[Metromode] Bustin' Up the Boy's Club: Metro Detroit's Female Mixologists

Jackie Foucha at The Oakland. Photo by David Lewinski Photography for Metromode.

Last week we ran a story about the rise of craft cocktail culture in metro Detroit and some of the key players who have pushed it forward. While forward-drinking female bartenders Lola Gegovic, Jacqueline Foucha, and Adrianne Martin were all name-dropped, the focus was all on the boys in the business. Through conversations with people interviewed for that story, it became glaringly obvious that female bartenders in metro Detroit get none of the press that their male counterparts do.

Read more.

[EID Feature] Young Guns: Brennan Calnin, Imperial

In anticipation of the first-ever Young Guns dinner at the Root - which sold out in less than 48 hours - Eat It Detroit will run a new profile every week leading up to the event featuring each of the six participating chefs. This week, it's Chef Brennan Calnin of Imperial in Hamtramck. 

Chef Brennan's background: Chef Brennan Calnin hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Brennan developed an early love of food and began cooking at home as soon as he was tall enough to see over the range. Both sides of his family had an early influence on him; from the large holiday dinners on his mother’s side, to the rather simplistic lunches prepared with his German grandmother on his father’s side. After a stint in college as a vocal performance major and a few odd jobs, Brennan attended and graduated from Kendall College with a degree in Culinary Arts.

Brennan gained his first restaurant experience as a dishwasher at Lloyd’s Lunch. In the years leading up to culinary school he worked as a busser, server, pizza maker, and bartender. While in culinary school, Brennan worked under two of Chicago’s well-known chefs. He spent a year cooking with Chef Jackie Shen at Redlight, followed by a year and a half under Chef Takashi Yagihashi at Takashi, where he was the restaurant’s first intern. Upon finishing culinary school, Brennan was off to his hometown to work under Chef Dan Van Rite at Hinterland. Following a stint as a personal chef in Colorado at Marvine Ranch, he was picked as the Executive Chef to launch Imperial in Ferndale. When not in the kitchen, Brennan enjoys all things music, he is an avid runner, and recently started practicing yoga.

EID: What is your culinary ethos? As in, as a chef, what do you BELIEVE in? What is important to you as a chef in your cooking and, in a bigger picture, what do you think the most important values are for a chef to have?

BC: Butter. Give me butter. Always butter. No, in all seriousness though I think it’s important to have fun. In being a chef it can be monotonous, stressful, and exhausting so I think it’s really important to not lose sight of why I started cooking. It’s fun. It’s an outlet for my creativity; my ADHD (I’m forced to be attentive while being hyperactive). It’s like being a captain on a pirate ship. It rules. A chef needs to be punctual, attentive, creative, realistic, compassionate, and human. What chefs don’t need to be are assholes, which is how we get portrayed on TV.

How/where do you see Detroit's/Michigan's culinary scene fitting in on a national level? Thinking in terms not of where it is (which is still far behind most other major cities/states) but where it COULD be, how can Michigan chefs/restaurants evolve and where do you see them going?

I think the sky is the limit for Detroit and Michigan. I’ve not native to Michigan but I’m from just the other side of the pond (Milwaukee) which happens to be as blue collar as Detroit. Which made me feel at home right from the get-go. The first thing I noticed from living here is the hustle and soul that people have. I feel like Detroit can compete because it’s a city of fighters; I mean, you gotta be to live here, right? There is an incredible amount of ethnic diversity, which makes us way more than just a meat and potatoes kinda town. Lastly, there’s the incredible bounty of produce, wine and beer that is produced here.

I think what we’re showing with this dinner is how Michigan can evolve as far as restaurants go, and by that I mean working together and supporting each other. I think at times people get too wrapped up in “my place does this better than yours.” That’s stupid and counterproductive. We need to support each other and appreciate the fact that every place has its own soul and personality.

What advantages does a chef have in Michigan over other states? 

Living in the Midwest we have a change of seasons ranging from face-contortingly cold winters to holy-shit-is-it-really-this-hot summers. This gives us a bit of advantage when it comes to writing menus and being creative because you are forced to not only use what is in season but prepare dishes that reflect the change of seasons…I mean in L.A., yeah they got all that produce and wine and shit, but it’s like 80 degrees everyday with a side of smog, where’s the inspiration in that?

What is your favorite cuisine and/or what are your favorite or signature dishes to make? What do you geek out over?

This is going to sound funny seeing as I’m slinging tacos, but I LOVE old timey. Give me pates, mousselines, mousses, liver and onions, steak tartar, rillettes, terrines and lastly champagne. I geek out over champagne, that shit is delicious.

Who have you worked with who has most influenced you, and who most inspires you as a chef?

Wow, this is a tough one. I would have to go with a couple of people here. I learned a ton of technique under Derik Watson (formerly Iridescence, now opening Bistro 82 in Royal Oak) and Chef Takashi Yagihashi while at Takashi in Chicago. Dan Van Rite of Hinterland in Milwaukee gave me my wings and let me be incredibly creative, and hooked me up with amazing seasonal gig as a personal chef in Colorado. While there I met Chef Jennifer Blakeslee from The Cook‘s House who has been an incredible friend and mentor and really rounded me out as a chef and person. Lastly, I would say my parents for always believing in me and letting me use the stove as soon as I could reach knobs on our little four-burner electric stove. Oh, they also let me live in the basement after I dropped out of college. That was huge.

When James approached you about being a part of this Young Guns dinner, what was your reaction? Did you consider yourself one of "Michigan's most dangerous chefs" prior to this? What do you think of your fellow Young Guns?

It’s funny because we were having a couple of drinks after an event at the Townsend and he mentioned wanting to do this dinner and I was like, “That’s awesome, hell yeah,” and then he asked me to be a part of it, and I was like “holy shit.” These guys are all so established and to be invited to cook with them at The Root is an honor. I am extremely dangerous after a Packers' loss and one too many soda pops… I just can’t wait to get into the kitchen with these guys and tear it up. It’s like going into a dojo with five dudes who practice different kung fu and just throwing down. It’s gonna be badass.

As a chef, what do you hope to achieve in your career? Where do you see yourself in 5, 10, 20 years? And how do you hope to help strengthen and bolster Michigan's culinary scene?

What’s my five year plan huh? Well in my career I hope to stay happy, healthy and creative, really. I just love cooking and I don’t ever want to lose that. I try not to over think my “career.” I mean, I’m still that six-year-old cooking hotdogs in a frying pan, ya know? I think the great thing about Imperial is that it’s so approachable and at the same time I thinks it’s great that people are learning that you can eat tacos without sour cream and cheddar cheese. So in the future I would like to continue doing food that is approachable and served in a relaxed setting. That’s what I love about Imperial: you got hipsters and suits breaking bread at the same table. That’s kick ass; I want bring more of that to Michigan.

Read last week's interview with Chef Nikita Santches of Rock City Eatery in Hamtramck here. 

[HOT LIST] Pursuit of Pappy 2013

If you're a craft beer nerd, you are more than familiar with the concept of white whales: Pliny the Younger, Dark Lord, KBS, CBS, Heady Topper, Black Tuesday, and so many more all have cultish followings with people willing to pay ten times retail or more just to get their hands on a bottle. The beers are made in limited quantities and with limited allocations, sometimes never even distributed out of their own state, sometimes never even distributed outside of their own brewery. (Yeah, all you Dark Lord Day nuts, I'm looking at you.)

