The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

There's no crying in baseball.

This is a day of affirmations. Yes Detroit, you're good enough, you're smart enough, and gosh-darnit people like you. Seemingly all of my Facebook friends have manically flip-flopped between angry accusatory statements berating the Detroit Tigers for "sucking" and "ruining" their evening/weekend/Halloween, unrealistic optimism in the face of certain defeat, acute vicarious depression, threats to move to San Francisco, and finally reluctant acceptance with some after-the-fact congratulatory positive thinking and acknowledgement that "we" still made it pretty darn far and there's always next year. I guess now we'll just all go back to being political analysts. Here's what happened this week in restaurants.

Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe announces an official opening date, and then officially opens! On that date! No, it is not God's gift to grocery stores, but it is on the level of a good food co-op with a small but decent selection of both staple and specialty items. No, Whole Foods is not going to bury them immediately upon opening the doors to their organic produce palace. A neighborhood that is at 95+% rental occupancy CAN have two nice grocery stores. [Curbed / EID FB]

The East Jefferson Corridor is on the rise! [Det News Hub]

But that's NOTHING compared to what's going on in the Villages. As predicted and promised, the Villages of Detroit are being A Thing. Michael Geiger and Hugh Yaro are opening Craft Work (ah, but will they play a lot of 1970s German electronica??), The Red Hook is opening a second location, Detroit Vegan Soul (D.V.S) is opening their restaurant, and Tarot + Tea (what it sounds like) is also opening soon, all in West Village. Talk about going from 0 to 60. [Freep]

And here is more on the Supino Pizzeria expansion from MLive Detroit. Which was initially reported in Crain's as not so much an expansion as a totally new restaurant that will be located next door, but now sounds like no in fact it's an expansion. Either way it will have booze. [MLive]

Restaurateur Mindy Lopus is blowing UP. With two restaurants already in Birmingham (and more planned), she is now expanding her empire where a fresh face in fine dining is needed most: Grosse Pointe Park. Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro will have a sister location, Bona Fide Baking Co. is a great way to show off award-winning pastry chef Tanya Fallon, and consider Red Crown to be Vinsetta Garage East. [GP Patch]

Detroit's Buffalo Wild Wings is on track to open in November in time for the Thanksgiving Day Parade and owners promise this location will be unlike any other. The $4 million renovation of the almost 140-year-old building maintains the integrity of the space with a first-floor restaurant, second-floor banquet room, and covered rooftop patio and bar. [Crain's]

Pontiac, your The Renaissance is next. [Prosper]

The Free Press discovers craft beer. [Freep]

Here are Famous People who ate and drank things in Detroit. [Examiner / Esquire]

Don't know if you know this, but pop-ups are kind of, like, a thing around here. [DetNews]

The physical storefront might not be open yet but the online storefront is. [Detroit Institute of Bagels]

And now, the "Detroit Rises" story en Español. Basically Detroit was dying, Obama helped save the auto industry, now Detroit is on the path to recovery, rah rah Dan Gilbert our White Knight, only except for our government is still fuct, but that isn't stopping young entrepreneurs from coming in or citizens from impacting positive change, hooray Midtown and Sue Mosey and Whole Foods, and also hooray Jordi Carbonell of Cafe Con Leche. [Internacional en EL PAÍS]

You know, with a name like Jolly Pumpkin they damn well SHOULD be making these "best pumpkin beer" lists. Here is some love for La Parcela, La Parcela again, and also Ichabod and Jaw Jacker. [WSJ / Serious Eats: Drinks / DRAFT]

Krazy Jim's in A2 is featured on yet another food/travel TV show. Cuz they're so dang CRAZY! And not because television researchers are lazy. [AnnArbor.com]

Speaking of research, Buddy's is on another "best pizzas in the country" list. [Relish]

I wish I had been keeping track of the latest rash of "we lift Detroit in baseball" stories, but I haven't been. Regardless, here is the latest entrant into the genre from the San Francisco Chronicle. [SFC]

Eat It Elsewhere
~Grand Rapids' infamous beer bar HopCat is expanding: a second location will open in Lansing with 100 taps (making it the largest draft selection in the state) and owners Mark and Michele Sellers of BarFly Ventures (which owns several other GR bars) will also be opening the Lansing Brewing Co. [MLive]

~And in more Mark Sellers news, he has announced the official opening date of the much-anticipated (re)opening of the Grand Rapids Brewing Co.: December 5. [MLive]

~And Grand Rapids finally gets its very own authentic Polish eatery with Polka Pops Cafe. This might make the transition to a clean and functional city a bit easier on Detroiters. Familiarity and all. [GR Now]

[HOT LIST] Coffee (redux)

Anthology at MoCAD.

