The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

This just screams "coincidence."

Mae's in Pleasant Ridge has received approval for their long-in-the-works liquor license. There are no plans to extend their hours into dinner service, but you can bet your sweet bleary-eyed hungover ass that there will be mimosas and Bloody Marys (also a small selection of craft cocktails, wine, and Michigan beer). [Mae's FB / EID FB]

Falling Down Beer Company is officially a brewery in metro Detroit's own little beer city, Warren. [FDBC FB]

And Schramm's Mead is officially a meadery in metro Detroit's newly-annointed City of Mead, Ferndale. Or maybe it should be the City of Milk and Honey? Not sure where the milk part comes in, but it would be a nice nod to Ministry (censored version). [Schramm's FB]

In the never-ending news fodder provided by Flavor Flav's Chicken and Ribs, Flavor is now considering making the Sterling Heights restaurant a shooting location for a black Happy Days. So there's that. [Macomb Daily]

I've been yapping about metro Detroit's craft cocktail scene for a couple of years now (*cough*FIRST*cough*), but this might be the biggest happening on a national scale for Detroit's craft cocktail scene yet: Travis Fourmont of Michael Symon's Roast won Woodford Reserve's Master of the Manhattan in Manhattan, beating out mixologists from the booziest cities in the country ... INCLUDING MANHATTAN. [Woodford Reserve]

The Detroit Animal is observed by the Chicago Tribune. SLOWS BAR BQ, Green Dot Stables, ASTRO COFFEE, The Sugar House, Mercury Burger Bar, Eastern Market Corporation and etc. Thankfully, Detroiters seem to have finally reached a blissful shade of jade over these phoned-in Corktown-centric round-ups. [Chicago Tribune]

We don't really have the brightest criminals around here. (I can attest to this personally.) [HuffPo]

Detroit's most famous restaurant SLOWS BAR BQ is undergoing a much-needed expansion. The new space will be mostly separate from the main dining room, enabling them to accommodate large private parties and also allowing increased bar space for those waiting for a table. 36 added tap handles will mostly duplicate those in the main space, and Chef/Partner Brian Perrone will have a larger updated kitchen that will enable him to run more specials and beer dinners. And here's photos! (And the worst commenters in the world.) [Model D / Curbed Detroit]

Building a bagel culture takes time. So does completely renovating a historic and long-vacant building. But ground has broken on their new production facility and construction will move forward from there, so Detroit Institute of Bagels will soon be a reality in Corktown! And here's one with more puns. [Model D / Detroit News]

American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island appeared together on Food Paradise on the Travel Channel. [Detroit News]

St. Cece's Pub is now serving Sunday brunch. [SCP FB]

The Motown Winter Blast is returning again this year! And oh, hey, Dan Gilbert practically owns this now too. [Freep]

For 2013, the Detroit Bus Company is changing up their services a bit. No more weekend bar service, but new events and plans to work in more of a public transit capacity. And have you checked out their drunk tours yet? (Well. They're not ALL drunk tours. Like the church one, that definitely isn't. Though you know something, some of those church types can DRINK. Like monks? You've had Belgian beer? Super-high ABV and all made by monks. I rest my case. Jesuits too. They like the wine. I know this from my time at UDM.) [DBC Official]

Thrillist takes a first look at the recently-opened Maccabees at Midtown, and it looks pretty delicious indeed. It also looks a whole hell of a lot like the HistoricDetroit.org website. [Thrillist / EID FB]

Here's more on Winezilla - owner Ed Bosse isn't new to the wine retail game (or playing it in Ferndale for that matter), and offers affordable (and dare I say fun?) labels that also include a special bottling from L. Mawby Winery called "Ferndale Fizz." (Which if it's anything like the "Detroit" label will suck, unless you like being muscatoed in the face.) There's also a section of Michigan-made snacks, and a totally Ferndalian mural! [Ferndale 115]

And more word on new restaurants coming to Ferndale in 2013: Ferndale Public House replacing Josephine's, Zeke's R+R BBQ replacing AJ's Music Cafe, Tokyo Sushi + Thai replacing Pete's Place. [Ferndale 115]