Spirits are a different story. There may come a day that a west coast distillery will grow to have a serious cult following all over the country and people will pay several times over what it's worth on eBay to get their hands on a bottle if it's not distributed in their state. But the fact is, we're just not there yet with American craft spirits.

Except when it comes to Pappy Van Winkle.

(We're going to be taking a long walk for a short drink of water here so just sit tight, this will all come together soon enough.)

Old Rip Van Winkle was a pre-Prohibition brand that was resurrected by the Van Winkle family in the 1970s. The Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve is the rarest of the rare, bottled in 15-, 20-, and 23-year-aged releases. It has been contract distilled by the Sazerac Company at the Buffalo Trace Distillery since 1991, but because of the low production and extremely long aging process - much longer than what any other distillery is willing to sit on - it is the rarest bourbon in the world. While some distillers get a little persnickety over which distillers can accurately be considered "craft" and which are merely glorified finishing houses - buying all of the booze pre-made by the tank only to finish it with their own flavors and age it themselves, putting their own labels on it and calling it "craft" - no one seems to split hairs over Pappy.

"Why not just make more of it?" For the same reason every new distillery starts by producing vodka (it's the fastest turnover from still to bottle and the fastest way to start bringing in money) and why you don't see quality whiskeys coming out of craft distilleries that just opened in the last two years - age. Anything other than white whiskey (whiskey that hasn't spent any time aging in barrels; it's basically moonshine and almost always terrible so please stop making this trendy) has to sit in barrels for at least a year, and even then you're rushing it. 18 months is the minimum for most, and two years is more preferable still. But beyond two years isn't practical for most companies. Why? Not only is storage often an issue (and it is, because those barrels need to sit somewhere), but this also means that these distilleries - so many of them still pretty new and operating on shoestring budgets - are sitting on hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars worth of product, just for those two years.

Now multiply that by about 10, and you'll see the Van Winkles' predicament. Also, what is trendy now might not still be trendy 15, 20, or 23 years from now - aging bourbon for this long is a long-term commitment and a long-term gamble, and company president Julian Van Winkle III doesn't want to sit on millions of dollars worth of bourbon he can't sell 20 years from now. Can you blame him?

And this brings us to the Pappy Panic of 2013. You see, Louisville Magazine wrote a pretty great story on the brand earlier this year, and that story got picked up by the Wall Street Journal, which then got picked up by every lifestyle aggregator blog in the country, and now everyone wants Pappy. And everyone already wanted Pappy, but now it's EVERYONE. Pappy Panic was further perpetuated by a massive theft of $26,000+ worth of product from the company reported earlier this year, and reached what one can only hope to be its nadir (but probably not) with the announcement of a Pappy Van Winkle clothing line. Which, much like the Ferrari clothing line, will probably be worn almost exclusively by people who have never so much as seen or touched a bottle in their lives and never will.

SIDEBAR: This will also lead to people who have had it claiming that it's good, but it's not THAT good. (I've already heard it myself.) In short, both media and people are awful.

So! For all you shameless white whale chasers out there, and also those of you who really truly and sincerely love bourbon (please let it be more latter than former), here are a few places around town where you can find it right now. Know of somewhere that I missed? Leave it in the Facebook comments.

The Oakland, Ferndale
Yep, they have it, at least as of Friday night. And I would guess they always have a stash of it somewhere if you know how and who to ask. But I'm just guessing here.

Palate, Milford
They had five bottles as of Friday.

The Raven's Club, Ann Arbor
On Monday the Raven's Club is hosting a Pappy Van Winkle tasting with Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery President Julian Van Winkle III. They'll be tasting five bourbons from Julian's own personal collection, paired with dishes from Ann Arbor and Detroit area chefs. For bourbon fans, this is pretty much the place to be - alas, it's already sold out, but maybe stop by and see if anyone will let you lick one of their glasses when they're done.

The Wine Garden, St. Clair Shores
Want to buy a whole bottle of it and not just drink a little of it at the bar? As the number four account for Buffalo Trace in the entire state of Michigan, the Wine Garden is one of only a few stores in the state that will receive an allotment (they are expecting six bottles). In order to be as fair as possible, they are going to raffle off the bottles at a party in-store on December 19. Stop in the store any time this month and buy a bottle of bourbon to be entered into the drawing. There will be only three winners and you MUST be present for the drawing to win. "Wait, only three winners? You said they were getting six bottles! What about the other three?" This store has customers that spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year on bourbon, and those special customers will get first dibs. Why? Because sometimes a store wants to reward their loyal customers and not just cater to the Ahab assholes helicoptering in for their first and last time ever in the store to get a rare bottle of bourbon they read about on the Internet, that's why.

UPDATED: Townhouse in Birmingham has some, Red Wagon in Troy is selling it for $500/bottle, mL Spirits in Birmingham has some (including the 23-year), Merchant's Fine Wine in Dearborn has it but there is already a two-year waiting list, and One-Eyed Betty's has a serious stash of it as well as their own single-barrel batch of Buffalo Trace.

[NEWS BITES] Wicked Donuts launching November 16 at Treat Dreams

On November 16, Treat Dreams will launch Wicked Donuts inside their recently expanded storefront.

The store will open at 7 a.m. daily and will serve coffee and espresso drinks from Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company, plus their house-made "Wicked Donuts" made fresh daily. They will have at least 12 different flavors available daily which will be rotated weekly. Some initial flavors include Pumpkin Bourbon Gingersnap, Coconut Lemon Curd, Peanut Butter Cup, Maple Bacon Long Johns and Creme Brulee Long Johns.

Shortly thereafter they will also roll out some pastries with the Treat Dreams "twist" to them. About a week before launch they are going to give out "prototype" donuts to their Facebook followers each day and ask them for feedback.

[EID ON AIR] Talking meads and merds on the Craig Fahle Show

Me with Craig Fahle. 

Just last week (ye gods has it only been a week??) I was a guest on the Craig Fahle Show on WDET talking about mead, thanks to this little piece in Hour. I put together a bunch of notes for the show which, of course, I never once referenced. So now I'm sharing them with you. Initially I was only going to share a few key tidbits, but then I figured I might as well just start at the beginning and not assume people already have a basic knowledge of what I'm talking about. 

You can listen to the Craig Fahle Show's snippet on mead with me here. I've also done a lot of mead primer work here, for your reference. 

PS, "merds." It's a thing now.

NOTES:

What is mead? 
Mead is an alcoholic beverage made from honey. The difference between mead and beer and wine is in the fermentables in the product - in beer it's grains, in wine it's grapes, and in mead it's honey.

Because honey is the primary ingredient, yes, it is sweet, but the sweetness can be tempered just like in a wine and meads can also be bone-dry.

Mead is the oldest alcoholic beverage in the world. The famous French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss makes a case for the invention of mead as a marker of the passage "from nature to culture." (And everyone who has ever written anything remotely significant about mead has referenced this.)

Meads are typically the strength of wine, roughly around 14% alcohol (though that can vary significantly).

Are there different kinds of meads? 
Much as there are different regions and varietals of wine and different styles of beer, there are dozens of different varieties of meads, but some of the most common that you'll find are as follow:
-Melomel - made with fruit
-Braggot - beer/mead hybrid using malt (with or without hops)
-Cyser - honey and apple juice fermented together
-Pyment - honey and red or white grapes (a wine hybrid)

Mead now has its own National Mead Day on August 3, an effort by the American Homebrewers Association.

