw us on a plane at 6:00AM, and so ends my culinary tour of the Bayou. I thank Robert Peyton for his suggestions, and look forward to being able to be as leisurely as the locals the next time around.
On a recent trip to New Orleans, much of my pre-trip reconaissance work was dedicated to a thorough background check of New Orleans cuisine. I had an extensive list of places and dishes I wanted to try (truth be told, a bit too extensive...I only had a grand total of 48 hours to cram it all in)--among my must-haves were anything with satsuma (check), turtle soup au sherry (check), gumbo (check), and beignets (check). On the list that didn't make it were po' boys (the Louisiana version of a sub or grinder, made with their unique baguette bread and usually filled with seafood and deep-fried), a muffaletta sandwich (akin to our Italian subs, made on a Sicilian flatbread similar to focaccia and layered with Italian meats like capicola, salami, and mortadella, as well as provolone and emmanthaler cheeses and a marinated olive spread, which orginated in New Orleans's Central Grocery), Andouille sausage, crawfish etouffee, and Louisiana-style pecan pie with rum caramel.
Hey, I did my best.
With the help of Lousiana-based food critic Robert Peyton, who has since become my favorite foodie blogger (he makes sarcastic-like, which I like), I whittled down my enormous and ungainly list to being simply ungainly (he wished me luck with that; he's a funny guy, and was also not wrong). In between forgetting our pre-printed passes to check out the Prospect.1 New Orleans art installation, ambling through the French Quarter, arriving too late at the infamous above-ground cemeteries to be able to walk through them, touring the Oak Alley plantation (where Interview with the Vampire was in part filmed), taking the St. Charles Streetcar out to the Garden District only to decide not to have brunch at the Columns Hotel's Albertines Tea Room, and generally just trying to soak in the vibe of all that which is New Orleans in an extremely limited amount of time, we were also able to enjoy both the old and the new in New Orleans cuisine.
Night 1: Bar UnCommon and the Bombay Club
At Robert Peyton's suggestion, our first (attempted) stop after landing at 9:00PM was over to the Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel to check out Bar UnCommon. Peyton informed me that Chris McMillian is the best bartender in the city, and my trip would not be complete without a Sazerac from him. We beelined straight there only to find an empty bar with the bottles already removed from the shelves. It was then that we learned in the wake of Katrina, many places don't hold the same late-night hours as they once did. Which is unfortunate, as Bar UnCommon is exactly the kind of bar I would have liked to sip a martini and have a leisurely evening at.
We attempted once again the following night, only to have the same results.
After a comedy of errors in finding another bar to suit our sophisticated drinking needs, we ended up at the Bombay Club. We were presented with a menu featuring some 70+ martinis, all of which sounded absolutely decadent. We were also served by a bartender who is a part-time pirate (he goes to conventions and everything). Our tour of New Orleans dining and drinking was off to a good start.
Until we discovered Jean Lafitte's Old Absinthe House on Rue Bourbon. The place has been open and in its same location since 1807 (save for a spot during Prohibition), and is once again legally serving absinthe, a black-licorice-flavored liquer made with wormwood (amounts of wormwood are controlled nationally by the FDA so there are only trace amounts in legally imported absinthe). Collectively we decided that this experience would be a good and necessary one. We were wrong.
However, this did increase our enjoyment of Bourbon Street, which is an otherwise vulgar place.
Day 1/Night 2: Galatoire's and Iris
Once again on the suggestion of Robert Peyton, we headed out to Galatoire's in the French Quarter for a long, leisurely lunch. Galatoire's is another historic spot in the Vieux Carre, having been in its Bourbon Street location since 1905. It has also received various recognitions from Wine Spectator and Zagat's, being most recently voted by Gourmet Magazine one of the top 20 restaurants in the country. I was told that this is a "New Orleans institution," I only found out later what that means.
