[HOT LIST] Thanksgiving events

In the interest of all things in one place (not to mention hayZeusFUK Thanksgiving is in two weeks), here is a list of various tasting events and such to get you started on your holiday planning, as well as some events happening on Thanksgiving Day and other stuff happening in the next two weeks just for funsies. From wine tastings with pairing suggestions to cheese tastings because, hi, cheese, these are some great pre-Thanksgiving tastings (and one post- because, hi, cheese) to help you plan your holiday dinners. Or to just carry on like normal and go to fun tastings and brunches because they're fun and it's just this thing that you do. Also, everyone loves a parade. And shopping. And whatever. Here is a list of whatever. There will be another as the day of the Fat Man and Little Boy approaches. (It's okay to reference nuclear warheads in jest when speaking of Santa and the baby Jesus???)  #holidays2012

Friday, November 9
Art for the Holidays at the Detroit Artists Market, 5-9 p.m.
What it sounds like. You know what's better than an impersonal gift card or trying to guess another person's pant size and personal taste? Art. Just go buy art. $10-20.

Saturday, November 10 (and every Saturday through the end of the year)
Weekly Wine Tastings at Toasted Oak Grill + Market, $10.
Like what you tried? Buy it at the market. Might as well pick up a house-made charcuterie or Michigan cheese platter while you're there, or maybe some of Chef Steve's famous bacon caramel (that's a pretty unique gift, eh?).
Nov. 10 - "Birds and booze" (Thanksgiving-friendly wines served with brie and country terrine)
Nov. 17 - Holiday tasting (15 wines hand-selected for holiday pairings, gift-giving and value, plus meats, cheeses and house-made accoutrements from the market)

Tuesday, November 13
Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co. "Sparkling wine will get any party going, ja*," 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Sample several dry sparkling natural wines and be speechified by two of my favorite wine guys, Antoine Przekop and James Cadariu. Snacks. $40.

*"ja" added for emphasis.

Thursday, November 15
The Wine Garden's Nouveau Day 2012, 5-8 p.m.
The third Thursday of November is traditionally known as "Nouveau Day," when French producers rush to get their Beaujolais nouveaus released. There won't actually be any Beaujolais nouveau at this tasting, but there WILL be plenty of other lovely French wines as well as roast turkey so you can see for yourself how it all pairs. Free.

Hugh Grand Opening, 8-11 p.m.
Detroit's Original Pop-Up(TM) is celebrating the grand opening of its permanent location in Midtown. With refreshments, naturally. Check it out for masculine housewares and gift items from proper beer glasses to vintage Playboys. Also: refreshments. Free.

Friday, November 16
MotorCity Wine November Wine Tasting, 6-8:30 p.m.
18 different wines to try before you buy, paired with cheese, charcuterie and antipasti. $25.

Paper Ink + Earth Launch Party, 5-8 p.m.
A pop-up within a pop-up. Comment l'avant-garde! Snacks and wine and shopping. Free.

Thursday, November 22

Thanksgiving Brunch at Atlas Global Bistro, 8 a.m. - parade ends
Watch the parade from their windows while drinking Bloodys and eating bacon. $40 adults, $20 kids 10 and under, $15 extra for bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys.

Thanksgiving Brunch at the Majestic Cafe, 7 a.m. - noon
Breakfast buffet and prime parade seating. I've done this a few times and while the food pretty much sucks, it's still a fun experience. $20 adults, $15 kids.

Wednesday, November 28
Go Wisconsin! at Zingerman's Roadhouse, 7-10 p.m.
A Wisconsin cheese tasting paired with Death's Door cocktails. Because, hi, cheese. $50.

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

Detroit Bike and BBQ City. [USA Today Travel]

Oh wait, but no, Slows hasn't quite yet managed to save the city according to this OUTSIDER PERSON. [The Atlantic Cities]

Maybe Zingerman's could save the city though ... [Food and Wine]

OMP FTW. Again. [NY Mag]

Traverse City YOLO! [MLive]

And circle gets the square: the old Squares in Ann Arbor will now be home to a third location of Royal Oak's What Crepe? [AnnArbor.com]

Tickets to the Metro Times Detroit / Michigan Brewers Guild 4th Annual Detroit Fall Beer Festival Happy Happy Fun Beerie Fun Time Party Fest(TM) are now on sale, plus Detroit BBQ Co. will be there and trying to claim their title as King of Beer Fest. [MBG FB]

Pure Detroit thinks Pie-Sci are the next pizza pioneers. [Pure Detroit]

Detroit Restaurant Week is back for round 7. [DRW FB]

If a pop-up pops up in the woods, does it make a sound? Detroit Pop-Up City Redux. (And here. And here.) [Metro Times / Schnack FB / Bottom Line FB]

There is a lot more happening in Detroit than hipsters hosting pop-ups. Here is a probing look at the city's treatment of ethnic-immigrant citizens. [The Atlantic Cities]

Congratulations to Malik Yakini of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network and D-Town Farms, winner of the 2012 James Beard Foundation's Leadership Award for his work growing food, community, and justice with such organizations as the DBCFS and The Detroit Food Policy Council. [JBF]