Brew Jus, which was located in the Rust Belt Market, is shutting down, though partner Nick Schultz plans on moving forward with his own company in the future with a similar mission. Since opening, Nick's partner David Ballew has been plagued with health issues which often demanded long absences from the business, which undoubtedly played a role (among other factors) in this decision. [The Sauced Chef FB]

You know, between Urban Putt-Putt in Corktown, Drive Table Tennis Social Club, and now the new video game lounge and mobile gaming service for parties Activ8 in Ferndale, what we really need around here is MORE LASER TAG. #legendary [Ferndale Patch]

Coffee and (____) ended their pop-up run in West Village this week, but not without a bang. [C+___ FB]

The head of one of Greektown's major business families, Ted Gatzaros, passed away this week. He and his former partner, other Greektown family head Jim Papas, together created Greektown Casino. The Gatzaros family also own the Atheneum Suite Hotel, Fishbones Rhythm Kitchen Cafe, and others. His son Nico is behind The London Chop House revival.  [Crain's]

The Townsend Hotel/Rugby Grille has a new Executive Chef who is, apparently, super "into" the whole local thing. Here's hoping this means the AAA Four-Diamond-rated restaurant won't rely so much on Sysco. [Ferndale Patch]

Kilwin's in Birmingham has closed, and there's already new businesses interested in the space (as well as the former Zumba Grille space). Two years from now when I get my intense once-a-decade craving to eat a whole box of chocolate-covered pretzels, this is going to make me very sad. [B-ham Patch]

Midwest Living also digs The Root Restaurant + Bar! [Midwest Living]

Ann Arbor and beyond

Rub Pub BBQ has officially opened its third location in Ann Arbor in a spot that some say is "cursed." (Not like in a gypsy-curse-that-restored-Angel's-soul-only-to-take-it-away-again-the-moment-he-experiences-pure-happiness kind of way, but in like a no-business-can-seem-to-stay-open kind of way.) [AnnArbor.com]

New "new American" joint in A2, Vellum Restaurant, now open. [AnnArbor.com]

the (espresso) bar will reopen February 1. With shiny disco balls. [teb FB]

Ann Arbor Restaurant Week runs January 20-25 with a record 52 restaurants participating. [Freep]

So how about this: BROOKLYN is the new Brooklyn! Brooklyn Michigan, that is. Shady's Tap Room in Brooklyn will feature Michigan microbrews with signature pizzas and sandwiches. [MLive]

Beerie
~Chicagoist named Jolly Pumpkin's Noel de Calabaza their "Beer of the Week." Um, how about "Beer of Forever (except when Sobrehumano is available)"? [Chicagoist]
~Another Goose Islander leaving to start his own (as yet unnamed) brewery. [BeerPulse]
~Kinda want to go to Palm Springs anyway. Now kinda want to stay at Ace Hotel and Swim Club (it's pretty affordable too, especially in comparison to the others on this bougie beer geek hotel list). [Tablet Mag]
~Stone Brewing Company is opening a $24 million hotel across the street from Stone Brewing World Bistro + Gardens; The Brooklyn Brewery is opening a pub in downtown Stockholm. Would have been cool if they would have added Arbor Brewing Company's recent expansion into India. Dear First We Feast, can I write for you and cover non-New York things? [FWF]
~"I'm not a drunk; I just have the sniffles." The cure for the common cold? BEER! [The Drinks Business]
~Here's a little something for fans of beer, coffee, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. [FWF]

Eat It GR
~After five years and $13.5 million in sales, HopCat has proven itself. [MLive]
~One of the happiest places on earth (or at least the U.S.) is Michigan's own little Disneyland: Grand Rapids. [Forbes]
~Kalamazoo Beer Week, which coincides with the Michigan Brewer's Guild annual winter summit, is now in its third year and is bigger than ever with over 100 coordinating events. [MLive]
~The Cheese Lady's franchise expansion into GR also includes plenty of Michigan beer and wine in addition to cheeses from around the world. So basically all of life's essentials. (Except for toilet paper.) [Rapid Growth]
~Brewery Vivant got a nice spread in Beer Advocate. [BA Mag / BV FB]
~New Holland's annual Blue Sunday release party (at which they release -- oh you're good -- Blue Sunday) is this Sunday, with library tastings of past vintages of this and other special beers. [NH FB]

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

I would like to thank the news for respectfully observing the holiday and being entirely un-news. It was the hottest, wettest, sweatiest week of the year so far and many had to suffer through it without power; the only consolation was that it was a holiday week and most of us spent it in various states of drunkenness anyway. Which is really the only appropriate way to deal with such foul heat.

