[NEWS BITES] November news from the outer 'burbs

Great Lakes Culinary Center. 

Southfield: The new Great Lakes Culinary Center, a 20,000-square-foot, multi-use facility for restaurant and food service industry professionals and aspiring food entrepreneurs, has officially opened its doors to the public. The center is connected with the Great Lakes Supply Company and provides food service professionals with everything needed to design, build, test, and launch a fully-equipped commercial kitchen. In addition, it is an interactive demonstration classroom, multimedia learning center, and a destination for private parties and special events with indoor/outdoor seating and capacity of up to 150 people.

Milford: Despite a previous press release going on saying that it is open, the new Smoke Street in Milford (in the space previously occupied by Cinco Lagos, previously Five Lakes Grille) is in fact not yet open. But the menu is up, and it looks...like it will be less "destination" BBQ and more serviceable neighborhood "we go because it's there" BBQ.

Plymouth: Plymouth-Canton Patch reports that the 789 building is celebrating its grand opening. The building is home to three new businesses: Cafe Jorge, Aladdin Shawarma Express, and Yummie Yogurt.

Shelby Township: Buddy's Pizza opened their 10th metro Detroit area location in Shelby Township yesterday. "Where is Shelby Township?", you ask? If you have to ask, you don't really need to know. (It's basically the Novi of the northeast but without all the Asians.) This is Buddy's first new location in 15 years.

Troy: Columbus's Piada Italian Street Food is coming to Troy. Here's part of the press release:A new, healthy, made-to-order food concept is coming Michigan thanks to successful Ohio restaurateur Chris Doody. Piada Italian Street Food will premiere its thin crust bread that is hand-rolled with premium ingredients at its newest location on Friday, Nov. 22 at 2038 W. Big Beaver Road in Troy.

Piada Troy is a new genre of fresh fare with Northern Italian roots. It is quickly rising in popularity in the Midwest and hailed as a “Hot Concept” by Nation’s Restaurant News. At the counter of Piada Troy, guests choose the creation of their dish step-by-step. The price of the average meal is $9 and the order is typically completed within 60 seconds.

Guests choose from three entrees:
· The Piada – It begins with a stone-baked Italian crust dough made from organic and natural flours and extra virgin olive oil. Then, it is filled with high-quality ingredients and from-scratch sauces of the guests’ choice
· A custom-created chopped salad
· A personal pasta bowl

Guests customize their entrée selections with items such as steak, Italian sausage or salmon; sauces including Pomodoro, Alfredo and pesto; a selection of sautéed and fresh vegetables; and salad toppings of cheese, pancetta and much more.

So, basically, it's another place for Troy office workers to get a quick lunch.

[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.

[EID Feature] Brian Polcyn, Chef and Patriarch

Being a chef is terrible. Unless you love being a chef.

Think about it: 16 hour work days on your feet in a sweltering kitchen in which the daily number of opportunities for personal injury are on pace with that of a war zone, working all nights and weekends and holidays, sacrificing your social life and your family life and really any other kind of life you might have hoped to have had, plus the pay sucks until you finally own your own restaurant and then the pay is even worse ... bottom line, you'd better really fucking love to cook if this is the life you're going to choose.

Brian Polcyn chose that life, and he has made the most of it.

Earlier this week Polcyn made the decision to close Cinco Lagos, the rebranded casual Latin version of his renowned Five Lakes Grill in downtown Milford. The decision was not made lightly.

"I put a lot of my life into that space," says Polcyn. "But there comes a time in your career when you know you need to move on. It was a really tough decision for me; that was my baby! I built that place from zero, from nothing, to become a nationally-named restaurant." Five Lakes received coverage in The Atlantic, Wine Spectator, the New York Times, Bon Appetit, and even earned Polcyn a James Beard nomination for Best Chef Midwest in 2006.

At the time Polcyn opened Five Lakes Grill, downtown Milford wasn't exactly the most obvious choice for such a prestigious restaurant. (It still isn't.) But Polcyn is a family man, and he chose that location because he had a wife and five children to raise and he wanted to be close to home so he could balance being a chef with being a dad. "You know what it's like to be a chef," he says to me. "And to be a father. In order to be successful at either one you have to put a lot of time in."

He certainly didn't suffer for it; he racked up a list of a accolades and was still "able to achieve chef development."

He spent 18 years in that location. But now, his kids are all grown up. And his baby has grown too ... not quite in the way he had envisioned, but in a way that was necessary (he transitioned Five Lakes into the fresh-Mex Cinco Lagos in 2009, when the recession was landing its most severe blows on local businesses).