Fantastic story on a fantastic project. Detroit SOUP is the recipient of an $80,000 Knight Foundation grant, and are also trying to raise funds to transform the historic Jam Handy building into a shared community space to host their events and provided low-cost rental space to other community organizations, projects and artists. [Freep / Indiegogo]

Convicted felon La-Van Hawkins' Detroit Cheesecake Bistro opened last week. Yeah, seriously, it did. [EID FB]

The Avenue of Fashion is poised for a comeback! This is a really great stretch of Livernois by UDM that would be a natural fit for independent businesses to thrive. 1917 American Bistro is one of them. [Detroit News]

Motor City Meaty. Motor City Wine will now host monthly meat-ups. [MCW FB]

LIES ALL LIES. [Slate]

Well, we tried. Rock City Pies was bested by La Feria in this year's Hatch Detroit, which will make it purportedly Midtown's first "authentic" Spanish tapas + wine bar because apparently Great Lakes Coffee what with their wines and tapas doesn't count. [Model D]

Thrillist takes a look inside TAP inside MGM Grand Detroit; finds burgers, beer. [Thrillist]

Slows Top 10 in the Nation for BBQ Eats

Well, well, Detroit! Aren't we just coming into our own on the national scene?

First, we get some love for our fabulous Detroit-style pizzas from GQ. Then, MORE pizza-love (and a little bit of taco love, and love for this very blog) from the New York Post. And now--the one, the ONLY, Bon Appetit magazine has named not one but TWO Michigan restaurants as being the tops in "relatively new" BBQ joints.

Of course, "relative" is relative--both Slows Bar BQ in Detroit and Zingerman's Roadhouse in Ann Arbor have been around enough years to no longer constitute as "new." (And hell, in restaurant years--at 4 and 5 years open, respectively--these places might as well have historic designations.) However, I am certainly not about to look a gifthorse in the mouth, especially since I know horses bite.

I will conspicuously avoid speaking on Zingerman's as I continue to have myself convinced that Ann Arbor just simply isn't an extended part of metro Detroit, even though it is becoming increasingly obvious that indeed it really is.

So...Slows. Grats! While I do think this place is wonderful, I think it is wonderful in that "Gee I'm really glad we have a fun eclectic trendy popular place like this in Detroit" sort of way and not so much in that "This just might be some of the best BBQ food in all of North America" sort of way.

BUT. As far as fun eclectic trendy popular places go, this one is certainly on par with any such place you might find in more major-er cities, and in fact might even be hard-pressed to find such a fun eclectic trendy popular place as this in cities like the mysteriously meat-phobic L.A. or Manhattan, where "BBQ" might as well be a four-letter word. And while the food is good--perhaps even really good--I'd still bet a brisket that the whole of the giddy-up South does it better.

BUT. What makes Slows so great isn't necessarily the food--it is how quintessentially Detroit it is, right down to the Ghettoblaster on tap and the bar full of shaggy-haired Detroit hipsters (up to and including shaggy-haired hipster Phillip Cooley, the owner of the joint and a genuine Detroit booster, making a reputation for himself as the guy to go to for help when you want to start a business--just ask anyone who has started a business in the last two years). The music you'll hear will always be a mix of of indie rock, new and old--from Bob Dylan to the Hard Lessons and every bit of rock-and-roll randomness in between.

Trendy, yes. But in that anti-trendy trendy way that is so entirely Detroit. The beers on tap are a fine selection of boutique breweries, representing a number of Michigan brews as well as beer from Oregon, Pennsylvania, and even Sri Lanka. The menu is a clever take on classic deep-South BBQ joint dishes, from the meat, meat, and more meat to the comfort food favorite mac-and-cheese (the one dish here that probably gets more lip service than the piles of meat). The crowd is a revolving collection of hipsters, foodies and Tigers fans. The vibe is 100% Detroit, pure and simple.

There might be better restaurants. And there might be better places for BBQ grub. But if this is the place that has been chosen to rep our city in the national media (presenting Detroit in an all-too-uncommon fun and trendy light), I think Detroit has done pretty well for itself.

Congratulations again, Slows, and thanks for making it work for the rest of us.

James Beard Foundation Nominees

Known as the Academy Awards of the restaurant industry, the James Beard Foundation Awards honors the finest chefs, restaurants, journalists, cookbook authors, restaurant designers, and electronic media professionals in the country. On Monday they announced their official list of nominees for this year's awards, which will be presented on May 4, 2009 in New York City.

There is a special category specifically for "Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)," and contenders for this year's award included Luciano Del Signore of Bacco Ristorante in Southfield, John Somerville of the Lark in West Bloomfield, and Brian Polcyn of Five Lakes Grill in Milford. The only contender to make the short list of nominees from Michigan, however, was Alex Young of Zingerman's Roadhouse.

I'll update you with the award winners' information as soon as the winners are announced. In the meantime, congratulations to all of the contenders and best of luck to Alex Young. It would be great to see another Michigan chef take home this honor. (Presently, Jimmy Schmidt of the Rattlesnake Club is the only Michigan title-holder of a JBF award, and that was in 1993.)