[Real Detroit Weekly] Brownie's on the Lake

(Photo by Nicole Rupersburg)

"Earlier this year when the Andiamo Restaurant Group announced they would be re-opening the iconic Joe Muer's seafood restaurant in downtown Detroit, the positive response and excitement over the resurrection of this Detroit staple was so overwhelming that the Vicari brothers decided to try their hand at another metro Detroit institution: Brownie's on the Lake.

'Brownie's was formerly located where the Beach Grille is now but was shut down after 40 years of business when a devastating fire destroyed it. When Jack's Waterfront Restaurant on the Nautical Mile in St. Clair Shores closed earlier this year, the Vicaris secured the rights to the old Brownie's concept from the previous owners and even brought in Brownie's long-time (and now retired) chef Sam Giardano.

''We brought him out, picked his brain, reinvented some of the things Brownies was famous for,' explains Andiamo's Corporate Executive Chef James Oppat. 'The heritage is very much the same as Andiamo: everything made fresh, prepared from scratch daily, with an emphasis on quality ingredients and methods of preparation...'"

Read the rest of the article here.

Want to see more? Check out the Flickr set.

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Speaking of pizza...

(Photo by David Landsel)

The Buddy's feature from Tuesday reminded me that it was high time for one of my favorite Detroit pies: Pepperoni, straight out of the coal oven at Tomatoes Apizza in Farmington Hills. (14 Mile E of Middlebelt, you're welcome.)

It is presented here. Without further comment. Because, really, what more can be said? Wait, I know -- it only cost $8.99. That is something that should be mentioned. Look at the detail and quality of this pie. Bits of basil. Parmesan sprinkled before baking. The perfect thickness of the crust. The bright color of the tomato.

I've paid more than double in other cities for pies that can't even touch what Tomatoes does.

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[Real Detroit Weekly] Coo-Coo for Cupcakes

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg

"There we were: four frenzied foodies, two photographers and a writer staring down over 70 sexy cupcakes, each more visually tantalizing than the last.

'Before us were fudge-covered, sprinkle-splattered representatives from seven different local cupcakeries: Cupcake Station (Birmingham), Rockin' Cupcakes (Rochester), Just Baked (multiple locations), Cupcakes & More (Detroit – Renaissance Center), Cup.Cake (Royal Oak), Nom Nom's Cupcake Factory (Westland) and Pink Elephant (coming soon in Saint Clair Shores). We had a cornucopia of colorful cupcakes ranging from strawberry cheesecake and Key lime pie to German chocolate and Drumstick (like the ice cream cone). We had four different kinds of Red Velvet, five variations on Bumpy Cake, five kinds of carrot cake and a variety of candy- and cookie-themed flavors like Snickers, Heath, Oreo and M&M's.

'The task was this: sample each and every cupcake. Take some notes to share with the masses. Try to get through to the end without succumbing to sugar shock. And that was all. Easy, right? 'We're all going to puke tonight,' one in our illustrious number of iron-clad stomachs and steel pancreases moans.

'And so it begins..."

Read the full story here.


Want to see more? Check out the Flickr set.

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[EID Feature] Buddy's Pizza: A Detroit Original

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg

Detroiters just don't know how lucky they are when it comes to pizza. Everyone knows of the New York vs. Chicago style pizza debate, but really neither can compete with Detroit-style deep dish. Those squares of thick, crispy, crunchy, grease-soaked heaven are something New Yorkers and Chicagoans can't even hope to understand. And Buddy's Pizzeria started it all.

This year Buddy's is celebrating their 65th anniversary at their original Detroit location at McNichols and Conant, where back in 1946 then-owner Gus Guerrera and employee Connie Piccinato developed the deep dish pizza we know today with a recipe that has changed very little over the years. Guerrera sold the place to Jimmy Bonacorsi and Jimmy Valenti, who renamed it "Buddy's" simply because that was where all their buddies who worked in the nearby Chrysler plant would meet. In 1970, Bill Jacobs bought the place and his son Robert now runs it. (Guerrera went on to open Cloverleaf Pizza in Eastpointe, which also claims to be "Detroit's original deep dish" - tomayto, tomahto.)


Robert insists that the original recipe has only been tweaked over time, making changes like using a higher-quality, more consistent cheese, increased topping selections, new sauces, various crusts such as nine-grain and gluten-free, and adding a variety of other menu options like sandwiches and pastas. But the classic traditional is exactly that - it's the pizza that made Buddy's famous, the one that has been called one of the "25 Best Pizzas You'll Ever Eat" by GQ Magazine food critic Alan Richman.

