[Model D] Restaurateur Maurice Wiggins to open The Addison, Restaurant 55 next spring

Red Velvet Pancakes at Hudson Cafe, a signature item and part of the opening menu with Wiggins on board.

Maurice Wiggins, CEO of International Hospitality Group, has plans to open two new restaurants early next year.

The first is located inside the former location of Atlas Global Bistro at 3111 Woodward, and is called The Addison. The Addison is an upscale restaurant that will be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily (though will likely open with just lunch and dinner to start) and happy hour Mondays through Fridays. Breakfast will include items like eggs benedict with crabmeat, while lunch and dinner menus will have steaks and seafood with vegetarian options for each meal. Renovation work is currently underway inside the space. Wiggins plans on opening this in March and hiring 20-25 people.

Read more.

[Model D] Restaurant round-up: what just opened and what's coming next

Delite Cafe + Deli, Hamtramck.

We love to write about food, and you love to read about it. So, since 2013 is closing with a flurry of food-related activity, more than we've even had the chance to cover, here's a quick look at places that have recently opened and places that are coming up next.

Read more.

[Model D] La Feria now open for lunch and dinner, celebrating grand opening with Melt this week

Photo by Doug Coombe for UIX. 

It's been over a year since La Feria, a Spanish tapas restaurant located in Midtown in what could be called the Cass Corridor Design District, won the 2012 Hatch Detroit competition, earning an extra $50,000 towards opening their business. Detroiters have anxiously waited as we've watched the progress at 4130 Cass Ave. all the way up through the fancy new façade and signage from D MET Design. And now, they are officially open for business.

Read more.

[Model D] Detroit City Distillery receives approval from the city, aims at spring 2014 opening

After a five-month-long process requiring two public hearings, Detroit City Distillery has been approved as a distillery by the City of Detroit.

Detroit City Distillery is a partnership between seven young professionals who are also long-time homebrewers and distillers. At the center of it is distiller J.P. Jerome, a Ph.D. in microbiology, and Michael Forsyth, manager of retail development for the DEGC and director of the REVOLVE Detroit program. The distillery will be in a 2,700 square foot space at 2462 Riopelle St. in Eastern Market, a former slaughterhouse.

Read more.

[Model D] Detroit Bus Co's Eight & Sand in Hamtramck will be an entertainment complex and business incubator

Eight + Sand

The Detroit Bus Company has officially made the move to Detroit after purchasing a 90,000-square-foot building at 3901 Christopher St. in Hamtramck that they are calling Eight + Sand, a term used in the 19th century to wish a steam locomotive conductors safe travels.

"The methodology around here, to borrow from Daniel Burnham, is make no small plans," says Andy Didorosi, founder and president of Detroit Bus Company. And 90,000 square feet of space certainly isn't small.

Read more.

[Model D] Dine Drink Detroit celebrates Detroit's culinary culture while benefiting the Riverfront

Starting this Thursday, Oct. 10, a brand-new Detroit dining event launches and you don't need to make any reservations, any kind of special time commitment, or even adhere to any kind of special dress code. Detroit, it's time to start dining and drinking.

Dine Drink Detroit runs Oct. 10-16 and highlights some of Detroit's most unique casual dining restaurants. All of the 13 participating restaurants will offer some sort of food and drink combination for $15.

Read more.

[Model D] Chickpea in the D now serving fresh, healthy lunches downtown

Downtown workers and residents who often find themselves frustrated at the lack of healthy food options in the city have another place to go for lunch.

Chickpea in the D officially opened for business Sept. 10 at 2 John R, the tiny 60-square-foot space that was previously a hot dog stand and before that, the very same place where Good Girls Go to Paris Crepes got its successful start.

Read more.

[Model D] Detroit Vegan Soul celebrates grand opening in West Village this Saturday

Scrambled Tofu, Polenta Cheez Grits, Red skin potatoes, vegan sausage, and sprouted cinnamon raisin toast from Detroit Vegan Soul

2012 Hatch Detroit finalists Detroit Vegan Soul will celebrate a grand opening in its new space in West Village at 8029 Agnes St. this Saturday, Sept. 28.

After starting out with a vegan meal delivery and catering service, Kirtsen Ussery and Erika Boyd realized that there is a real demand for homemade vegan comfort food in Detroit. Both vegan themselves, they started veganizing their family recipes and found that people really loved it.

Read more.

[Model D] Two James Spirits, Detroit's first licensed distillery in nearly 100 years, now distributing

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

After months of excited buzz, Two James Spirits in Corktown is now open for business.

Mostly.

The production facility and tasting room, at 2445 Michigan Avenue, has been under renovation since last July. Earlier this month, Two James started distributing its 28 Island Vodka, named for the 28 islands on the Detroit River that were used as hideouts by bootleggers during Prohibition, to bars, restaurants, and liquor stores in metro Detroit and Ann Arbor. Soon their Old Cockney Gin and Grass Widow bourbon will also be available, and they have more bourbons and whiskeys currently aging in barrels for future release.

Read more.

[Model D] (revolver), a new table d'hôte restaurant, will open during the first-ever Hamtramck Food Week

Hamtramck has long been known for its diversity of ethnic culinary offerings, but new concepts opening this fall promise to elevate this neighborhood to a new level of gastronomic savviness. First there is 2012 Hatch Detroit finalist Rock City Eatery, a new American restaurant serving locally-sourced items made from scratch with a Anthony Bourdain-like culinary sensibility (think: offal, and items like bone marrow fritters). It will be open this fall, pending final inspections.