Seriously though, it was hot. Really hot. [Deadline Detroit / The Oracles of Facebook]

Brew Jus's space inside the Rust Belt Market has officially been approved, which means you can escape the unholy heat this weekend and suck down some saucy sliders in the comfort of indoor air conditioning. Provided Ferndale doesn't black out again. [Brew Jus FB / Ferndale Patch]

For the record, in an unofficial Facebook poll "brewery" won and I was the first to suggest it. Also all the bloggers pretty much phoned it in this week. [Curbed Detroit]

Part-time Michigander Famous Person Mario Batali makes bologna. [MLive]

Eastern Market opens on Tuesdays once again starting next week. For real though guys, it's, like, fucking ridiculous outside. [Eastern Market Corporation]

Goose Island doesn't suck. (Well, not all of its labels anyway.) And one of those that do not suck is the Bourbon County Brand Stout. Of which there will be more than twice as much available this year. In this regard I am thankful for Anheuser-Busch's acquisition of the brand. Much as I am thankful for air conditioning. [Beer Pulse]

July is officially Michigan Craft Beer Month. [Michigan Brewers Guild]

Aw hell, why not: let's hear it for corporations!!! Buffalo Wild Wings is selling official Michigan Brewers Guild commemorative glasses for Michigan Craft Beer Month all this month for only $4.  [BW3]

Bell's gets into the wine biz. Sorry guys, I told you it was gonna be a slow news week. [Beer Pulse]

GLCRCB, IFAD, "the Institute" ... call it whatever you want (just don't call it Shirley ... GET IT???), it's now open day and night for all your advanced (even intermediate) drinking needs. This place makes me hate Midtown way less. [Curbed Detroit]

In which the acronym MFPIC@D is coined. The name really is that awful. [Deadline Detroit]

The Wall Street Journal takes an interest in the Hantz Farm debacle. Apparently it was a slow news week for everyone. [WSJ]

And here's more about Corridor Sausage's new home. With photos! [Curbed Detroit]

[EID Feature] Nano Growth: Brew Jus

All photos from Brew Jus.

Brew Jus is a nano-restaurant. Not sure quite what to make of that? Neither is the health department, the city of Ferndale or Oakland County.

To these various governing bodies’ credit, they’re trying. Well … except for the health department, which kind of functions like that kid in high school who’d rat you out for smoking in the bathroom because they’re terrified of getting in trouble themselves just for having known about it even though you totally would have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for their meddling. That’s the health department. They’re not exactly the most popular of the bunch and they take their jobs very seriously. (Some would complain, but those people would also complain if they got, say, foodborne botulism from a restaurant serving unregulated food items. That is until they died from it. So let’s just, you know, keep the role of the health department in perspective here.)

Brew Jus is a brand-new “nano” restaurant operating inside (eventually) the Rust Belt Market in Ferndale. They’ve spent a lot of time and money building out a beautiful space and will be able to serve inside once they get all the proper permits and licensing and pass all the necessary inspections … all of which are taking longer than normal and changing as they go because, quite frankly, no one knows just what the hell to do with them.

See, Brew Jus is a whole new kind of business model. Not a full-blown restaurant with its own building and commercial kitchen; not a mobile vendor with its own recently-determined set of rules and regulations; not a pop-up which can skate in under someone else’s health department license so long as it is happening out of a licensed commercial kitchen. Brew Jus is none of these things.