He also opened Forest Grill in Birmingham in 2008, a concept with the same soul as Five Lakes but in a much more agreeable location. Suddenly the customers that would drive all the way from Birmingham and the Bloomfields to visit Five Lakes now had one of their own; they stopped coming. Then the recession hit, and Five Lakes was over. (Polcyn says now the decision to change Five Lakes over to Cinco Lagos was harder than his more recent decision to close.)

But Polcyn understands the necessity of this decision. Much like being a father and being a chef, he realizes owning two restaurants is also a balancing act. Add to that teaching full time at Schoolcraft College, launching a national charcuterie line with Garden Fresh Salsa (coming later this year), and being a best-selling author currently working on his third book (a more in-depth, detailed version of what he introduced in Charcuterie and Salumi). "The thing is, I'm just really busy," he says. "It takes a lot of time and effort in Milford and I can't spend the time there anymore to make it successful."

After 37 years in the business, Polcyn is past the point of sweating away in a kitchen every day. In the natural stages of a chef's evolution, he has transitioned into more of a teacher/mentor role, and continues to develop his own brand outside of the dining room. "I'm perfectly happy with the direction I'm going in. I'm still developing as a business man."

As a full time instructor at Schoolcraft College, Polcyn has been training the next generation of chefs in his own image. Now house-made charcuterie platters are widely available in restaurants throughout metro Detroit (10 years ago most people had never even heard the word). You'd be hard-pressed to find a chef working in a metro Detroit kitchen who hasn't in some way been influenced by him (if not directly trained under him).

And now, Polcyn will be mentoring a new Chef de Cuisine at Forest Grill.

Previous Chef de Cuisine David Gilbert left late last year in order to open his own restaurant in Grosse Pointe Park (opening sometime this spring). Things at the Grill have been unstable since his departure, but now Polcyn has hired on Grosse Pointe native Nick Janutol, who has been working at Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago.

Polcyn was introduced to Janutol through their mutual friend James Rigato, Executive Chef at the Root Restaurant in White Lake. "James kept on me relentlessly, 'You gotta get this guy, you gotta get this guy.'" When Polcyn was in Chicago on a book tour he met with Janutol ... and they talked nonstop for an hour and a half. "I'm really confident," says Polcyn. "He really buys into the [Forest Grill] concept and sees what my vision is."

Polcyn remembers when he was first starting out all the chefs around here were European because at the time a chef in Europe had to wait for a chef to die just to get a position. "I want to make room for the next generation guys ... these guys are established, they have the base skills. Now they need a place to develop. It's like developing your craft as an actor. You need a good role to go through that journey of self-discovery. I'm a good teacher and I know how to spot talent."

And for Polcyn, being a teacher is also about being a mentor and setting a positive professional example. "The restaurant business can breed the wrong element with late nights, parties ... these guys need an example. I've been married to the same woman for 30 years and have five kids. We are professionals and should conduct ourselves as professionals." In other words, he's no Bourdain.

Janutol, for his part, is on the same page. At 27 years old he realizes that this is a young man's game. "Your knees will only work for so long," he says. "Work as hard as you can as young as you can so that by the time you're in your 40s and 50s you can focus more on management and teaching." Much like Polcyn himself.

Janutol is leaving his post as "Second in Command" (his official title, their way of poking fun at how generously the title "Sous Chef" is doled out) at the Michelin-starred L2O in Chicago. Previously he had worked at the Michelin-starred RIA in Chicago and the Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan, and studied at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park. While this is the most high-profile position he's yet had, he certainly has the pedigree to succeed. (He officially joins the team next Tuesday.)

Polcyn says the Forest Grill will be a continuation of his philosophy and what he feels food should be. "A lot of people use phrases -- 'farm to table,' 'local food' -- I've been doing that my whole career! You buy what's in season because it's the best quality but also because it is in abundance and at the best prices." The Forest Grill will continue to do whole animal nose-to-tail butchery and foster relationships with farmers, and down the line may also introduce whole animal menus. Janutol is hoping to also bring more of a focus on foul and fish.

With Polcyn able to put more focus on the restaurant and Janutol as the eager new chef, Forest Grill is now primed to become "the restaurant everyone always wanted it to be" (in the words of Chef Rigato). "Nick's going to bring a different style and it's going to be cool," says Polcyn. "It's like having a kid. You don't know how they'll turn out but [if you raise them right and teach them all the right values] they'll blossom into their own personality."

 

[NEWS BITES] Polcyn closes Cinco Lagos, hires Michelin-experienced chef for Forest Grill

SCOOOOOOOOOOOOP!