In EID's first-ever Hot List (June 20, 2011), we took a look at our favorite coffee spots in and around Detroit. This simultaneously prompted a more in-depth piece for Metromode on some of our local roasters, and later a shout-out from yours truly on Curbed Detroit christening Detroit as the new Seattle. (For the record, I said it FIRST.) But so much has changed just in the last year, it's already time to re-visit.

Alas, metro Detroit's growing coffee culture has taken a recent hit with the closing of Thistle Coffeehouse, but the seeds have spread and already two more cafes are positioned to take its place: the Bottom Line in Midtown (opening July 23) and the Roasting Plant in the CBD coming this fall. What many of these places have in common is that they are of the next wave of coffeehouses -- the third wave and beyond. Many roast their own beans in-house and are exquisitely conscious of sourcing; the others may not roast themselves but source beans from some of the top roasters in the country (Stumptown, Intelligentsia) who are themselves known for their exquisite sourcing. What you can take away from all of this is that we sure do brew some good java in this here food desert.

#1 Anthology Coffee (Midtown/Corktown)
They sprung onto the scene as a finalist of the first-ever Hatch Detroit seed funding competition last fall, and are now featured in a regular pop-up at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit as they work on the build-out of their very own permanent location in Corktown. Yes Corktown, where Astro Coffee resides, but one can hardly call it competition when Astro uses Anthology's coffee. Given the ample seating, ease of parking and wholly accessible WiFi at the MoCAD space, if it's Anthology's coffee you seek you should probably just go there, the end. Roaster Josh Longsdorff, who still roasts for Birmingham's Commonwealth as well, is a master craftsman and his coffee is probably the best in Detroit. If you'd like to show your support, they're currently crowd-funding for their new roaster and you can pitch in a few bucks in exchange for some goodies here.

#2 The Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co. Institute for Advanced Drinking (Midtown) / Torino Espresso + Bar (Ferndale)
How to choose between two places that serve both coffee AND booze??? You don't. Therefore, tie. The IFAD is newly-opened in Midtown and is already my new favorite place ever, which isn't to say I love my old favorite place ever (Torino) any less. The two establishments might both focus on coffee, cocktails and cheese + charcuterie platters, but the similarities end there. The vibes of each space are entirely different: Great Lakes is a little more rustic-modern, like Brooklyn and LA had a baby in Detroit, where Torino is more urban contemporary, Miami by way of the Midwest. Both have great patios. Be sure to check out the IFAD and if you find you can't decide between coffee or beer, they have the perfect daytime transition beverage: the 50/50, half Short's ControversiALE and half cold brew. As for Torino, they're celebrating their one-year anniversary on Sunday, July 29 with a pork party.

Summer galette from Pinwheel.

#3 The Red Hook (Ferndale)
Stumptown Coffee and Pinwheel Bakery. That they ever close is a source of continual sadness, as is the fact I don't live inside. One of the best pour-overs you'll find in all of greater metro Detroit, and also one of the best bakeries with both sweet and savory treats for every craving. And for realsies, all of it is outstanding.

#4 Commonwealth (Birmingham)
Don't let the fancy Birmingham hausfraus fool you, this place is legit. Outstanding coffee (DUH) and exceptional sustainably-sourced food make this pretty much one of the only places worth ever going to Birmingham for. And I also don't hate that parking in the nearby garage is free for the first two hours. If only there were more places worth visiting in that time ... but screw it, Commonwealth FTW.

#5 Germack Coffee Roasting Co. (Eastern Market)
It might sound ridiculous, but until Germack Coffee Roasting Co. opened in Germack's snazzy new digs in Eastern Market, the market had no coffee roaster to call its own. Now Germack, best known for those pink pistachios, has an adorbs cafe (with WiFi!) and store selling items from local producers like Slow Jams Jam and McClure's Pickles, as well as a variety of looseleaf teas and their own house-roasted coffees. The coffee still has a way to go while they hone their skills, but it definitely shows promise and hey, I can walk there, which on certain days makes it the best place in the whole entire world.