The first sign that something wasn't right was the fact that it took nearly 10 minutes for us to be greeted by our waiter, and when he did finally vaporize he uttered hardly a word of apology and none of explanation (to be fair, I had not seen him milling about prior to his sudden appearance, and can only assume he was unaware he had been seated and was attending to some bathroom/phone/cigarette-smoking business in the back). I then asked for the server Robert had recommended to me, and was informed he was not there that day. Suddenly our service became helpful and attentive. They even gave us complimentary garlic bread.
For my meal, I chose to start with the gumbo (one of the many items on my list of must-tries). It was mildly spicy with a thick brown broth. As good as something you would order from a local diner and say, "That was pretty good." I then moved on to the Godchaux salad, a pile of iceberg lettuce topped with large, generous lumps of boiled shrimp, lump crabmeat, and a Creole mustard vinaigrette, topped with pinenuts and anchovies. The seafood was cooked well and all was served cold; the occasional remnant shell aside, I was satisfied with it. I then opted for the Poisson Meunière Amandine (rhymes with "bland"). To say I was disappointed would be a gross understatement. Greasy deep-fried flavorless fish with a handful of sliced almonds on top in a light (as in barely there) browned butter sauce (nothing else, just liquified butter). Bland. Boring. And really just not that appetizing.
In the meantime, we were surrounded by old, wealthy (and wasted) New Orleanians. We found out later that one does not go to Galatoire's for the food. One goes there for the experience. It was confirmed that indeed their food is not that good, but that people go there for the experience of going there (a "see and be seen" scene for old New Orleans families dating back generations). And also, if you ask for a menu, you are immediately targeted as one "not from around here" and are treated as such.
Had I known that I could have saved $120.00...or at least have put it towards a better meal.
Ah, but the wine list: of all the commendations they've received, this is the only one I can agree with. Pages and pages and pages of wines, with a heavy focus on French (some very old...some very expensive). The Big Five are all here: Latour, Lafite, Mouton, Margaux, and Petruce, all with their requisite $1,000+ price tags. Second to the French presence is Napa Valley, and all the big 'uns from that way (Opus One, etc.). But there is also a nice mix of Spanish, Chilean, Australian, and Argentinian wines, as well as some Italian heavy-hitters. While most are rather pricey, a discriminating wine drinker can still find a value. Just don't bother eating there.
After a foiled attempt to visit Martinique Bistro, we ended up inside our very own hotel, Bienville House, and the recently-relocated Iris.
Iris was formerly located in a tiny house Uptown, and has since moved to this much-more-spacious location in the French Quarter. Initially they were a BYOB destination, but just in time for our arrival they now have a full bar and wine list. What began as a quick stop for coffee when it seemed every cafe in the city was closed ("This is New Orleans, no one gets coffee after noon") quickly morphed into a full meal.
And what a meal it was. In my early research I had come across some glowing reviews of this place and was excited to see it was located in our hotel; however, I assumed that I would shun this place in favor of more well-known, glitzier establishments and didn't think I would end up having my best meal of the trip on an utter whim at its polished oak bar.
We began with the Kaffir Lime Guacamole, made with mint and olive oil and served with root vegetable homemade chips. The guacamole was superb, with large chunks of tomatoes and a nice hint of garlic, but it was the root vegetable chips, perfectly salted and full of contrasting flavor, that made the dish.
Next up was the Rabbit Spring Rolls, served chilled with peanut sauce to dip. The dough used to wrap the rolls was so thin I could actually see through it (an impressive feat to be able to work with what is surely such a difficult dough). Inside was all the typical carroty crunch of a spring roll (all raw), with tender, chilled rabbit meat to balance the bitters of cabbage and sprouts.
I then sampled the quail salad, served with a boiled quail egg, house-made vinaigrette, and shaved parmesan. The tiny quail legs were difficult to manage, but worth the extra effort. The salad itself was exploding with flavor, deceptively simple yet simply delectable.
From there I moved on to the Veal Cheek Ravioli, made with wild mushrooms, veal jus, parmesan, and cream. This was amazing; the veal jus-cream sauce was rich and full of tangy condensed flavor, balanced perfectly with equally rich parmesan and slightly bitter mushrooms. The ravioli themselves were firm yet tender, with tender shreds of veal meal tucked inside. This is the kind of dish you don't so much eat as savor, and I savored every drop of that decadent sauce.
