The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

OVER IT. *snap snap* 

ICYMI:
~IT'S MOTHERFUCKING BEER WEEK, YO. [DBW / EID]
~Several Detroit businesses, including Hacienda Mexican Foods, foodjunky, and Detroit Mini Donut, are in the running for a $250,000 Chase Mission Main Street grant. They have to reach 250 public votes by November 15 to be considered for one of 12 available grants by the panel of top business professionals, so help them out with a quick vote. [EID]
-You could save your life a lot of time by checking in with my weekly events round-up to see what cool stuff is coming up. [EID]
-With the chilly weather, the fall foliage, and Halloween fast approaching, it's time to hit your favorite cider mill while it's the peak season! And these are the best ones out there. Also, it is now officially official: Blake's Hard Cider Co. cider house and winery is now open for business! [EID]
-And let's not forget The Dexter Cider Mill, the oldest continuously-operating cider mill in the state of Michigan. [EID]

THIS JUST IN: You are all officially over Slows. So 2010 called and wants its listicle back. Travel + Leisure names SLOWS BAR BQ one of the best mac + cheeses in America, begging the question: IS it though? Is it REALLY? Is it even the best in Detroit at this point? Or metro Detroit if you have to be snippy about the arbitrary 8 Mile border? And what did you say? In a word, no. [T+L / EID FB]

Everyone's trying to Make Detroit Happen. [WXYZ]

Bourdain promises to show people a Detroit they've never seen before. So, POP-UPS! [MLive]

Our very own Joe Robinson of Bailout Productions won first in the nation on Thrillist's search for the best Bloody Mary! Next he will be going to New York to do a Food Network Chopped brunch and compete for the title of America's Best Bloody. Congrats, Joe! I think this calls for a Bailout Bloody Brunch pop-up somewheres! (Green Dot Stables mayhaps?) [Thrillist]

The 5-month-long process has finally come to an end: Detroit City Distillery has been approved by the city of Detroit! They expect to open sometime in 2014 in Eastern Market. Read more about them here. [DCD FB / Metromode]

Great Lakes Coffee in Midtown now has a beer and wine to go license. [GLC FB]

The government shutdown affected not just Batch Brewery but every single brewery (both those trying to get licensing as well as ANY new product for distribution) in the country. [MLive]

Oh hey, Rock City Eatery gets some love from Thrillist, including their selection of Michigan craft beers from breweries like Dark Horse Brewing Co. and New Holland Brewing Co. AND that soon-to-be-be-famous mac and cheese in a parmesan bowl. [Thrillist]

B. Nektar Meadery is having one HELL of a Devil's Night release party. [B. Nektar]

The Woodward Hall beer hall popped up during the Tigers home ALCS serving beer from Michigan breweries. The Tigers are done but is the beer hall? Or will they come back for other special events in the future? (Indoor beer halls sure are better than outdoor ones what with their indoor plumbing and freedom from the tyranny of Michigan weather.) [Woodward Hall FB]

Marcus Market in Midtown got one hell of an exterior overhaul from the same folks behind the La Feria facade. Marcus Market, you are now officially a part of the Detroit Design District at Cass and Canfield! [EID FB]

THIS guy. (Tunde, that is.) Detroit News gives some love to Revolver and chats with co-owner Tunde Wey, a Detroit personality, if you will. (And you will.) [Detroit News]

Progress is progressing at downtown's Bagger Dave's. [Det Reg News Hub]

Here's a nice feetch on MotorCity Wine. [Metro Times]

The pastry chef's name is actually Kevin, not Eric (as originally printed), but otherwise a fitting review for the stellar The Stand Gastro Bistro. [Detroit News]

Hiller's Markets are taking some cues from Papa Joe's Gourmet Market and Whole Foods Market Ann Arbor getting all fancified. [Crain's]

According to the Metro Times, these are the best bars in greater metro Detroit. [MT]

The new 7-Eleven is looking quite a bit a lot Whole Foods-y. [Design Taxi]

National Pizza Month

Gizmodo has publishing this *AMAZING* pizza map showing where the closest pizza chains within a 10-mile radius are anywhere in the United States. Take a look at the full map on top - Michigan bleeds orange for Little Caesars. [Gizmodo]