On Monday night, nationally-renowned chef Brian Polcyn pulled the plug on his former flagship restaurant Cinco Lagos (known best as Five Lakes Grill) in Milford. Plans of shuttering Cinco Lagos have been in the plans for some time; however, the closing came quickly and without official warning.

Polcyn is currently focusing his efforts on Forest Grill in Birmingham. After losing longtime Chef de Cuisine David Gilbert and his wife and Forest Grill GM Monica (who are opening their own restaurant, Marais, this spring in Grosse Pointe Park), the Grill has seen some changeover and Polcyn himself is often in the kitchen cooking.

Soon that will no longer be the case when Polcyn's newest hire Nick Janutol comes on board as Chef de Cuisine next week. Janutol is a Michigan native who has been working in Chicago at the Michelin-starred restaurant L2O and has previously worked at the Michelin-starred RIA in Chicago and Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York. The guy has serious culinary creds.

Currently Polcyn has no future plans for the Cinco Lagos building and is hoping to sell it to another serious restaurateur who will uphold the reputation he worked hard to create.

These plans have been a long time in the works and are all coming together simultaneously. Stay tuned for the full story with interviews with Polcyn, Janutol and others later this week.

[EID Preview] Palate

All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

I lived in Waterford what feels like a lifetime ago. Back then, there really wasn't anything worth visiting the area specifically for. You made do with what you had, and otherwise drove to other cities for what you wanted. West Bloomfield, Commerce Twp., White Lake, Wixom, Highland and Milford were all relatively close ("relative" because no matter where you go on that side of town, you have to drive around a bunch of lakes to get there). Commerce Twp. had It's a Matter of Taste. Keego Harbor -- the tiny byway town connecting Waterford and West Bloomfield through Cass Lake, Sylvan Lake, Orchard Lake, Pine Lake and a few smaller lakes -- had Jeremy Restaurant and Bar. West Bloomfield had a great wine bar and steakhouse that, much like every other place of real quality that opens in West Bloomfield, closed after a couple of years. At the time Brian Polcyn's Five Lakes Grill in Milford was still open and hadn't yet changed over to Cinco Lagos, and right across the street there was Sean O'Callahan's, a great Irish pub that served proper pints of Guinness and lots of Irish whiskeys. And that ... that was pretty much it.

But now! I rue the day I gave up that $375/mo. one-bedroom apartment (gas and water included; true story) because now the area is getting pretty cool and it is FAR (both geographically and metaphorically) from the hipster-riddled downtown Detroit I now call home. Now White Lake has the Root Restaurant (a short 15-minute drive from my old apartment, which would have meant MUCH more frequent visitations), and Milford has craft beer bar and sustainable from-scratch restaurant Palate.

The last time I was in Milford was a little over two years ago. Downtown Milford is a charming Michigan Main Street that, like so many other charming Michigan Main Streets, was decimated during the recession. Polcyn kept afloat by rebranding; a lot of other places weren't so lucky (O'Callahan's was one of them). On my last visit it seemed like every other storefront was shuttered and Milford was a dying downtown; now, Milford is once again a bustling downtown with nearly every storefront occupied with adorable independently-owned boutiques, cafes and restaurants. There is a flurry of foot traffic and lots of people happily dining on sidewalk patios. And inside the space that was once home to O'Callahan's, an enthusiastic couple are opening the bar/restaurant of their dreams.

When I sat down to chat with Bristol Arnold, who is opening the much-anticipated Palate (get your head out of Planet Detroit, people) with her soon-to-be husband Joe Hibbert, I experienced that moment when my professional decorum (as it were) was promptly discarded and I fell absolutely and entirely in love with them, their concept and their whole entire ethos and began to gush. These are Good People. And while there are quite a lot of Good People in this business locally (Michigan as a whole doesn't really realize how fortunate it is in this regard), it can be downright heartbreaking when Good People don't have good product. (And also when absolute bastards manage to get it right.) But Palate is Good People with good product, and now I have yet another place an hour drive from my home that I wish I could support on a daily basis. (Hey, apartments in Milford are damn cheap!)

Joe and Bristol met while both were going through some major life changes. A professional dancer who had worked for Disney, Royal Caribbean and even toured with Cirque, Bristol was looking for a more stable professional life which she found as a dance teacher in Walled Lake. At the time Joe was still a partner in Uptown Grille in Commerce Twp., a place that received rave reviews for its craft beer program and from-scratch kitchen when it first opened but ultimately took a direction Joe wasn't happy with, prompting him to leave. Bristol met Joe in the course of planning a friend's bridal shower at Uptown Grille, and if you think the whole concept of love at first sight is cheesy ... well yeah, probably it is, except for when it's true and then it really is beautiful to see. (Even for a stone-cold cynic like me.) These two are the real deal, and Palate is the product of their shared passions.

