The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

Not the same thing.

Thank you, once again, for the overwhelming outpouring of unsolicited support via personal emails, Facebook posts and messages, and texts. This fall I plan on being a Nine Inch Nails groupie and follow them around on the festival circuit while also pursuing my dream of not being home for pretty much all of July through October. Which I think is explanation enough, but if not, this once again. [EID]

So I posted this:

OFFS. Another terrible national "breastaurant" chain is franchising throughout metro Detroit. Victor Ansara, who owns 22 Red Robin locations in MI and OH as well as two 2Booli locations and Portofino in Wyandotte, and his 4 sons (2 of which founded Burgerz, now working on their third location) have set up "Motor City Peaks LLC" and will operate 6 new Twin Peaks location. The first one could be open as early as next summer.

The press release also contained this gem: “Michigan is new territory for Twin Peaks and there’s a huge demand for this kind of concept in the Detroit area,” said Ansara. “We have a huge number of loyal sports fans here and they want a fresh, new restaurant experience and that means more televisions, great food and a fun atmosphere – that’s exactly what Twin Peaks provides.”

Well, nothing says "fresh" and "new" like a sports bar drowning in the glare of its own flatscreens tended by co-eds in micro-shorts! 

Also, fuck you for ruining Twin Peaks for me. Fuck you so hard.

And this is what happened from there.

No legal booze was bad news for Cheesecake Bistro, turns out. [Crain's]

In case you missed it:
~Craft cocktails have gone from a niche corner of the bar market to the new expectation for all discerning drinkers and drunks. Roast, The Oakland, and The Sugar House led the way, but now the local artisan distilling industry has made huge gains and a new crop of craft cocktail bars is rising up including Red Crown, The Sardine Room, Pizzeria Biga - Royal Oak, The Last Word and more. What a difference two years make, eh? [EID]

~The Crowne Plaza Detroit Downtown-Convention Center opens next month, and with it The Jefferson House and Urban Cellars. Here is the very first look inside at the space and some of the menu items. Will this be the new Detroit hot spot? With a 40-seat outdoor patio (not pictured) and plans to reopen the Top of the Pontch, it most certainly could be. [EID]

~The Downtown Detroit Farmer's Market is held every Thursday from 11am-6pm in Lafayette Greens with vendors like Brother Nature Produce, Brooklyn Street Local, Detroit Bulk Company, and more. [Model D]

~Kitchen Connect, a partnership between FoodLab Detroit and Eastern Market Corporation, will soon start accepting applications for their community kitchen/business incubator partners in Osborn and SW Detroit. [Model D]

~Bike rides and barbecues and boats, blah blah blah. Here are 10 things to do this summer that aren't the same-old parks + rec round-up. (Complete with both Shakespeare and HST references.) [Metromode]

~A very sincere thank you to everyone at The Detroit Bus Company, Traffic Jam + Snug, St. Cece's Pub, El Taco Veloz, and Corridor Sausage Co. for a fantastic inaugural Eat It Detroit/DBC tour and a great Saturday afternoon, and thanks to everyone who came out! [EID FB]

The wonderful James sisters now have a permanent Detroit storefront presence with their DROUGHT juice inside the new Shinola store in Midtown, which just opened to the public on Friday. Here is an interview with co-owner Julie James. [Shinola]

The Markets of Cadillac Square started Friday, which now means we have Campus Martius Park Beach, the weekday food vendors in Campus Martius, the Downtown Farmer's Market Detroit on Thursdays and now this. Downtown Detroit is turning into a sour Skittle-colored bazaar! [Crain's]

Rodin is now open for lunch. [Rodin]

A new late-night menu starts at Imperial on July 5. Which now effectively eliminates my need for the recently-reopened Taco Bell on Woodward just north of 8 Mile. [Imperial]

Great Lakes Midtown just turned one years old. [GLC FB]

Mike Illitch continues making the dough. [MLive]

The Foodtruck Cafe is now open, for those who want all the fun of food trucks without having to deal with the the pesky impracticalities of mobile dining. Also known as a "restaurant." [Royal Oak Patch]

Looks like Bistro Joe's, located above Papa Joe's Gourmet Market in Birmingham, is also now open. Based on this lone Yelp review, it at least sounds promising. [Yelp]

Here is another story about MSU's Artisan Distilling Program with a nod to Detroit City Distillery. [Lansing State Journal]

The Sugar House got a fancy new sign. (Yes, this is news.) [EID FB]