B. Nektar Meadery, Ferndale
-Brad Dahlhofer is the co-owner of B. Nektar Meadery with his wife Kari and partner Paul Zimmerman.
-B. Nektar just entered the New York market.
-B. Nektar has expanded into a second production space, also in Ferndale, about six times the size of their original space, and recently added another 4,000 gallons of capacity.
-They are currently in the process of getting a brewery license so they can make braggots. UPDATE: As of October 31, 2013, they have received their federal brewing license and will soon begin making braggots.
-When they started producing the Zombie Killer, a lightly-hopped cherry cyser session mead, in 2011, it was a coup for the company and became their claim to fame; Ken Schramm and others credit them with bringing mead national attention.
-Next up was Evil Genius, a lightly-carbonated IPA-style mead that, to the best of their knowledge, was the first IPA-style mead in the country (though not the first hopped) - note, Evil Genius is no longer in production due to an issue with availability for one of the ingredients.
-Other carbonated session meads now include: Necromangocon, Kill All the Golfers (an Arnold Palmer style mead), Black Fang (made with blackberry, clove, orange).
-They will produce 25,000 cases of carbonated meads alone this year.
-New Devil's Night releases including new session mead Dwarf Invasion (made with cherry, hops), the Smoked Pumpkin Caper (made with smoked pumpkin, squash, and sweet potato, smoked honey, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spices, aged in a Goose Island Bourbon County Stout barrel clocking in at 15%ABV), Devil's Juice (orange blossom honey, smoked 'mutt' honey, pineapple juice, and a blend of 3 hot peppers), Eye Ball (like a highball, ginger and raw wildflower honey aged in rye whiskey barrels, one of partner meadmaker Ian Radogost-Givens' creations; he will be doing more experiMental B-Sides and a barrel-aged series.
-In the works: the barrel-aged series and more B-sides.
-We're seeing more and more carbonated mead at trade shows, presumable thanks to the success these guys have had.
-B. Nektar might be the largest meadery in the country right now, with Red Stone Meadery in Boulder next closest in size and production.

Ken Schramm, Schramm's Mead, Ferndale
-Read about his new Ferndale meadery here.
-Heart of Darkness is his signature mead, which used to be made at B. Nektar before Schramm got his own licensed meadery. It is made from homegrown, hand-harvested fruit from Schramm’s orchard and berry patch. The cherries are of the Schraammbeek variety, an intensely flavorful, European morello type, the raspberries are Heritage and Latham, and the black currants are Crandall and Consort. Production is extremely limited, as the amount of care and labor which go into each batch is substantial. Much of the fruit is netted to prevent birds from eating what should be your mead. This is a hand-crafted mead, if ever there was one.
-Where B. Nektar's meads appeal to the beer nerds, Schramm's meads are more elegant, akin to fine wines.
-Schramm is a world-renowned expert in mead, having wrote the book on it. The Compleat Meadmaker was released in 2003. It is still considered the current book of reference for meadmaking, and Schramm plans on a second edition soon. He is to mead what Brian Polcyn is to charcuterie.
-He plans on producing 300 gallons per month, all self-distributed.
-He also co-created the Mazer Cup, the largest mead event in the world featuring both home brewers and commercial meads in competition.
-Schramm has his standard blackberry, raspberry, and ginger meads, but he also has special meads like the Heart of Darkness, the Statement (made with Hungarian cherries) and Black Heart, a black raspberry melomel being released on Halloween.

Kuhnenn Brewing Co., Warren + Clinton Twp.
-The cult favorite craft brewery just bought a new production facility, which will open next spring
-The new brewery also has the capacity to produce 2,000-3,000 barrels (120,000-180,000 gallons) of mead.
-They will focus on braggots, lightly carbonated session meads (beer/mead "hybrids"). They will still make limited release still meads for brewery release only.
-They will distribute their braggots starting in Michigan and expanding out.
-Still meads will be special releases likely brewery only
-Every March they host "Mead Madness" with a slew of new limited specialty mead releases every week.
-They were covered in Imbibe Magazine's recent article on American meads, along with B. Nektar.
-They're currently known for meads like their Bourbon Barrel French Toast mead and Imperial Bourbon Barrel Braggot.
-Meadmaker Frank Retell has taken home scores of golds, silvers and bronzes at the Mazer Cup for his braggots, pyments, dessert meads, melomels...the list goes on and on.

Other Michigan meadmakers
-Dragonmead in Warren (currently going through a major expansion)
-Superior Lakes in Harrison Twp.
-St. Ambrose Cellars (now making some carbonated meads)
-Bardic Wells

[NEWS BITES] Tickets to FestivALE at One-Eyed Betty's are now on sale

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 23, and don't plan on doing anything else. One-Eyed Betty's is hosting a monster FestivALE – a fall festival for all! (Or a festivus for the rest of us, if you must.)

What started out as a beer tent to coincide with the Ferndale DDA's 5k obstacle course nighttime run (a fundraising effort for their holiday events) has turned into a full-scale holiday festival with lots of food and beer and entertainment – like fire dancers, aerialists, and stilt-walkers, plus music from Americana bluegrass bands like the Appleseed Collective.

The DDA approached Beth Hussey, owner of One-Eyed Betty's, about hosting a beer tent for the 1,000 runners they expect at their event. She agreed, then figured, "If I'm going to do a beer tent I might as well turn it into a thing and make it a big deal."

And oh, IT'S A BIG DEAL. FestivALE will feature all seasonal and holiday beers, including some very special limited releases and rare imports. The whole concept is based around Christmas beers – those high-octane specialty releases like St. Bernardus Christmas Ale and Delerium Noel. There will be several local breweries pouring samples of seasonal and limited releases from Bell's, Dark Horse, and Arbor Brewing, all set up in an outdoor tent like at the Michigan Brewers Guild festivals. Plus Short's will have a 30-tap takeover going on inside. There will also be a special one-off Christmas beer booth with scheduled tappings of extremely limited kegs of rare and unusual beers from St. Bernardus, Petrus, Unibroue, Van Eeecke, and more (some of these kegs are the only ones allotted to the state of Michigan). Harpoon with also be there with kegs of their Winter Warmer and their ciders, available for the first time in kegs.

Since this is the Saturday before Thanksgiving and right as we all get into the full holiday swing, the food will also be equally as special as the beer. They'll have a "roast beast" dinner of whole pig, goat, and lamb, all served as finger food in rolls or tortillas with complementary sauces. Beth is also having a giant tartiflette pan custom-made by local metalworker Richard Gage to make the traditional cold weather comfort food of Franco-Swiss origin made with potatoes, Reblochon cheese, lardons and onions (they'll put their own spin on it, naturally). And there will be a six-foot-long apple strudel.

"We're really going for a different kind of feel than other festivals," Beth says. "We just want it to be a really awesome party with really great beer, really great food, and a really great atmosphere."

Another awesome food and drink festival in Ferndale that puts all others to shame? I'm in.

Tickets to FestivaALE are now on sale! $20 advance/$25 at the door.

