The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

St. Cece's Pub is slowly inching towards full-time lunch service. We're now up to Thursday through Saturday 11am-5pm! [St. Cece's FB]

Mae's is now serving Bloody Mary's and mimosas! [Mae's FB]

But Bella Piatti is not. Birmingham says, "This aggression will not stand" to new owners of Bella Piatti, currently seeking a liquor license transfer but denied due to their own operational history of MLCC violations. [Downtown Publications]

Michigan's growing spirits industry is helping boost craft culture culture. Or vice versa. Or both. We're dealing with a chicken/egg kind of situation here. [Michigan Radio]

More expansion news for Atwater Brewery. [Model D]

In case you missed it:
~Here is your Movement guide to restaurants and bars within walking distance of Hart Plaza. [EID]
~Another post-pop-up success story: Always Brewing Detroit will open permanently in their previous winter pop-up location in Grandmont Rosedale later this month. [Model D]
~"Meat tastes like murder, and murder tastes f@#%ing good" - so says Denis Leary, and so says this week's feature in Metromode. [Metromode]

Prediction: gas station food will be the new food trucks. As in, an offshoot variety of restaurant previously dismissed based on the nature of its location/identity (roach coaches, GAS STATION FOOD) now being embraced by "#foodies" as the new adventurous culinary frontier. Won't this be fun. Maybe there could even be a #tweetup. !!!! #gasstationfoodies [Detroit News]

This one blows my mind. A collection of "food trucks" under one roof that are not in fact mobile can just go ahead and be called a food court, what with "truck" sort of being the operative word there. At some point, things stop being trucks. Is this meta? I don't even know. [Berkley Patch]

Sweet Potato Sensations has been in business since 1987 on Detroit's Northwest side. Read about this second-generation family-owned business in Urban Innovation Exchange. [UIX]

August 13 is confirmed as opening day of Michigan's first The Cheesecake Factory. Let's start planning! [Crain's]

Guess which city has one of the best baseball stadiums for craft beer??? (Hint: IT'S IN THE NAME OF THIS FACEBOOK BLOG.) [Daily Meal]

IS SYLVIA RECTOR SLAGGING ON BACONFEST?????? Eh, can't actually say I disagree with her. Good story on Zingerman's Camp Bacon. [Freep]

SkyBar and Lounge (the ground floor portion) is remodeled and reopened, debuting their new Alpha stage in partnership with WDET. [Deadline / SkyBar FB]

Looks like the Oxford Inn will not go through with the country-western changes originally planned (and also looks like those plans were never quite as dramatic as it sounded). [Royal Oak Patch]

The Avenue of Fashion is getting some buzz this week ... among the many things happening here is a new neighborhood-focused Detroit SOUP. [Crain's]

And here is an excellent, thoughtfully-written story about what's happening at the Avenue of Fashion now, what's in store for the near future, and how this might be Detroit's next corridor to see major investment. [Model D]

Midtown's Whole Foods Market Detroit is a development plan 15 years in the making. [Freep]

And now, a history lesson from Curbed Detroit. We all know and love Eastern Market Corporation - but did you know there was once a Western Market? True story. We plowed it over for a highway. USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! [Curbed]

Many, many Michigan chefs were included in the 2013 Best Chefs America list including James from The Root Restaurant and Bar, Dave from Supino Pizzeria, Christian from Brizola, Paul from Cuisine, Brian from Forest Grill, Chris from The Rattlesnake, Luciano from Bacco Ristorante, Andy from Michael Symon's Roast - Detroit, Eve from Frita Batidos, Brandon from Grange Kitchen and Bar, Alex from Zingerman's Roadhouse, and soooooo many more. Congratulations to all of them! [Best Chefs America]

