The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

ICYMI:
~Rock City Eatery opened. [EID]
~(revolver) opened. [EID]
~Schramm's Mead opened. [EID]
~Hatch Detroit 2012 finalist Detroit Vegan Soul (D.V.S) celebrated their grand opening on Saturday in West Village. Co-owner Boyd says, "(D.V.S. is) both unapologetically vegan AND unapologetically soul food. We do soul food but veganize it. We see our food as being a good transition food into a plant-based diet, introduced in a way that is familiar and comfortable." [Model D]
~Do you remember when I posted that atrocious Craigslist job posting saying it was for Marais and everyone piled onto it basically swearing off the place and the people behind it? Well, I was wrong. Really, really wrong. [EID]
~Big news about Union Street. [EID]
~There's a lot of damn events all happened at the same exact time. [EID]

Premiering October 3, Cooking Channel's Chuck's Eat the Street "Motor City Meals" episode featuring SLOWS BAR BQ, Hygrade Deli, Mercury Burger Bar, La Pita, and Peaches and Greens. Pretty good cross-section of Detroit's food culture, I have to say. [Cooking Channel]

St. Cece's celebrated their two-year anniversary. [St. Cece's FB]

Effective immediately, Treat Dreams will have a cart at all Lions home games. They'll be serving four ice cream sandwich flavors which will change each week. [EID FB]

My cartoon alter-ego is Aeon Flux. Have I mentioned how much I love A2GastroBoy? [A2GB]

In case you haven't been paying any attention, like at all, here is a list of what has recently opened and will open soon. [Detroit News]

PROST! 'tis the season for the Dakota Inn Rathskeller, celebrating 80 years this year. Beer steins, chicken hats, and dirndls galore. [Detroit News]

Pizzeria Biga will be changing its name of all current and future locations in all associated social media profiles and marketing materials to Bigalora: Wood Fired Cucina. This is due to a trademark issue with the word "biga," and as the company continues on their aggressive expansion plans they needed something that could be trademarked. Speaking of expansion, Bigalora Ann Arbor is scheduled to open at the end of October. [Freep]

Here's a look at some of the changes that have gone down at Bastone Brewery and Pizzeria Biga - Royal Oak. [Freep]

Republica is now open in Berkley. Here's a bit more about it from Berkley Patch from a couple of months ago. I'm not sure that Greek salad really qualifies as a food revolution, but it does look pretty cool inside. [Berkley Patch]

Someone wrote something about Detroit; outrage ensued. [HuffPo]

Here's a great story about an awesome couple, which includes a nod to their second location opening in New Center in the coming months. Looking forward to it, Cafe Con Leche! [Detroit News]

I often get distracted by pizza while driving. You know, there's laws against texting and driving, but there are no laws against PIZZA and driving. [Freep]

Good or b-a-a-a-a-a-a-d idea? *snort* [MLive]

The Onion has inadvertently announced Little Caesars next marketing strategy. [The Onion]

Hour Detroit's Chris Cook talks about the growing prominence of Michigan wines on a national level with Michigan Radio. Michigan wines have come a loooooooooooong way, and in the last 5 years have really seemed to find favor in the greater world of the oenophile. [Michigan Radio]

Planning a trip to the east coast anytime soon? Well, you can still get your local Michigan liquor there - Valentine Distilling Co. has expanded distribution to the east coast. [Promote Michigan]

Learning how to say "no" to fussy eaters (or, just find dinner guests who aren't such assholes). [HuffPo]

Beerie
~MLive sure did get a LOT of mileage out of this "Michigan's Best Brewery" thing. [MLive]

~Pop beer science says these beers from Founders Brewing Co., Bell's Brewery, Inc. (Official), and others are the best in the world. It reads like pretty much every other "best beers in the world" list, but this one has SCIENCE behind it. [Business Insider]

[HOT LIST] German food

Cheese and sausage platter at the Berkley Front. All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

Pretzels and mustard. Sausage and sauerkraut. Beer and ... beer. And cheese. And beer. And more sausage. Beer, brot* and brats are the base elements of German cuisine -- much as the Irish stew everything, the Germans grind everything and stuff it inside animal intestine then eat it with beer. So what I'm getting at here is that they're really into sausage -- bratwurst and knackwurst and wieners of various form.

With Oktoberfest officially beginning this Saturday there is no shortage of Oktoberfest-themed parties at brewpubs and restaurants all over metro Detroit (basically it's St. Patrick's Day: The Fall Edition, but with lederhosen instead of leprechauns), but these are the places where it's pretty much Oktoberfest all year round. Some are decidedly German; others are German in spirit if not so much in name and décor. PS, straight-up cheese and meat plates totally count -- in Germany it's called Frühstück if it's breakfast, Abendbrot if it's dinner; either way it is an extremely common meal (served with bread, mustard and other accoutrements; many sauered, of course). Plus bier. Viele bier.

I never said it was pretty.

#1 Richter's Chalet (Dearborn)
I love this place so hard. From the Bavarian chalet-style facade (barely noticeable from the road as it is located right where Telegraph eats Michigan Ave.) and the lovely older ladies who take exceptionally good care of each customer, right down to the German music playing nonstop (everything from polka to German pop, which is really, really bad), this place is homey and quaint and kind of kitschy and totally adorbs. Specialties include Jaeger Schnitzel (sauteed veal with mushrooms in gravy) and Rindsroulade (round steak rolled and stuffed with bacon, rice and onion served in gravy), and schnitzel and sauerbraten and spätzle and Spaten ... German words are fun. They've also got Bavarian chicken dinners as well as American options, and entrees come with about 18 different sides for under $15 so come hungry.