[Real Detroit] Valentine's Distilling Day

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

When you think of "American manufacturing," you probably think of massive warehouses filled with heavy-duty machinery and guys in protective jumpsuits and plastic face shields working on an automotive production line, or tool and die makers, semiconductor and steel manufacturers...all very American middle class; not exactly the sexiest of jobs but the backbone of the American economy.

But bones can break. We saw that just a few years ago in 2008 when the housing market came crashing down and the economy with it, when Wall Street and the Big Three were getting billions of dollars in bailouts and home foreclosures reached record highs as American homeowners, saddled with mortgage debts more than double their continuously-plummeting home values, simply chose to just walk away.

Read more.

[NEWS BITES] Introducing Ferndale Restaurant Week + FestivALE

The Burger Brawl winner at One-Eyed Betty's.

Fall is a time for food. We can officially ditch the summer diets and stop worrying about having a "bikini body" (or, for some of us, just continue going on with business as usual but with the relief that comes from knowing we can hide all our rolls under bulky sweaters and snazzy leather jackets) and stuff our faces with the unparalleled bounty of fall foods. Pumpkins and apples and Bambis and Thumpers and doughnuts and pie and all the other rich, fattening, flavorful comfort foods we deny ourselves when it's 90 degrees outside if for no other reason than the fact that it's 90 degrees outside.

So it makes sense that there are a millionjillionfafillion fall-themed food events going on this year because it's fall and fall is awesome. Coming up next is the brand-new Ferndale Restaurant Week, an effort from the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority chaired by Beth Hussey, co-owner of One-Eyed-Betty's.

Beth, who previously spent a couple of years in Grand Rapids and dealing with all of the ArtPrize shenanigans and restaurant week events out there, had been wanting to do something similar in Ferndale for awhile. But she didn't want it to be a "normal" restaurant week – she wanted to really put in the effort to make it cool.

Since Ferndale is home to a wide variety of restaurants and food spots – casual, upscale, breakfast and lunch only, ice cream shops, beer and burger bars – Ferndale Restaurant Week offers a wide variety of options so you can experience everything Ferndale has to offer at prices that make sense for the individual businesses.

The Ferndale Restaurant Week website.

"It's as easy as one-two-three," Beth says, and the website was designed with that in mind. With food options set at $10, $20, and $30 price points; offerings for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner; and options for one or two people, Ferndale Restaurant Week offers the most variety and the most flexibility. Visit the website for the full breakdown of who's offering what with notations next to their names.

23 restaurants in downtown Ferndale are participating in this event, which will be held twice annually in the spring and fall (basically it's most of them). The website will live year-round as a resource for restaurants in downtown Ferndale and participating restaurants will benefit from year-round visibility and promotion.

This first edition of Ferndale Restaurant Week will be held October 7-13.

But that's not all Beth has in the works.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 23, and don't plan on doing anything else. One-Eyed Betty's is hosting a monster FestivALE – a fall festival for all! (Or a festivus for the rest of us, if you must.)

What started out as a beer tent to coincide with the Ferndale DDA's 5k obstacle course nighttime run (a fundraising effort for their holiday events) has turned into a full-scale holiday festival with lots of food and beer and entertainment – like fire dancers, aerialists, and stilt-walkers, plus music from Americana bluegrass bands like the Appleseed Collective.

The DDA approached Beth about hosting a beer tent for the 1,000 runners they expect at their event. She agreed, then figured, "If I'm going to do a beer tent I might as well turn it into a thing and make it a big deal."

And oh, IT'S A BIG DEAL. FestivALE will feature all seasonal and holiday beers, including some very special limited releases and rare imports. The whole concept is based around Christmas beers – those high-octane specialty releases like St. Bernardus Christmas Ale and Delerium Noel. There will be several local breweries pouring samples of seasonal and limited releases including (so far) Bell's, Dark Horse, Arbor Brewing, and (99% sure) Short's, all set up in an outdoor tent like at the Michigan Brewers Guild festivals. There will also be a special one-off Christmas beer booth with scheduled tappings of extremely limited kegs of rare and unusual beers (some of these kegs are the only ones allotted to the state of Michigan). Harpoon with also be there with kegs of their Winter Warmer and their ciders, available for the first time in kegs.

Since this is the Saturday before Thanksgiving and right as we all get into the full holiday swing, the food will also be equally as special as the beer. They'll have a "roast beast" dinner of pig, goat, and lamb, all served as finger food in rolls or tortillas with complementary sauces. Beth is also having a giant tartiflette pan custom-made by local metalworker Richard Gage to make the traditional cold weather comfort food of Franco-Swiss origin made with potatoes, Reblochon cheese, lardons and onions (they'll put their own spin on it, naturally). And there will probably be a six-foot-long apple strudel.

"We're really going for a different kind of feel than other festivals," Beth says. "We just want it to be a really awesome party with really great beer, really great food, and a really great atmosphere."

Another awesome food and drink festival in Ferndale that puts all others to shame? I'm in.

UPDATE: Tickets to FestivaALE are now on sale!

[Hour Detroit] The Need for Mead

Schramm's Meadery. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

With the opening of Schramm’s Meadery in downtown Ferndale scheduled for this fall, the city might well be the epicenter of a growing craft beverage industry that’s gaining a lot of “buzz.”

Schramm’s joins B. Nektar Meadery — the “beer geek’s” mead that uses cult movie imagery on its labels (think Star Wars and Evil Dead) and now exports to a dozen states.

While mead is gaining new fans, it’s certainly no upstart. Some consider it the ancestor of all fermented drinks. Mead, an alcoholic beverage made from honey, is often referred to as “honey wine.” Much like beer or wine, mead has dozens of styles and can be flavored in countless ways. Popular styles include cysers, made with apple juice; melomels, made with fruits; and pyments, made with wine grapes.

Mead more.

[EID Feature] Schramm's Mead: Mead from the Guy Who Wrote the Book on It

All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

Starting today, Schramm's Mead in Ferndale is now open for business! After months of planning, Ken Schramm, owner and internationally-respected mead maker, is finally opening his much-anticipated meadery and tasting room in downtown Ferndale. (Read the EID mead primer here.)

The tasting room has six meads on tap - four signature and two rotating - as well as a selection of "mead cocktails," along with a small menu of sweet and savory small plates made to pair with their meads. (Cheese plate, anyone? Anyone besides me?) The tasting room can accommodate 28 inside and another 20 on the spacious patio overlooking 9 Mile when the weather is gracious enough to permit it. On the walls are works by local artists that are available for purchase; Schramm charges less commission than galleries and hopes to be able to get a lot of quality artwork in. As Schramm was looking for a location somewhere along the Woodward Corridor he looked at many buildings and spoke to many city council members and planning officials. He found Ferndale to be the most enthusiastic and supportive of what he wanted to do. Now, between Schramm's Meadery, from one of the most respected mead makers in the world, and B. Nektar, possibly the highest-producing meadery in the country right now, Ferndale might as well be called Meaddale. 

All meads will be available for purchase in the tasting as well as select stores - they are self-distributing for now until their production requires something more substantial. Schramm has a goal of producing 300 gallons per month, or somewhere north of 130 cases (by comparison, neighboring Ferndale meadery B. Nektar has been steadily producing over 2,000 cases per month, so Schramm's is a tiny operation by comparison). 