Marcus Market in Midtown (next to the Bronx Bar) also got a fancy new sign, and this is really news because the Marcus Market is definitely not known for being fancy. Which is a nice way of saying it is known for bums hanging out in the parking lot. One EID reader implied that this is part of "the Shinola Effect." Which is sort of like the Whole Foods Effect, but more focused on aesthetics. [EID FB]

Here is an excellent story about Jim Geary and Woodbridge Pub, also known to some as a home away from home, or "third place." [Model D / Metromode]

If you missed German Park this weekend, you have two more chances to make it this summer: July 27 and August 31. [AnnArbor.com]

World's largest urban farm, Hantz Woodlands, is shaping up on the east side. [MLive]

The Fourth of July is upon us (and the Detroit fireworks have, blessedly, come and gone). Here is a guide to MOAR mortar in metro Detroit. [Daily Tribune]

Etc.
Should tipping be outlawed? As a Detroit resident, I'm not entirely convinced of the "no tips means servers won't do their jobs" counter-argument (first in the comments). Because. Um. Have you been to a lot of Detroit bars and restaurants? I rest my case. [Esquire]

I don't know what I'm more surprised about: the lengthy defense of the website people most love to hate (Yelp), or the fact that Buzzfeed ran something that wasn't a list with animated GIFs. [Buzzfeed]

Beerie
~Another day in Detroit, another pop-up biergarten. [AIA Detroit]

~I very much look forward to spending at least part of the fall in the U.P. again this year. And now someone even made a handy guidebook for me! All of the breweries + The Fitz = DONE. (Though, sadly, Upper Hand Brewery won't open until 2014. Darn it all, guess I'll have to go back again next year.) [UP Second Wave]

~Traverse City Ale Trail? Why, don't mind if I do! (Though I'd also like to see beer bars like 7 Monks Taproom and Brew Traverse City on there, as they also significantly help promote the local beer culture.) And check out the list of "soon-to-be-opened establishments:" TC will be nearly doubling its number of breweries with these! Brewery Terra Firma, Beggars Brewery, The Workshop Brewing Company, Bravo Zulu Brewing and Rare Bird Brewery and Taproom. [The Ticker]

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

Welp. Cheesecake Bistro is closed already (for "renovations;" reopening "soon"). Which surprises no one. Allegedly it's under new ownership and management, so let's hope they also have sense enough to give it a new name. [EID FB]

Campus Martius Park and Beach got its own bar and grille (check out photos here) as well as its own food vendors Mondays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. [Crain's / Thrillist / D:hive]

Is The Sugar House one of the best bars in the country? Playboy says so. [Playboy]

And on the hottest sunniest most swelteringest day, let there be bottled iced coffee from the bestest People of the Bean, Anthology Coffee. [Anthology FB]

It's Monday so again, COFFEE. Always Brewing Detroit in Grandmont Rosedale is now open! Here's some photos. The grand opening is scheduled for July 19. [Curbed]

In case you missed it:
~If you follow me on Instagram (@eatitdetroit) then you already got a teaser of this...the biggest new development happening on the Avenue of Fashion will be a huge cafe/restaurant in a century-old barn, a yoga studio, a high-end retail shop, and will also have a fantastic courtyard for drinks and events. It will open in phases over the next few years, starting with the courtyard this summer. [Model D]
~Coffee and (_______) is now open in a beautifully renovated space on Jefferson. This is their second pop-up; find out more about pastry chef Angela Foster's plans and why it's called (___). Also check out the Kung-Food dinner there this and every Friday through July 9. [Model D]

This event is Saturday! With ME! Have you bought your tickets yet? This is also kind of a second-anniversary party-thing too, because I haven't had time to put together a real one. So it's this. Official Detroit Food Experience + EID 2-Year Anniversary! Join me! [Det Bus Co]

So, who makes Michigan's best burger? The results from MLive.com are in...and will probably surprise you. [MLive]

And since we have burgers on the brain, Crain's Detroit Business's Nathan Skid talks to Iron Chef Michael Symon about his plans to open B Spot Burgers in the D. [Crain's]

Woodward Whiskey, the latest from Valentine Distilling Co., is now available! (And it's good, guys. Much like the Liberator Gin.) [Promote Michigan]

One thing I learned this week is that people get HEATED when it comes to discussions about allowing dogs in restaurants. [WILX]