Bubbling under Courage Coffee (Hamtramck), Chazzano Coffee Roasters (Ferndale), Cafe Con Leche (SW Detroit), Astro Coffee (Corktown), the Ugly Mug Cafe (Ypsilanti), Comet Coffee (Ann Arbor), Chez Zara (Detroit), 14 East (Midtown), the (espresso) bar (Ann Arbor), the Lab Cafe (Ann Arbor), Zingerman's Coffee (Ann Arbor), HenriettaHaus Coffee Roasters (Ferndale), Renaissance Roastery (Detroit)

 

[HOT LIST] Ferndale

Pete Steffy of Pete's Chocolate Co. at the Rust Belt Market. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

In a major upset that majorly upset city residents, #8 seed Ferndale massacred its CoD competition for "neighborhood of the year," becoming the first-ever winner of the prestigious fake Curbed Cup trophy. I haven't exactly been quiet on my feelings about Ferndale (also here, and all over the Facebooks), so I figured heck, let's trot this topic out for one more go-round before I've tired myself out on it. In honor of the first-ever winner of the prestigious fake "neighborhood of the year" award from Curbed Detroit, here's a look at some of Ferndale's best (by category). Some new (as of 2011), some old (as of before 2011), some borrowed (from Pleasant Ridge, which should really count as Ferndale anyway) and some blue (yep, it's that same picture from inside Red Hook again, but I like it oh so very much).

Red Hook. Photo by David Landsel.

#1 Coffee
As in, wake up and smell the. Chazzano Coffee Roasters has been around for a few years now and is still roasting and brewing some of the best coffee in Detroit. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Frank is not a roaster, he's a wizard. The Red Hook brought Portland's Stumptown Coffee Roasters into town (the first to do so since Commonwealth in Birmingham started roasting all their own), and more importantly brought back a storefront for Pinwheel Bakery. And the old sleeper AJ's Music Cafe continues to be a world-class coffee house in the traditional '90s sense with live indie music and a Guinness World Record.

#2 Breakfast, Brunch and Brinner
Ferndale is home of the teeny-tiny diner where everything is made from scratch and breakfast is king. The Fly Trap, Toast, Pete's Place, Hilton Road Cafe, Mae's (technically in Pleasant Ridge but SRSLY, it's Ferndale) - none of these are just diners, just plain old regular greasy spoon fuel stops for your food tank. These are houses of comfort food worship, and is there a comfort food MORE comfy than brunch? I think not.

#3 Lunch and Dinner
The one arena in which Ferndale falters a bit is in non-brunch dining. But things are starting to look up, and there are definitely a few favorites that have sprung up over recent years. The Emory has killer burgers and even more killer beer list (also an amazing Spanish coffee, check it). Torino Espresso + Bar - which could also go into almost every single other category on here (they serve illy coffee and Avalon pastries for breakfast) - has fantastic paninis as well as artisan cheese and charcuterie platters (any time is the right time). Rosie O'Grady's has bloody good burgers and pizza (they make their own pizza dough and sauce, and grind and patty their own burgers). Food trucks are also becoming a thing in Ferndale, with Jacques Tacos and Taco Mama taking the lead on that. Speaking of tacos, everyone's looking forward to Woodward Imperial opening in the coming months (the owner recently informed me he is just waiting on his liquor license and it will, he hopes, be open in 30-60 days ... they're gonna do tacos, in case you didn't get that from the context).

B. Nektar. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

#4 Food shops and whatnot
B. Nektar Meadery continues to kill it with crazy-awesome new releases like the drunky Funky Monky and wicked Zombie Killer, while their empire continues to expand across the States and their tasting room hours recently expanded to every Friday (5:30 to 10 p.m.) and Saturday (1 to 7 p.m.). 8 Degrees Plato Beer Company just opened in the fall and I love them already. The Rust Belt Market also opened this year and gave the world a much-needed and appreciated outlet for Rock City Pies, Pete's Chocolates and Perkins Pickles.

#5 Cocktails
I'm running out of ways to talk about craft cocktail culture in metro Detroit. (See: Hour. 944. NY Post. Eater. Metromix past and future. Ambassador. Couldn't even conjecture how much here and on Facebook.) Suffice it to say, it is a thing and these places are doing it. The Oakland is just OMFG NFW F-YAH. Valentine Vodka is the best vodka in the world, so if you're a vodka drinker you're in the right place (mix it with McClure's Bloody Mary mix for the best thing ever). And Torino Espresso + Bar does craft cocktails (house-made infusions and fresh ingredients with a culinary approach) with an Italian twist. Between these places, B. Nektar and the beer list at the Emory, Ferndale is pretty much a one-stop drinking destination. Because no one drinks wine anymore.

