The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

New Belgium's Fat Tire. Photo courtesy of mL. in Birmingham.

After months (and really years) of whispers, it's finally official: Supino Pizzeria owner Dave Mancini has signed a lease for the space formerly occupied by Taste of Ethiopia. He won't be expanding Supino but will instead be opening a new restaurant serving tapas and braised meats and finally putting his liquor license to use. This announcement comes just in time for Supino's four-year anniversary this month. [Freep]

Ah, a Greek restaurant in Greektown. How novel. The Papases will be expanding the space and re-opening Mosaic (which closed earlier this month) as some really long Greek name no one will ever remember or correctly spell. Look for it late Sept. [Det News]

The owners of Russell Street Deli will open Topsoil this fall in the Auburn, a new mixed-use building in Midtown. This new venture will offer fast vegetarian and vegan cuisine and will carry on the same sustainable traditions of the Deli. Also, things I didn't see coming: veganism becoming A Thing in Detroit. [HuffPo Detroit]

Like, so much of A Thing there is yet another vegan concept that made the top 10 semifinalists for this season of Hatch Detroit. Which is all well and good but I am putting the entirety of my almighty vote-persuading force behind Rock City Pies, and not just because Nikita Santches looks like Justin Timberlake. [Hatch]

Famous person does something; public reacts. [WXYZ]

The Whitney axes half of their staff and debuts a new menu and new hours in an effort to reclaim their once-iconic position as the grande dame of Detroit's dining scene now that everyone loves Detroit so much. [Crain's]

Here's a fun game: next time you're in public yell, "Belle Isle winery!" and listen to everyone go "RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!!!!!" [MLive]

A Whole Foods Detroit update: there is concrete. [WFD FB]

Stella is getting a facelift courtesy of Reclaim Detroit. [Model D]

More on the drama around Mudgie's would-be liquor license and also a Chekhov's Gun FAIL. (Maybe don't lead with "Mudge would just as soon let people bring in their own beer and wine. But he found out it was illegal." bit unless the MLCC's prohibitive liquor laws were the focus of the story because it implies an in-depth, researched look at the reasons WHY it is illegal, then never delivers. Besides, it's not exactly a secret and many other Detroit restaurants have been busted for allowing BYOB when they shouldn't have, so if anything this just makes Mudge sound oblivious.) [MLive]

Matt Prentice's latest impulse-opening venture Detroit Prime is now open and he plans on making it a chain. [Thrillist / EID]

The team behind Jolly Pumpkin -- aka my heroes -- debuted Lena and the new Cafe Habana in Ann Arbor this week. [AnnArbor.com]

The biggest thing to happen in beer this week: New Belgium Brewing Co. hit Michigan shelves. [Oakland Press]

The second biggest thing to happen in beer this week: Brewery Vivant's collaboration with New Belgium, Escoffier, hit shelves in extremely limited release. (Thankfully, I have beer friends). [MLive]

The third biggest thing to happen in beer this week: oh hey, did you guys know I write for the New York Post? Because I totally do. And I took my fawning over Jolly Pumpkin's Sobrehumano to that much larger platform. [New York Post]

The fourth biggest thing to happen in beer this week: Fox News drank every single beer in THE WORLD and named Jolly Pumpkin's Bam Bierre one of the 10 best. [Fox News]

The fifth biggest news to happen in beer this week: the completion of the installation of nearly $345,000 worth of energy-efficient equipment at Arbor Brewing Company and Corner Brewery was completed this week, making these Michigan's first solar breweries. [AnnArbor.com]

Okay, so this was really just A Very Beerie Week. The Michigan Brewers Guild U.P. Fall Beer Festival is next weekend. BTW, it's all about the U.P. right now, in case you didn't know. [UP Second Wave]

Beards Brewery has opened in Petoskey. And yes, this is the best name for a brewery ever in the history of brewing. [NW MI Second Wave]

According to Imbibe, the world's most cultish beers include Founders' KBS and CBS. Also I have a bottle of 2012 KBS I will sell to you for $50, because I am very generous. [Imbibe]

Another "media outlet" re-hashes Mario Batali's list of favorite places in the Traverse City/Leelanau area. I hope he's getting royalties on these. [Zagat]

Speaking of Batali, earlier this week he ate at Mani Osteria in Ann Arbor and Tweeted that he, like, totally loved it. Just after the latest issue of Travel + Leisure, in which they call Mani Osteria one of the "20 best Italian restaurants in America," hit shelves. Coincidence? [AnnArbor.com]

Stats! We love stats. Here are more of the same stats as to why beer is good for the local economy. These are all numbers you've seen before. [Click on Detroit]

All Meijer stores are accepting donations for their Simply Give program, which aims to replenish the shelves of nearly 200 food pantries in their five-state region during each campaign. It runs through Oct. 6 in support of National Hunger Action Month with Meijer matching all $10 donations, but during the Simply Give Week Sept. 2-8 Meijer is double-matching all $10 donations - so your $10 will mean $30 for local food pantries. Sometimes I'm not snarky. [Macomb Patch]

[HOT LIST] Ypsilanti

Summer Beer Fest in Ypsilanti's Riverside Park. Photo by EID western beerespondent David Bardallis.