My partner had a peppercorn-encrusted seared tuna, served with organic greens and a house-made balsamic vinaigrette. The tuna was seared to perfection and the peppercorn crust added flavor and kick; his only complaint was the excess of balsamic vinaigrette on the tuna (but I thought it was fine).
The wine list is still modest, but they do carry one of my favorites: Punto Final Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina. Mixologist Alan Walter also offers a host of specialty cocktails which utilize ingredients such as the locally-grown satsuma, sasafras tea, mint, and chicory. I guarantee that you have never seen a cocktail menu quite like this, which takes "creative" and mixes it with an upscale organic grocer. (See "Cold Snap": Brandy, Green Mangoes in White Balsamic Vinegar, Spiced Rum, Lemon, Proseco.)
Chef Ian Schnoebelen has achieved a masterfully playful and unique menu which fuses a variety of different culinary traditions in a light, clean presentation and atmosphere. Iris wins in both food and ambiance, and the service is both personal and friendly. You feel like you're at the neighborhood deli but you're eating like you're at an exclusive California-style 5-star. Owners Schnoebelen and Laurie Casebonne will also happily come out and greet you, in between joking with their staff and ensuring that everything is being handled exactly how they wish it to be. Their approach is very hands-on, and it shows in all the personal touches and the welcoming environment.
On one of our server's recommendations, we then went to another New Orleans "institution," the revolving carousel bar inside the Hotel Monteleone. The Carousel Piano Bar & Lounge slowly revolves, which can confuse patrons who have had a few too many and return from the bathroom to find their friends "gone." If you like Blackstone wine and butchered renditions of "Piano Man," this is the place for you. Note the sarcasm.
Day 2/Night 3: Cafe Beignet, Reginelli's, and Martinique Bistro
Just as we're starting the get the hang of it, we're already on our last hoorah.
We started the day at Cafe Beignet, were I sampled another New Orleans "must"--the positively sinful beignet, a French-style pastry much like a doughnut served piping hot with powdered sugar, is a singular New Orleans experience. It is a soft, airy, pliable pastry with a slight crunch on the outside, light to the touch but heavy in the stomach. It's best to toss away all pre-conceived notions of "healthy dining" when in New Orleans, because the city's love of all that which is deep-fried and loaded with meat and dairy will do you in. Luckily, I am a lover of animal by-products, so I was in artery-clogging heaven.
Later we found ourselves in the Garden District on Magazine Street, and decided to stop in a place called Reginelli's Pizzeria, a Louisiana pizza and sandwich chain. As much as I love pizza, it was the Baked Brie Calzone that caught my tongue, a mini calzone stuffed with ripe brie cheese. Fab. They also have a great list of tasty pastas, salads, focaccia and pita sandwiches, and specialty pizzas. Their wine list was by the glass and presented on a printed list taped to a wine bottle on each table. Cute, and cheap. And once again, my Punto Final Malbec!
But that evening was what itI had been waiting for all along: experiencing Réveillon in New Orleans. Réveillon is a French dining tradition of a long dinner or party held on the evenings preceding Christmas and New Year's Days, which typically features foods of an exceptional or luxurious nature. A multitiude of New Orleans restaurants were participating in Réveillon and offered special prix fixe menus throughout the season. There were, once again, a number that I was salivating over, but the one I ultimately decided on was Martinique Bistro.
Chef de Cuisine Eric LaBouchere blends French and Caribbean cooking traditions with a dash of Italian heritage, making Martinique Bistro a classically uncommon cross-cultural culinary tour as befits many New Orleans dining establishments. The interior is tiny and quaint, almost cottage-like, where the outdoor courtyard is lush and tropical. The servers are knowledgable and helpful, and won't rush you out even when you've stayed long past your welcome.
So why was I so fixated on this place above all other restaurants celebrating Réveillon? One word: profiteroles.
