[Model D] Detroit Institute of Bagels now open in Corktown

After a long (yet worthwhile) wait, Detroit Institute of Bagels is finally open in Corktown, putting an end to Detroit's days as a bagel desert and bringing with it some much-needed breakfast bagel sandwiches, bagels and lox, and free Wi-Fi in a beautifully designed historic building on Michigan Avenue.

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[Model D] Hatch Detroit to announce 10 semifinalists for 2013 this Thursday

Detroit Institute of Bagels progress. Hatch will be developing their pocket park.

This Thursday Hatch Detroit will announce 10 semifinalists for 2013. Now in its third year, Hatch Detroit has grown from a $50,000 small business contest to a full-blown small business incubator.

Since it first launched in 2011, Hatch has completed two full rounds of contests in which the winner receives $50,000 cash as well as a host of free business services including legal, accounting, marketing and advertising, and IT support from Hatch and its partners.

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The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

Welp. Cheesecake Bistro is closed already (for "renovations;" reopening "soon"). Which surprises no one. Allegedly it's under new ownership and management, so let's hope they also have sense enough to give it a new name. [EID FB]

Campus Martius Park and Beach got its own bar and grille (check out photos here) as well as its own food vendors Mondays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. [Crain's / Thrillist / D:hive]

Is The Sugar House one of the best bars in the country? Playboy says so. [Playboy]

And on the hottest sunniest most swelteringest day, let there be bottled iced coffee from the bestest People of the Bean, Anthology Coffee. [Anthology FB]

It's Monday so again, COFFEE. Always Brewing Detroit in Grandmont Rosedale is now open! Here's some photos. The grand opening is scheduled for July 19. [Curbed]

In case you missed it:
~If you follow me on Instagram (@eatitdetroit) then you already got a teaser of this...the biggest new development happening on the Avenue of Fashion will be a huge cafe/restaurant in a century-old barn, a yoga studio, a high-end retail shop, and will also have a fantastic courtyard for drinks and events. It will open in phases over the next few years, starting with the courtyard this summer. [Model D]
~Coffee and (_______) is now open in a beautifully renovated space on Jefferson. This is their second pop-up; find out more about pastry chef Angela Foster's plans and why it's called (___). Also check out the Kung-Food dinner there this and every Friday through July 9. [Model D]

This event is Saturday! With ME! Have you bought your tickets yet? This is also kind of a second-anniversary party-thing too, because I haven't had time to put together a real one. So it's this. Official Detroit Food Experience + EID 2-Year Anniversary! Join me! [Det Bus Co]

So, who makes Michigan's best burger? The results from MLive.com are in...and will probably surprise you. [MLive]

And since we have burgers on the brain, Crain's Detroit Business's Nathan Skid talks to Iron Chef Michael Symon about his plans to open B Spot Burgers in the D. [Crain's]

Woodward Whiskey, the latest from Valentine Distilling Co., is now available! (And it's good, guys. Much like the Liberator Gin.) [Promote Michigan]

One thing I learned this week is that people get HEATED when it comes to discussions about allowing dogs in restaurants. [WILX]

Another thing I learned is that some people have no idea what the fuck I'm talking about when I refer to "session beers," but that doesn't stop them from commenting. Anyway, since session beers (DEFINED AS 4% ABV AND LOWER) are something the rest of the world has been doing well for centuries now (farmhouse ales and saisons and pilsners and kolsches and ESBs and traditional stouts and some wheat beers and so on, and not just "watered down" Budweiser, which is the American version and apparently the only other available option aside of XTREME beers), it's time for American brewers and beer bars alike to get the fuck with it already. If I can drink more in one sitting, I will spend more and stay longer. Good for you (beer bar owner and/or brewer) and good for me and good for the economy and good for America. [Red Eye]

Here's a great story on DROUGHT and the CEO, Crain's Detroit Business Twenty in Their 20s Cait James, in Metromode. [Metromode]

Restaurants are the new food trucks. [Metromode]

Meet the boys of Bailout Productions. [Model D]

Detroit's most popular patio is at Green Dot Stables, and it hasn't even opened yet. [GDS/EID FB]

Chef Luciano del Signore of Pizzeria Biga was featured in Pizza Today. [Pizza Today]

This wine country is only an hour away, very inexpensive and not yet run over with tourists. Sure, it's not Traverse City, but: all of the above. The wines are also very interesting and worth exploring (definitely not doing the same thing as the SE MI trail and certainly not the same as northern MI). [Windsor Star]

Fair Food Network is extending its Double Up Food Bucks program from farmers markets into three full-service grocery stores: Honey Bee Market, Metro Foodland, and Mike's Fresh Market. [Fair Food Network]

So you hear a lot about urban farming in Detroit. But what about the soil itself? [Model D]

Detroit Chocolat opened their first storefront on Lakeside Circle, a local chocolatier that uses and sells products from other Michigan makers like Kelly's Karamels and Germack Pistachio Co. This fourth-generation chocolatier spent a decade working for Morley. In the store you will also find products from The Popped Kernel, Cherry Republic, Better Made Snack Foods and Faygo Beverages Inc. [Macomb Daily]

Necessity is the mother of invention. This family turned unemployment into Aunt Nee's Taste of Mexico Salsa. [Metromode]

You guys, social media! This time Just Baked in Entrepreneur Magazine. [Entrepreneur]

The proposition of a new Red Wings arena (that has been reported and speculated on for forever now) has been approved by others based on its merits as a proposition and the fact that Mike Illitch has already gobbled up all the property. This $650 million sportstainment megaplex still needs county approval. You know, the same county that approved a massive jail at the entryway of downtown. [Detroit News]

Bring me more whiskey and rye! [BuzzFeed]

Ever wondered about the legality of carrying cheese on a plane? This is for you. [Wisconsin Food]

[Model D] Anthology Coffee finds a permanent home at Ponyride

Anthology Coffee's new space (still under construction.)

2011 Hatch Detroit semi-finalist Anthology Coffee is continuing to build its brand and work on a permanent café in Corktown – happy news, as just a couple of months ago it seemed like they were going to cease all operations.

In 2012 Anthology signed a lease at 2051 Rosa Parks (an office building in Corktown). After some initial efforts were made towards build-out, progress stalled for months and Anthology owner Josh Longsdorf made the decision to leave. At the same time, Anthology also fell short on an Indiegogo campaign that was meant to purchase new equipment; Longsdorf had to use that money to pay off coffee contracts he had purchased in anticipation of being fully open at 2051 months early.

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[HOT LIST] Coffee (redux)

Anthology at MoCAD.

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

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

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

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

Summer galette from Pinwheel.

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

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

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

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