I had the chance to sit down with Schramm last month to discuss his new meadery and his history with the burgeoning craft mead industry - something he has been instrumental in growing. "Okay, I have a bit of a reputation," he said bashfully to me as I attempted to make him take credit for his work. Schramm is an exceedingly kind and humble person, and more than one industry friend has referred to him as a genius - a label I have absolutely no doubt he deserves after hearing him rattle off the numerical designations of yeast strains he has used, the ethical conundrum of organic versus local, and the importance of having "fidelity to your product." Quality in, quality out, he says - which means while he will be using Michigan fruit and honey in his products, he is also very mindful of seasonality and will use what he needs to from where he needs to as the items are in season and available. 

The following is an excerpt from this conversation that appears in this month's issue of Hour Detroit, now on stands. 

*****

Just as craft brewing started in the basements of home brewers before it broke into the mainstream, so too did mead – and the home brewer and home meadmaker were often one and the same.

That's how Ken Schramm started in 1987. His brother bought him a home brewing kit one year for Christmas, which came with a copy of Charlie Pappazian's The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, long held as the definitive guide on the subject. In the back there was an appendix on mead.

"In it he spoke in superlatives, [like] there's really nothing better [than mead] in the whole wide world," Schramm says. "So I decided to give it a shot."

At the time craft brewing wasn't even yet in its infancy; it was still a zygote. Mead had even less prominence. Schramm started making meads and contacted fellow Michigander Bill Pfeiffer, one of the first five national beer judges in the country who was also meadmaker of the year. Pfieffer directed Schramm to the Ann Arbor Brewers Guild, where he met Dr. Dan McConnell, a PhD in microbiology research from the University of Michigan. "We both had the mead bug at the time, and I suggested we start a mead-only competition. Then people would send us their meads from all over and we could learn which ones were best and how they made them." And so, in partnership with a third friend Mike O'Brien, the Mazer Cup was born, America's first and largest mead-only competition. (The event is now held annually in March in Boulder, Colorado.)

Schramm and his mead buddies continued to build their reputations with experimental meads, and were guest speakers at the American Homebrewers Association national conference in Denver in 1994. "At that point our reputations were sealed," Schramm says. "People knew we were serious. We were asked to write articles. Eventually I got asked to write a book." McConnell was busy with a research grant from Harvard so Schramm took the lead on the mead-making manual.

The Compleat Meadmaker was released in 2003. It is still considered the current book of reference for meadmaking, and Schramm plans on a second edition soon. That's right: Ken Schramm is, quite literally, the man who wrote the book on mead.

Now he is opening his own meadery in downtown Ferndale, which he has wanted to do, he says, "Since before I wrote the book." Now in his 50s, he decided that if he was ever going to do it, now is the time. "I really wanted to open the meadery when mead was starting to gain currency and was not so obscure, when it was beginning to be part of the craft alcohol movement in the United States. I had to do something to support that first."

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

[Metromode] Distilling the Greatness of Michigan-Made Spirits

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Thanks to the growth in the craft beer industry and craft cocktail culture, the craft distilling industry has been growing exponentially in recent years, from barely two dozen microdistillers across the country in 2000 to over 250 in 2012, with dozens more currently seeking federal licensing. Michigan alone has over 30 licensed craft distillers with more in the works, including several in metro Detroit. There is also a Michigan Distillers Guild in the early planning stages, mirroring itself after the Michigan Brewers Guild to be an advocacy group for Michigan's microdistillers.

Read more.

[Real Detroit] Public House

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

You know how much we love Imperial? (That's a rhetorical question. We all love Imperial a lot.) What if we told you that the people who brought us Imperial were getting ready to open a new spot in downtown Ferndale called Public House, and that it will be exactly like Imperial but completely different and equally awesome?

That's something to get excited about, right?

(Again, that's a rhetorical question. But yes.)

Read more.

[EID Preview] Public House

All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

We've already established that Imperial in Ferndale is one of the best spots in metro Detroit, period - in terms of food, drink, design, and overall ambiance. Everywhere else is same same same, same same same, same same same same same. Imperial is different.

Now the five partners behind Imperial - Jeff and Suzanne King, Perry and Sharon Lavoisne (who live in L.A. now, though Perry is originally from Detroit), and Amir Daiza - are opening Public House in Ferndale, and it is already looking like it's going to be every bit as awesome and different as Imperial, but with a concept as entirely different as the opposite coast that inspired it.

Where Imperial is all working class rockabilly L.A., Public House takes its inspiration from the east coast. This is a modern Manhattan high-style "dive" bar that pays homage to the city's 1970s punk scene. This is East Village now meets East Village then, a five-star gastropub with the spirit of CBGB.

Speaking of five stars, you'll notice the logo has five stars in it. The stars represent the five partners, but also refers to a nickname for co-owner Sharon "Five-Star," for what is essentially her high standards of excellence. Expect to see a lot of custom swag, from cloth patches to leather knife sheaths, with the five star logo.

The partners have 20 years of industry experience together. Jeff and Perry previously worked at St. Andrew's and owned Small's in Hamtramck together. These guys have rock and roll in their blood, which was always evident in Imperial but is front-and-center at Public House. There is a record player on the bar shelves surrounded by piles of vinyl. The music at Public House will be all vinyl, all the time, and all music you've either never heard before (like obscure late-'60s psychedelic rock) or that you haven't heard in a while. Much like at Imperial, which sticks with all the rebel rockers of the alt-country variety (Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson), Public House is sticking with the rebel rockers of all other genres: Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, the Rolling Stones, even jazz and blues rebels like Miles Davis and THE original rock rebel, Frank Sinatra.

The motif of the painting of the rebel rocker displayed in the center of the bar is carried over from Imperial, and is something they plan on making consistent in all their future endeavors. This time it's Keith Richards, based on a photo of him wearing the now-infamous T-shirt that read "Who the fuck is Mick Jagger?" painted by local artist (painter, cartoonist, publisher, rock musician) Mark Dancey, who also painted the Johnny Cash waiving the one-finger salute at Imperial.

The space feels like a hipster-trendy lower Manhattan hotspot right here in metro Detroit. Marble-topped tables, curved wood and iron benches, a white tile wall on one side and an unfinished concrete wall on the other, and dark wood throughout (reclaimed materials were used where possible) accented with WWII-era industrial lights from an old Communist Eastern European factory (legit). Like Imperial, garage doors in the front will open out to the street and there will be a large patio in the back. Like Imperial, the space is intentionally simple and impeccably well-designed.

And much like Imperial, the menu was designed in consultation with Eric Patterson and Jennifer Blakeslee of the celebrated Cook's House in Traverse City. Chef Dan Hine, previously Executive Chef of the Whitney, will run the kitchen. The kitchen is open with its own "bar," a kind of de facto chef's table that will most likely be the hottest seats in the house for hanging out. An small dining space above the kitchen is available for private parties complete with a special group menu available by request which will allow Hine to offer items not available on the regular dinner menu - think a while leg of lamb for your party of six with the same per-person pricing you would get by ordering off the regular menu.

The space is almost complete and they are now awaiting their final inspections. They hope to be open late September or early October. The hours will be the same as Imperial, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week. Expect brunch to come a few months down the line.