Bubbling under Grasshopper Underground, Sakana Sushi Lounge, Howe's Bayou, Treat Dreams, Danny's Irish Pub, Assaggi Bistro, Anita's Kitchen, Inyo, Christine's Cuisine, Dino's Lounge

[HOT LIST] FOOD! DETROIT! THE BEST YEAR EVER! [2011 edition]

Brooklyn Corktown (photo by Nicole Rupersburg)

#1 DETROIT IS THE NEW BROOKLYN.
The natives got their feather hair extensions ruffled over that one, then continued to make it true. The Tashmoo Biergarten was probably the most-lauded example of this, and then there were all the DIY artisan food producers like Detroit Institute of Bagels, Suddenly Sauer, Pete's Chocolate Co., so on and so forth. Also pop-up uhhhhhhhh...restaurants? I guess? Well, anyway, restaurant owners let other would-be chefs, food producers and restaurateurs use their kitchens, as was the case with Neighborhood Noodle popping up at Supino Pizzeria once-monthly on Mondays, Pie-Sci working out of Woodbridge Pub on Sundays, and Traffic Jam and Snug being the commercial kitchen home of Perkins Pickles.

But who started the meme? ME. ME. I DID. IT WAS ME.

Er, sort of.

In a Twitter post dated June 9, 2011, I wrote: "Corktown is to Detroit what Brooklyn was to New York in the '90s." (With a link to this story in the New York Post, written by moi.)

To which Dave Gasparovich (who hails from, predictably, Chicago) was all, "WAAAAAAAAAAAH, I hate you, you're stupid."

OH YEAH, DAVE? WHO'S LAUGHING NOW, HUH?

Let's follow the meme a bit, shall we?

June 13, 2011: New York Post: The new Detroit cool 
Note: Actually it ran on June 8; not sure why the discrepancy but this is relevant when referencing my Twitter post on June 9.
Hostel Detroit, Pink FlaminGO!, Slows, Astro, Sugar House, Le Petit Zinc, Detroit Institute of Bagels, Mercury Burger Bar, Roosevelt Park ... all the bases were covered and "Brooklyn" was alluded to (especially obvious to a New York audience). This piece was followed shortly after by this in the New York Times, which many attribute as being the origin point of the "Detroit is the new Brooklyn" meme. But in reality, nowhere in this story is the Detroit/Brooklyn comparison made, or even hinted at; they actually went with the vastly less popular "Detroit is the new Berlin" meme. (Also true; not the point.) Also TriBeCa, in a quote. Please note, TriBeCa is not in Brooklyn. Nor was TriBeCa ever in its very worst days even a tenth as dumpy as Detroit. And if we're being really real here, if Corktown is Detroit's Brooklyn the rest of Detroit is not Manhattan, it's the Bronx.

July 1, 2011: New York Times: Detroit Pushes Back with Young Muscles
Detroit is lifted in parties, pictures and positive discourse. (Also see above.)

Then, a meme is born:

July 7, 2011: PBS: Is Detroit the new Brooklyn?
There, now it's out there, in no uncertain terms. Stated in the form of a question lessons the authority of the claim a bit, but that didn't stop this meme-train from reaching epic proportions.

The self-appointed guardians of the city's image then chimed in on the subject:

July 12, July 26 and August 9, Model D (and here, and here).
July 21, NPR.
August, 7STOPS (A navel-gazey blog by a blank-slater who insists it's about more than just the blank-slating, and the origin point of "Detroit is the new Detroit." Cute.)
August 15, MLive.
September 26, Curbed Detroit.

Now this was mostly a summer thing, and any remnant of its relevance was pretty much lost with that whole HuffPo hullabaloo. (In which half a dozen bloggers argued via multiple back-and-forth huffy-puffy blog posts over the right of anyone's claim to the city if they don't actually live there, and whether or not the city needs the suburbanites anyway. Seriously. This is a conversation that actually happened.) Except that .... nyooooope, still going strong well into November:

November 11, Crain's Detroit Business.

And finally:

November 21, 2011: MLive: Detroit Cliche Watchdog: Let's just go ahead and change the name of the city to Brooklyn
Could we? Brooklyn sounds nicer. A tree grows, and all.

Now we just need our very own hot hipster butchers, like what they have in Brooklyn. (But but but ... can ours be hot plz?) Then the circle will be complete.


#2 FERNDALE SAYS TO DETROIT, "ANYTHING YOU CAN DO I CAN DO BETTER."

Red Hook (photo by David Landsel)

Heh ... it's funny 'cuz it's true. Curbed Detroit mentioned this in their Corktown versus Ferndale Curbed Cup neighborhood showdown, but we can even look at this on a larger scale. After some particularly Cooley-centric coverage in 2010, Slows stopped "hogging" the media spotlight (get it?) in 2011, though Corktown continued to do so.

