The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

St. Cece's Pub is slowly inching towards full-time lunch service. We're now up to Thursday through Saturday 11am-5pm! [St. Cece's FB]

Mae's is now serving Bloody Mary's and mimosas! [Mae's FB]

But Bella Piatti is not. Birmingham says, "This aggression will not stand" to new owners of Bella Piatti, currently seeking a liquor license transfer but denied due to their own operational history of MLCC violations. [Downtown Publications]

Michigan's growing spirits industry is helping boost craft culture culture. Or vice versa. Or both. We're dealing with a chicken/egg kind of situation here. [Michigan Radio]

More expansion news for Atwater Brewery. [Model D]

In case you missed it:
~Here is your Movement guide to restaurants and bars within walking distance of Hart Plaza. [EID]
~Another post-pop-up success story: Always Brewing Detroit will open permanently in their previous winter pop-up location in Grandmont Rosedale later this month. [Model D]
~"Meat tastes like murder, and murder tastes f@#%ing good" - so says Denis Leary, and so says this week's feature in Metromode. [Metromode]

Prediction: gas station food will be the new food trucks. As in, an offshoot variety of restaurant previously dismissed based on the nature of its location/identity (roach coaches, GAS STATION FOOD) now being embraced by "#foodies" as the new adventurous culinary frontier. Won't this be fun. Maybe there could even be a #tweetup. !!!! #gasstationfoodies [Detroit News]

This one blows my mind. A collection of "food trucks" under one roof that are not in fact mobile can just go ahead and be called a food court, what with "truck" sort of being the operative word there. At some point, things stop being trucks. Is this meta? I don't even know. [Berkley Patch]

Sweet Potato Sensations has been in business since 1987 on Detroit's Northwest side. Read about this second-generation family-owned business in Urban Innovation Exchange. [UIX]

August 13 is confirmed as opening day of Michigan's first The Cheesecake Factory. Let's start planning! [Crain's]

Guess which city has one of the best baseball stadiums for craft beer??? (Hint: IT'S IN THE NAME OF THIS FACEBOOK BLOG.) [Daily Meal]

IS SYLVIA RECTOR SLAGGING ON BACONFEST?????? Eh, can't actually say I disagree with her. Good story on Zingerman's Camp Bacon. [Freep]

SkyBar and Lounge (the ground floor portion) is remodeled and reopened, debuting their new Alpha stage in partnership with WDET. [Deadline / SkyBar FB]

Looks like the Oxford Inn will not go through with the country-western changes originally planned (and also looks like those plans were never quite as dramatic as it sounded). [Royal Oak Patch]

The Avenue of Fashion is getting some buzz this week ... among the many things happening here is a new neighborhood-focused Detroit SOUP. [Crain's]

And here is an excellent, thoughtfully-written story about what's happening at the Avenue of Fashion now, what's in store for the near future, and how this might be Detroit's next corridor to see major investment. [Model D]

Midtown's Whole Foods Market Detroit is a development plan 15 years in the making. [Freep]

And now, a history lesson from Curbed Detroit. We all know and love Eastern Market Corporation - but did you know there was once a Western Market? True story. We plowed it over for a highway. USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! [Curbed]

Many, many Michigan chefs were included in the 2013 Best Chefs America list including James from The Root Restaurant and Bar, Dave from Supino Pizzeria, Christian from Brizola, Paul from Cuisine, Brian from Forest Grill, Chris from The Rattlesnake, Luciano from Bacco Ristorante, Andy from Michael Symon's Roast - Detroit, Eve from Frita Batidos, Brandon from Grange Kitchen and Bar, Alex from Zingerman's Roadhouse, and soooooo many more. Congratulations to all of them! [Best Chefs America]

In other examples of national recognition for a Michigan chef ... sooooooo the chef at Vellum in Ann Arbor was nominated for Eater's Young Guns. Which is cool! Though I just idly and for no particular reason am curious as to what exactly the whole selection process entailed, which (if any) other Michigan chefs were nominated but not included, and whether Daniel Boulud actually took the time to travel to Ann Arbor and dine at the restaurant or if this whole thing was based on submitted bios selected from behind a Manhattan desk? Just out of professional journalistic curiosity. [Eater]

New winery, Hawthorne Vineyards, now open on Old Mission Peninsula! And so there were eight. Must go right now. Because....because. [Detroit News]

Random

Japan is weird. [Death + Taxes]

The future is now. [Pizza Today]

Thrillist has an excellent selection of Arrested Development-themed drinks. Just don't let the vodka go bad -- that would be a huge mistake. [Thrillist]

Beerie

Can we all agree that "beerfests" have jumped the Land Shark? [Palace Net]

Fox News names these your go-to summer BBQ beers; Founders Brewing Co. All Day IPA is among them. [Fox News]