The pizza cocktail now exists. (To be fair, despite the name that promises something wacky and potentially disgusting, it's basically a riff on a Bloody Mary with better marketing. But that doesn't make for a good Buzzfeed story.) [Buzzfeed]

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

ICYMI:
~Detroit Restaurant Week has announced the lineup for the fall edition happening next month; new this year is a DRW series of the popular pop-up Guns + Butter being held at Shinola Store Detroit, but the reservations won't come easy. [EID / Crain's]
~No reservations? (And I'm not talking about the Bourdain show here, but he was indeed at Guns + Butter once IN CASE YOU FORGOT.) The first-ever #DineDrinkDetroit will happen October 7-13, featuring a combination of food and drink at 13 independently-owned Detroit restaurants for only $15, no reservations needed. It's kind of the un-DRW. [EID]

Dilla's Delights doughnut and coffee shop will open in Harmonie Park this fall in honor of the late Detroit producer J Dilla. There is a rap crossover joke in here. Also one about rappers making money long after death. Did 2Pac like tacos? I would really like to see 2 Pacos Tacos also happen. [Detroit News]

Dally in the Alley is happening next weekend. [Dally FB]

Check out the Batata Shop at Germack Coffee during Eastern Market Tuesdays through October. [TBS FB]

Kate Daughdrill - artist and farmer who was one of the founders of Detroit SOUP and more recently of The Edible Hut in Detroit's Osborn neighborhood - is also behind Burnside Farm in "Banglatown," a place where art and agriculture intersect. [UIX]

The new Firebird Tavern is a gorgeous space with good high-quality bar food (check out the menu and the dill pickle wings) and very friendly staff. Located right in Greektown by Old Shillelagh, perfect for pre-/post-gaming. From the former owners of Pulse. [EID FB / DBusiness]

Zagat has once again named their "50 states, 50 sandwiches," choosing the pasty for Michigan. Now, Detroiters might instinctively think it should be corned beef, what with because of ALL of the corned beef, but that's more of a (metro)*Detroit* thing. For the state of Michigan as a whole, the pasty (which is so much more than just a sandwich - it is a full meal in a beautiful buttery crust easy to carry and eat and brilliant in its simplicity) makes more sense. Though it is perhaps more closely related to the pie than the sandwich. Maybe it is a sandwich pie? [Zagat]

Food + Wine names the coolest crowd-funded projects in the country. Among them is our own Drought. Check them out at Shinola Store Detroit! [F+W]

Tommy's Bar is another local bar that served as a blind pig during Prohibition (with archeological evidence to prove it). [Detroit News]

Get punchy at The Oakland or The Sugar House, or do it yourself at home with these recipes. [Detroit News]

Luxe Secondsies. (Now open in GP.) [Detroit News]

Is our collective self-esteem really so low that we need constant validation from poorly-written copy+paste "travel blogs"? Because here is another one. [Roam Right]

Beerie
~Check out the new website for Detroit Beer Week; events and venue details coming soon! [DBW]

~MLive is now on the hunt for Michigan's best brewery. This should be interesting. [MLive]

~Batch won Hatch, and another pile of free money. Here's a story that dates back to their first pile of free money. [Real Detroit]

~Warren's Falling Down Beer Company is getting a much-needed facelift and ditching the old Big Boy booths. [FDBC FB]

~A freak accident rocked the craft beer world this week as fellow brewers mourn the loss of Matt Courtright, who got his start in professional brewing at Liberty Street Brewing Co here in Plymouth. [BeerPulse]

~To celebrate their launch in Michigan, The Bruery (i.e., one of my favorite not-Michigan breweries) is running an Instagram contest through Sept. 10. Click on the link for details and try to find some Russian stacking dolls. (Click on the link, it will make sense.) [The Bruery Official]

Misc.
~Meanwhile in the rest of the world... [Reuters]

~The takeaway here: #putaneggonit [First We Feast]

[Real Detroit Weekly] Batch Brewing

Detroit's hottest 'hood already has an artisan craft cocktail bar, an artisan craft coffee house and an artisan craft BBQ and beer joint. What more could it need?

A brewery!

A nanobrewery, at that.

An artisan craft nanobrewery, specifically.