We began with the Pork tenderloin Noisette "au Grillades" with poached hen's egg and Truffled Eggs with prosciutto in parmesan reggiano profiteroles. The pork tenderloin was tender and OMFG THE PROFITEROLES. They were ultimately the main reason I chose this restaurant and they were everything I wanted and hoped they would be and more. A rich, thick, heavy parmesan cream sauce surrounded the airy profiterole. Black truffles and julienned prosciutto rounded out the flavor explosion of opulence and excess; the only thing I could have done without were the eggs themselves.
I was also able to sample Turtle soup with Amantillado sherry; it was spicy. The turtle meat was tender. Turtle meat is notoriously difficult to extract, and you must be careful where you venture to try the New Orleans traditional soup. This being my one and only experience with it, I think I picked a winner.
I also had the Belgian Endive with saffron and Riesling poached pears, candied walnuts, maytag bleu cheese, and white balsamic vinaigrette. Endive is exceedingly bitter and needs to be tempered with a lot of sweet and/or strong flavors; a dried berry would have suited this salad better than the understated poached pears, but the bleu cheese and walnuts worked wonders.
For our entrees, we selected the Crispy seared duck breast a la satsuma with a confit debris cassoulet cake and the Sauteed medallions of cervena venison with Poire Williams braised pears and a gingerbread demi-glace. I got my satsuma, but the duck was stringy and the cassoulet cake, a common French comfort food, was bland and a bit too "squishy" for my palate.
For dessert I had the Baked Alaska with chocolate cayenne ice cream, while my partner tried the sorbet sampler with flavors like Strawberry Banana, blueberry habanero, and mango mint. The house-made ice creams and sorbets are wonderful, popping with unexpected flavor combinations.
The setting is very romantic, especially when you're the last table on the patio. While not every dish was a winner, those that were so were amazing.
The next morning saw us on a plane at 6:00AM, and so ends my culinary tour of the Bayou. I thank Robert Peyton for his suggestions, and look forward to being able to be as leisurely as the locals the next time around.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
If It Works, Don't Fix It: Motor City Brewing Works
Motor City Brewing Works in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood has long been known for its hand-crafted Detroit-centric microbrews, with names like "Motor City Muscle," "Old Gear Oil," "Corktown Stout," and everyone's favorite, "Ghettoblaster." I've half-wondered if it was merely the clever naming conventions that made their brews so popular. Ghettoblaster, "the beer you can hear," has even inspired its very own compilation albums.
Truth be told, the brews at MCBW are good, but not great. Ghettoblaster is a medium copper-colored English dark mild ale, with hints of citrus fruit and caramel on the nose and tongue. Slightly nutty. Hoppy, but not overtly so. A little thin. Inoffensive, but not earth-shattering. What makes this beer great isn't the beer itself, but the fact that the name alone has made it a Detroit institution; any bar in the city that has local brews on tap always has Ghettoblaster, and most people who would normally stick to PBR or Miller Light find themselves compelled to order it whenever they see it's available. It isn't so much a great beer as it is a great concept, and if nothing else, MCBW should be showered with accolades for producing a B- beer and being able to market it so tremendously well.
The Honey Porter (and oh how I love my porters and stouts) is everything expected and nothing out of the ordinary. It poured black like a stout with a creamy tan head, showing notes of chocolate, oats, roasted malts, and only the faintest hint of honey. It had a definite creaminess, but the body was still a little thin.
Motor City Lager is the brewery's Bud Light, and nothing more needs to be said about that.
But this isn't just about the beer; this is also about the bar. Motor City Brewing Works is a favorite spot for locals and suburbanites alike; walk in on any given night and you're sure to find the bar lined with chain-smoking, Ghettoblaster-drinking hipsters and a couple of tables of Tigers fans or other forms of Detroit tourists. And it's tiny: I would venture that the capacity inside hovers around 45, and there are only so many places to sit.
MCBW is a great place to visit in the summertime when the upstairs patio is open, but a word to the wise: the patio fills up quickly, so come early or don't come at all.