Partner Nick Schultz admits it’s been difficult but for no other reason than that there is no precedent set for this kind of business and they’re all figuring it out as they go along. “The city has been great,” he says, but admits that “every week there has been a new obstacle.” (Most recently they had to switch from propane to natural gas, which required more construction inside the building and another inspection.) “The health department sees us as something there’s no mold for,” Nick states. Representatives from Oakland County told him that they’re having multiple meetings about him. “We’re the subject of these meetings and debates. It’s kind of flattering but also intimidating. I feel like we’re under a microscope.” He adds, “Looking back I don’t think it could have been done any differently; we’re coming against these obstacles together,” referring to the various governing bodies they’re working with.

Nick and his partner David Ballew both attended Oakland County’s FastTrac NewVenture program, a 10-week program designed for new and aspiring entrepreneurs to basically help them figure out how to run a business. “[Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson] is all about the small business,” Nick says. From the very beginning Nick and Dave have had advisors from Oakland County helping them, going to bat for them against the health department by saying, “This is a new concept; we need you to evolve.” (Which was met with, “This is a concept we don’t understand; there’s no rules for it.” Which kind of reminds me of that line from Coming to America when the King of Zamunda says, “Who am I to change the rules?” and the Queen responds with, “I thought you were the King.”)

Ultimately progress is being made and they do have a license to serve food. You can find them outside the Rust Belt Market serving sliders this weekend and Nick hopes they’ll be able to start cooking and serving inside in the beautiful space they built from scratch in early July.

Ah yes: sliders. Brew Jus seeks to redefine the relationship between food and beer with artisan sliders made with beer-inspired sauces. Nick is a chef and Dave is a brewer. “We would always have these conversations about how beer gets a bad rep in the food industry, how fancy restaurants don’t have good beer …” Nick says. [Editor’s note: I’d argue that that has already been changing for a few years now.] While attending culinary school, Nick put on a craft beer and food pairing event that received a great response, and the idea for Brew Jus really evolved from there.

Dave brews the beer and Nick makes the food. Each of their products are closely tied to one another: the beer is incorporated into the sauces used on their sliders and also into its own ice cream. Their ultimate concept is to be able to have a slider bar serving the sauces made from the beer, the ice creams made from the beer, and the beer itself: what Nick calls “the three stages of beer.” So their Cherry Wheat beer would also be used in their Angry Cherry sauce and made into a cherry wheat ice cream … long-longterm, they’d like to have these products available in stores and all color-coded in what Nick jokes is a “beer pairing for dummies!” Because both are very passionate about minimizing waste products (and there is a lot of waste in the food and beverage industry), the sauces are actually made from scratch using the spent grain from Dave’s brews.

It makes sense: Nick has been calling himself “The Sauced Chef” for a few years now (with his own blog and YouTube channel), a name that comes from his love of cooking and making sauces with alcohol. After working in the corporate world for years then getting laid off at the beginning of the economic recession, Nick took the opportunity to go back to school under the “No Worker Left Behind” program and followed his dream to go to culinary school. “I dedicated all of my time to it; I completely changed my career.” He started his official culinary career at the WAB, was part of the opening team at Toasted Oak Grill and Market in Novi (“[Chef] Steve [Grostick] took a huge risk on me”), worked VIP banquets and buffets for high rollers at Greektown Casino, and worked directly under the Executive Chef at the Detroit Zoo. He is now part of the opening team for Ferndale’s soon-to-open Local Kitchen + Bar; Local owner Rick Halberg has been incredibly accommodating and is allowing him weekends off so he can run Brew Jus. (Which is pretty much unheard of in the restaurant industry.)

Dave is also balancing another job in the meantime; a career restaurant person himself, Dave more recently got into brewing beer after he too was laid off during the recession and wanted to drink good beer but couldn’t afford it … so he started making it. They both hope that in the next year they can be running Brew Jus full-time.

“We’re very excited about brand,” Nick says. “We think we have good product … we’re hoping to make the best sliders in Ferndale!” They serve a selection of artisan sliders (larger in size than the typical “slider” and so a higher price point) as well as sides, like their potato salad made with their IPA-based mustard sauce, and will eventually add “malted” malts (made with their beer-based ice cream). They even have a vegan slider which Nick promised doesn’t suck (or your money back!).

