[Model D] Coffee and (___) goes from pop-up to permanent in Jefferson Chalmers

We sure do love our pop-ups in Detroit. And beyond just the novelty of having an experience in a space that you wouldn't otherwise be able to have (a Guns + Butter dinner at Shinola perhaps, or an independent toy store on Woodward just in time for the holidays), pop-ups serve an important purpose: they vet new businesses for long-term sustainability, allow aspiring entrepreneurs to test out different neighborhoods, and activate spaces that would otherwise remain vacant. And sometimes – more and more often now – they lead to permanent businesses opening.

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[EID Feature] Chef Paul Grosz takes a Stand

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

The Stand in Birmingham officially opens for business today. The hotly-anticipated restaurant taking over the former Zazio's space - a concept that rather majestically flamed out for any number of reasons up to and including a cumbersome, poorly-planned space draped in seizure-inducing swirls of neon and food that quite simply wasn't that good (even by Birmingham's notoriously mediocre standards) - is a partnership between Chef Paul Grosz of Cuisine and fine dining industry vet John Kelly with Greenleaf Trust/Catalyst Development, owners of the building, as the investors.

Chef Paul is the Executive Chef of this new concept, and he'll also continue overseeing Cuisine in New Center, running back and forth between both. I've know Chef Paul for a few years - he was one of the first chefs I really established a personal rapport with back during my early days as a scrappy blogger - and, knowing him as well as knowing the difficulty of taking on such a massive space and making enough money on it for the business to stay open, my first question to him was: are you insane?

The answer is yes but in a way that makes sense in the long term. Paul has a 10-year plan. Part of that 10-year plan includes positioning himself for retirement and being able to put his mark on something other than Cuisine - a restaurant he is very proud of and happy with, but one that is also very much events-driven given its somewhat isolated location in New Center across from the Fisher Building.

Paul is also considering the natural trajectory of the chef's career. As he is currently filling in for Mr. Charcuterie Chef Brian Polcyn at Schoolcraft, teaching Polcyn's charcuterie class while Polcyn is busy working on his latest endeavors, Paul is thinking more and more of following in Polcyn's footsteps and transitioning into the role of instructor. He'd like to teach more at Schoolcraft - not Polcyn's class, but possibly a new class on seafood, which receives little attention as part of the school's culinary instruction, and maybe even vegetarian and vegan cuisine. (Paul is big on seafood, and also on veggies, as you'll find on the menu at the Stand). He'd also like to mentor up-and-coming chefs and eventually get out of the kitchen entirely.

Chef Paul in the kitchen. 

But that's all part of the 10-year plan. For now, Paul is going to be in BOTH kitchens, overseeing all operations and doing the cooking himself along with the help of his culinary team.

The menu at the Stand is decidedly small and carefully-managed. Items include a lobster fried egg - a brioche-breaded soft-boiled egg with lobster and asparagus - duck confit cassoulet, rabbit, and waygu beef, with a purposeful emphasis on sea food. (Again, this is Paul's thing.) There is a charcuterie room in which they will cure and dry their own meats (which will also be supplied to Cuisine) that should be fully operational in the next month. And while that all sounds like a very protein-centric menu, vegetarians and vegans can take heart: YOU HAVE YOUR OWN MENU. Eight entirely-vegan items are highlighted on their own menu, so you don't just have to order whatever lame-o salad or soup made vegan as an afterthought.

The bar area comes with its own menu and includes things like veal sweetbreads, foie gras burgers, duck sliders, and daily oysters. And desserts will be just as special as the rest of the menu: Pastry Chef Kevin Kearney, who has worked with Paul at Cuisine for years, is now at the Stand making his unique creations like goat cheese cheesecake and funky ice cream flavors (he did it before it was cool). He is one of the finest pastry chefs in the area, so do be sure not to skip dessert.

The beverage program is just as thoughtful, with a small but solid selection of Michigan craft beers and an entire craft cocktail program designed by none other than Travis Fourmont.

The Hall of Culinary Fun.

Those of you who remember Zazio's Wizard of Oz-on-acid color scheme (an image surely burned into your brain if you ever stepped foot in the place), all I can say is...wow. The space is transformed. And by that I mean they COMPLETELY gutted it - like, everything. Like, they kept nothing. They scrapped everything short of actually bulldozing the building. The entrance is now on Peabody and diners will be greeting in the "lobby" before heading down what Paul calls the Hall of Culinary Fun. To the right, you will see the open kitchen with a 10-seat bar where they will host two degustation menu seatings per night (in lieu of actually having a "chef's table" in the kitchen). To the left is the separate bar area with comfy booths and a community table. Further down is the main dining room and three private dining rooms.