But Motor City Brewing Works is more than just a decent brewery and hipster hangout; it is also a popular art space, in the tradition of other Detroit restaurant-cum-art galleries such as Cass Cafe and the Majestic Cafe. The place looks "arty" with the tiny multi-colored broken tiles covering one wall and the wooden chairs painted bright orange...not to mention the 4-1 hipster presence (hipster = arty). But every Wednesday night, Motor City Brewing Works hosts "This Week in Art," a weekly-revolving single-artist showing currently curated for the past two years by Graem White, who will be turning it over to Christina Gibbs after January 7th. Artwork is affordable and is one of the best opportunities to view Detroit's up-and-coming unknown talent. Plus, it brings more hipsters.
Early in 2008, Motor City Brewing Works introduced their newly-built brick oven pizza kitchen, to much local acclaim. I've heard many refer to it as "the best pizza in Detroit," and possibly it is. Granted, I'm not a fan of most Detroit pizza and there really aren't that many places (as in, sit-down restaurants with bars and other people) in the city that offer pizza on their menus. So, you know, it could very well be the best in the city, which is kind of like being named the creme-de-la-crap.
What I do like about their pizza is that they offer a host of specialty pizzas as well as build-your-own options. Previously I've had the Margherita pizza (fresh mozarella, fresh basil, and sliced tomatoes with an herb-tomato sauce) and was quite pleased; I also recall a four-cheese blend no longer on the menu with Gorgonzola, Fontina, Mozarella, and goat cheese (globs of Fontina and goat cheese tend to be a bit much, FYI). This time around, I sampled the Roasted Pear pizza with olive oil, Gorgonzola, pears roasted with figs, and red onion. The flavors of roasted pear and gorgonzola pair well together, but the occasional crunch of a fig seed was off-putting, and the pizza as a whole would probably have been better with a mozzarella cheese base with just a smattering of gorgonzola for flavor, as opposed to it being the sole cheese flavor. It's a bit overwhelming on its own, and not fully tempered by the pear. The red onions were, thankfully, mostly unnoticeable.
Other specialty pizzas include a Middle Eastern-style pie called "Mary Had a Little...", made with lamb, garlic, mint, tomatoes, pine nuts, feta, cucumber, labneh, and zatar spice. There are also Meditterranean and Mexican -style pies, as well as a pizza-fied version of the Rueben sandwich. A la carte ingredients for the build-your-own include 5 kinds of sauce, 7 kinds of cheese, 8 kinds of seafood, poultry, and meat (including smoked clams), and a variety of spices. A+ for creativity, but the execution depends on the pie itself. Roasted Pear gets a nice, round B. The crust, always cooked to perfection in the brick oven (I will definitely give them that) and of an absolute perfect thickness- to doughiness- to airiness- ratio, could have more flavor. A perfectly balanced chewy and crispy cardboard is still chewy and crispy cardboard. Throw some olive oil in there. Herbs. Something.
For an appetizer, I followed my heart and went for the cheese board. Cheese offerings are noted on an overhead chalkboard (pity the people sitting beneath it), as are the current beer and wine offerings. Intially I went for the Sharp Cheddar and Stilton, only to find the Stilton gone and ending up with Swiss instead. The cheeses were served as two nice-sized wedges on a wooden slab, with sliced baguette bread and this god-awful horseradish/mustard seed spread that I would recommend be banned from the planet. Both cheeses were mild and satisfying. MCBW also offers Artichoke Dip and Crab Dip, as well as three different hearty salads to whet your appetite.
Beer is not your only drinking option, either: while the brewery does not have a license for hard liquor, they do also carry a modest, funky assortment of wines by the glass, including locally-made wines. On my most recent trip I had a sweet and tart cherry wine; in the summer I remember sampling an interesting blackberry wine. While neither were noteworthy enough to bother learning the names of the producers, both were an interesting addition to the already ecclectic if limited offerings at MCBW. And if you're not in the mood (or old enough) to imbibe, try one of their house-made all-natural sodas (choose from Natural Root Beer, Natural Ginger Beer, or Orange Cream), made with real cane sugar and caffeine-free.