In other examples of national recognition for a Michigan chef ... sooooooo the chef at Vellum in Ann Arbor was nominated for Eater's Young Guns. Which is cool! Though I just idly and for no particular reason am curious as to what exactly the whole selection process entailed, which (if any) other Michigan chefs were nominated but not included, and whether Daniel Boulud actually took the time to travel to Ann Arbor and dine at the restaurant or if this whole thing was based on submitted bios selected from behind a Manhattan desk? Just out of professional journalistic curiosity. [Eater]

New winery, Hawthorne Vineyards, now open on Old Mission Peninsula! And so there were eight. Must go right now. Because....because. [Detroit News]

Random

Japan is weird. [Death + Taxes]

The future is now. [Pizza Today]

Thrillist has an excellent selection of Arrested Development-themed drinks. Just don't let the vodka go bad -- that would be a huge mistake. [Thrillist]

Beerie

Can we all agree that "beerfests" have jumped the Land Shark? [Palace Net]

Fox News names these your go-to summer BBQ beers; Founders Brewing Co. All Day IPA is among them. [Fox News]

Is Hopslam the best Imperial IPA IN THE WORLD? The fine folks at DRAFT Magazine think it's among them. [DRAFT]

PBR now costs the same as many craft beers (thanks to goddamn dirty hipsters). Which means now there is absolutely no excuse to drink any of this, unless of course it's your ONLY option *or* you're trying not to get hammered on a high ABV craft beer, which is the by and large majority of them (6%ABV does not a session beer make) ... No one wins here, guys. Can we hit the "reset" button and try this again, only do it right this time? #AMERICA #FUCKYEAH [HuffPo]

Buffalo Wild Wings will have a signature beer called "Game Changer" contract brewed by Redhook Ale Brewery. In that it is a pale ale clocking in at a respectable, session-appropriate ABV of 4.6%, it might ACTUALLY be a game changer. Ah, but Redhook is an AB-InBev brand now - let the hand-wringing begin! #America. [CNBC]

The Grey Lady says saisons might be the perfect summer beer. For a publication that only recently begrudgingly began to pay attention to craft beer, finally realizing that it was not in fact going away, they sure did nail this one. Jolly Pumpkin FTW! [NY Times]

Wonder who's going to contract brew the "Duff Beer." [BeerPulse]

[Metromode] A New Breed of Restaurateur Pt. 2

Bastone. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg. 

The days of metro Detroit's restaurant empires are over. The latest breed of successful restaurateur is anti-corporate and anti-chain. They create unique businesses in unique spaces, care about people and preservation, and even managed to open some of Metro Detroit's most successful restaurants in the midst of the economic downturn.

Read more.

This is part two of a two-part series. This half focuses on Jon Carlson and Greg Lobdell, the development duo behind such popular metro Detroit spots as Bastone and Jolly Pumpkin Brewery and Cafe; and Mindy Lopus, owner of Tallulah and Bella Piatti in Birmingham, who is opening three new concepts in Grosse Pointe Park. Read part one here.

[HOT LIST] FOOD! DETROIT! THE BEST YEAR EVER! [2011 edition]

Brooklyn Corktown (photo by Nicole Rupersburg)

#1 DETROIT IS THE NEW BROOKLYN.
The natives got their feather hair extensions ruffled over that one, then continued to make it true. The Tashmoo Biergarten was probably the most-lauded example of this, and then there were all the DIY artisan food producers like Detroit Institute of Bagels, Suddenly Sauer, Pete's Chocolate Co., so on and so forth. Also pop-up uhhhhhhhh...restaurants? I guess? Well, anyway, restaurant owners let other would-be chefs, food producers and restaurateurs use their kitchens, as was the case with Neighborhood Noodle popping up at Supino Pizzeria once-monthly on Mondays, Pie-Sci working out of Woodbridge Pub on Sundays, and Traffic Jam and Snug being the commercial kitchen home of Perkins Pickles.

But who started the meme? ME. ME. I DID. IT WAS ME.

Er, sort of.

In a Twitter post dated June 9, 2011, I wrote: "Corktown is to Detroit what Brooklyn was to New York in the '90s." (With a link to this story in the New York Post, written by moi.)

