The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

Chocolate lava cakes from Chez Chloe. Don't you want to lick the screen? 

ICYMI:
~Six hotshot young chefs in the same kitchen could be a recipe for disaster, but not at the first Young Guns dinner at The Root Restaurant + Bar. Here is my recap and the full menu from this event, which featured so much talent in one room it was unfair to all other rooms. [EID]

~Chloe Sabatier of Chez Chloé makes exactly one thing: traditional French chocolate lava cakes. A 23-year-old French transplant who moved to Detroit from Paris just six months ago, Chloe is astounded by the overwhelming response she has received after just two months of being open, and is already thinking about her growth plans (which include a food truck for next summer). [Model D]

~Restaurateur Maurice Wiggins, one of the opening partners of Hudson Cafe, plans to open the Addison (in the former location of Atlas Global Bistro) and Restaurant 55 next spring. [Model D]

~Hatch Detroit 2013 semifinalists Voigt's Soda House are now open through the end of the month in the Livernois Community Storefront. Stop by for a sandwich, soup, and old-fashioned soda and order some of their artisan syrups for the holidays! [EID]

~The final chapter in a series on independent grocers in the city of Detroit, this last piece for Model D looks at stores in Midtown, Lafayette Park, and the East Riverfront where you'll find an active mindfulness towards healthy and organic foods, greater selections of fine wine and craft beer, and increased focus on Michigan-made products. [Model D]

~Tacos will replace pizza at the staple college town booze store Marcus Market, which underwent a serious facelift earlier this year. ALLEY TACO opens mid-January. [EID]

~This guide in Model D highlights many of Detroit's top permanent retailers and art galleries offering unique holiday shopping opportunities. While no means comprehensive, this list highlights a wide range of local retailers, including many that just opened within the last year, including Shinola Store Detroit, Busted in Detroit, RedBull House of Art, Inner State Gallery, The Detroit Mercantile Co., Hugh, Pure Detroit, and loads more. [Model D]

~The Grille Midtown, ALLEY TACO, Thomas Magee's Sporting House Whiskey Bar, Delite Cafe and Deli … here's a quick look at was has opened recently and what's about to open. [Model D]

Detroit City Distillery is now 100% approved to operate and will now work on finishing their build-out in Eastern Market. [DCD FB]

Esquire names the shawarma at Bucharest Grill among the best late-night food in the country. [Esquire]

Get your coffee and whatnot fix at Coffee and (_____) 7 days a week now! [C+Blank FB]

Detroit in…Dubai? Yep: Guns + Butter continues to make its worldly rounds. [Gulf News]

Have you heard about Detroit's Dr. Sushi yet? He's going to be popping up a lot more around town in 2014. You're going to want to check him out. [Click on Detroit]

'Tis the season for tamales at Honey Bee Market! [HB FB]

The holidays are a busy time for companies like Pete's Chocolate Co., Mindo Chocolate Makers, and Sydney Boggs. [Detroit News]

Ouch. Michael Symon's Roast - Detroit has to close for two weeks to repair fire damages in the kitchen during peak holiday season. [Freep]

#saveblimpy [MLive]

Red Crown has a new owner, a new menu, and new hours. [Freep]

The new Smoke Street in Milford is getting some good reviews so far. The owner, Elia Nichols, is kind of a character, and also owns the E.G. Nick's chain and Highland House (located not far from Milford in Highland, with a carry-out space in the same plaza as The Root Restaurant + Bar in White Lake). This is what replaced Brian Polcyn's Cinco Lagos, previously the famed Five Lakes Grill that was rebranded when the economy tanked. [Freep]

Here is a list of new places that have opened in Detroit really really recently. [Thrillist]

Beerie
~Jolly Pumpkin Brewery has announced their new cafe and taproom in Dexter! Null will showcase all of Northern United's brands, which also includes Civilized Spirits and North Peak Brewing Company. [Promote Michigan]

~Griffin Claw Brewing Company cans are now making their way to shelves. [Merchant's Fine Wine FB]