But one concept you haven't heard much about yet, as the partners haven't said much about it yet, is the new (revolver) in Hamtramck.

Read more.

[Model D] REVOLVE Detroit's Art + Retail on the Ave winners announced

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Arguably the largest single transformation project of any neighborhood in the city of Detroit, REVOLVE Detroit's Art + Retail on the Ave – a program designed to revitalize Detroit's once-prominent Avenue of Fashion shopping district (located along Livernois between McNichols and 8 Mile) – has announced all of the winners of permanent and pop-up retail spaces, as well as art installations and programming, after issuing a call for entries in June.

They received nearly 100 proposals and worked with members of the community and other community organizations to make their final selections. The retail stores and art projects will make their debut on Friday, Sept. 20, when the Avenue of Fashion hosts the Detroit Design Festival, and will include four new permanent retailers, eight pop-up retail concepts, nine art projects, and nine additional programming and events concepts.

Read more.

Check out the full list of permanent and pop-up vendors as well as art projects and events 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.

Read more.

[Model D] Corktown will soon have another spot for breakfast, lunch and brunch at La Villa

Corktown will have another new breakfast, brunch, and lunch spot opening, and this one is right next to Mudgie's Deli.

La Villa is a new concept by sisters Sarrah Willoughby and Rai Jackson. Opening later this fall, La Villa will offer an alternative twist on breakfast and lunch fare.

Read more.

[Model D] Hatch Detroit: Meet the Top 10

Batch Brewing at the Hatch launch, August 2013.

The third annual Hatch Detroit contest is now upon us. Launched in 2011, Hatch is a small business competition in which 10 semifinalists are juried in based on the strength of their applications (including a business plan) and how their proposed business would fit within the retail landscape of Detroit. The winner receives $50,000 in cash to assist them in opening their business, as well as a host of additional in-kind professional services from Hatch and their partners.

Previous winners are Hugh (2011), a retail home goods and gifts store with a distinctly high-end bachelor theme, and La Feria (2012), a Spanish tapas restaurant and wine bar opening soon on Cass Avenue in Midtown, just down the street from Hugh. Online voting began on Monday and the top four finalists selected from the public vote will advance to the next round. To help you choose which business you want to endorse with your vote, Model D development news editor Nicole Rupersburg checks in with each of the semifinalists.

Read more.

[Model D] Rubbed European-style sandwich shop to open in Corktown later this year

Corktown will soon have a new sandwich shop, but don't expect it to be anything like Mudgie's Deli. 

Partners Jason Frenkel and Abbey Markell have worked in the restaurant industry together for the past 10 years and have been planning their own concept for the past four. Frenkel spent a few years traveling for work, then decided to move back from San Francisco this past February to work on Rubbed restaurant and deli with Markell.

Read more.

[Model D] Hatch Detroit to announce 10 semifinalists for 2013 this Thursday

Detroit Institute of Bagels progress. Hatch will be developing their pocket park.

This Thursday Hatch Detroit will announce 10 semifinalists for 2013. Now in its third year, Hatch Detroit has grown from a $50,000 small business contest to a full-blown small business incubator.

Since it first launched in 2011, Hatch has completed two full rounds of contests in which the winner receives $50,000 cash as well as a host of free business services including legal, accounting, marketing and advertising, and IT support from Hatch and its partners.

Read more.

[Model D] D MET adds a new facade and continues renovations at 4130 Cass, home of La Feria

In the emerging Cass Corridor Design District shaping up at the corner of Cass Avenue and Canfield, 2012 Hatch Detroit contest winner La Feria has been hard at work renovating their space and getting ready to open. But just last week some exterior improvements were done that have made the tapas restaurant's progress much more visible.

Read more.

[Model D] CityLoft and the Detroit Shoppe come back for a fourth installment of the popular pop-ups

The Somerset Collection's CityLoft and the Detroit Shoppe are back again for round four on Woodward in downtown Detroit.

Somerset is bringing nearly 40 retailers from its Troy collection of luxury and lifestyle brands to 1261 Woodward, along with the popular Detroit Shoppe at 1201 Woodward, which sells items from some of Detroit's most iconic brands and donates all of the proceeds to Detroit charities. Between the permanent Troy location and previous iterations of the downtown pop-up, the Detroit Shoppe has supported over 100 Detroit charities.

Read more.

[Model D] Pie-Sci to open own pizzeria next to Woodbridge Pub

You may have already heard that Jim Geary, owner of Woodbridge Pub, is a pretty nice guy. One of the things he has done to help build the Woodbridge community is open the kitchen doors of his pub on Sundays to a couple of guys who are really into pie -- pizza pie, that is.

Jeremy Damaske and AJ Manoulian are the team behind Pie-Sci, the Sunday night pizza residency that has been going strong for two and a half years now (to call it a "pop-up" still after all this time would be disingenuous).

Read more.

[Model D] The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative promotes sustainability and community on the North End

The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 2011. Their goal is to use agriculture as a platform for sustainability, education and community.

MUFI founders purchased 7432 Brush Street on Detroit's North End in late 2011. The building is a vacant three-story, six-unit apartment complex in a state of disrepair, surrounded by vacant land that they use for farming. "We figured we would take a structure that is visually unique and needs work and use it as a community center and, eventually, our headquarters," says Tyson Gersh, co-founder of MUFI.

Read more.