But. To celebrate their 65th anniversary, Buddy's has something new in store. With their long-standing history in Detroit as well as their long-held partnerships with some of Detroit's top nonprofit arts and culture organizations, Buddy's is introducing four new pizzas to their repertoire.

"We’re very involved in the community," says Robert. "I’m an artsy person." Robert is on the Board of Directors at the Detroit Institute of Arts. He has overseen Buddy's involvement with fundraising events such as the 35th annual "Slice of Life" event held every April benefiting the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. Robert says that these four new pizzas are "honoring our partnerships with the community." The DIA, Parade Company, Henry Ford Museum and Detroit Zoo will all have their own pizzas as part of the "Motor City Pizza Collection," with $1 from each pizza purchased going to benefit the namesake organization.

The new pizzas are:

The DIA
Original Buddy’s Crust
Motor City Cheese Blend (Fontinella, Asiago, Brick blend)
Spinach and Artichoke Blend
Capers
Roasted Tomatoes
Parmesan
Served with fresh lemon wedge

The Henry Ford
Original Buddy’s Crust
Motor City Cheese Blend (Fontinella, Asiago, Brick blend)
Red Onion
Seasoned Ground Beef
Smoked Bacon
Bleu Cheese
Tomato Basil Sauce
Parmesan

The Parade Company
Original Buddy’s Crust
Motor City Cheese Blend (Fontinella, Asiago, Brick blend)
Fresh Carrots
Sliced Grape Tomatoes
Tomato Basil Sauce
Parmesan

The Detroit Zoo
Original Buddy’s Crust
Motor City Cheese Blend (Fontinella, Asiago, Brick blend)
Fresh Basil
Pine Nuts
Tomato Basil Sauce
Parmesan

The new pizzas were rolled out on June 23, 2011, which is now known as "Buddy's Pizza Day" in Detroit, a title made official at the original location by Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh.

Buddy's is a Detroit staple. As Robert notes, "Buddy’s is a very iconic Detroit pizza. It’s our 65th year and it really represents a lot of the city's history. People have loved us this long and we’re still around; it's really a testimony as to why we’re still here."

"Here" is a corner of Detroit dabbling on the outskirts of Hamtramck in a neighborhood that has seen FAR better days. But when other businesses fled and relocated as their old neighborhoods crumbled, Buddy's stayed put. "We can’t move it," Robert says. "We’ve opened up other units. We can’t pick up the building. ... This is a unique place that has a lot of history to it; why would we change the place?"

Plus, where else can you find an outdoor bocce court in the city? Exactly.

“Detroit-style” deep dish pizza isn’t just a cute name like “French fries” or “Philly cheese steak.” It is so-named because it started in Detroit, here, at Buddy’s Pizzeria. And with nine locations throughout Southeastern Michigan, Buddy's remains very much a local icon.

And now for part two of the good news that was announced on Buddy's Pizza Day last week. (Or, if you caught this piece, you knew about it a little sooner than you were supposed to. Uhhhhh ... oops.) Buddy's is also now incorporating another Detroit icon into their brand: Kid Rock. At the original Detroit location you can order Kid Rock's Badass Detroiter Pizza, with Kid Rock's own American Badass Beer used in the crust. The pizza is made with cheese and pepperoni, tomato basil sauce, shaved parmesan and Buddy’s spice blend. It is only available at the Detroit location, and only on Fridays and Saturdays.

June 23 may have been deemed "Buddy's Pizza Day," but really ... isn't every day Buddy's Pizza Day? Or, at least, shouldn't it be?

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[HOT LIST] Breakfast

Russell Street Deli (Photo by David Landsel)

Monday morning again. You're at your desk, nibbling on something un-awesome, pretending like you're working. At least you can dream of a real breakfast, right? 


For this installment of the Hot List, our soon to be super-indispensable weekly look at the best food and drink Detroit has to offer, we pick five spots that are really floating our boats right now, breakfast-wise. Don't see your favorite spot on our list? Tell us about it in the comments below -- if we haven't eaten there yet, we'll definitely be considering it for future coverage. 


#1 Russell Street Deli Detroit
Convivial and cozy, up-to-date but unpretentious, this Eastern Market institution just keeps getting better, now serving their famous, farm-to-table Saturday breakfasts during the week. (Don't be surprised if you see members of your friendly Eat It Detroit team in here, eating omelets. Say hey.)

#2 Mae's Pleasant Ridge 
This new-ish rethink of a vintage counter joint (the oldest restaurant in the village) could serve just about anything and it would still be totally awesome-o, particularly on a weekday, when you can sit there, sip on some iced tea and stare out at the traffic on Woodward, going all sorts of places you're not. Luckily, they don't just serve anything; the breakfast menu is vast, inventive and ass-kicking. They open at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday through Friday; weekends at 8.