When Joe left Uptown it was without any animosity. "He left because he wanted to focus on his mission versus someone else's and not have to worry about someone else changing his plans," Bristol explains. And this steadfast refusal to compromise his own integrity is a professional trademark of Joe's: he grew up in Canada and got his start in the restaurant industry at Wendy's when he was 13 years old. When corporate America took Wendy's over and the food became all boxed and frozen, he left. He has since opened many restaurants and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the place functioning well and keeping the customers happy, whether that means cooking on the line or cleaning toilets.

Bristol herself had always had the dream of opening a coffee and wine bar and the name she had in her head was always Palate. "Palate" is a bit of a play, as the word (which refers to the roof of the mouth and is used colloquially to describe one's refinement of taste, though one technically has nothing to do with the other) is often confused with its homonym "palette," which refers to a painter's tool or collection of colors. "It's the part of your body that tells you what you like and what you don't," Bristol says. "But an artist draws on a palette, and food from the farmer comes on a pallet" -- referring to large, flat wooden shipping mechanisms, and yet another homonym.

To fully incorporate the palate/palette/pallet theme, Bristol and Joe worked with local artists for every detail in the restaurant -- from the used Dragon's Milk bourbon barrels from New Holland Brewing that were hand-painted with other local brewery logos to the repurposed pallets made into art pieces in the shape of a wine bottle and glass that are the focal point of the main dining room. Because they are also a family-friendly establishment (the main wall of the secondary dining room is adorned with the words "Be our guest," a nod to Bristol's days at Disney), kids get a chalkboard "palette" to draw on, which ties in with the theme but also has the added advantage of reducing waste.

"We're trying not to leave a huge imprint," states Bristol. "That’s why I chose not to give kids crayons and paper and instead give them a chalkboard and chalk. I’m doing everything I can to be paperless, even encouraging our vendors." They have participated in several fundraising events and festivals, including catering the VIP tent at the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival, and they always use compostable products for off-site events. (In fact it was through the MBG's Executive Director Scott Graham that Bristol learned a lot about leaving a carbon imprint.)

That same ethos can be seen in various touched throughout the restaurant, from the repurposed pallets and barrels previously mentioned to the reclaimed wood bar rail from a barn in Hamburg Twp. At the very heart of all of this is a commitment to using "what's around [us]," to procure as much as they can locally and work with local people, from farmers to artists to tradesmen. "It’s so much more than food; it’s education," Bristol explains. "We want to educate our consumers. We want people to support Michigan and bring a new economy to life here [by educating] everyone in our community about what they’re consuming and who they support." She adds, "We’re really grateful to have the resources we have in Michigan."

They buy produce from small, local farmers who can't afford the "organic" label. They make everything in their kitchen from scratch -- no microwaves, nothing frozen, nothing boxed. "Our team here is a labor of love. They like to make things from scratch. They know it’s time consuming but that’s what they’re passionate about."

Joe's own dream has always been to offer farm-fresh food with craft cocktails and craft beer at an economical price so that anybody can eat at his restaurant a couple of times a week; a kid-friendly place that the community would love and want to be a part of. The food at Palate is all farm-to-table, offering small plates and different types of cuisines from all over the world made from scratch using local products. Items include an "exquisite" hand-packed burger, cherrywood-smoked-bacon-wrapped scallops, lamb chops, and "true" Neapolitan pizza. (Bristol spent some time learning how to make Neapolitan pizzas in Italy, and upholds Antica Pizzeria Fellini as the local gold standard.) To further their goal of customer education, their iPad menus are interactive and show pictures of the food, the farms, the vineyards, and allow the customers the opportunity to find out more information on where everything on their plate and in their glass is from. (And once again, this wholly electronic system significantly reduces paper waste.)

Their craft cocktail menu was designed with assistance from mad scientist mixologist Dave Porcaro from Cafe Muse. They're offering 40 bottles of wine from small producers under $30 and all available by the glass. And of course, there is a huge emphasis on Michigan craft beer.

Thanks to Joe's many years in the industry, he has developed strong relationships with local brewers and distributors and has access to some pretty cool stuff ... but, spoilers! You'll just have to follow their Facebook page for those updates. Their staff are all Cicerone-certified beer servers and they have a $50,000 custom-built stone beer wall. The entire tap system and bar is optimized for maximum beer enjoyment.