#2 Jacoby's German Biergarten (Detroit)
"Spaghetti and meatballs" in German is Koenigsberger Klopps. That's actually not a literal translation but basically it's German meatballs over slightly crispy spätzle covered in lemon beurre blanc served with a side of red cabbage, and you can get it -- as well as a variety of other German specialties and American pub food -- at Jacoby's Biergarten (though, technically, the name is a misnomer; really it's just an indoor beer hall). They've got a great selection of German beers and other imports with a smattering of Michigan crafts to keep everyone happy, plus they've got those communal tables everyone seems to be so fond of now and have had them for, like, over 100 years. Once upon a time -- in the before time, the long long ago -- the beer hall upstairs was a riot on weekends, but now they just rent it out for private parties. Back in the days when people hung out in Detroit not because there was some intrinsic value attached to hanging out in Detroit but because it was cheap and kind of seedy and nowhere carded or cared was when Jacoby's used to have live music upstairs every weekend, but those days are gone and now people would rather drink in empty lots without indoor plumbing. (Though, to be fair, Jacoby's version of indoor plumbing isn't much of an improvement over an outhouse.)

#3 Dakota Inn Rathskeller (Detroit)
They serve traditional German dishes, but that's not why people come here. People come here for the chicken hats. At the Dakota Inn, located in Detroit's Palmer Park neighborhood and owned by the Kurz family since 1933, Oktoberfest is six weeks of sing-alongs and ceremonial keg tappings. And chicken hats. Design nurds will dig the beautiful Bavarian architecture and rugged antique furniture (and cuckoo clock!), beeries will lurv the selection of seasonal German biers, and everyone will love the polka because polka is the music of The People.

The Dakota Inn.

#4 Wurst Bar (Ypsilanti)
Wat is more German than wurst? The Wurst Bar might not be QUOTE-UNQUOTE "German" per se, but close enough. Beer? Check. (Really killer Michigan beer at that.) Brats? Pick an animal. There might not be sing-alongs or chicken hats, but all craft on draft is $2 after 8 p.m. on Fridays and probably that is all you really need to start your own damn sing-along. To, like, Slayer or something.

#5 Metzger's German Restaurant (Ann Arbor)
They've been serving traditional German dishes like schnitzel and stuffed cabbage for over 80 years, and they also pack some awesome German beers like Einbecker Schwartz. Try the "Haus Platter for Two" with wiener schnitzel, bratwurst, mettwurst, knockwurst, spätzle, sauerkraut, red cabbage, potato salad and house salad or soup for the most delicious of Deutsch-ish experiences. (Alternatively, their fresh lake perch is also a house specialty.)

Bubbling under Ye Olde Tap Room (Detroit), Fort Street Brewery (Lincoln Park), Berkley Front (Berkley), Biercamp (Ann Arbor), Heidelberg Restaurant (Ann Arbor), Schnäck (Detroit-area pop-up), One-Eyed Betty's (Ferndale), Georgio's Apple Orchard Inn (Washington)

*brot = "bread"

 

[Real Detroit Weekly] Dakota Inn Rathskeller

All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

"Why do Germans celebrate Oktoberfest in September? They just do, no need to worry your pretty little head over it. But at the Dakota Inn Rathskeller in Detroit's Palmer Park neighborhood, Oktoberfest starts late September and runs through the end of October because this is America and dammit, the name says 'Oktober.'

'The Oktoberfest celebrations at the Dakota Inn are infamous in metro Detroit, with people making reservations months in advance just to ensure a seat (never you fear, late-planners: the 'late' crowd, from about 9 p.m. on, is all on a walk-in, first-come/first-served basis). As Detroit's only sing-along bar, the Dakota Inn is always guaranteed to be a good time; but it's during Oktoberfest that things get extra-rowdy ... and when the chicken hats come out in full force.

'What harvest season Old Country German tradition do the chicken hats originate from? None. Not a damn one. They're just fun. They're chicken hats. Also, the Kurz family, which has owned the Dakota Inn since 1933 and is now in its third generation of ownership, makes the hats themselves and then donates the proceeds to charity. Also, they're chicken hats...'

Read the rest of the article here.

Want to see more? Check out the Flickr set here.

German Bierhauses and Hairy Balls

Originally published in D-Tales here, edited for content.

Friday night I convinced Two of My Gays to go to the Dakota Inn Rathskeller with me for their Oktoberfest celebration--good times. There was beer. Bier. And more beer. People were getting pretty friendly, dumping beer from their pitchers into our glasses without regard to the cardinal sin of mixing (I suppose at some point of drunkenness one just stops caring about petty things like that). There was a polka train. And yodeling. And German sing-a-longs. And a polka-esque version of the Blues Brothers' "Gimme Some Lovin'." And busty (but not like porno busty, more like hausfrau busty) waitresses in traditional Bavarian costumes. And a cuckoo clock. And Das Boot. Or as we say in English, "The Boot."

We drank heavy Hefeweizens and laughed at the dancing drunks. It was a freakin' blast. No true Detroit experience is complete without a trip to the historic Dakota Inn Rathskeller, now celebrating its 75th year. They're holding their Oktoberfest celebrations through November 1st; pay the $3.00 and be briefly transported to Rottenburg (which is not rotten at all).