#3 Cafe Muse Royal Oak

Every day is Sunday at this srsly-adorbs S. Washington charmer that serves up elaborate weekday breakfasts, the likes of which most cities only get at weekend brunch. And at fairly reasonable prices, too. It's only been open since 2006, but it already feels like a classic.

#4 Jumps Grosse Pointe
This smart spot on The Hill does not-so-Grosse Pointey things like chorizo-avocado omelettes, malted pancakes and also bloody marys and mimosas. On a weekday. (Yes!) Next time you're tempted to hit the OPH on Mack (and who isn't, from time to time -- mmmm...49'ers), sit it out for a round and give this worthy place a try.

#5 Toast Birmingham

The only thing lamer than snobs in B'ham are the reverse snobs living elsewhere who get their knickers in a knot about how snobby everyone in B'ham is. Or how fancy-pants this much nicer branch of the Ferndale original can be. Y'all figure your shit out, and when you do, join us inside for peach cobbler waffles and etcetera. Peace. 

Bubbling under: Duly's (Detroit), Beverly Hills Grill (Beverly Hills), Commonwealth (Birmingham), The Fly Trap (Ferndale), Star Diner (Allen Park)

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[Metromode] Bohemian Rhapsody: Metro Detroit's Coffee Chemists

My latest article on Detroit's fast-maturing coffee scene appeared June 23 in Metromode. Here's a taste (or is it a sip?) -- Nicole

If 'Ethiopian Harrar' is an integral part of your early morning ritual, then you already know about Chazzano Coffee in Ferndale. And you also know that when first roasted this particular coffee has notes of juicy blueberry which after a week will evolve to luscious dark chocolate.

''I've created monsters!' jokes Frank Lanzkron-Tamarazo, owner and roaster at Chazzano Coffee. 'They want coffee that's been roasted the same day [so it still has all its flavor profiles]; they'll ask me, "What are you roasting now?" I want people to be crazy about coffee like that and I train the staff to be crazy about coffee like that.'

'In Metro Detroit, the seedlings of a whole new kind of culinary culture have begun to grow.

'Or, more accurately, the beans..."

Read the rest of the article here.

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[HOT LIST] Coffee

Cafe Con Leche, Detroit (Photo by David Landsel)

All this talk about coffee giving you the DT's? Us too. And while it has most definitely been established that there are plenty of people roasting it, brewing it and serving it in and around Detroit, who's doing it best? Why, we'll tell you, in our inaugural Hot List, one in a series that will highlight the best food and drink in Metro Detroit.

#1 Commonwealth Birmingham The 2010 debut of this truly impressive Hamilton Row hangout (now expertly -- and we do mean expertly -- roasting their own single estate coffees) was, for local coffee lovers, a highlight of the year.

#2 Astro Coffee Detroit Dai Hughes' years of experience in various global coffee capitals are being brought to bear at a sleek shop on the Slows block in Corktown. A true game changer for the city.

#3 Chazzano Ferndale Want a vanilla latte and a scone? Please go elsewhere. This roaster/cafe in the almost-Hazeltucky no-man's-land is for serious drinkers only. (Ask for Frank, the owner.)

#4 Cafe Con Leche Detroit Barcelona expat Jordi Carbonell's colorful, Clark Park-facing coffee house has grown to become an essential part of life in Southwest. Order the tiny but powerful cortado.

#5 Shatila Bakery Dearborn This little bit of Las Vegas (by way of the Middle East) on the Warren strip is secretly a great place for an espresso -- the beans are supplied by local roaster Great Lakes.

Bubbling under: Ugly Mug (Ypsi), Comet Coffee (Ann Arbor), Chez Zara (Detroit), Cafe 1923 (Hamtramck), Bean & Leaf (Royal Oak), Far Bella (St. Clair Shores).

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[New York Post] The new Detroit cool

This past week, I explored Detroit's hippest 'hood -- Corktown -- for the New York Post. The article was 'liked' over 1,300 times on Facebook! -- Nicole

"IN most cities, the opening of a youth hostel might not be all that big a deal. But Detroit isn't most cities, and in an era when most of the news is bad, new things, positive things — well, the locals pay attention.

'A lot of it was about being in the right place at the right time. Hostel Detroit (it sounds like the title of an upcoming Eli Roth movie, but it's really not) made its debut this spring in Corktown, Detroit's oldest neighborhood. Once a bastion of traditional Irish-American culture, Corktown has become a place to see Detroit at its coolest.