As noted previously, the place fills up quickly and seating is limited. Once full, service immediately becomes abyssmal. Expect long waits for everything--to place your order, to receive your drinks, to receive your food, to receive your check. I had to hunt down our frazzled server to ask for the check, which makes this the second time in a row I've had to do this at this establishment. Granted, when capacity is only about 45 people, it should be a bit easier to manage; however, when there only appears to be two people working the floor and one is constantly pouring drinks, I can see how this would be a problem. Previous trips pre-kitchen have seen me waiting long periods for a beer at the bar (or to be so much as acknowledged)...really the only time it is good to go here and expect decent service is before 5:00PM on a weekday. Though I don't know what the peak lunch crowd looks like, so I will ammend that to say "between 3:00PM and 5:00PM on a weekday."
Also, don't think that just because there is a big, pretty parking lot out front that parking is free. The lot is owned by Traffic Jam & Snug and they are not very generous with it. All hours of the day and night that MCBW is open for business, there is a guard out front who will immediately ask for your $5.00 the moment you step out of your car. MCBW has a tiny lot of its own right in front of the doors; the five spots allotted to it are tyically taken by staff and regulars long before you'd stand a chance at acquiring one.
Overall, Motor City Brewing Works in more of a necessary Detroit experience than it is a good place to dine. The artistic hipster vibe is oh-so-Detroit, as are the cleverly-named beers and creatively-designed culturally-inclusive pizzas. The food, beer, and service really aren't that great, but the ambiance of it all is enough to keep the place crowded seven nights a week.
Truth be told, the brews at MCBW are good, but not great. Ghettoblaster is a medium copper-colored English dark mild ale, with hints of citrus fruit and caramel on the nose and tongue. Slightly nutty. Hoppy, but not overtly so. A little thin. Inoffensive, but not earth-shattering. What makes this beer great isn't the beer itself, but the fact that the name alone has made it a Detroit institution; any bar in the city that has local brews on tap always has Ghettoblaster, and most people who would normally stick to PBR or Miller Light find themselves compelled to order it whenever they see it's available. It isn't so much a great beer as it is a great concept, and if nothing else, MCBW should be showered with accolades for producing a B- beer and being able to market it so tremendously well.
The Honey Porter (and oh how I love my porters and stouts) is everything expected and nothing out of the ordinary. It poured black like a stout with a creamy tan head, showing notes of chocolate, oats, roasted malts, and only the faintest hint of honey. It had a definite creaminess, but the body was still a little thin.
Motor City Lager is the brewery's Bud Light, and nothing more needs to be said about that.
But this isn't just about the beer; this is also about the bar. Motor City Brewing Works is a favorite spot for locals and suburbanites alike; walk in on any given night and you're sure to find the bar lined with chain-smoking, Ghettoblaster-drinking hipsters and a couple of tables of Tigers fans or other forms of Detroit tourists. And it's tiny: I would venture that the capacity inside hovers around 45, and there are only so many places to sit.
MCBW is a great place to visit in the summertime when the upstairs patio is open, but a word to the wise: the patio fills up quickly, so come early or don't come at all.
But Motor City Brewing Works is more than just a decent brewery and hipster hangout; it is also a popular art space, in the tradition of other Detroit restaurant-cum-art galleries such as Cass Cafe and the Majestic Cafe. The place looks "arty" with the tiny multi-colored broken tiles covering one wall and the wooden chairs painted bright orange...not to mention the 4-1 hipster presence (hipster = arty). But every Wednesday night, Motor City Brewing Works hosts "This Week in Art," a weekly-revolving single-artist showing currently curated for the past two years by Graem White, who will be turning it over to Christina Gibbs after January 7th. Artwork is affordable and is one of the best opportunities to view Detroit's up-and-coming unknown talent. Plus, it brings more hipsters.
Early in 2008, Motor City Brewing Works introduced their newly-built brick oven pizza kitchen, to much local acclaim. I've heard many refer to it as "the best pizza in Detroit," and possibly it is. Granted, I'm not a fan of most Detroit pizza and there really aren't that many places (as in, sit-down restaurants with bars and other people) in the city that offer pizza on their menus. So, you know, it could very well be the best in the city, which is kind of like being named the creme-de-la-crap.