Want a sneak peek at the menu? I happen to have one. And I am sharing it with you. You're welcome. Like Imperial, the menu is small (prices aren't yet noted but will be in line with Imperial's) but full of interesting items, "working-class food," as Perry calls it, but sophisticated. It's still approachable - burgers, like tacos, are inherently approachable - but thoughtfully prepared with a gastronomic sensibility. In many ways, Imperial has expanded people's palates but without doing it in an obnoxious, self-important LOOK AT ALL OF THE GREAT THINGS WE ARE DOING TO EXPAND YOUR PALATES way, which is just what this area needs. (I'd say the same about Green Dot, which is The Other Place in metro Detroit that isn't the same same same that I regularly recommend to people coming in from out of state/country.) Public House will do the same. Check it out:

Snacks
~Deviled Eggs celery root/tarragon or chicken wing
~Tempura Fried Sardines honey dipping sauce
~Mixed Pickles what's in season
~Hushpuppies Westphalian ham, maple butter
~Tempura Fried Green Onions habanero/lemon/truffle salts
~Potato Chips malt vinegar aioli
~Fried Chickpeas & Marinated Moroccan Olives citrus zest, herbs

Sandwiches
~PH Burger lamb and pork, feta, mint chutney, toasted brioche *lentil burger available upon request
~Pastrami Brownwood mustard, swiss cheese sauce, cucumber pickle, fried egg, toasted brioche
~Buttermilk Fried Chicken pimento cheese, house made dill pickle, toasted brioche
~PH BLT pork belly, tomato jam, bibb lettuce, avocado, jalapeño & red onion pickle, bao bun
~Vegetarian sautéed red peppers, onion, celery root, carrots, fennel, white bean hummus, french loaf
~Bahn MI roasted pork, pork rillette, Westphalian ham, daikon-radish-carrot slaw, french loaf
~Duck apple kimchi, ssamjang sauce, bibb lettuce, bao bun
~PBR Braised Brisket, caramelized kimchi, miso-radish dressing, toasted brioche
~Brat fennel-apple slaw, french loaf OR bourbon bean, diced onion, french loaf
*veggie dog available upon request

*Gluten-free options available

PBR-braised brisket sliders.

Desserts
~Cotton Candy, flavor of the day
~Soft Serve, Vanilla or flavor of the day
Toppings:
Milk Crumb, Coco Almond Crumb, Buttery Ritz, Bacon Pretzel Brittle, Mini S'more Marshmallows or Boba, flavor of the day

Drinks
Estelle - reposado, pear, lemon, agave, pinot noir réduction
Hazel - cardamom, pear liqueur, barenjager honey, lemon, white tea
Mavis - pisco, limoncello, pineapple, orange, lime, ginger beer, bitters
Stella - gin, green chartreuse, public house cordial, lime, egg white, rose bitters
Stanley - blanco tequila, cynar, lime, yellow chartreuse, demerara
Earl - bourbon, cocchi americano, limoncello, yellow chartreuse
Eugene - mezcal, creme de cacaco, bonal, mole bitters
Roy - bourbon, cocchi americano, lemon, public house cordial, laphroaig
Wallace - aperol, akavavit, lime, grapefruit, falernum, grapefruit bitters
Ike - japanese whiskey, gin, rum, hibiscus liqueur, lime, ginger beer
Mabel - damson gin, swedish punsch, lime
Gus - cynar, jamaican rum, madeira, bitters, ipa
Frank - japanese whiskey, root, simple, bitters
Vivian - blanco tequila, sherry, elderflower
Floyd - mango tea infused applejack, sherry, pineapple, lime
Rita - blanco tequila, cointreau, coco lopez, lime

Boozey Milkshakes - Vanilla Ice Cream

Loretta - root, ginger beer
Otis - rhubarb tea, strawberry
Clark - snap, coffee

Unlike Imperial, Public House will have an eight-handle tap system. While the beer list isn't finalized, you can expect American craft beers and no dollar pints of Bud Light.

Want to see more? View the Flickr set here.

[EID Feature] Detroit BBQ Company will take over Pig + Whiskey, soon all of Detroit

All photos pulled from the Detroit BBQ Co. Facebook page. 

Over the years I've written about hundreds of people, places, and events hundreds (thousands?) of times for dozens of media outlets. I try to keep up with as many of them as I can, as much as one human being can possibly strive towards total omniscience, through Facebook and whatever (not so much Twitter; Twitter is stupid).

I'd be lying if I said I remembered each and every one of them. I don't even remember who I interviewed this morning. Half the time I forget the name of the person I'm interviewing halfway through the damn interview. I'm not trying to be insensitive. This is just the way it is when you're juggling multiple different media identities.

But there are still those who make a lasting impression. Big personalities (and big mouths) that usually hide equally big hearts, but you'd never know it unless you actually bothered to get to know the person, and most people don't. I get that, because I am that – all iron and venom in the front with a mushy center. Takes one to know one, I suppose. I can sniff these types out faster than a beer bar in a beer desert, and I usually take an immediate liking to them, and thus an immediate loyalty – with all of the iron and venom that my loyalty implies.

Timmay.

In my head I call them "Nikki's Boys." (They're usually boys. Not for any sexytime reasons; much like my grandmother, whom I was lucky enough to have all to myself for my first 25 years, I've always favored my boys.) James Rigato of the Root is one. Nikita Santches of Rock City Pies and the soon-to-open Rock City Eatery is one. And Tim Idzikowski of Detroit BBQ Company is one.

Some of you might already be familiar with Tim; he's kind of famous on my Facebook page. Probably you don't really understand Tim, and that's okay. You don't need to. If you trust me, then trust this: he's legit. He's one of Nikki's Boys. Because part of being one of Nikki's Boys isn't just being a big-hearted shitwit; it also means having real, actual, no-bullshit talent and passion beyond what a publicist would have you believe of many talk-the-talk types. (Definitely not Nikki's Boys.)

So now I'd like for you to understand Tim a little better. And I'm requiring you (REQUIRING) to pay him a visit this weekend at Pig + Whiskey, the smoky, sweltering summertime Ferndale food and booze event now in its third year.

Tim and his brother Zac own Detroit BBQ Company. They started out as brothers usually do: in competition with each other. In this case, it was to see who could make the best ribs. Then, just for funsies, they bought a smoker and started making barbecue at the West Park Farmers Market in Grosse Pointe Park on Saturday mornings, picking up the occasional odd catering gig every once in awhile and figuring it would just be a cool way to make some extra cash on the side.

"We went from doing one market and getting excited to do a house party, and now we're booked for the whole summer," Tim says. "This year has been nuts. We probably turned down 15 events for August 3 [alone]."

Their one modest BBQ rig has multiplied into four. Their setup now includes two rotisseries and two commercial smokers (which allows the crew, made up of friends and family, to split apart and cater multiple events simultaneously), one of which they just got and enables them to do a full pig roast. They also just placed their order for a custom-built trailer with a 500-lb capacity commercial smoker as well as a flat top grill and cooler, making it a fully mobile restaurant. The truck will serve a small menu that will include sandwiches and all-homemade sides and will function as a roving catering business that will also have a presence at some regular spots for lunch crowds. It will be ready to roll next year, at which point they're looking to be a five-days-a-week business, and Tim will quit his job to be Mr. BBQ full time. Their goal is to have their own brick-and-mortar business in three to five years, and this trailer is a huge next step towards that.

This little piggy did not make it all the way home.

"We started this just to make a little money on the side," he says. "In our wildest dreams we never saw it going like this. We thought we would just do one graduation party and make a couple of hundred of bucks on weekend. We just thought it would be a hobby, doing the farmers markets. Neither of us thought we would be buying whole palates of meat from supply stores. Next year will be even more nuts with the trailer."