And all of this is really the culmination of everything Joe has worked towards as a restaurateur all along. "Joe is adamant about quality; he’s not going to sacrifice quality," Bristol says of her future husband (they're getting married -- and moving, and opening the restaurant -- this month). "A lot of people have closed doors in his face. The charity work he’s done is endless; he has raised over a million dollars over the past four years [for local charities]. He raised $30,000 one night alone at a spaghetti dinner at Uptown. He’s just awesome! It’s not just what he does for a living; it’s the driving force that he has to help people. All of our leftovers go to Forgotten Harvest -- the breads, anything dry. [We're really] major into charity work and community!" Long-term Joe and Bristol hope to do even more to embrace and educate their community, like working with local schools on field trips to teach kids about kitchen safety and how to bake bread.

Both Joe and Bristol view Palate as a collaborative effort of many people, not just themselves. "I put so much time into including other people in this project," Bristol says. "It's not just about Joe and I. It's about employing local artists, local contractors, using all of our Michigan resources, and getting it going so when people look at it they can say, 'Hey, I was part of that.' Tons of people were part of this project and we’re proud of that and want them to be proud of it because that’s what’s it about."

She admits it took them a long time to get the restaurant ready to open (apparently some locals took to the almighty grousing grounds of the Internet to complain about it), but she simply says, "Good things take time and attention to detail. When you rush a project like this it doesn't do anyone any favors." As they get ready to open, Bristol is bubbling over with excitement. "The people we’ve been surrounded with are just magical. With us together and the people we have here the possibilities are endless!"

Palate opens today.

Farewell, Five Lakes Grill...Hola, Cinco Lagos

After 14 years of serving up a smorgasbord of house-smoked, house-cured meats such as rabbit, venison, and wild boar, celebrated Chef Brian Polcyn's Five Lakes Grill in Milford closed its doors on Sunday and will reopen August 3rd as Cinco Lagos (Spanish for "five lakes"), Milford's premiere Mexcian restaurant. Cinco Lagos will maintain the same traditions as Five Lakes--fresh, natural, local ingredients, prepared simply to maximize flavors. They will be serving traditional Mexican fare such as housemade salsas and guacamole, hand-made tortillas, braised meats, and chorizo.

Diehard fans of Polcyn's charcuterie can still find it at Forest Grill in Birmingham, Polcyn's latest venture which opened in 2008 with much apblomb and has since been named Hour Detroit's Restaurant of the Year for 2009.

This seems to be happening more and more lately. Restaurants with hefty price points are reimagining their menus, if not their whole concept, to keep in line with the current budget-conscious trend. It may manifest as a new casual menu, like the Bar Burger at Bourbon Steak; special discounted dishes like the Rattlesnake Club's $30.00 3-course "Lobster Madness;" or it may mean a total transformation, a complete reconceptualization of the atmosphere and menu (even in Naperville, a suburb of Chicago, an Italian eatery I visited on my last trip has since reimagined itself into a burger joint--and from what I understand, not all that successfully).

While there is nothing in any of the press that explicitly stated "We're doing this because Five Lakes Grill is no longer making any money," I'd bet a hundred thousand pesos that this is the underlying reason--perhaps this, and the fact that Forest Grill is garnering so much attention that Polcyn can no longer divide his time and attention between the two restaurants and maintain the same level of quality, creativity, and consistency for both. And while a Mexican restaurant seems like a bit of a cop-out, think less Rojo Mexican Bistro and more El Barzon.

It should be interesting to see what a Mexican eatery a la Brian Polcyn looks like (their Barbacoa will probably be off the chain), though I will admit that the loss of Five Lakes Grill is quite unfortunate, especially since Polcyn was just this year nominated for a James Beard Award for this restaurant.

This trend of restaurants reimagining their menus--more desirable than shuttering entirely, no doubt--may yield some interesting changes, though it also may lead to some disastrous ones. The biggest problem is that, for those looking to skate by this time by lowering prices and hoping for a speedy economic recovery, there is no turning back. Like I learned from my own experiences in advertising and retail, once you lower your prices (or offer special introductory rates), your customers will NEVER pay full price again (or go back "on rate"). Tribute, Opus One, the Rattlesnake Club...now that they've begun discounting, they'll never be able to stop. Bourbon Steak can never eliminate its Bar Burger, and Cinco Lagos can never go back to being Five Lakes. Regardless, for those who have money to spend, there is no time like the present to get some great deals on dining...you just have to hope that your favorite places don't decide to reconceptualize from fine dining to cheap eats.