Hand-blown glass gourds from Epiphany Glass.

As you walk around the massive space, take note to pay attention to the design details. Wood for the bars, ceilings, the communal tables and booth backsplashes is all reclaimed wood sourced through the WARM Training Center in Detroit, much of it from deconstructed homes in Detroit and Hamtramck. Eric Gorges of Voodoo Choppers made custom metal art pieces, including a copper "replica" of the Mackinaw Bridge over the communal table in the bar. In the main dining room, a series of four hand-blown glass sculptures made by April Wagner of Epiphany Glass represent the four seasons of food - leeks in the spring, shellfish in the summer, squash in the fall, and ice wine in the winter. Janelle Songer made the ceramic pieces throughout the restaurant. It was very important to both Paul and John to make this a space that is a reflection of the community, using local artists and salvaged materials with roots in metro Detroit. They want this to be a place that appeals to everyone, to have construction workers sitting next to bankers and everyone be comfortable. Like at a lemonade stand, where everyone has the same experience regardless of who and what they are - hence the name.

In regards to my question of how they were going to break up this 10,000-square-foot space to maximize marketability and monetization (something else Zazio's struggled with), the three private dining rooms are the answer. The 14-seat communal table inside the wine cellar is one, perfect for private celebrations. The 10-seat Paul W. Smith room is intended for celebrities and high-ranking executives, and even has its own private entrance. The third is a 40-seat conference room wired for all AV equipment with a large TV for teleconferences, and this is the space with the most potential to bring in a steady stream of business business.

Part of Paul's 10-year plan includes possibly opening more Stands in other areas in metro Detroit, or working with John on another concept in Birmingham - seafood, perhaps? But he's got 10 years to figure that out. For now, he's focused on getting the Stand open, which quite possibly stands to be the best restaurant in Birmingham.

The Stand has already been operating for a few weeks, hosting private events and seminars. It opens to the public officially at 5 p.m. today and will be open 5-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5-11 Fridays and Saturdays (closed Sundays). Eventually they will also be open for lunch.

Want to see more? View the Flickr set here. 

[Model D] Coffee, gelato and sweet shop Melt next up in Midtown

Of the many (and there are indeed many) new restaurants and retailers opening in Midtown this year, it appears that Melt is going to be the next one to open.

Melt is a coffee, gelato, and sweet shop located at 4150 Cass (at Willis). Owner Aaron Haithcock has wanted to open a candy shop since he was a kid, but decided to diversify his concept to include coffee and gelato to support a steadier clientele base, a model he saw work while employed at a candy store in Chicago that also sold cakes and ice cream.

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[EID Feature] Mindo Chocolate Makers: From Ecuador to Dexter, from bean to bar

All photos by Nicole Rupersburg. 

Mindo Chocolate Makers, located (as owner Barbara Wilson describes it) “in the middle of the woods” in Dexter (she’s not kidding), is Michigan’s only artisan bean-to-bar chocolate maker. What this means is that they are involved with every single step of the chocolate-making process, from working directly with the farmers who grow the cocoa beans right down to making the chocolate itself.

Mindo Chocolate Makers is owned by Barbara Wilson and her husband of over 30 years, Jose (“Joe”) Meza. Joe is originally from Ecuador but hadn’t been back to his home country in 31 years. Described as a “serial entrepreneur,” Joe was ready to retire so Barbara left her job as an educator at the University of Michigan School of Nursing and off they went to Ecuador.

“It was me who kept saying, ‘Let’s check it out, let’s check it out, let’s check it out,’’” says Barb. “When we did he absolutely fell in love with this place. He wanted to sell our house, pack up everything and leave.” Barb wasn’t quite so keen on living in a small town in the middle of the Ecuadorian jungle, but she agreed to spend the winters in Mindo, Ecuador. “It’s a lush town with a population of 3,000. It’s been isolated for many years; there is a lot more diversity of plants and wildlife than anywhere else in the world and that really appeals to him.” So they bought their property in 2007 and started building a little house for themselves in 2008.

Mind you, this is all with the idea of retirement in mind.