When the BBQ ball started rolling, they expanded their reach into other farmers markets, and eventually connected with Motor City Street Eats to have a presence at some of the regular food truck rally events (including the monthly event at the Royal Oak Farmers Market). Then the catering side caught fire (delicious meat fire), and now Detroit BBQ Company regularly caters weddings, graduations, and private parties – including events for some high-profile clients like Skidmore Studio.

Detroit BBQ Co. takes much of their inspiration from Franklin Barbecue in Austin, Texas, arguably the most famous barbecue joint in the country. Much like at Franklin, their seasoning is simply salt and pepper, they slice their brisket to order, and they make just enough so they can sell out each day and never have reuse anything. "I prefer to sell out at events instead of reuse shit," Tim says, which means nothing you order has been overcooked, reheated, or sitting for longer than it should have been.

As far as it compares to the most famous barbecue joint in Detroit, well…Slows is best known for chicken and mac and cheese. Enough said.

You can now find Detroit BBQ Company every Friday and Saturday at Kuhnhenn Brewing Company year-round, as well as at food truck rallies, the New Baltimore Farmers Market and occasionally still the Grosse Pointe Farmers Market, and major events like this weekend's Pig + Whiskey – Tim's favorite event of the year, the crown jewel food event of the summer, and the biggest single barbecue event in metro Detroit.

For Pig + Whiskey they'll be serving their signature meat suite: ribs, brisket, pulled pork, pulled chicken, sausage, and turkey. There won't be any sides this time because, let's face it, people don't come to Pig + Whiskey for the sides, and the boys would rather put all their energy into the meat.

"We're the only barbecue people at Pig + Whiskey three years in a row," Tim says. "That's really how we got our start." A fruitful relationship with the Metro Times has been invaluable to the fledgling BBQ company from the very beginning; they've been at Blowout, Vodka Vodka, and, of course, Pig + Whiskey. "We couldn't pay for that kind of marketing. The support from the Metro Times has been huge."

They're also partnering with Bob Perye of the Rogue Estate, who makes the kick-ass Smolder Sauce Detroit BBQ Co. usually has on hand, on a special "9 and Woodford" bourbon-based peach sauce for this year's event made with Woodford Reserve. Because it's Pig + Whiskey, after all.

After this Detroit BBQ Company will also be at the Detroit Lions training camp, open to the public starting July 29, along with Treat Dreams. Tim says that Treat Dreams owner Scott Moloney has also been a huge supporter from the very beginning and instrumental in getting their name out. (Scott Moloney, who was a banker in his former life, used to do all of the banking for Tim's dad.)

When Tim talks about barbecue, he talks with the enthusiasm of someone who really fucking loves barbecue. And when he talks about Pig + Whiskey, he talks with the enthusiasm of someone who really fucking loves pigs and whiskey. "It's going to be big this year," he says. "We probably have $8-9,000 up for this one. We've got a big crush ahead of us. We're really hoping for good weather. If they weather is absolutely gorgeous, we will kill it."

So go visit Tim and Zac this weekend. Help them kill it. Maybe bring them a delicious bourbony beverage from Cocktail Corner as a way of saying "thank for the tasty meat." And keep an eye out for these guys – this is just the beginning for them. How do I know? Because I fucking know.

[HOT LIST] Burgers

iBurger. All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

May is National Burger Month. While summer for some means trying to squeeze their pasty white Midwestern blubber butt into last year's bikini only to find that winter has not been kind to them, some of us (hi) have made (an uneasy) peace with the fact that maybe bikini season stopped for us a few years back, and this summer isn't looking much better. There is a certain freedom in realizing you're not Kate Upton, and with that freedom comes the ability to go on the summer #burgercleanse. (Use that hashtag on Instagram plz; trying to make it a thing.)

Perhaps you'll recall when just last week I noted that Detroit is still very much a meat and potatoes town. That being established, you can go ahead and assume that we know our way around a beef patty.  Now, you know all the old familiars -- the ones that have been written up in national publications, the ones that people will Instagram with words like "yum" and people will comment with "want" and "I love that place!" I'm talking about places like Red Coat Tavern and Miller's. Then there's the burger elite -- which, to just go ahead and reference myself again, I already covered them last week -- Vinsetta Garage, Roast, and burger n00b Monk. Iron Chef Michael Symon is also looking to expand his B Spot Burgers into the metro Detroit market, probably because we are a bunch of fat asses. Bottom line? We know some damn burgers.

For the purposes of making this list manageable, chains and fine(r) dining restaurants that serve burgers have been excluded. This is all bar burgers, diners, and straight burger joints. I've also ruled out sliders (sorry Green Dot) because that is a separate list. Also, I am a burger purist: while I concede the notion that burgers can be all dressed up and fancified for the betterment of burger enjoyment, I prefer to experience my burgers in their natural state -- beef, cheese, bun. Nothing more. All assessments have been made based on purely the plain old burger. (With cheese. Because it HAS to have cheese.)

#1 East Side Tavern Mt. Clemens
There is an episode of How I Met Your Mother in which Marshall spends the entire episode on a quest to find the Manhattan burger that changed his life. A burger of such superior quality, that was so much more than JUST a burger but an experience, that it had become legen-waitforit... in Marshall's mind. A burger so transcendent that no other burger could ever live up to its impossibly high standard. A burger that is almost cultural mythos. The burger at East Side Tavern is that burger. But don't take my word for it. Take my word for it.

#2 The Bronx Bar Detroit
Take a giant burger the size of your head and throw it on a sizzling flat-top grill with all of its other burger friends in plain view of the bar (so close, in fact, it would not be unreasonable to assume that the burgers occasionally get seasoned with Jameson's). Then take a giant ciabatta bun, slather it in butter, and throw it on the grill too. For good measure, add a couple of slices of melty American cheese -- which, and I know I'm going to catch some flack for this, in my own very much experienced burger experience is THE superior cheese for burgers -- and a giant pickle on the side. And there you have the Bronx Bar burger. Simple. Magical. It's the burger you just can't quit.

The Emory. 

#3 The Emory Ferndale
The Emory's burgers are something of a local legend. It just goes to show that the secret to a great burger is all in the beef, and theirs comes from Eastern Market's Fairway Packing. (Note: For those who are not familiar with Fairway, their burgers are consistently the best in the business. Any restaurant that serves them is automatically among the top in town.) The big fluffy buns come from Royal Oak bakery Hermann's. And the best part? A burger and fries will cost you only $5 on Tuesdays, and the Emory also rocks a brutal beer list to go with your beef.

From @eatitdetroit Instagram feed.

#4 Good Burger Dearborn
Dearborn is not lacking for good burgers. People still love the shit out of Miller's. There's also Howell's, which some say has the better bar burger. Moo Cluck Moo just opened in Dearborn Heights and is looking to be a game-changer. But I have seen the future, and in this future gas station food is the new trendy pedestrian blue collar IT food that "foodies" will flock to. And it starts at Good Burger. Located inside a BP gas station on Ford Road just a few blocks off of I-94, Good Burger is perhaps the most efficiently-named restaurant in metro Detroit. Because you will leave saying, "Damn, that WAS a good burger." Everything is made fresh in-house -- condiments are made from scratch, fries and onion rings are hand-cut; grilled-to-order burgers are never frozen and served on either a pretzel roll or brioche bun sourced from local bakeries, and the meat itself is expertly seasoned. I told you my rule about eating burgers plain? With this one you won't even WANT to dilute the flavor with any other frippery. Burgers are served with perfectly-crispy (and made to order) seasoned shoestring fries, and they also deliver.

