The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

There are European cities that are smaller.

I've spent the last few weeks being Grand Social Media Master Bloggery Empress Extraordinaire for GR Beer Week and it all culminated in Winter Beer Fest this weekend. While I have no plans to recap the whole excursion, this guy's pretty much sums it up. #11 x1000. [GR Beer Week / MLive]

Dan Gearig of El Guapo - Fresh Mexican Grill and The Mac Shack is showing metro Detroit how to build a better food truck with his new food truck fabrication business Red Beard Customs. The first of the fleet will hit the strEATs this spring and will be headed up by the fine folks at Corridor Sausage Co.  [Metromode]

So I posed this question: "Question: will Biggby Coffee be accused of being an evil corporate empire a la Starbucks once they go national, or will people still consider them a 'local' company that we should support since they're headquartered in MI? It's those fine lines, you know?" The answers were predictably polarized. [Crain's / EID FB]

The same thing happened here: "All of metro Detroit's dreams are coming true! The Cheesecake Factory will open its first-ever (and LONG discussed) metro Detroit location later this year. Where? Novi. Where else?" [Detroit News]

Looks like Oak Park might have caught on that Prohibition ended. [Detroit News]

Luciano del Signore once again makes it to the James Beard Foundation Awards semifinals for "Best Chef Great Lakes." After just getting "Restaurant of the Year" for Bacco Ristorante, it would seem Lucky Luciano is having a pretty good year so far! [JBF]

Happy 100th Happy's Pizza! Their pizza is just okay but their stuffed cheese bread is hot buttered crack. [Model D]

LOLZ. Steve from Mallie's Grill N Bar is a great guy and these dudes look like total twunts. I hope someone IDs them and I enjoy this opportunity to shame them publicly. [MyFoxDetroit]

Cafe Habana in Royal Oak has closed and will be replaced by Monk this spring, which will be an even MORE Belgian of their sister Belgian concept Bastone. [EID FB]

Awrey Bakeries, LLC: SAVED! One hell of a frosted hail mary here. [Detroit News]

So, tentacles are big right now. [Freep]

Jess Daniel of FoodLab Detroit wrote this extremely thoughtful piece on network weaving and building a good food network in Detroit for Urban Innovation Exchange. [UIX]

This woman is changing the meaning of the term "foodie." Read more about the founder and mission of Restaurant Opportunities Center and COLORS-Detroit. [In These Times]

Sylvia Rector loves Pizzeria Biga's new brunch. [Freep]

Butter Run Saloon in St. Clair Shores sounds like a fun spot! [Detroit News]

Another metro Detroit cupcakery will be featured on Cupcake Wars: this time it is Rockin' Cupcakes in Rochester Hills. [Rochester Patch]

Ann Arbor

Chelsea now has a smokehouse, Smokehouse 52 BBQ, in addition to the recently-opened Chelsea Alehouse. Chelsea may now proceed with being a city. [AnnArbor.com]

I'm kind of in love/obsessed with the whole concept of Selma Cafe. While I've yet to make it out to A2 at 7am on a Friday (awful early plus a whole of a driving for breakfast on a workday), one of these days I'd love to AirBnB it for a little weekday staycation (to clarify: they rent out rooms in their home where these events are also held through AirBnB). [Concentrate]

Luciano del Signore is all OVER the news this week! Here's more on the new Pizzeria Biga opening in Ann Arbor (*cough*FIRST*cough*). [AnnArbor.com]

Café Zola owners will open a new restaurant in the Arbor Hills Crossing development late this summer.  [Concentrate]

What Crêpe in Ann Arbor opened quietly. [AnnArbor.com]


Beerie
A proposed bill would make some significant changes to the current liquor laws in Michigan, particularly as they apply to craft breweries and beer distribution, which of course the president of the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association has a problem with. [MLive]

Beer reps from Powers do the Harlem Shake. [You Tube]

Drink beer after your workout! [Washington Post]