Old-timey craft cocktail bar the Sugar House opened in Corktown. Ferndale answered directly with the Oakland Art Novelty Company, and a little less directly with the Valentine Vodka cocktail bar and the Italian-themed Torino Espresso + Bar. Astro Coffee also opened on that same block of Michigan Ave. that is home to Slows and Sugar House (question: WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU PARK). Ferndale fired back with Red Hook, which also resuscitated our favorite fallen bakery, Pinwheel Bakery. And, again, Torino Espresso + Bar.  Detroit had a whole bunch of pop-up retail happenings; Ferndale opened the Rust Belt Market.

And the competition continues as we barrel into the new year with Sean Harrington's Hot Taco (on Park Ave., next to Centaur) in a neck-and-neck race with Woodward Imperial (another taco joint with a fancy sign). What Ferndale did NOT get, however, was a hostel or a B+B. (*fingers tapping*)

Mussels Provencale at Joe Muer Seafood.

#3 HOLLYWOOD ISN'T THE ONLY ONE REBOOTING OLD FRANCHISES.
Last year at about this time I wrote about the London Chop House reopening soon. Well, it still hasn't opened yet, but perhaps we'll see it before the Mayan apocalypse of 2012. Whether or not that corpse is worth digging up, spritzing with perfume and making it dance around like Bernie on a bender, only time (and probably a lot more of it, knowing how things tend to work in Detroit) will tell.

But 2011 did see another storied Detroit establishment revived: Joe Muer Seafood opened in the former Seldom Blues spot in the Renaissance Center as a partnership between Joe Muer, grandson of Joseph Muer Jr. who opened the original location in Eastern Market in 1929 (it closed in 1988 after nearly 60 years in business), and Joe Vicari of the Andiamo Restaurant Group (which have been opening Rojo Mexican Bistros like Taco Bells lately), after what was rumored to be a high-profile bidding war between the Vicaris and Matt Prentice for that primo locale. And after much restructuring over the last two years, the Matt Prentice Restaurant Group is poised for a huge comeback of its own next year with Gastronomy.

#TooOldForFrostedTips

#4 THE FOOD NETWORK REALLY, REALLY LOVES DETROIT. (REALLY.)
In a seemingly endless stream of clips that aired on the Food Network this year featuring metro Detroit restaurants (because when WE say "Detroit," we mean metro Detroit and so should you THE END ... seriously, it went on for days), the loud, frosted-tipped Guy Fieri visited Union Woodshop and Clarkston Union, Traffic Jam and Snug, Supino Pizzeria ... and possibly more? Or no? Idk, I felt like there was a new episode premiering every damn week LONG after the point that I thought they had all aired already. Also, the short bald-headed one came into town and loved Supino too.

6,955 monthly active users as of Dec. 6. Aww, I wuv u 2!

#5 EAT IT DETROIT WAS BORN.
Really shoulda been #1, I know, but I'm super-modest. Dining in Detroit was re-named and re-branded with a whole new focus and a facelift (hey, I know I'm no spring chicken anymore), resulting in the in-your-face Eat It Detroit. And you like it; you really like it!

Bella Piatti (photo by Nicole Rupersburg)

No, but seriously, #5: BIRMINGHAM STOPPED SUCKING SO HARD.
First Commonwealth opened and it was LAFS. Sure, it's only open for breakfast and (late) lunch, but they roast all their beans in-house and serve chef-prepared foods and all of their products are ethically-sourced. Truth be told, it feels a little out of place in Birmingham for all its emphasis on quality and sustainability, but it's about damned time.

Then Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro hired on Executive Chef Daniel Campbell who gave the menu a much-needed revamping, then Tallulah owner Mindy Vanhellemont opened a second restaurant in Birmingham called Bella Piatti which Campbell also oversees. You know how restaurants tend to need a couple of months to gain their footing before you can really give them a fair assessment? Bella Piatti was firing hard on all cylinders only a month into their opening, and is more than a welcome addition to Birmingham's dining scene: it is a welcome addition to the dining scene of the whole of metro Detroit, a farm-to-table restaurant using Michigan products with an Italian emphasis (basically, it's SW MI's answer to Trattoria Stella).

Not all new openings showed as much promise, but at the very least, in the swamp that is Birmingham's overpriced and underwhelming dining scene populated by flashy restaurants with mediocre food, these little bright points of light give hope to the city that has been alternatively known as "Boringham."