~Michigan's Best Beer Guide author writes about Detroit-area breweries for the Chicago Tribune, name-dropping everything from Atwater Brewery to Kuhnhenn Brewing Co. to Fort Street Brewery. And Traffic Jam + Snug and Falling Down Beer Company and MillKing It Productions and Griffin Claw Brewing Company and Rochester Mills Beer Co. Also Motor City Brew Tours. [Chicago Tribune]

~DRAFT Magazine names their top 25 beers of 2013. Not surprising: Founders Brewing Co. DOOM is on the list. Surprising: Wolverine Beer placed on the list? With something called Gulo Gulo India Pale Lager? That's one of the top 25 best beers of the year, apparently? Color me surprised, and congrats to them! [DRAFT]

~Paste Magazine named their 15 best winter beers, and that list includes Bell's Brewery, Inc.'s Winter White and New Holland Brewing Co.'s Cabin Fever. And some other really solid picks, too. [Paste Magazine]

Misc
~Grand Rapids and Lake Michigan's Gold Coast is the #1 travel destination for 2014 according to Lonely Planet (some other great picks on there as well, but none only 2.5 hours driving distance in our very own beautiful state). [Lonely Planet]

~"COLD AND LESS HOSPITABLE." Oops, I mean, yaaaaaaaaaaay someone said something nice about Detroit again, VALIDATION woooooooo. It's f-ing cold. [Fodor's]

~You know what would be way better right now? New Orleans. Oh hey, here's this thing I wrote. [Fox   News]

~California is such a vast, often incomprehensible state. It is the most agriculturally diverse state in the country, yet the people seem to be more at odds and internally conflicted over their own products and potential than anywhere else. As a whole, the state manages to be both trailblazing pioneer and two steps behind simultaneously. (Talking wine, farm-to-table food, craft beer, everything.) For you winos out there, here is a great interview with Jon Bonné, wine editor for the San Francisco Chronicle and author of The New California Wine, which touches on some of this. [LA Weekly]

~Some of these are actually kind of cool. Many of them are very SkyMall. But…who doesn't love SkyMall, amiright? [BuzzFeed]

~I feel like this could have been a lot worse for the restaurant in question. [Mashable]

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

ICYMI:
~This is a beautiful story about a boy and his bagels. Detroit Institute of Bagels opened on Thursday, and it's been a long time coming. Two and a half years after our first conversation I sat down with owner and chief bagel maker Ben Newman again to take a look at how far he has come. [EID]
~This is the penultimate profile leading up to the sold out Young Guns dinner at The Root Restaurant and Bar on December 8: Nick Janutol, Chef de Cuisine of Forest Grill and recent replacement transplant (as in, moved back after moving away) to the Detroit area. [EID]
~EVENTS! (PS, are you ready for Repeal Day?) [EID]

It's not too late for an "alternative" Thanksgiving. [Freep]

Guns + Butter with Shinola in Singapore? Yep - Detroit done gone international. [G+B FB]

This was the first year since I started with Real Detroit Weekly many moons ago that I didn't take part in the annual Six Drink Slam (I was traveling). But my RDW colleague/protege Gary Bartle did such a fine job with his Valentine Distilling Co. SDS that you simply must read it. "I imagined flirting with Christina Hendricks and chain-smoking like I'd never heard of cancer." Indeed. [RDW]

The Stand is now open for lunch, and here is the menu. [The Stand FB]

Hamtown Farms lives! [Hamtramck Review]

Food + Wine names Dangerously Delicious Pies Baked in Detroit one of America's best pumpkin pies. (Okay, *technically* it was the D.C. outpost where Rodney Henry of Next Food Network Star fame is located. But we have a branch of that same company here in Detroit, and you can find them at Third Street Bar. [F+W]

Moo Cluck Moo will open a second location in Canton. [Detroit News]

Sweet Potato Sensations is one business helping revive Detroit with help from Goldman Sachs. You can read more about Goldman Sachs here. *crickets* [MSNBC / Rolling Stone]

Small Business Saturday might be over, but this video of Ryan Hooper, Creative Director of Pure Detroit, being interviewed (and flirted with!) by Fox News is timeless. [Fox]