#5 iBurger Dearborn
It would seem that metro Detroit's REAL cheeseburger paradise is Dearborn. Dearborn is just great. I love Dearborn. Have I told you how much I love Dearborn? Such a cultural mish-mosh and I LOVE that. Black people, white people, Arab people, Mexican people -- if you want diversity, it's all in Dearborn, and it's actually properly integrated instead of the street-by-street segregation you find in other "diverse" cities. Now, with a large population of ethnic Arab Muslims, this also means that you'll find a lot of halal restaurants. They're not all Mediterranean, either. You'll find halal Mexican, halal Italian, halal fried chicken, halal pizza, halal sushi. America! Bless you melting pot, and bless you fatass Midwestern eating habits and cultural assimilation. iBurger is a halal burger joint, and, you know, maybe it's because Muslims don't eat pork and can therefore put ALL of their energy into the beef (even the bacon is beef) instead of being distracted by the temptations of pig parts, but damn this is a tasty burger. Read more about it here. They also serve raw juices and ice cream. Raw juices at a burger joint (and they're not talking about the burgers, though those are plenty juicy too). Don't you just freaking LOVE that?

Bubbling under The Detroiter Bar (Detroit), One-Eyed Betty's (Ferndale), Red Hawk (Ann Arbor), the Avenue Pub (Wayne), Cutter's (Eastern Market), McShane's Pub (Corktown), Rosie O'Grady's (Ferndale), Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger (Ann Arbor), Nemo's (Corktown), Mae's (Pleasant Ridge), Greenwich Pub (Detroit), Sidetrack (Ypsilanti), Clubhouse BFD (Rochester), Jay's Stuffed Burgers (Plymouth), Honest John's (Midtown), Doyle's Tavern (Plymouth), Brownie's on the Lake (St. Clair Shores)

[HOT LIST] Chicken soup

Photo from the Internet.

This post authored by EID Co-Conspirator Stefanie Cobb. 

The holidays are dead and gone, flu season has come into full swing, and it’s really fucking cold outside. February’s wrath bids the temptation to stock up on NyQuil, call into work, and hibernate until the trees start budding again. In an effort to avoid the downward spiral of self-loathing and misery that Michigan winters so graciously provoke, let’s consider chicken soup. This brothy delight is an ultimate “feel better” food and reliever of wintertime’s bitterness. Many swear by its slightly-less-than-scientific ability to remedy cold and flu symptoms, but if anything, at least it’s something to occupy your chops and quit whining.

Now, you could follow Deadpin’s advice and try to make your own. Yeah. Nothing like a little chicken and snot soup to make you feel better, you wretched disgusting mess of mortality. What are you going to do, cook it on your forehead? Better to leave this one to the professionals and their magic chicken anti-viral juju soup.

As a relatively standard menu item, most restaurants tend to serve up a lot of half-assed, soggy-noodle, Campbell’s imitation cup of bullshit. Fortunately, there are places in and around the city that know chicken soup and know it well. Pay these places a little visit if you’re feeling defeated by the flu or the unwelcome cold weather blahs (or, you know, if you just like soup). They know how to make you feel REAL good.

This is where magic happens. Photo from the Internet.

#1 Los Galanes (3362 Bagley Ave, Detroit)
Those who theorize about the healing powers of chicken soup must be referring to the one served at Los Galanes. That is a magical, magical soup. The carrots, zucchini, cabbage, and redskin potatoes are insanely tender and appropriately proportioned with the broth. Oh sweet Jesus, that broth. It’s not too bland. It’s not too salty. It’s just delicious. They top the bowl off by adding chicken that’s so ridiculously juicy, it’s almost effortless to fork off the bone. Every ingredient plays an essential role in fulfilling the unity of such a glorious soup. Although no one can confirm the truth behind its alleged curing ability, I’m almost certain I spotted mini angels swimming in my bowl.

#2 Green Dot Stables (2200 W Lafayette Blvd., Detroit)
We love Green Dot, Detroit loves Green Dot, EVERYONE LOVES GREEN DOT. That is unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year. Putting all the obvious reasons for adoring this place aside, let’s talk about their Chicken Paprikash Soup. It’s really good and like everything else on their menu, its only $3. I may just be a sucker for anything with spaetzle, but any Hungarian twist on chicken soup is simply divine. Hey, if all else fails and you still find yourself seeking comfort from the cold, their drinks are still only $3 so you can get tanked to forget about how much winter blows. You could also get tanked AND eat Chicken Paprikash Soup.

Photo from Foodspotting.

#3 Pollo Chapin (2054 Junction St, Detroit)
It’s nearly impossible NOT to leave this poultry treasure box in a good mood because it is just so silly. Your dining experience will most likely be in the company of several tiny Mexican children drinking Jarritos (a Mexican version of Faygo only 9,000 times more sugary) and watching Dora the Explorer. Real life, y’all; this is not a stereotypical postulation. Their chicken noodle soup, costing something like a dollar fifty a bowl, is on point with its noodle to broth to vegetable ratio. There are few things in this world (well, at least in the world of dining out) that are more infuriating than ordering a bowl of chicken noodle soup and receiving a bowl of broth ONLY and, if you’re lucky, find a noodle and carrot floating around. Seriously, such a dick move on the behalf of whoever thinks it is acceptable to pull a stunt like that. Also, the chicken in their chicken noodle soup is, like, really chicken. It’s none of that creepy, spongy, cubed shit that sometimes makes you wonder if your body will actually be capable of digesting it. Pollo Chapin loves chicken. I love Pollo Chapin.

#4 Rosie O’Grady’s Irish Pub (279 W Nine Mile, Ferndale)
Their chicken and dumpling soup will make you question everything you thought was true about Rosie’s. It’s essentially chicken pot pie in soup form with some peppered dumplings thrown in. A hearty bowl could provide just the comfort you need to press on through a day of February blues. The catch is that this place can be a real nightmare, so it’s probably best to avoid going after 6pm on a weekend. Go on a weekday afternoon and you’ll have plenty of opportunity to enjoy a cup without having to worry about ending up wedged in between two inebriates dry humping to Ke$ha…unless you’re into that.

#5 Polish Village Café (2990 Yemans Ave, Hamtramck)
Seeing as Fat Tuesday is next week, it is only appropriate to mention Hamtown. With this one, I recommend not only ordering the chicken noodle soup, but also everything else on the menu. While my intentions are not to veer away from fact that this is a “Chicken Soup” Hot List, I simply cannot imagine going to Polish Village Café and ONLY ordering soup, especially since it comes free with an entrée anyway. In any event, this is another place around the city that owns in properly proportioning chicken noodle ingredients (not too many noodles, not too much chicken, not too much broth, etc.). If you’ve been struck with the flu bug, order a quart, go home, and eat it all in one sitting. That shit works. For real.

Bubbling under Polonia (2934 Yemans Ave, Hamtramck), Blue Star Cafe (239 W Congress St, Detroit), Christine’s Cuisine (729 E Nine Mile, Ferndale), La Feast (315 S Main St, Royal Oak)