Another thing I learned is that some people have no idea what the fuck I'm talking about when I refer to "session beers," but that doesn't stop them from commenting. Anyway, since session beers (DEFINED AS 4% ABV AND LOWER) are something the rest of the world has been doing well for centuries now (farmhouse ales and saisons and pilsners and kolsches and ESBs and traditional stouts and some wheat beers and so on, and not just "watered down" Budweiser, which is the American version and apparently the only other available option aside of XTREME beers), it's time for American brewers and beer bars alike to get the fuck with it already. If I can drink more in one sitting, I will spend more and stay longer. Good for you (beer bar owner and/or brewer) and good for me and good for the economy and good for America. [Red Eye]

Here's a great story on DROUGHT and the CEO, Crain's Detroit Business Twenty in Their 20s Cait James, in Metromode. [Metromode]

Restaurants are the new food trucks. [Metromode]

Meet the boys of Bailout Productions. [Model D]

Detroit's most popular patio is at Green Dot Stables, and it hasn't even opened yet. [GDS/EID FB]

Chef Luciano del Signore of Pizzeria Biga was featured in Pizza Today. [Pizza Today]

This wine country is only an hour away, very inexpensive and not yet run over with tourists. Sure, it's not Traverse City, but: all of the above. The wines are also very interesting and worth exploring (definitely not doing the same thing as the SE MI trail and certainly not the same as northern MI). [Windsor Star]

Fair Food Network is extending its Double Up Food Bucks program from farmers markets into three full-service grocery stores: Honey Bee Market, Metro Foodland, and Mike's Fresh Market. [Fair Food Network]

So you hear a lot about urban farming in Detroit. But what about the soil itself? [Model D]

Detroit Chocolat opened their first storefront on Lakeside Circle, a local chocolatier that uses and sells products from other Michigan makers like Kelly's Karamels and Germack Pistachio Co. This fourth-generation chocolatier spent a decade working for Morley. In the store you will also find products from The Popped Kernel, Cherry Republic, Better Made Snack Foods and Faygo Beverages Inc. [Macomb Daily]

Necessity is the mother of invention. This family turned unemployment into Aunt Nee's Taste of Mexico Salsa. [Metromode]

You guys, social media! This time Just Baked in Entrepreneur Magazine. [Entrepreneur]

The proposition of a new Red Wings arena (that has been reported and speculated on for forever now) has been approved by others based on its merits as a proposition and the fact that Mike Illitch has already gobbled up all the property. This $650 million sportstainment megaplex still needs county approval. You know, the same county that approved a massive jail at the entryway of downtown. [Detroit News]

Bring me more whiskey and rye! [BuzzFeed]

Ever wondered about the legality of carrying cheese on a plane? This is for you. [Wisconsin Food]

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

Jacques Driscoll of Green Dot Stables is named a 40 Under 40; also unofficially one of Detroit's best humans. [Crain's]

I think people maybe missed the point of what was meant by the term "food desert." But sure, yes, let's show everyone how wrong they are about Detroit. [Deadline]

Speaking of deserts, Detroit's bagel desert days are almost done! [The South End]

Speaking of deserts again, Michigan practically was one this summer but at least it was good for grapes. [Crain's]

Convicted felon LaVan Hawkins's new place totally sounds legit. [Crain's]

It was a big week for beer gardens. Bill's Beer Garden in Ann Arbor finally got approved for their liquor license (just in time for no one to want to sit outside and drink anymore!) and Tashmoo Biergarten in the totes up-and-coming (because we say so!) Villages is back for season 2. [AnnArbor.com / Thrillist]

Saltwater is dun-zo. [EID FB]

Michigan Radio highlights local food producers (like Corridor Sausage Co. and Slow Jams Jam) and programs like the Michigan State University Product Center for the recent explosion in locally-made artisan food products. [Michigan Radio]

Eastern Market goes art deco with new facade for upcoming restaurant/pastry shop/B+B on Gratiot over by the meat mall. [Curbed Detroit]

Love + Buttercream is now open in Royal Oak in the former cup.cake location. The words "scrumptious treats" are used. Personally I prefer "sugar bombs to cram into your cake-hole." [Royal Oak Patch]

Hip(pie) Ypsi. I'm telling you. Let's Get Sconed is now open. [AnnArbor.com]

I found a new favorite place in the world. [EID FB]

Showgirls and coney dogs is how they do it in the D. The D Las Vegas, that is. [Las Vegas Sun]

I totally did not hate this. [MLive]

Hey, do me a solid and buy one of these. THX. [DP2A]

Pumpkins. Zombies. Haunted houses. Halloween. That is all. [EID FB et.al.]