'In this historic section of the city, settled nearly 200 years ago, you can see a Detroit that is on the verge not just of renewal, but also in the process of forging a whole new identity. In a town that most people identify with the old lunchpail, punch in, punch out mentality, an explosion of DIY is leading Corktown (and the city at large) into the future..."

Read the rest of the article here.

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Thistle Coffeehouse: Coffee Culture and Community in Midtown

Nicole Rupersburg

I first heard about Thistle Coffeehouse from Pastor Brenda Jarvis (of Riverside Community Church) and her son Kevin at a large group dinner at the Whitney in October 2009. What they told me sounded too good to be true: a third-wave coffeehouse offering free WiFi, free printing, late-night hours, student art showcases, in DETROIT. I immediately went home and wrote my then-editor at Model D, telling her how exciting it is and how we just have to cover it. This was early on in my business coverage days and I wasn't quite yet aware of the general journalism rules of thumb, which include not covering a business that has no lease, no equipment and no business license, just an enthusiastic idea and some business cards. She let me down easy, saying, "It sounds like heaven. If it ever opens."

Sometimes the truth hurts. Truth is, a lot of people have a lot of ideas. Making them a reality is something different entirely.

A year and a half later, I get a Facebook message from Kevin: "Thistle Coffeehouse now open!"

I'll be damned.

Er. Maybe I should re-phrase that...

Thistle Coffeehouse occupies the former pizzeria space across the street from the Bronx Bar on Second Ave. After a long drawn-out process of trying to find a building (which had been ongoing already as of October 2009 when we first met), Brenda and her husband signed the lease in late November, started the build-out in late January and was finished by early April. Thistle officially opened on April 17th.

"I've always loved Detroit," Brenda explains. "When I first came back [to the area] in 1990 until now it is completely different. There is a lot of revitalization; for the first time you can actually feel hope. I love the fact that this is a bigger spot so we can do more to help the community and offer a place to meet ... it's been a lot of fun really getting to know the different personalities and people; I really enjoy that."

As for ending up in Midtown, the favored front-runner of Detroit 2.0: "I really love Midtown," Brenda says. "I love the energy that's going on here. We were looking on Woodward initially, then someone showed us this place and it just felt right. Having the parking lot is great too."

Yes, there is a parking lot with free parking. In addition to that, there is free WiFi and plenty of power outlets, free printing with purchase of a coffee (up to 10 pages; then a nickel per page up to 30), late-night hours on Fridays and Saturdays (until midnight; open until 9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday), and discounts for students and DMC employees. They also accept the Wayne State OneCard, have discount nights for bikers (Wednesdays) and BIKERS (Saturdays), and are completely open to showcasing student art at no charge.

"We're very into hanging artists," says Brenda, and I recall that when talking to her and her son previously this was a very real passion of Kevin's, who is an artist himself and understands how difficult it is for new artists to get exposure. (Kevin has since taken on a less active role with Thistle, working as a consultant instead.) "We're really trying to help people be seen."

A new artist/art showcase is featured on the first Friday of every month, and once the website is up and running photos of each piece will be taken and posted until the artist sells it and tells them to take it down. They're also looking to do open mic nights on Fridays and Saturdays; the youth-oriented group Citywide Poets will be hosting an event on June 25th. "We're just trying to be open to the artistic community and provide a place for the community itself to meet and gather." If you're interested in showing your art, contact Brenda at thistledetroit@hotmail.com.

Being involved with the community is one of Brenda's foremost passions and the primary mission of Thistle. Brenda is a pastor at Riverside Church, now located next to Thistle ("separate but together," as Brenda says). The Church has a VERY come-one, come-all mentality and encourages its members to be actively involved in the community. "Our members are infants to almost 80 and span the color spectrum. We've got folks who are living comfortably to folks who are homeless. I really love it because I look across that body and think, 'This is what we’re supposed to be about; we don’t all look the same or act the same or come from the same place.' We're Presbyterian but we don’t act like THAT; it's not quite my mom’s church!"

But if that gives you pause, get over it: "This isn't a place that you're going to come in and people are going to beat you over the head; it is a way for us to do more in the community that we're in, a means to an end." Brenda's long-term goal with Thistle is to be able to do more for the community, specifically to open a school for special needs children in the city. "My heart is broken for the state of the school system here," she says. "This community can’t be what it could be if the school system continues on as it is. Most school systems mainstream special needs children; it would be nice to see kids who need a little more time get it ... Everybody needs a chance."

"We've got big dreams," Brenda continues. "Opening a school is a big dream. I meet people who have kids [and they're fantastic people and] I want them to stay; I don't when them to leave [the city] when they have kids."