To which Dave Gasparovich (who hails from, predictably, Chicago) was all, "WAAAAAAAAAAAH, I hate you, you're stupid."

OH YEAH, DAVE? WHO'S LAUGHING NOW, HUH?

Let's follow the meme a bit, shall we?

June 13, 2011: New York Post: The new Detroit cool 
Note: Actually it ran on June 8; not sure why the discrepancy but this is relevant when referencing my Twitter post on June 9.
Hostel Detroit, Pink FlaminGO!, Slows, Astro, Sugar House, Le Petit Zinc, Detroit Institute of Bagels, Mercury Burger Bar, Roosevelt Park ... all the bases were covered and "Brooklyn" was alluded to (especially obvious to a New York audience). This piece was followed shortly after by this in the New York Times, which many attribute as being the origin point of the "Detroit is the new Brooklyn" meme. But in reality, nowhere in this story is the Detroit/Brooklyn comparison made, or even hinted at; they actually went with the vastly less popular "Detroit is the new Berlin" meme. (Also true; not the point.) Also TriBeCa, in a quote. Please note, TriBeCa is not in Brooklyn. Nor was TriBeCa ever in its very worst days even a tenth as dumpy as Detroit. And if we're being really real here, if Corktown is Detroit's Brooklyn the rest of Detroit is not Manhattan, it's the Bronx.

July 1, 2011: New York Times: Detroit Pushes Back with Young Muscles
Detroit is lifted in parties, pictures and positive discourse. (Also see above.)

Then, a meme is born:

July 7, 2011: PBS: Is Detroit the new Brooklyn?
There, now it's out there, in no uncertain terms. Stated in the form of a question lessons the authority of the claim a bit, but that didn't stop this meme-train from reaching epic proportions.

The self-appointed guardians of the city's image then chimed in on the subject:

July 12, July 26 and August 9, Model D (and here, and here).
July 21, NPR.
August, 7STOPS (A navel-gazey blog by a blank-slater who insists it's about more than just the blank-slating, and the origin point of "Detroit is the new Detroit." Cute.)
August 15, MLive.
September 26, Curbed Detroit.

Now this was mostly a summer thing, and any remnant of its relevance was pretty much lost with that whole HuffPo hullabaloo. (In which half a dozen bloggers argued via multiple back-and-forth huffy-puffy blog posts over the right of anyone's claim to the city if they don't actually live there, and whether or not the city needs the suburbanites anyway. Seriously. This is a conversation that actually happened.) Except that .... nyooooope, still going strong well into November:

November 11, Crain's Detroit Business.

And finally:

November 21, 2011: MLive: Detroit Cliche Watchdog: Let's just go ahead and change the name of the city to Brooklyn
Could we? Brooklyn sounds nicer. A tree grows, and all.

Now we just need our very own hot hipster butchers, like what they have in Brooklyn. (But but but ... can ours be hot plz?) Then the circle will be complete.


#2 FERNDALE SAYS TO DETROIT, "ANYTHING YOU CAN DO I CAN DO BETTER."

Red Hook (photo by David Landsel)

Heh ... it's funny 'cuz it's true. Curbed Detroit mentioned this in their Corktown versus Ferndale Curbed Cup neighborhood showdown, but we can even look at this on a larger scale. After some particularly Cooley-centric coverage in 2010, Slows stopped "hogging" the media spotlight (get it?) in 2011, though Corktown continued to do so.

Old-timey craft cocktail bar the Sugar House opened in Corktown. Ferndale answered directly with the Oakland Art Novelty Company, and a little less directly with the Valentine Vodka cocktail bar and the Italian-themed Torino Espresso + Bar. Astro Coffee also opened on that same block of Michigan Ave. that is home to Slows and Sugar House (question: WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU PARK). Ferndale fired back with Red Hook, which also resuscitated our favorite fallen bakery, Pinwheel Bakery. And, again, Torino Espresso + Bar.  Detroit had a whole bunch of pop-up retail happenings; Ferndale opened the Rust Belt Market.