Okay, so here's a bunch of Thanksgiving-related things for posterity and/or reference next year:
-Plum Market Master Sommelier Madeline Triffon's wine pairing suggestions [WDET]
-DRAFT Magazine's beer pairing suggestions [DRAFT]
-CraftBeer.com did their own version, naming Jolly Pumpkin's La Roja as one of their top picks [CraftBeer.com]
-SAVEUR Magazine on why pumpkin pie is the superior of the American pies [SAVEUR]
-Hope you didn't miss out on Thanksgivukkah celebrations, since it won't come around for another 70,000 years [BuzzFeed]
-What does your favorite pie say about you? According to the highly scientific calculations of BuzzFeed, this [BuzzFeed]

Beerie
~Winter Beer Fest tickets have already came and went; this time it sold out in three hours. You people really like standing outside in sub zero temperatures drinking beer. [MLive]

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

ICYMI:
~LET THERE BE BAGELS! Detroit Institute of Bagels opens on Thanksgiving Day! [EID]

~All of the Young Guns have given terrific interviews for EID's Young Guns profile series, but Detroit's favorite young(-ish…his words!) Gun Andy Hollyday of the soon-to-open Selden Standard might just be my favorite yet. [EID]

~Thanksgiving is one week away! Whether you want to buy a locally-raised turkey to make at home, buy a pre-cooked turkey (or the whole damn meal) to serve, or want to skip that whole mess and just go out to eat, here are some local places that will facilitate all of your needs. [EID]

~Another week, another Green Grocer profile, this time on the lower East Side. Not to be partial or anything, but Food Town Super Market is super-nice, and how cute is Chandler Park? [Model D]

~Another previous pop-up is making the transition to permanent. Coffee and (_______) will now be a permanent fixture in the developing Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood. [Model D]

~Tuesdays market season at Eastern Market Corporation may be over, but they're having one last hurrah next Tuesday for their Thanksgiving Market, where they'll have everything you'll need for your holiday table as well as food trucks, Christmas tree farmers, the launch of the Wheelhouse Detroit Bike Shop + Detroit Bikes retail residency, and the newest release from Arcadia Publishing, 'Detroit's Historic Eastern Market' - co-written by EM businesses development VP and owner of Detroit Spice Co. Spices and Hot Sauces, Randall Fogelman. [Model D]

~Local chef Brian Beland won a culinary thing in Dubai. [EID]

~It's the most wonderful time for EVENTS! [EID]

Detroit in L.A.: Guns + Butter is popping up on the west coast at the super-trendy Hollywood Roosevelt - a Thompson Hotel. With the recent G+B endorsement from Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown at one of the trendiest hipster/scenester hotspots in Hollywood, this dinner is going to be a big deal. [LA Times]

A new restaurant is now open in Midtown. It is called The Grille Midtown. You can take a look at the menu online…looks like pretty standard "grille with an e" offerings; definitely trying to be a bit more upscale. [The Grille Official]

Give thanks for ready-made Thanksgiving meals from places like Zingerman's Roadhouse, The Produce Station, Eat Catering And Carry-Out, and more. [MLive]

What are the best pizzas in the state of Michigan? According to MLive.com, MANI Osteria and Bar is #1, Buddy's Pizza is #2, and Supino Pizzeria is # N/A because they're not even in the top 10. Which just goes to show you that other people's opinions are exactly that. [MLive]

And in a separate link (MOAR CLIKZ), the rest of the list. (Supino Pizzeria is on this one but alas, no Bigalora.) [MLive]

Looks like Toronto has some Detroit envy… great story on Detroit's Dr. Sushi here from our northern neighbors. [Toronto Standard]

As far as travel stories go, this one is…brief. (But does manage to squeeze in "Bourdain" despite that.) And according to this, La Feria Detroit is the new restaurant of note. [AOL]

The Royal Oak Barnes and Noble stays for now. Commence bitching about BLAH BLAH BLAH CORPORATE BLAH. [Royal Oak Patch]

Peet's Coffee and Tea has set up shop in metro Detroit in a major kind of way. Here are all of the many grand openings happening. [Royal Oak Patch]

Beerie
~The times, they are a-changin'! Several bills that significantly loosen the restrictions on breweries and brewpubs are making their way through state legislature, as are bills allowing temporary licenses for new bars and restaurants going through the licensing process and "economic development" liquor licenses available in any and all municipalities. [MLive]