Now Joe – who is, as previously noted, a businessman by nature – still owned Arbor Motion in Ann Arbor, which provided him and Barbara a continuous income while they stayed in Ecuador. But he needed to stay in touch with the guys at home running his company, and the Internet is very expensive in this tiny little part of isolated South American rainforest. (Like, $700/month expensive … and WE complain!)

Barb’s solution was a practical one and certainly proves positive the old adage “necessity is the mother of invention.” She had been roasting her own coffee for several years and said, “Why don’t we open our own little Internet café?” Income from the café would help to offset the cost of a high-speed Internet connection; locals and tourists alike would have a reliable WiFi outlet; plus they’d get to serve their own house-roasted coffees. Everyone wins! So their construction plans then came to include the café as well as three additional rooms for family and friends to stay (those rooms are now available for travelers to rent).

So they had their café where they roast their coffees and make their coffee drinks. All was well in the world. Then Barb started making brownies to serve with the coffee. Ecuador isn’t really a country known for its desserts, so the brownies became instantly popular and the café started getting a reputation worldwide for their brownies. But there was just one problem.

“I didn’t like the chocolate I was finding there.”

Yes, in the land where the cocoa grows there was no good chocolate to be found. Ecuador was growing some of the best cocoa beans in the world, yet Barb couldn’t find any chocolate she liked there.

(It is perhaps worth noting, if only anecdotally, that at this point in our conversation Ecuador and Columbia were rocked by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. I lost my connection with Barb but she called back not too long afterwards. Apparently the buildings were all swaying. This was certainly a first in all of my interviewing experiences.)

Barb was bringing in Callebaut chocolate from the U.S. and making her brownies with that. “I thought, this is crazy, so I started reading about how chocolate was made. I didn’t know much about it; I knew it was made from cocoa beans but that was about it.”

She and Joe later found out that, much as is the case with coffee beans, all the good cocoa beans are sold to the United States and Europe (who pay a premium for them). So she and Joe decided to take a trip around Ecuador to source green cocoa beans, and ended up finding a cooperative of cocoa farmers. This was how their education in cocoa started.

The cocoa farmers offered to sell them some beans but they had to buy a full lot – 53 pounds of beans. “We figured, let’s just do it, so we took them home and tried it.” They fermented, dried and roasted theses beans and made their first batch of chocolate in 2009. Barb remembers thinking, “Oh my God, this is what chocolate is supposed to taste like.”

She started making her brownies with her homemade chocolate. One customer said, “It is a religious experience eating your brownies.” After that Barb knew there was just no going back: she had to make her own chocolate from now on.

“We started sourcing beans from around us, really good, clean beans. As we dug into it we learned more about how different beans have different tastes and smells.” She started making chocolate bars, wrapping them in foil and selling them from her café counter. Tourists would come in and buy $100 worth of chocolate from her directly.

With her background as a health educator, Barb is prone to thinking in that health education mode. So she started offering chocolate tours in Mindo. “Those things are crazy popular. We probably get at least 30 and sometimes up to 60 people a day here, seven days a week now.” People come in by the busloads; this is one of the most popular destinations with tour companies offering travel packages to Ecuador from the United States.

Then people started asking for her chocolate in the U.S. She agreed to make it for a friend in the food business to sell, then realized she couldn’t make it all herself. And this was how the Dexter location of Mindo Chocolate Makers was created – an operation that is, quite literally, run out of the kitchen of their home in the middle of the woods in Dexter.

As a company, Mindo strives towards economic and ecologic sustainability, paying fair living wages and treating employees and suppliers justly. The beans are certified organic and direct trade. They pay triple the market price to the small family farmers they work with, and promote the growth and sales of the Nacional Variety heirloom cocoa beans native to Ecuador (which were largely being replaced by a hybrid bean cultivated for high production but with an unpleasant flavor).

“The President has called [this cocoa bean] a national treasure. This is the only country where it grows. We’re helping the farmers realize that the U.S. and Europe would prize that.” As a result of their work as chocolatiers, Barb and Joe are helping to change the cocoa supply in Ecuador and Peru. “[These farmers] had never tasted chocolate bars made with their cocoa before. We’ve invited them to come visit us to see how we’re making chocolate; some are even now making their own. It’s kind of coming full-circle, and it’s been a long time coming.”

