The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

ICYMI:
~It's National Pizza Month poll time! What is the best pizza in metro Detroit? A national publication asked me, and so I asked you. ***I DID NOT MAKE THIS POLL*** and yes I know Buddy's is missing and that they totally missed the mark with the Supino selection (though that didn't stop you from voting for them by a landslide} and I think we all had a swell time making fun of these stupid selections, so thanks for playing! [EID]
            *While in Auburn Hills last week, I stopped by Jo Angela's Pizza + Deli, one of the mystery pizzerias on the befuddling national poll (above). Solid round pepperoni pizza and cheese bread, a nice dining room with free Wi-Fi, overall a good experience. Best in greater metro Detroit? No. But a strong show for NoOaCo. [EID FB]

~The Detroit Bus Company has purchased a new 90,000-square-foot building in Hamtramck called Eight + Sand which will serve as an entertainment complex and business incubator with anchor tenant Fowling Warehouse, an event space for Pot + Box, and a 7-bay all-season food truck park with a commissary kitchen (coming in 2014). [Model D]

~Dine Drink Detroit started last week with 13 restaurants offering a variety food + drink pairings for only $15 including favorite local spots like The Sugar House, Mudgie's, Green Dot Stables, Woodbridge Pub, Traffic Jam + Snug and more, while also benefitting the Detroit Riverfront. [Model D]

~The numbers are in for the fall 2013 edition of Detroit Restaurant Week, sponsored by Shinola. Newcomers Guns + Butter and The Jefferson House killed it, as did the old favorites. [EID]

~I've written about Valentine Distilling Co. now (at best count) about a dozen times. The stories have ranged from short blurbs about the bar itself to longer interviews with owner Rifino. This most recent one for Real Detroit Weekly falls into the latter category, and if you'll excuse the quasi-Marxist intro (I was reading Matt Taibbi's latest for Rolling Stone at the time), the full-on "American manufacturing" angle is a fresh approach. [RDW]

~Who are Michigan's most dangerous chefs? Find out on December 8 as The Root Restaurant + Bar hosts their first-ever Young Guns Dinner featuring 6 of Michigan's up-and-coming chefs! Each Young Gun is overseeing one of six courses. Menus will NOT be posted in advance - if you have dietary restrictions, you're going to have to sit this one out. These guys are coming out with guns blazin'!
James Rigato | Andy Hollyday | Nick Janutol | Nikita Santches | Brennan Calnin | Michael Berrera [EID]

~CIDER MILLS! [EID]

~EVENTS! [EID]

Hey, you know how it's all, gee, I wish there were somewhere in Detroit (or in a city located completely within Detroit) that served ramen all the time? Well now there is! Check out Rock City Eatery in Hamtramck for late night ramen made with two-day broth, brisket, pork belly, scallions, roasted broccoli, Japanese noodles. Available Monday -Thursday 10pm to midnight. Friday and Saturday 11pm-1. No veg option for now; it's made out of bones. [EID / RCE FB]

Oh look, ANOTHER story about Two James Spirits, and this one is in Food + Wine! [F+W]

Dan Carmody of Eastern Market Corporation was honored with a Shining Light award for helping make the market possibly “the most inclusive, resilient and robust regional food hub in the U.S.” Congratulations, Dan, and thank you for everything you do! [Freep]

Another Michigander is appearing on a Food Network show! This time it's College for Creative Studies student Gabriel Vinas on a show called Halloween Wars, which premiered last week. [CCS]

Detroit Vegan Soul (D.V.S) opened last month with a line out the door. Here owners Kirsten Ussery Boyd and Erika Boyd share more about their concept and why they thought a vegan soul food cafe is just what Detroit needs in Urban Innovation Exchange. [UIX]

Have you been to the new Firebird Tavern in Greektown yet? The owners spent months renovating the 1880s building and it's beautiful inside. Also, good from-scratch bar food and good craft beer. [Detroit News]

Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro has been sold; previous owner Mindy Lopus is focusing on her Grosse Pointe restaurant Red Crown. [Freep]

It will be the end of an era if/when Harpos Concert Theatre closes (though I can't remember a time in my life when going there was ever considered "safe"). [Motor City Muckraker]

DONUTS! [Thrillist]

CIDER! [RDW]

I can't even keep up with all of the international press Detroit SOUP gets anymore, but here's another one. [DW.DE]

Freakin' Unbelievable Burgers isn't the only Flint-area-based burger joint staking its claim in SE Michigan: Halo Burger is franchising all over the place, with plans to open up to 25 restaurants in SE MI by the end of 2014 and expanding into other states from there. [Crain's]

What are some other "fast food" places (aside from Moo Cluck Moo and their much-publicized $15/hour wages) that treat their employees well? Zingerman's Delicatessen gets named in Bon Appétit Magazine's list with shout-outs from Z's to Corridor Sausage Co., Brownwood Farms and The Brinery.   [Bon Appetit]

Such a bummer. Gilbert's Lodge is an east side institution that was gutted by a kitchen fire last week. [Detroit News]

We be jammin'. [Detroit News]

Great story on Theatre Bizarre from Metro Times Detroit. Seriously, this event is SO worth your time and money if you're into Halloween at ALL. [Metro Times]

Chef Michael Symon's cooking advice is less is more. [Freep]

Beerie
~Detroit Beer Week starts next Thursday! Participating venues include Foran's Grand Trunk Pub, Green Dot Stables, The Jefferson House, Mudgie's, Rock City Pies, St. Cece's Pub, The Sugar House, Traffic Jam + Snug, and Woodbridge Pub. Some really cool events coming up, check out the growing list here. [DBW FB]

~Congratulations to all Michigan Great American Beer Festival winners! New Holland Brewing Co. took home medals for Pilgrim's Dole (gold) and Dragon's Milk (silver), while Bell's Brewery, Inc. (Official) scored a bronze for Sparkleberry and Detroit Brewing Company a bronze for XX Dwarf. Enjoy these award-winning beers during Detroit Beer Week starting this Thursday! [GABF Official]

~Atwater Brewery is getting ever-so-close to opening their Grosse Pointe brew pub and beer garden Atwater in the Park next spring, and are now hiring for this location. [Metromode]

~Ashley's Ann Arbor is still the beeriest bar in SE MI, according to the beeries of CraftBeer.com. [CraftBeer.com]

~The Detroit Free Press Film Festival will be held in March, but the launch party will happen on Nov. 7 at The Fillmore Detroit with a screening of The Michigan Beer Film. [Freep]

[Metromode] A New Breed of Restaurateur Pt. 2

Bastone. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg. 

The days of metro Detroit's restaurant empires are over. The latest breed of successful restaurateur is anti-corporate and anti-chain. They create unique businesses in unique spaces, care about people and preservation, and even managed to open some of Metro Detroit's most successful restaurants in the midst of the economic downturn.

Read more.

This is part two of a two-part series. This half focuses on Jon Carlson and Greg Lobdell, the development duo behind such popular metro Detroit spots as Bastone and Jolly Pumpkin Brewery and Cafe; and Mindy Lopus, owner of Tallulah and Bella Piatti in Birmingham, who is opening three new concepts in Grosse Pointe Park. Read part one here.

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]

[Metromix] Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro

Photo by VATO for Metromix.

Mindy VanHellemont opened Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro in Birmingham in February 2010 – not exactly the most reassuring time in recent memory for a first-time restaurateur to be opening a brand-new business.

“It was a rough time to open,” she agrees. “But I really wasn’t terrified because I really felt I had something that was unique enough and special enough that people would want to come.” Tallulah is finally the restaurant she had always envisioned it to be. “I wasn’t worried about failing so much as I was worried about getting it right,” she says. “That took a year and a half and now it’s really becoming the program I wanted to see.”

Read more.

Note: Be sure to click through the image gallery for the full descriptions of each dish.