What I do like about their pizza is that they offer a host of specialty pizzas as well as build-your-own options. Previously I've had the Margherita pizza (fresh mozarella, fresh basil, and sliced tomatoes with an herb-tomato sauce) and was quite pleased; I also recall a four-cheese blend no longer on the menu with Gorgonzola, Fontina, Mozarella, and goat cheese (globs of Fontina and goat cheese tend to be a bit much, FYI). This time around, I sampled the Roasted Pear pizza with olive oil, Gorgonzola, pears roasted with figs, and red onion. The flavors of roasted pear and gorgonzola pair well together, but the occasional crunch of a fig seed was off-putting, and the pizza as a whole would probably have been better with a mozzarella cheese base with just a smattering of gorgonzola for flavor, as opposed to it being the sole cheese flavor. It's a bit overwhelming on its own, and not fully tempered by the pear. The red onions were, thankfully, mostly unnoticeable.
Other specialty pizzas include a Middle Eastern-style pie called "Mary Had a Little...", made with lamb, garlic, mint, tomatoes, pine nuts, feta, cucumber, labneh, and zatar spice. There are also Meditterranean and Mexican -style pies, as well as a pizza-fied version of the Rueben sandwich. A la carte ingredients for the build-your-own include 5 kinds of sauce, 7 kinds of cheese, 8 kinds of seafood, poultry, and meat (including smoked clams), and a variety of spices. A+ for creativity, but the execution depends on the pie itself. Roasted Pear gets a nice, round B. The crust, always cooked to perfection in the brick oven (I will definitely give them that) and of an absolute perfect thickness- to doughiness- to airiness- ratio, could have more flavor. A perfectly balanced chewy and crispy cardboard is still chewy and crispy cardboard. Throw some olive oil in there. Herbs. Something.
For an appetizer, I followed my heart and went for the cheese board. Cheese offerings are noted on an overhead chalkboard (pity the people sitting beneath it), as are the current beer and wine offerings. Intially I went for the Sharp Cheddar and Stilton, only to find the Stilton gone and ending up with Swiss instead. The cheeses were served as two nice-sized wedges on a wooden slab, with sliced baguette bread and this god-awful horseradish/mustard seed spread that I would recommend be banned from the planet. Both cheeses were mild and satisfying. MCBW also offers Artichoke Dip and Crab Dip, as well as three different hearty salads to whet your appetite.
Beer is not your only drinking option, either: while the brewery does not have a license for hard liquor, they do also carry a modest, funky assortment of wines by the glass, including locally-made wines. On my most recent trip I had a sweet and tart cherry wine; in the summer I remember sampling an interesting blackberry wine. While neither were noteworthy enough to bother learning the names of the producers, both were an interesting addition to the already ecclectic if limited offerings at MCBW. And if you're not in the mood (or old enough) to imbibe, try one of their house-made all-natural sodas (choose from Natural Root Beer, Natural Ginger Beer, or Orange Cream), made with real cane sugar and caffeine-free.
As noted previously, the place fills up quickly and seating is limited. Once full, service immediately becomes abyssmal. Expect long waits for everything--to place your order, to receive your drinks, to receive your food, to receive your check. I had to hunt down our frazzled server to ask for the check, which makes this the second time in a row I've had to do this at this establishment. Granted, when capacity is only about 45 people, it should be a bit easier to manage; however, when there only appears to be two people working the floor and one is constantly pouring drinks, I can see how this would be a problem. Previous trips pre-kitchen have seen me waiting long periods for a beer at the bar (or to be so much as acknowledged)...really the only time it is good to go here and expect decent service is before 5:00PM on a weekday. Though I don't know what the peak lunch crowd looks like, so I will ammend that to say "between 3:00PM and 5:00PM on a weekday."
Also, don't think that just because there is a big, pretty parking lot out front that parking is free. The lot is owned by Traffic Jam & Snug and they are not very generous with it. All hours of the day and night that MCBW is open for business, there is a guard out front who will immediately ask for your $5.00 the moment you step out of your car. MCBW has a tiny lot of its own right in front of the doors; the five spots allotted to it are tyically taken by staff and regulars long before you'd stand a chance at acquiring one.