No longer willing to accept its position as Ann Arbor's uncultured country cousin, Ypsilanti has been making a name for itself as a more affordable version of Ann Arbor with a whole lot of craft beer bars and not a whole lot else. I *love* that. Pretty much every place you might happen to stumble into serves Michigan craft beer (or other craft beverages of excellence). What else could you expect from the home of the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival? The craft beer culture here has been many years in the making (if Summer Beer Fest were human, it would now be a pimply teenager sneaking beers from his parents' fridge). Recently-opened hotspots like the Wurst Bar and Red Rock are proving to be major draws, while old stand-bys like Sidetrack and Aubree's are perennial favorites. Yack-town? Try YUM-town! (...sorry.)

The Wurst Bar's beer board.

#1 Wurst Bar
Don't let the phonetic pronunciation of the name fool you -- the Wurst Bar is actually the best bar. First because they're doing something no one else in the area is really doing. Oh, sure, some places get all fancy and make their own charcuterie, and there are definitely a few spots that make their own sausage and brats. But the Wurst Bar is nothing but sausage and brats, from the "usual"(so designated on the menu) -- PBR-poached bratwurst, smoked andouille, mettwurst (made with beef, pork, celery seed and mustard seed), even a couple of vegetarian options -- to the "unusual" -- alligator and crawfish boudin, rattlesnake chorizo. They also have burgers. And more sausage. All made in-house. You can also buy some to go. If that don't beat all they also have a huge craft beer selection, regularly host local brewery tap takeovers, and every Friday after 8 p.m. is $2 pints.

#2 Cafe Ollie / MI General Store
Cafe Ollie was once a casual breakfast and lunch spot offering vegetarian and vegan items, coffee and tea. It is still that, but the recent addition of a wine and beer license now means that in addition to vegetarian and vegan items you can also enjoy a Michigan craft beer or wine. (Try their Black Star Farms Bedazzled strawberry mimosa for brunch, or a stout or porter milkshake for dessert.) Husband and wife Mark Teachout and Danielle Schwerin own both Cafe Ollie and the MI General Store, which just opened last December next to Cafe Ollie. The MI General Store is a gourmet market specializing in products made in Michigan -- beer, wine, cheese, chocolate, and a wide variety of specialty food and gift items.

#3 The Ugly Mug Cafe and Roastery
Okay, so not a beer place, but a totally important coffee place. (Because sometimes it's morning and beer isn't an option. Unless you have the best job EVER.) Part of the post-third-wave coffee movement (which goes beyond simply sourcing from respected roasters to sustainably sourcing from small farms and roasting in-house) which has been gaining huge momentum in metro Detroit, the Ugly Mug has been a "small batch artisanal roaster" since 2004 (you know, before it was cool) and continues to roast some of the best coffee in metro Detroit. They serve a wide selection of coffees from blasé lattes to the mad scientist marvels of Chemex, a small selection of pastries and an inventive selection of bagel sandwiches. And as a throw-back to those archaic second-wave coffeehouses we all first fell in love with, they also host art shows and acoustic nights.

#4 Corner Brewery
The sister brewpub of Ann Arbor's Arbor Brewing Company as well as Arbor's production brewery, Corner Brewery has exactly that kind of vibe -- the friendly bar on the corner. Located in an old schoolhouse with a biergarten in the summer (beware the 'skeeters) and a fireplace in the winter, Corner serves Arbor beer and a selection of pub food (pizza, sammies, apps) with pub-style service (as in you order at the bar and they buzz you when your food is ready). Play board games or darts, use the WiFi, stop in for one of their many special events (like the Halcyon Sundaze BBQ, coming up again Sept. 9) or for a boozy Sunday brunch; Corner is another one of Ypsilanti's many fine beer-drinking establishments for enthusiastic beer drinkers. Also, be there for one of their Rat Pad releases.

#5 Sidetrack
Sidetrack is Ypsilanti's granddaddy craft beer bar, and it has the best fake backstory you'll ever read. An Ypsilanti staple for nearly 30 years, Sidetrack serves Michigan craft beers and Belgian imports as well as One of the 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die (according to Alan Richman circa 2006). This is the kind of place that has a LOT of personality. What exactly that means you need to find out for yourself.

Bubbling under Woodruff's, Tap Room, Beezy's, Cafe Racer, MIX Marketplace, Frenchie's, Aubree's Pizzeria, Cuppy's Best Soulful Deli, Red Rock Downtown Barbecue, B-24's