Is Hopslam the best Imperial IPA IN THE WORLD? The fine folks at DRAFT Magazine think it's among them. [DRAFT]

PBR now costs the same as many craft beers (thanks to goddamn dirty hipsters). Which means now there is absolutely no excuse to drink any of this, unless of course it's your ONLY option *or* you're trying not to get hammered on a high ABV craft beer, which is the by and large majority of them (6%ABV does not a session beer make) ... No one wins here, guys. Can we hit the "reset" button and try this again, only do it right this time? #AMERICA #FUCKYEAH [HuffPo]

Buffalo Wild Wings will have a signature beer called "Game Changer" contract brewed by Redhook Ale Brewery. In that it is a pale ale clocking in at a respectable, session-appropriate ABV of 4.6%, it might ACTUALLY be a game changer. Ah, but Redhook is an AB-InBev brand now - let the hand-wringing begin! #America. [CNBC]

The Grey Lady says saisons might be the perfect summer beer. For a publication that only recently begrudgingly began to pay attention to craft beer, finally realizing that it was not in fact going away, they sure did nail this one. Jolly Pumpkin FTW! [NY Times]

Wonder who's going to contract brew the "Duff Beer." [BeerPulse]

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

This just screams "coincidence."

Mae's in Pleasant Ridge has received approval for their long-in-the-works liquor license. There are no plans to extend their hours into dinner service, but you can bet your sweet bleary-eyed hungover ass that there will be mimosas and Bloody Marys (also a small selection of craft cocktails, wine, and Michigan beer). [Mae's FB / EID FB]

Falling Down Beer Company is officially a brewery in metro Detroit's own little beer city, Warren. [FDBC FB]

And Schramm's Mead is officially a meadery in metro Detroit's newly-annointed City of Mead, Ferndale. Or maybe it should be the City of Milk and Honey? Not sure where the milk part comes in, but it would be a nice nod to Ministry (censored version). [Schramm's FB]

In the never-ending news fodder provided by Flavor Flav's Chicken and Ribs, Flavor is now considering making the Sterling Heights restaurant a shooting location for a black Happy Days. So there's that. [Macomb Daily]

I've been yapping about metro Detroit's craft cocktail scene for a couple of years now (*cough*FIRST*cough*), but this might be the biggest happening on a national scale for Detroit's craft cocktail scene yet: Travis Fourmont of Michael Symon's Roast won Woodford Reserve's Master of the Manhattan in Manhattan, beating out mixologists from the booziest cities in the country ... INCLUDING MANHATTAN. [Woodford Reserve]

The Detroit Animal is observed by the Chicago Tribune. SLOWS BAR BQ, Green Dot Stables, ASTRO COFFEE, The Sugar House, Mercury Burger Bar, Eastern Market Corporation and etc. Thankfully, Detroiters seem to have finally reached a blissful shade of jade over these phoned-in Corktown-centric round-ups. [Chicago Tribune]

We don't really have the brightest criminals around here. (I can attest to this personally.) [HuffPo]

Detroit's most famous restaurant SLOWS BAR BQ is undergoing a much-needed expansion. The new space will be mostly separate from the main dining room, enabling them to accommodate large private parties and also allowing increased bar space for those waiting for a table. 36 added tap handles will mostly duplicate those in the main space, and Chef/Partner Brian Perrone will have a larger updated kitchen that will enable him to run more specials and beer dinners. And here's photos! (And the worst commenters in the world.) [Model D / Curbed Detroit]

Building a bagel culture takes time. So does completely renovating a historic and long-vacant building. But ground has broken on their new production facility and construction will move forward from there, so Detroit Institute of Bagels will soon be a reality in Corktown! And here's one with more puns. [Model D / Detroit News]

American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island appeared together on Food Paradise on the Travel Channel. [Detroit News]

St. Cece's Pub is now serving Sunday brunch. [SCP FB]

The Motown Winter Blast is returning again this year! And oh, hey, Dan Gilbert practically owns this now too. [Freep]

For 2013, the Detroit Bus Company is changing up their services a bit. No more weekend bar service, but new events and plans to work in more of a public transit capacity. And have you checked out their drunk tours yet? (Well. They're not ALL drunk tours. Like the church one, that definitely isn't. Though you know something, some of those church types can DRINK. Like monks? You've had Belgian beer? Super-high ABV and all made by monks. I rest my case. Jesuits too. They like the wine. I know this from my time at UDM.) [DBC Official]

Thrillist takes a first look at the recently-opened Maccabees at Midtown, and it looks pretty delicious indeed. It also looks a whole hell of a lot like the HistoricDetroit.org website. [Thrillist / EID FB]