Misc.
~They…they understand why this is totally f-ed up, right? Don't they? [The Daily Meal]

~Celeb chef and part-time Michigander Mario Batali took to the Twitters to raise money for a cause he personally believes in, and in true form, the mouth-breathers of Twitter voiced their opposition with the usual derpaderpaderpaDER. His responses are quite humorous. [The Raw Story]

~Hate Wal-Mart? So does Ashton Kutcher. Here is another celeb Twitterer taking a social media stand. (For whatever that's worth.) [Salon]

~And then Jon Stewart totally pussed out. [Salon]

[NEWS BITES] Eastern Market After Dark is tonight and features 48 venues plus previews of new restaurants

If you've been on the scene for awhile, it should come as no surprise to you to hear that Eastern Market can be just as lively at night as it is during the day. (And sometimes much more so, if the day we're talking about is any other one but Saturday.) This has meant different things over the years. Now it means dozens of art and design studios, galleries, restaurants, and various other kinds of creative spaces.

The third-annual Detroit Design Festival is now in full swing and tonight is one of the DDF's signature events, Eastern Market After Dark.

EMAD started with last year's DDF after Nina Marcus-Kurlonko, Project Manager for the Red Bull House of Art, was driving through the market district at night. "I saw a bunch of lights on that you don't normally see on; people were all in their studios working," she says. "People have this association with Eastern Market and the food. I thought, there has to be a way for people to see this culture here. People are always creating and building things in the neighborhood."

Eastern Market is home to dozens of designers and artists who have studio spaces in the market district and also call it their home. There are also galleries like the Red Bull House of Art, the more recently-opened Inner State Gallery (home of 1xRUN), the gallery-café-performance space and soon to be museum Trinosophes, the hacker/makerspace OmniCorp, Division Street Boutique and Aptemal Clothing (of "Detroit Hustles Harder" fame), not one but two vintage letterpress studios, Signal-Return and Salt + Cedar, the hard to define but necessary to explore Detroit Mercantile Co., and so many other independently-owned businesses that blend artspace and design studio with retail commerce. (And food. There's always food.)

Nina sent out an email to some folks, who sent an email out to more folks, and by the time the first Eastern Market After Dark was held last year during the 2012 Detroit Design Festival, she had 25 places signed up to open up their spaces for behind-the-scenes tours and artist walkthroughs to the 2,000 people who showed up.

This year there's 48.

In addition to walking through all the studios and artists' workshops the public might not otherwise have access to, there is also a ton of programming to go along with Eastern Market After Dark. An artist will be making an installation piece at Inner State Gallery from their 1xRUN paper scraps. Detroit Collision Works' First Container will have storytelling boxes at several venues. OmniCorp's makers will be showing off their skills. (This might involve some sort of fire; one never knows.) Odu, the 14-piece Afrobeat orchestra led by composer, musician and artist Adeboye Adegbenro and consisting of some of Detroit's finest musicians including Baba Akunda, Jennie Knaggs, and Joel Peterson, will be playing at Trinosophes at 9 p.m. for $5. Aptemal will have screenprinting demos at the Division Street Boutique. Detroit artist and musician Ron Zakrin, whose studio space is in Eastern Market, will play a show at the Red Bull House of Art.

And, as for the food: the American Institute of Architects Detroit chapter is hosting an awards celebration in Shed 3 from 7:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. From 7-9 p.m., ticket-holders will have food from Detroit restaurants including Rubbed and cocktails from Bailout Productions. (Tickets are only $35 and are available at the door, and yes, they accept credit.) Salt + Cedar is releasing a new Detroit-themed poster and also serving "Bunny Chow," the savory street food of Cape Town. Eastern Market is also launching their third Thursday night market in Shed 4, which includes a temporary installation project, a "chandelier" made from found objects from all over the city. Third Thursday night markets will have more of an artisan and craft focus, though given the nature of tonight's event, this one will also have food. Need more food? Preview two new restaurants that aren't even open yet: Frontera and Guns + Butter (GASP, you mean Guns + Butter is opening a permanent space in Eastern Market? Yes Marge, they are), plus others like Trinosophes, Cutter's, Roma Café, Supino Pizzeria, and more.

