It's that time of year--when everyone with access to any kind of public grandstand hops up on it proudly and proclaims what they believe to be the most relevant blah blah blah of blah for this year of blah. And who am I to mess with tradition? Here it is: the most significant events in Detroit (and surrounding areas) dining of 2009:
(1) Detroit Restaurant Week launches. AKA, the Best. Week. Ever. 10 days and 27,000 diners later, I'd say it was a whopping success. And I'm not just saying that so that I can secure my involvement with the next installment coming this spring. (*Ahem*) But in all seriousness, this is probably the best thing to happen to Detroit dining since...well...
(2) ME!!! Yaaaaaaaaay ME! Yes, Dining in Detroit, the little blog that could, officially "launched" in January 2009 (the archives from 2007-2008 were transferred over from a previous blog), which has opened the doors to me bombarding you from some eight different publications and counting now.
Well...technically it was launched in Dec. 2008, but we'll just go ahead and say that the "Grand Opening" was in 2009...okay? Okay, then. Don't argue with me.
(3) Mercury Coffee Bar and Zaccaro's Market both end up epic FAIL!s. After both opening with a whole lot of fanfare and hullabaloo, both closed within a matter of months due to mismanagement and a serious miscalculation of demographics. (I.e., a gourmet grocer where even everyday items are at about a 20% mark-up compared to a regular grocery store and a trendy coffee bar that charged $7.oo for a bite of grilled cheese just weren't meant to be in the middle of a recession in the city with the highest unemployment rate in the country.) C'est la vie.
(4) Michael Symon wins a James Beard Award--though it was for Cleveland's Lola, and not Detroit's Roast, which only makes it a half-win...but it's an honor just to be nominated, right? Better luck next time, Brian Polcyn.
(5) Tribute closes. Next time, just shoot off my kneecaps. It will hurt less.
(6) Detroit dining gets some national love. Pizza, burgers, BBQ, and pizza again. And thanks once again to David Landsel for name-dropping me in the New York Post...still waiting for that royalty check, B-T-dubs.
(7) Me again! :D My taco cart crawl story and my often-imitated, never-duplicated crepe story take top billing for the year for their respective publications. Boo-yah. I said BOO-YAH.
Okay. That's 7. That's enough. Because 5 is too few (then I couldn't include myself twice), and 10 is just cliche. There you have it, kids. The biggest moments in the metro Detroit dining scene, according to moi. And since this is most likely going to be the only list of its kind, that makes it the BEST list of its kind.
Until the Metro Times does their own version. Ooooohhh...