The reason there was no good chocolate to be found was because the local people couldn’t afford to eat their own chocolate because it was too valuable and they couldn’t afford to pay the prices Americans and Europeans would. Now the local cocoa is becoming a part of the local culture. “We’re proud to be a part of that chain but we can’t take credit for it,” Barb says humbly.

Mindo Chocolate Makers products are now available in about 30 stores throughout Southeastern Michigan and Grand Rapids. (Also, if you’re a fan of the Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co. locations in Midtown, Bloomfield Hills and Lake Orion, they use Mindo’s chocolate sticks to make their mochas.)

While education is certainly in Barb’s blood, the remote Dexter location isn’t conducive to regular chocolate-making classes or group tours. She does occasionally offer them (check the website or Facebook page), and is more than happy to arrange one for a group on request. Otherwise, a trip to the South American jungle could be just what you need – they are offering full-on bean-to-bar (including harvesting on the farm) classes in Mindo, Ecuador this June.

[HOT LIST] Spanish coffee

Spanish coffee. Photo source: The Internet.

The Spanish coffee is one of those holdover dessert drinks from the Reagan Era of steakhouse sovereignty. While once the grande dames of dining, these places are now mostly houses of old people food (though the "classic" steakhouse certainly seems to be coming back into vogue as of late). While other dessert drinks (like the ice cream-based Hummer) have been mostly relegated to the realm of revived steakhouses and horrible national chains with apostrophes in their names, the Spanish coffee has managed to attain a certain level of credibility, even amongst the craft cocktail crowd. Part nouveau trendy, part nostalgic throwback, the Spanish coffee is simply a lovely winter warmer and always will be. The places you'll find it are as varied as the recipes they use, but certain things are consistent: coffee, whipped cream, sugar rim, booze (usually coffee liqueur, brandy, rum, or any combination thereof).

#1 Tom's Oyster Bar (Royal Oak)
The secret to an excellent Spanish coffee is Tia Maria, a vanilla-infused Jamaican coffee liqueur. For many years, Tom's was widely renowned across metro Detroit for having the best Spanish coffee EVAH. This was because of Tia Maria. Then Tia Maria was suddenly and inexplicably unavailable in Michigan for a hot second (sometime in/around 2010-ish), and people took notice: Tom's Spanish coffee simply wasn't what it used to be. But then! Tia Maria just as suddenly and inexplicably became available in Michigan again (because the MLCC is awesome and is obviously a rational and consistent entity) and now Tom's Spanish coffee is just as awesome as ever. And not just because they set it on fire. But a little bit because of that.

#2 London Chop House (Detroit)
This is one of those recently-revived steakhouses of sovereignty but done so impeccably well (provided one can appreciate such painstaking throwback) that you just have to sit back (in the plush red leather booths) and enjoy the point at which historic preservation, well-funded nostalgia, museum-like reverence, and unapologetically untrendy classic steakhouse cuisine collide. The Spanish coffee is about half rich, creamy homemade whipped cream and half booze with a dash of coffee for warmth and color. With a lounge singer crooning hits from the Great American Songbook and a belly full of oysters and steak and starch and heavy cream sauces, it's hard not to get into the spirit of the place. The Spanish coffee is a perfect ending to a meal that is, by necessity, already over the top (and there's probably enough calories in that whipped cream alone to fully replace an actual dessert). They also serve that classic Hummer concoction, which they made famous back in the diz.

#3 The Emory (Ferndale)
They're not really known for their Spanish coffee, but they should be. Known best as a beer and burger bar (REALLY good beer and REALLY good burgers, and a build your own Bloody Mary bar on Sundays), their Spanish coffee is a local best kept secret. But if you're hanging out there one day and you see a blue flame and sparks emanating from behind the bar, that's their Spanish coffee - they light the brandy on fire and then spark it with cinnamon. Topped with rich whipped cream and a maraschino cherry, you totally won't feel like a wuss for ordering this because (a) fire, and (b) hipster bar. (Probably it's ironic?)

#4 Torino Espresso Bar (Ferndale)
Their Spanish coffee recipe is modeled after Tom's, right down to the orange twist, though it feels like it makes more sense here being that this is a cocktail bar with an emphasis on coffee and not a seafood house with an emphasis on oysters.

#5 Bacco Ristorante (Southfield)
Italian, Spanish, whatevs, there are no boundaries here. At Bacco you get a bowl of Spanish coffee to enjoy on its own (it's enough) or with one of their house-made pastries or gelato.