Here's more on Winezilla - owner Ed Bosse isn't new to the wine retail game (or playing it in Ferndale for that matter), and offers affordable (and dare I say fun?) labels that also include a special bottling from L. Mawby Winery called "Ferndale Fizz." (Which if it's anything like the "Detroit" label will suck, unless you like being muscatoed in the face.) There's also a section of Michigan-made snacks, and a totally Ferndalian mural! [Ferndale 115]

And more word on new restaurants coming to Ferndale in 2013: Ferndale Public House replacing Josephine's, Zeke's R+R BBQ replacing AJ's Music Cafe, Tokyo Sushi + Thai replacing Pete's Place. [Ferndale 115]

Brew Jus, which was located in the Rust Belt Market, is shutting down, though partner Nick Schultz plans on moving forward with his own company in the future with a similar mission. Since opening, Nick's partner David Ballew has been plagued with health issues which often demanded long absences from the business, which undoubtedly played a role (among other factors) in this decision. [The Sauced Chef FB]

You know, between Urban Putt-Putt in Corktown, Drive Table Tennis Social Club, and now the new video game lounge and mobile gaming service for parties Activ8 in Ferndale, what we really need around here is MORE LASER TAG. #legendary [Ferndale Patch]

Coffee and (____) ended their pop-up run in West Village this week, but not without a bang. [C+___ FB]

The head of one of Greektown's major business families, Ted Gatzaros, passed away this week. He and his former partner, other Greektown family head Jim Papas, together created Greektown Casino. The Gatzaros family also own the Atheneum Suite Hotel, Fishbones Rhythm Kitchen Cafe, and others. His son Nico is behind The London Chop House revival.  [Crain's]

The Townsend Hotel/Rugby Grille has a new Executive Chef who is, apparently, super "into" the whole local thing. Here's hoping this means the AAA Four-Diamond-rated restaurant won't rely so much on Sysco. [Ferndale Patch]

Kilwin's in Birmingham has closed, and there's already new businesses interested in the space (as well as the former Zumba Grille space). Two years from now when I get my intense once-a-decade craving to eat a whole box of chocolate-covered pretzels, this is going to make me very sad. [B-ham Patch]

Midwest Living also digs The Root Restaurant + Bar! [Midwest Living]

Ann Arbor and beyond

Rub Pub BBQ has officially opened its third location in Ann Arbor in a spot that some say is "cursed." (Not like in a gypsy-curse-that-restored-Angel's-soul-only-to-take-it-away-again-the-moment-he-experiences-pure-happiness kind of way, but in like a no-business-can-seem-to-stay-open kind of way.) [AnnArbor.com]

New "new American" joint in A2, Vellum Restaurant, now open. [AnnArbor.com]

the (espresso) bar will reopen February 1. With shiny disco balls. [teb FB]

Ann Arbor Restaurant Week runs January 20-25 with a record 52 restaurants participating. [Freep]

So how about this: BROOKLYN is the new Brooklyn! Brooklyn Michigan, that is. Shady's Tap Room in Brooklyn will feature Michigan microbrews with signature pizzas and sandwiches. [MLive]

Beerie
~Chicagoist named Jolly Pumpkin's Noel de Calabaza their "Beer of the Week." Um, how about "Beer of Forever (except when Sobrehumano is available)"? [Chicagoist]
~Another Goose Islander leaving to start his own (as yet unnamed) brewery. [BeerPulse]
~Kinda want to go to Palm Springs anyway. Now kinda want to stay at Ace Hotel and Swim Club (it's pretty affordable too, especially in comparison to the others on this bougie beer geek hotel list). [Tablet Mag]
~Stone Brewing Company is opening a $24 million hotel across the street from Stone Brewing World Bistro + Gardens; The Brooklyn Brewery is opening a pub in downtown Stockholm. Would have been cool if they would have added Arbor Brewing Company's recent expansion into India. Dear First We Feast, can I write for you and cover non-New York things? [FWF]
~"I'm not a drunk; I just have the sniffles." The cure for the common cold? BEER! [The Drinks Business]
~Here's a little something for fans of beer, coffee, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. [FWF]

Eat It GR
~After five years and $13.5 million in sales, HopCat has proven itself. [MLive]
~One of the happiest places on earth (or at least the U.S.) is Michigan's own little Disneyland: Grand Rapids. [Forbes]
~Kalamazoo Beer Week, which coincides with the Michigan Brewer's Guild annual winter summit, is now in its third year and is bigger than ever with over 100 coordinating events. [MLive]
~The Cheese Lady's franchise expansion into GR also includes plenty of Michigan beer and wine in addition to cheeses from around the world. So basically all of life's essentials. (Except for toilet paper.) [Rapid Growth]
~Brewery Vivant got a nice spread in Beer Advocate. [BA Mag / BV FB]
~New Holland's annual Blue Sunday release party (at which they release -- oh you're good -- Blue Sunday) is this Sunday, with library tastings of past vintages of this and other special beers. [NH FB]