Miscellaneous 
~Calling it: on February 18, 2013 at 8:35am (CST), poutine jumped the shark. Also, for those of you who didn't know, Chicago invented America. [Sun Times]

~Guy Fieri failed to buy the full domain name for Guy's American Kitchen + Bar. So this guy did instead. And put up an "alternate" menu with items like "Superbowl Bash Bro'det ($37.95): a bidet jammed to the brim with bubbling, overflowing Velveeta over a hidden layer of hamburger-fisted pig skins and a generous sprinkling of Dirty South Couch Crumbs. The bidet is an mp3 player that plays Smash Mouth while you eat. Serves one." [Business Insider]

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

YOU GUYS. Takashi. Back in Michigan. One night only, at Bacco, cooking the classic hits of Tribute. (Plus he plans on opening a second location of his Chicago casual noodle shop Slurping Turtle in Ann Arbor. It's a far cry from Tribute but I'll take it.) [Freep]

MUDGIE'S NOW SERVES ALCOHOL. Michigan beer and wine, specifically. (Also don't miss their five-year anniversary party on February 9, where everyone is going to be.) [Thrillist]

You've heard of the Battle of Lafayette? Lafayette Coney Island and American Coney Island, that is. Nate Skid has the REAL scoop on the so-called "war" (and how American is, by pretty much any standard, totally dominating it). [Crain's]

Looks like the Oakland is getting their very own single barrel bourbon batch from Buffalo Trace! (They don't do this for just anyone. In fact, that don't do this for many places at all. As your attorney I advise you to go drink the shit out of it once it's ready.) [Oakland FB]

In brunch news, starting tomorrow Maria's of Royal Oak will serve a VERY cheap brunch (also: Maria's of Royal Oak apparently exists), and One-Eyed Betty's has a brand-new brunch menu that includes a pork belly poutine omelet. Really. I will not shut up. YOU shut up. No, I'm totally serious, look at the menu yourself. [Maria's RO FB / OEB FB]

Baconfest Michigan tickets go on sale next Friday! "Boo hoo, it sold out, waaaaaah, you guys are jerks for selling out an event and not sitting on tickets so that last-minute assholes like me can finally get around to deciding to buy some, how dare you" is a line of logic we are not amenable to. (Yes, we really did get emails like this last year.) Get your damn tickets. Also, they might just make great Valentine's Day gifts. [Baconfest Official]

Woodbridge gets Woodbridgier with the Woodbridge Community Garden next to the Woodbridge Pub. [Curbed Detroit]

Food desert? Pure Detroit says pffffffft. Here's a list of grocery and specialty stores where you can buy actual food in the city of Detroit. See, we haven't yet been reduced to eating each other. [Pure D]

Speaking of Pure D, earlier this week was National Pie Day and they celebrated by covering Detroit's own appropriately-named Dangerously Delicious Pies Baked in Detroit. [Pure D]

Dan the Man. And his sentiments about what Michigan craft beer has done for the local food movement as a whole ring familiar. [B4B Connect]

Genji is now open in Little Tokyo. [Det News]

What Crepe? Ann Arbor aims for a Valentine's Day opening. Some of you will plan an elaborate evening of l'amour ... for the rest, no crying over crepes! [AnnArbor.com]

Beerie
Windsor wants in on the hot steamy Beer Fest action, so now they're holding their own this fall. (Don't worry, the date won't conflict with the Guild's Fall Beer Fest. You can go to BOTH!) [Windsor Eats]

Speaking of the Guild's Beer Fests, GR Beer Week planning is underway for February 18-23, culminating in Winter Beer Fest! [EID / GRBW / EIGR FBs]

A note to food and beverage writers: if you are not a beer writer, do not try to be a beer writer. It's embarrassing to all of us, and it just underscores how out of touch you actually are with this "trend." [Yahoo News / Fox News]

This one's better: Fox News names the top 10 restaurants to get great beer (rightfully) includes Slows. [Fox News]

Right Brain Brewery bottles hit the SE Michigan market over this week and that includes the GABF-winning Mangalista Pig Porter. [RB FB]