For the full list of venues and events, check the events page here. And here's more info on the AIA celebration too. There will also be plenty of music, which kind of goes without saying. "Everyone in this neighborhood has this really fun energy," Nina says. If you've never experienced the energy of Eastern Market after dark for yourself, tonight's the night to go.

Twitter/Instagram/Facebook the shit out of this event with these hashtags: #EMafterdark #DDF2013

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

ICYMI:
~Detroit Restaurant Week has announced the lineup for the fall edition happening next month; new this year is a DRW series of the popular pop-up Guns + Butter being held at Shinola Store Detroit, but the reservations won't come easy. [EID / Crain's]
~No reservations? (And I'm not talking about the Bourdain show here, but he was indeed at Guns + Butter once IN CASE YOU FORGOT.) The first-ever #DineDrinkDetroit will happen October 7-13, featuring a combination of food and drink at 13 independently-owned Detroit restaurants for only $15, no reservations needed. It's kind of the un-DRW. [EID]

Dilla's Delights doughnut and coffee shop will open in Harmonie Park this fall in honor of the late Detroit producer J Dilla. There is a rap crossover joke in here. Also one about rappers making money long after death. Did 2Pac like tacos? I would really like to see 2 Pacos Tacos also happen. [Detroit News]

Dally in the Alley is happening next weekend. [Dally FB]

Check out the Batata Shop at Germack Coffee during Eastern Market Tuesdays through October. [TBS FB]

Kate Daughdrill - artist and farmer who was one of the founders of Detroit SOUP and more recently of The Edible Hut in Detroit's Osborn neighborhood - is also behind Burnside Farm in "Banglatown," a place where art and agriculture intersect. [UIX]

The new Firebird Tavern is a gorgeous space with good high-quality bar food (check out the menu and the dill pickle wings) and very friendly staff. Located right in Greektown by Old Shillelagh, perfect for pre-/post-gaming. From the former owners of Pulse. [EID FB / DBusiness]

Zagat has once again named their "50 states, 50 sandwiches," choosing the pasty for Michigan. Now, Detroiters might instinctively think it should be corned beef, what with because of ALL of the corned beef, but that's more of a (metro)*Detroit* thing. For the state of Michigan as a whole, the pasty (which is so much more than just a sandwich - it is a full meal in a beautiful buttery crust easy to carry and eat and brilliant in its simplicity) makes more sense. Though it is perhaps more closely related to the pie than the sandwich. Maybe it is a sandwich pie? [Zagat]

Food + Wine names the coolest crowd-funded projects in the country. Among them is our own Drought. Check them out at Shinola Store Detroit! [F+W]

Tommy's Bar is another local bar that served as a blind pig during Prohibition (with archeological evidence to prove it). [Detroit News]

Get punchy at The Oakland or The Sugar House, or do it yourself at home with these recipes. [Detroit News]

Luxe Secondsies. (Now open in GP.) [Detroit News]

Is our collective self-esteem really so low that we need constant validation from poorly-written copy+paste "travel blogs"? Because here is another one. [Roam Right]

Beerie
~Check out the new website for Detroit Beer Week; events and venue details coming soon! [DBW]

~MLive is now on the hunt for Michigan's best brewery. This should be interesting. [MLive]

~Batch won Hatch, and another pile of free money. Here's a story that dates back to their first pile of free money. [Real Detroit]

~Warren's Falling Down Beer Company is getting a much-needed facelift and ditching the old Big Boy booths. [FDBC FB]

~A freak accident rocked the craft beer world this week as fellow brewers mourn the loss of Matt Courtright, who got his start in professional brewing at Liberty Street Brewing Co here in Plymouth. [BeerPulse]

~To celebrate their launch in Michigan, The Bruery (i.e., one of my favorite not-Michigan breweries) is running an Instagram contest through Sept. 10. Click on the link for details and try to find some Russian stacking dolls. (Click on the link, it will make sense.) [The Bruery Official]

Misc.
~Meanwhile in the rest of the world... [Reuters]

~The takeaway here: #putaneggonit [First We Feast]