The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

Gathering supplies for nuclear holocaust. 

It pays to be a high-quality, organic bakery and these places are raking in the dough. The carbohydrate empires of Zingerman's to the west and Avalon to the east are both embarking on multi-million-dollar expansions. [Crain's]

Also expanding: Rub Pub BBQ, this time into Ann Arbor. And what most people won't know is that this is actually a third location for the company. The second is in Warren on the east side. You know, that geographically imprecise sprawling land mass east of John R. [AnnArbor.com]

And let's not forget where you first heard news of Pizzeria Biga's expansion into A2 and the Root's second location in Howell. [EID]

Now open: Santorini Estiatorio in Greektown. Almost open: Acme Food Company in Hamtramck and the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Shitshow Corridor. [EID FB]

Also almost open in that geographically imprecise sprawling land mass east of John R: the Michigan By The Bottle tasting room, a partnership of six Michigan wineries that will be open for on-site tastings and events as well as retail sales. [MBTB FB]

Kowality, Kowalski, kaput. Kowalski Sausage Companies is closing up their four retail operations across metro Detroit and focusing solely on production and distribution. [Freep]

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! [Detroit Princess Riverboat FB]

Which of course means ... shopping! -_- [Hudson Cafe FB]

And drinking. [Holiday Cheer Garden Official]

Clarkston should just be renamed to "Union." Union, Michigan. This is the only way having three businesses with the word "Union" in the name in a town of only 900 people will make sense to me. So anyway, one of them has one of the 50 best cupcakes in the country. [The Daily Meal]

And in more arbitrary ranking lists, Supino Pizzeria ranks #1 for food in metro Detroit according to Zagat. Not to steal Dave Mancini's thunder but for what it's worth, these rankings are derived from user-generated survey reviews similar to Yelp or Urbanspoon. So before you question the other 9 on this list, and you will, ^that. [Freep]

In keeping with this pattern, the Sugar House's Heart of Darkness punch is featured in Tasting Table as one of the best cocktails of 2012. Get ready for a LOT of "best-of" lists, both local and national. In the words of Mortal Kombat's Shang Tsung, it has begun. [Tasting Table]

The Food Network filmed at Roma Cafe last week for a special about the oldest family-run Italian restaurants in America (Roma is Michigan's oldest). [EID FB]

Nate Skid talks to the OTHER Cooley brother about striking gold a second time in Corktown with Gold Cash Gold, a restaurant so far away from opening that you will have forgotten about this story entirely by then and will be happy to read about it all over again. [Crain's]

Ypsi's hippie tea beer Unity Vibration Living Kombucha Tea LLC is looking to expand and are trying to raise $60k via crowd-funding to get the equipment and space they need to increase production (this would include a cellar for barrel aging and a tasting room). Because it's just like, totally un-unity to get a $60,000 business loan. [AnnArbor.com]

I've gathered from Facebook that people don't really have a firm grasp as to just how many things the FDA actually regulates, what their purpose as a federal agency actually is, and why it is in fact completely insane that energy drinks are not also regulated by them. I say this as someone who for the most part is against the all-encompassing reach of federal helicopter agencies as well as someone who really just doesn't feel 13 deaths are significant and also understands that there is probably a complete failure to prove a direct causality in any of these deaths which were most likely caused by pre-existing conditions merely exacerbated by the energy drinks. So, you know, wrap your head around THAT. [Deadline]

Metro Detroiters are a bunch of fucking savages. Fat savages, at that. [DetNews]

In Beerie news, Founders will release four new beers in 2013 (maybe not NEW new though) and John Hall has stepped down as the CEO of Goose Island, which means craft beer drinkers are wringing their hands even harder than ever at AB InBev's buyout of the brand. [Beer Pulse / Chicagoist]

~And in Eat It GR, construction on the city's 130,000 square foot year-round indoor Downtown Market is well underway. This $30 million project is expected to draw about 500,000 visitors annually. Then the NY Times gets all, "OMG you guys, Grand Rapids is, like, awesome," because it totally is. [NY Times]

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

Too bad for her she wasn't talking about pumpkin beers.

And here is the Martha Stewart Living story on Corktown. It is all of the usual suspects which is out of necessity as Nemo's and Casey's don't quite have that trendy hipster-twee vibe that these national glossies gun for. Other cities need to learn from Detroit that five businesses equals urban renewal because then we could, like, renew the SHIT out of the rest of the country. [Martha Stewart Living]

The Ooties Re-booties: the space that was supposed to be Ooties is now going to be called Acme Food Company, which despite sounding like a slaughterhouse will actually also be a breakfast/lunch joint. [Curbed Detroit]

Slows was the Biggest Loser on the Travel Channel's "Best Sandwich in America" after bringing chicken to a pork fight. Regardless they still made it to the top three and now the wait to get a seat there is even longer. Yes, apparently that was possible. [Det News]

Someone wants to build an urban winery on Belle Isle. This is of course something that people should get really mad about. Oh, Detroit... [MLive]

Maria's Comida closed on Saturday but the owners will continue to produce Maria's House Made Salsa and sauces. And if I hadn't flitted off on the Mille Mitten excursion at the last possible minute you would be able to read a feature on that but now you're just going to have to wait. [Maria's FB / EID FB]

Gastronomy opened in Southfield and it's pretty freakin' phenomenal. (Lunch only until they get their liquor license.) [Thrillist / EID FB]

Dan Carmody: Detroit's REAL hero named Dan. [Friend of the Farmer]

Ye Olde Butcher Shop is still opening at some point??? [McClure's Pickles FB]

You all love people who hate on the Dream Cruise, apparently. [Magic Bag FB / EID FB]

Most businesses apparently do too, as the Cruise consistently proves to be more bane than boon. [Crain's]

TIME called us fat. [TIME]

Ohhhhhhhhhh wait, we are. [CDC / Books + Review]

Say nice things about Detroit! [Freep]

OR ELSE. [Positive Detroit]

Sour beer: IT'S THE NEXT THING. [Wall Street Journal]

They're heeeeeee-re...Oktoberfest and pumpkin beers are rapidly hitting shelves already. [EID FB]

As my western beerrespondent notes, "Local government planners continue planning the shit out of Jolly Pumpkin, but any progress is good, eh?" [Dexter Patch / All the Brews Fit to Pint FB]

Germans drink beer by the litre, therefore Germans win. German Park sounds like a party. [Concentrate]

Scott at Treat Dreams also knows how to win at things. [MLive]

Ronin turned five and made some infused sake to celebrate. [Ronin FB]

Grand Traverse Distillery now makes a cherry-flavored whiskey and it seems like you guys are into it. [EID FB / Promote Michigan FB]

Detroit's Wolverine Packing Company supplies six of the 10 top burgers in the country. That shit cray. [Model D]

Turns out Groupon's business model of exponential growth in perpetuity wasn't actually realistic. Who knew? [Slate]

So Obama's pretty much the coolest. Since people tend to vote on the most arbitrary and inane subjects anyway, this should be one of them. [USA Today]

But I still want to be Jon Stewart when I grow up. [Eater]

There's a lot of self-important Chicagoan smarm to trudge through here, but ultimately Grand Rapids's awesomeness wins. Beer City USA tie city Grand Rapids gets acknowledged by a Chicago travel writer; it continues on to a page 2 for which you need to sign up in order to read which I'm not doing because fuck Chicago. [Chicago Tribune]

And last week's Internet winner is this. [Gawker]