Which brings me back to Baconfest Michigan tickets go on sale next Friday! [Baconfest Official]

Eat It GR
Now live! Sort of. I'm currently half-assing a Facebook page and Twitter, while in the meantime focusing all of my west coast efforts on GR Beer Week. But hey, check out the sweet logo! [EIGR FB / Twitter / GRBW FB]

Random miscellany
~Well here's an obvious joke I'm going to make anyway: you think the "A" stands for "asshole"? [Eater]
~And Chef Eric from the Cook's House in Traverse City responds. [The Cook's House blahg]
~The War on Yelp (sponsored by Eater) continues, this time with a release of formal FTC complaints. [Eater]
~Some timely cooking advice. [Deadspin]

The Week (or so) We Ate (The EID Week in Review, Holiday Edition)

That's right, man.

Is there anyone even ON the Internet this week? Let's keep it short then. The world didn't blow up, so now we can look forward to the NEXT apocalypse. It did snow though, so. There was that. The holy day of consumerism was observed and I really haven't done much work since last week and don't plan on doing much more until next year. Here's news:

Whole Foods in Midtown: still happening, now more than ever. [MLive]

Sylvia Rector explains her picks for best new restaurant of 2012 because apparently it confused everyone. [Freep]

Food + Wine phones it in for the holidays, Googles "best mac and cheese in America," found Slows in the results and put it on another "best of" list. [F+W]

Travis Fourmont of Roast is one of America's Masters of the Manhattan, will go to Manhattan and compete to claim the title of THE Master. (But not, like, The Master.) [Woodford Reserve]

I helped write a book. [Belle Isle to 8 Mile]

The largest Buffalo Wild Wings in America is now open in Detroit. They too played the preservation game, which is sort of A Thing around here. [MLive / EID]

The owners of Imperial have received approval on a liquor license for a second spot in Ferndale called Ferndale Public House, opening in the space that was formerly Josephine's Creperie and Bistro. Looks like Ferndale will continue to be on a roll into 2013. [Ferndale Patch]

WineZilla in Ferndale is now open. Once again, Ferndale! [WineZilla FB / EID]

The new Stella International Cafe is to be quite snazzy, I'm told. Here is a photo of the space under construction, featuring reclaimed wood and marble from 1928. [EID FB]

DIB got their building permit, which puts them one step closer to opening and puts Corktown one thing closer to having one of everything. Corktown! [DIB FB / EID]

I'm kind of getting sick of writing blurbs on Flavor Flav's Chicken and Ribs, but apparently no one else is. Here's something and here's something else. [FFC+R FB / Eater]

In beerie news, Sidetrack Bar and Grill in Ypsilanti is undergoing a $1.2 million renovation and expansion which will even include upstairs apartments, fulfilling the dreams of every 21-year-old EMU student. [AnnArbor.com]

Putting the "beer" in "Biercamp"(finally ... eventually). [AnnArbor.com]

More ramping up for Falling Down Beer Company and future Beer City USA, Warren MI. Yes. Warren. [Detroit News]

Here's a round-up of restaurant news from Royal Oak Patch: Chulbu'ul Mexican Grill in Farmington opened, Crush received approval from the Birmingham planning board and is set to go before the city commission in February (I'll give you just one guess what kind of cuisine they're going for over there in Boringham), the Carriage House B+B is now open in Rochester, Novi will eventually have an IHOP, more. [RO Patch]

At least this isn't boring: Griffin Claw Brewing Co. is coming along quite nicely! [GCBC FB]

Also, the What Crepe? in Birmingham has received their bistro license and will start serving alcohol in February. [WC FB]

Willys Overland Lofts is getting into the retail game with an Avalon International Breads cafe, a Shinola store, and a Run Detroit store. Two more restaurants are also in talks. [HuffPo]

Also in Midtown, Joe Posch is a man of firsts. His store Hugh, recently opened inside of the Auburn Building, was the first-ever pop-up store in Southeastern Michigan, then the first-ever winner of Hatch Detroit. [UIX Detroit]