Bubbling under The Hill Seafood + Chophouse (Grosse Pointe), Santorini Estiatorio (Greektown), Clawson Steakhouse (Clawson), Terry's Terrace (Harrison Twp.), Fishbone's (Greektown, Southfield, St. Clair Shores)

 

[Oakland County Prosper] Nothing Small About Peteet's Famous Cheesecakes

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Peteet’s Famous Cheesecakes in Oak Park offers 30 different flavors of two-layer cheesecake daily (they make a total of 90 different varieties) whole or by the slice. But this isn’t just cheesecake: this is probably the best cheesecake you have ever had in your life – even the top chefs in metro Detroit think so.

“I remember I met with a Master Chef before I ever knew what a Master Chef was or that such a thing even existed,” says Patrick Peteet, owner and baker of Peteet’s Famous Cheesecakes. “So I met with [Master] Chef Kevin Gawronski at Schoolcraft College … I let him try out some of the plain cheesecake and he said, ‘This is very good,’ then I had him try the sweet potato cheesecake and he said, ‘This is the best cheesecake I’ve ever had in my life.’ Then Chef Sean Loving came in – and you know, he’s the sweet potato king – and he said, ‘This is beyond good.’”

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[Fox News] Will Macarons Be the New Cupcake?

Macarons from Cup.Cake in Royal Oak. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Everyone is looking for the new cupcake. Ever since the cupcake craze seems to have calmed down (after populating nearly every corner of the country with dedicated cupcakeries), food experts, trend analysts and next-it-thing-seeking foodies have been anxiously anticipating what will be the heir apparent to the throne of exalted confections.

It may still be a little too early to tell, but the macaron—a French sandwich cookie/biscuit that is as eye-catching as it is palate-pleasing—seems to be a strong contender.

Read the rest of the article here.

[EID Feature] iBurger: Hamburgers Gone Halal

All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

In Dearborn, there are plenty of places to get a good burger. There's Miller's Bar, which Food and Wine just ranked among the top 25 burgers in the country. Then there's Howell's Bar, which anybody whose anybody knows has a better burger than Miller's (some girls just get ALL the attention; what can you do?). The Biergarten also gives gimmicky Miller's a run for its meat. And now, there's iBurger.

iBurger Lounge is the new kid on the block. It opened about a year and a half ago in the West Village Commons. Everything they serve is homemade, organic and halal-certified, in response to the dietary needs of the area's Muslim population. For your reference, a McDonald's restaurant began serving a halal version of its Chicken McNuggets in Dearborn in 2000. Sales were so strong that they expanded the offering to a second Dearborn location, and later to select stores in the U.K. and Australia. When such a significant number of the population requires such specific dietary needs, even the world's largest hamburger fast food chain pays attention, which just begs the question - why did a place like iBurger take so long?

Owners Hassan Aoun and Houssam Aoude decided to open iBurger - a burger joint in a city with an already disproportionate number of burger joints - so that the area's Muslim clientele could enjoy this classic American food too. Manager Mariam notes that, despite the popularity of places like Miller's et.al., the Arabic (specifically Muslim) community did not have something like that for themselves - most of the halal restaurants serve Arabic food, with very little variety.

But iBurger isn't JUST a halal burger joint. They serve gourmet certified Angus beef burgers; a leaner, juicier beef. "This is something new," Mariam says. "We're offering something entirely different to the area." Their burgers are also less wax-paper-and-ketchup and more gouda-and-arugula. They have 15 signature burgers, like the "Pesto" with tomato, onion, fresh mozzarella, homemade pesto dressing and arugula; and the "Boss," made with two half-pound steak patties, cheddar cheese, beef bacon (Islamic law forbids pork consumption), golden onions, tomato and shredded lettuce. The buns are all firm, hearty artisanal buns. The rest of the menu is rounded out with a large selection of salads, wraps, paninis, classic appetizers, and gourmet thin crust pizzas (try the Filet Mignon pizza, a house specialty).

Phase 2 of iBurger Lounge will be opening in September. The restaurant will expand with more seating in a more comfortable, lounge-like atmosphere, and will have a raw juice bar, a full ice cream shop, and will also offer their full menu and homemade desserts.

Because it is a halal restaurant, they do not have a liquor license nor will they apply for one. They are, however, open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. (3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays), so this is a great place to grab a bite to eat after a night out, or just hang out with some friends for a late afternoon lunch on the patio.