Batch Brewing Company has grand plans of opening in Corktown this summer and will fill that artisan craft nanobrewery void with their homemade nanobrews. They would also be the first-ever nanobrewery in the city of Detroit.

Read more.

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

The children of Quickenstan will now be well-caffienated, and there's also robots to hold their attention because you cannot possibly spend the bulk of your waking hours inside of a seizure-inducing Dan Gilbert building without being easily susceptible to stimuli. [Deadline / Curbed Detroit]

Greektown Casino has a new fine dining restaurant, a new food court, and an inexplicable obsession with the letter "z." With Design Disaster Dapper Dan making a bid for a controlling interest in the casino, these changes are probably just a glimmer of what's to come. [Model D]

Maccabee's at Midtown opened quietly but has gained huge buzz fast. Here's a bit more info on the owner and how he came around to opening Midtown's newest hotspot. [Model D]

Grace of India Restaurant is opening soon in Midtown! And judging by the tremendous buzz this one photo received on Facebook, this place can't possibly fail because apparently EVERYONE IN DETROIT is madly clamoring for Indian food. [EID FB]

Baconfest Michigan tickets are now on sale and we're selling through them fast (one-third of available tickets went in the first day). Get them NOW! [Thrillist / EID FB]

The Oxford Inn is going to re-brand as a cowboy/country western bar, in answer to that burning question, "Just HOW could Royal Oak get any douchier?" This is how. [RO Patch]

A "refined Spanish, Asian and French" fusion restaurant offering a "chic, luxurious experience you won't find elsewhere in the city" with a "curated" audience that isn't just "cashing in on suburbanites" that also has the same name as a famous Rick Bayless restaurant but is not named after it. I'm just quoting the story here, people. [Det News]

St. Cece's Pub is now serving Saturday brunch. I, for one, am very excited by the prospects of this new Saturday brunch trend I'm seeing emerge. [St. Cece's FB]

Mae's now has new hours which should pair nicely with their new liquor license once they get the blessing from the Most High Exalted MLCC. [Mae's FB]

Ann Perrault of the hugely successful triple-bottom-line business Avalon Breads speaks about what success really means to her. [UIX]

The Valentine Distillery has now released their new Liberator Gin! And it's really freakin' good, guys. [Valentine FB]

Sometimes the best news leads come from job postings. Holiday Market will be expanding their catering and prepared foods operations to include some serious barbecue and are looking for a bonafide pit master. Detroit BBQ City. [Monster]

This year's Motown Winter Blast has some new features including a S'more Happy Hour, a hockey shot competition and even a visit from the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan's cookie van. [MLive]

Whole Foods! Food desert! Urban farming! Artisan food producers! This story has it all! [Bridge MI]

Is it wrong of me that I do not consider this to be a completely outlandish solution? Because we've certainly seen worse recently. [Deadline]

Beerie

Batch Brewing is trying to Indiegogo themselves into existence in Corktown. Vote "yes" for this nanobrewery with your dollars here. [Batch Brewing FB / Indiegogo]

Wolverine State Brewing Co. is expanding, doubling their brewing capacity. [Promote Michigan]

51 North Brewing is now open in Lake Orion. [MittenBew]

Clarkston Union Bar + Kitchen, Champane's Wine Cellars in Warren, HopCat, Founders Brewing Co., Kalamazoo Beer Exchange, and Siciliano's Market (Grand Rapids) all made the Ratebeer Best of 2013 list of top retailers by state. [RateBeer]

Bell's Brewery is one of several partner breweries working with Ashley's Ann Arbor on a special brew celebrating the nationally-acclaimed beer bar's 30th anniversary. This release will ONLY be available at Ashley's A2 and Ashley's Westland. They're working with a new brewery each month for this whole year so stay tuned! [Beer Pulse]

Thing status: achieved. Wheat wines (okay so technically I said barleywines would be the next big thing but I clump wheat wines in the same general category) are officially A Thing, thanks to Imbibe Magazine. (Shout out to New Holland Brewing Co. for their Pilgrim's Dole!) [Imbibe]

Random
~This brings a whole new meaning to the term "food porn." [FWF]

~Well. Here's a good reason to not drunken Facebook. Or to just not be in PR. [some blahg]