Under construction at the Rust Belt Market.

Being inside the Rust Belt Market is something they’re also excited about. Nick sees the Rust Belt as a conduit for getting their name out and has built a very good relationship with owners Chris and Tiffany Best. “It’s so cool to be part of their market which is evolving so much,” he says. “They hand-pick their vendors [which is a huge compliment]. It’s been such a pain in the ass for them but they’ve stuck by us. We’re excited to be a part of this whole crowd, especially in Ferndale where people are very supportive of local businesses … we’re just very happy we found Chris and Tiffany.”

Nick and Dave have a lot of plans for what they’d like to see happen down the line. A contract brew with the WAB and getting their beer on tap at places like Local; a traveling slider bar with Motor City Street Eats; a late night menu outside the Rust Belt for the bar crowd; a manufacturing facility and their products on store shelves; possibly a nanobrewery at the Belt or maybe their own brewing facility … they’ve got a lot of ideas. But for now, the focus is just getting their indoor space approved and serving their sliders. “There’s so much talk about small business; it’s a buzz word,” Nick says. “But really a small business can be a nano-restaurant. It would be so cool to do this in a cost-effective but safe and healthy way.”

Despite the obstacles they’ve faced, there’s a certain satisfaction in being the FIRST to do something entirely new, and anyone who comes along after will have Brew Jus to thank for paving the way.

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

The Old Fenton Fire Hall.

 Please let someone open another upscale BBQ restaurant, please please PLEASE let someone open another upscale BBQ restaurant, pleeeeease please please ... praised be to pork, our prayers have been answered! Behold: another upscale BBQ restaurant. (This time in Chelsea.) [Concentrate]

ROYAL OAK IS GETTING A NEW SPORTS BAR. In related news, there are some fruits that simply hang too low. [Royal Oak Patch]

"Beaver slap" is a baking term. In unrelated news, VAGINA. [Chicago Tribune / Wonkette]

The owner of Ann Arbor's ethnically-approximated Mani Osteria plans on opening an ethnically-approximated Mexican restaurant next door which will serve Mexican-style "street food." One is forced to asked, at what point do we stop calling food decidedly NOT served on the street "street food"? [Concentrate]

Lots of expansion news as, it turns out, people like to drink. (Here. Here. Also here. And here.) [Beer Pulse / Midwest Wine Press / Concentrate / Metromode]

Curbed Detroit had coffee on the brain this week, specifically in Midtown. The Bottom Line Coffeehouse has been pulling an Astro but let's hope it doesn't pull a [insert name of any number of failed restaurant/market projects that got as far as putting up signage but never actually opened their doors]. And a reminder once again that landlords in Detroit often fancy themselves lords of their own fiefdoms. [Curbed Detroit]

After the Fenton DDA nixed plans to work with Michigan Brewing Company on building out the Fenton Fire Hall, Arbor Brewing Co. and the owners of Union Woodshop et. al. faced off for the space. The Fenton DDA has announced the winner and grand champeeen to be Curt Catallo and Ann Stevenson, whose most-recent success with the historic preservation and adaptive reuse project Vinsetta  Garage (and before that Union Woodshop) has demonstrated their "recipe for success" isn't just a clever pun. [Fenton Patch]

In the final chapter of the Michigan Brewing Company saga of gross mismanagement culminating in the auctioning off of the brand's assets, the Celis brand was bought back by the Celis family and will return home to Texas and MillerCoors pulled an Anheuser-Busch by acquiring the MBC label. [Lansing State Journal / EID FB]

If Frank Sinatra were alive today, he might sing about beer and sliders going together like a horse and carriage instead. Brew Jus opens inside (....errrrrrr in the general vicinity of pending further health department finagling) the Rust Belt Market. [The Oakland Press]

This time Jolly Pumpkin wins. Hard. Well, aside from the heinous packaging. [EID FB]

This will ruin everything. [USA Today Travel]

Further proof that only lobotomized Baby Boomer housewives buy Mitch Albom's snakeoil schtick. [Deadspin]