Overall, Motor City Brewing Works in more of a necessary Detroit experience than it is a good place to dine. The artistic hipster vibe is oh-so-Detroit, as are the cleverly-named beers and creatively-designed culturally-inclusive pizzas. The food, beer, and service really aren't that great, but the ambiance of it all is enough to keep the place crowded seven nights a week.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Opus One Now Serving Brunch
As of November (hey, I just launched this blog, cut me some slack), Detroit's fine-dining institution Opus One is now serving Sunday brunch. As in, the best meal ever.
On Sundays from 12:00-3:00, Opus One is serving a prix fixe menu that includes your choice of mimosas, Bloody Marys, or Orange Mojitos (limit two, but...booze is included in the price! why would you just opt for coffee, which granted is another beverage option along with juice and soft drinks but WHY, why would you do that?) and your choice of either breakfast appetizer and entree or entree and dessert for only $22.00. For those of you who are familiar with all that which is Brunch, you know that ordering a la carte at the boutiquey brunch places will typically run up a $20.00 tab before you tack on the alcohol, and BOOZE IS INCLUDED IN THE PRICE!!!! This is a bargain brunch at a high-end (albeit a bit antiquated) Detroit dining staple. Yes, please.
Oh, if you can't decide between appetizer/entree and entree/dessert, go crazy and get all three; it will still only cost you $28.00, which is still less than a recent 2-course, 2-drink brunch I had at Birmingham's Toast. Remember, BOOZE IS INCLUDED!!!!
Food selections include traditional build-your-own omelets, decadent Raspeberry Stuffed French Toast with a touch of Chambord and vanilla crème anglaise sauce, spiced beignets ("ben-yay," a kind of heavy French doughnut-like pastry popular in New Orleans) served with oven dried oranges and cherries and maple syrup crème anglaise, two different kinds of savory crepes, and lunch options which include Opus One specialties such as Shrimp Helene. Desserts include a Hot Fudge Cookie Sundae made with Sanders hot fudge and a Chambord Crème Brûlée. All for $22.00-$28.00, BOOZE INCLUDED.
This Sunday, skip church and toast the good Lord who created brunch at Opus One. Or choose instead to drink nondenominationally. We don't judge here.
On Sundays from 12:00-3:00, Opus One is serving a prix fixe menu that includes your choice of mimosas, Bloody Marys, or Orange Mojitos (limit two, but...booze is included in the price! why would you just opt for coffee, which granted is another beverage option along with juice and soft drinks but WHY, why would you do that?) and your choice of either breakfast appetizer and entree or entree and dessert for only $22.00. For those of you who are familiar with all that which is Brunch, you know that ordering a la carte at the boutiquey brunch places will typically run up a $20.00 tab before you tack on the alcohol, and BOOZE IS INCLUDED IN THE PRICE!!!! This is a bargain brunch at a high-end (albeit a bit antiquated) Detroit dining staple. Yes, please.
Oh, if you can't decide between appetizer/entree and entree/dessert, go crazy and get all three; it will still only cost you $28.00, which is still less than a recent 2-course, 2-drink brunch I had at Birmingham's Toast. Remember, BOOZE IS INCLUDED!!!!
Food selections include traditional build-your-own omelets, decadent Raspeberry Stuffed French Toast with a touch of Chambord and vanilla crème anglaise sauce, spiced beignets ("ben-yay," a kind of heavy French doughnut-like pastry popular in New Orleans) served with oven dried oranges and cherries and maple syrup crème anglaise, two different kinds of savory crepes, and lunch options which include Opus One specialties such as Shrimp Helene. Desserts include a Hot Fudge Cookie Sundae made with Sanders hot fudge and a Chambord Crème Brûlée. All for $22.00-$28.00, BOOZE INCLUDED.
This Sunday, skip church and toast the good Lord who created brunch at Opus One. Or choose instead to drink nondenominationally. We don't judge here.
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