And the competition continues as we barrel into the new year with Sean Harrington's Hot Taco (on Park Ave., next to Centaur) in a neck-and-neck race with Woodward Imperial (another taco joint with a fancy sign). What Ferndale did NOT get, however, was a hostel or a B+B. (*fingers tapping*)

Mussels Provencale at Joe Muer Seafood.

#3 HOLLYWOOD ISN'T THE ONLY ONE REBOOTING OLD FRANCHISES.
Last year at about this time I wrote about the London Chop House reopening soon. Well, it still hasn't opened yet, but perhaps we'll see it before the Mayan apocalypse of 2012. Whether or not that corpse is worth digging up, spritzing with perfume and making it dance around like Bernie on a bender, only time (and probably a lot more of it, knowing how things tend to work in Detroit) will tell.

But 2011 did see another storied Detroit establishment revived: Joe Muer Seafood opened in the former Seldom Blues spot in the Renaissance Center as a partnership between Joe Muer, grandson of Joseph Muer Jr. who opened the original location in Eastern Market in 1929 (it closed in 1988 after nearly 60 years in business), and Joe Vicari of the Andiamo Restaurant Group (which have been opening Rojo Mexican Bistros like Taco Bells lately), after what was rumored to be a high-profile bidding war between the Vicaris and Matt Prentice for that primo locale. And after much restructuring over the last two years, the Matt Prentice Restaurant Group is poised for a huge comeback of its own next year with Gastronomy.

#TooOldForFrostedTips

#4 THE FOOD NETWORK REALLY, REALLY LOVES DETROIT. (REALLY.)
In a seemingly endless stream of clips that aired on the Food Network this year featuring metro Detroit restaurants (because when WE say "Detroit," we mean metro Detroit and so should you THE END ... seriously, it went on for days), the loud, frosted-tipped Guy Fieri visited Union Woodshop and Clarkston Union, Traffic Jam and Snug, Supino Pizzeria ... and possibly more? Or no? Idk, I felt like there was a new episode premiering every damn week LONG after the point that I thought they had all aired already. Also, the short bald-headed one came into town and loved Supino too.

6,955 monthly active users as of Dec. 6. Aww, I wuv u 2!

#5 EAT IT DETROIT WAS BORN.
Really shoulda been #1, I know, but I'm super-modest. Dining in Detroit was re-named and re-branded with a whole new focus and a facelift (hey, I know I'm no spring chicken anymore), resulting in the in-your-face Eat It Detroit. And you like it; you really like it!

Bella Piatti (photo by Nicole Rupersburg)

No, but seriously, #5: BIRMINGHAM STOPPED SUCKING SO HARD.
First Commonwealth opened and it was LAFS. Sure, it's only open for breakfast and (late) lunch, but they roast all their beans in-house and serve chef-prepared foods and all of their products are ethically-sourced. Truth be told, it feels a little out of place in Birmingham for all its emphasis on quality and sustainability, but it's about damned time.

Then Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro hired on Executive Chef Daniel Campbell who gave the menu a much-needed revamping, then Tallulah owner Mindy Vanhellemont opened a second restaurant in Birmingham called Bella Piatti which Campbell also oversees. You know how restaurants tend to need a couple of months to gain their footing before you can really give them a fair assessment? Bella Piatti was firing hard on all cylinders only a month into their opening, and is more than a welcome addition to Birmingham's dining scene: it is a welcome addition to the dining scene of the whole of metro Detroit, a farm-to-table restaurant using Michigan products with an Italian emphasis (basically, it's SW MI's answer to Trattoria Stella).

Not all new openings showed as much promise, but at the very least, in the swamp that is Birmingham's overpriced and underwhelming dining scene populated by flashy restaurants with mediocre food, these little bright points of light give hope to the city that has been alternatively known as "Boringham."