But the world will probably see a commercialized form of cold fusion before that riddle is solved. In the meantime, there's coffee. Really freaking good coffee.

Thistle is a third-wave coffeehouse, which means that it seeks to situate coffee in the same category as wine and craft beer - as an artisanal product with a complexity of flavor profiles dependent on a variety of variables (I'll be delving much more deeply into this in a forthcoming piece on Metromode). "We strive for a very specific excellence in everything we do here," explains Brenda. "Every day we test the grind because humidity changes the grind, just to make sure that what you get is the best you can get. Everything is French-pressed so the oils aren't broken down. [All staff is] trained on steaming and grinding."

The beans are ground in-house and sourced from a roaster in Indiana, Alliance World Coffees, which tests their beans every few minutes to make sure they're not over-roasting and works very closely with small farmers - farmers so small they can't afford to be Fair Trade Certified, even if their methods are in compliance. "We went for real Fair Trade," Brenda says. "It costs money to be certified Fair Trade; if you can afford to be certified then you probably don't need to be. [Alliance World Coffees] is a group that takes great pride in finding the best possible product from independent family farms, people [for which] this is their livelihood." Alliance is an independent company working very hard to get people to know about them. "If we’re coffee snobs, they’re the kings. I had to wait on my decaf because they didn’t like the product they got and sent it back; they wouldn’t sell it. I like that integrity."

The beans come in three days after roast. Brenda won't serve them until five days after roast so they've had time to de-gas. 10 days after roast they start to lose their flavor and get trashed. "They're great for compost!" Brenda jokes.

Thistle's espresso machine is top of the line, always maintaining the water temperature at the perfect 240 degrees so that it's not so hot it's scorching the oils but not so cool that the oils aren't being extracted. "Again, we're looking for consistency and excellence in everything we do," Brenda states. "There's a reason we set it at this temperature. There's a reason the press pot is set at a certain time with the coffee in it. It's good coffee, I want you to taste it!"

Part of that is getting away from the sugary coffee-flavored milk drinks that Planet Starbucks has trained would-be connoisseurs to understand as "coffee." "We don’t do whipped cream," Brenda says with a smile. "I like that we can say that [a particular coffee] is a nice medium- to medium-dark coffee with a chocolatey, earthy fragrance and educate the palate."

Currently Thistle offers a small selection of organic fruits and vegan goodies. There may also be a partnership with the Bagel Brothers down the line (thanks to a little birdie...tweet). Brenda's long-term plans are to build a full kitchen. All their service items are biodegradable from Michigan Greensafe Products. Inside, they saved everything they could in the build-out to reduce their global impact - pipes and wiring, any stick of lumber that was salvageable. They used wood from an architectural salvage for the molding and countertop. Even the furniture was either bought at Habitat's ReStore, gifted or purchased at local yard sales. "The only thing that's new here is the coffee machinery because our life blood depends on it."

The name Thistle is appropriate for the city, too. It came from a farming practice: "If you’re a farmer and need to redo your soil because it’s overworked, the first thing you do is grow thistle," Brenda explains. "They’re very stubborn and very hearty but when they die they put nitrogen and nutrients in the dirt and renew the soil."

It may not be the phoenix-from-the-ashes and Speramus meliora... people like to reference in talking about the city's renewal, but it works.

Hours:
Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 7 a.m. to 12 a.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

View more photos of Thistle Coffeehouse on this Flickr photo set.

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Beer, Burgers & B-Dubs for a Cause: BRU Fest!

On June 18 at 7 p.m. BRU Fest, a charity event benefiting the Children's Leukemia Foundation of Michigan, will be held at the Royal Oak Farmers Market. I'll go head an copy the full press release below (because, really, why take the time to effectively re-write it?), but what's most interesting about this event is that it is a charity fundraiser that is actually affordable. CLFMI Director of Special Events Jackie McIntosh says, "It was important to us to create an event at a lower price point to engage the younger generation with this event as well. We wanted to make it a great casual event that will ... appeal to a wide range of people and create advocates at all levels."

Better than the stuffy (and oft-overplayed) black tie charity events that only the really REALLY rich can afford to go to, anyway. Ditch the tie and roll up your sleeves: for $35 ($40 at the door), you can do your part to benefit the Children's Leukemia Foundation of Michigan, and in a way that won't break your bank while still providing you with a fun evening out. I mean, how many charity dinners feature 13 different kinds of Bell's beer (including Batch 10,000!), burgers from Bagger Dave's, wings from Buffalo Wild Wings, and ice cream from Treat Dreams? BRU Fest is putting the "fun" back in "fundraiser."

And - AND - we're giving away a pair of tickets! Just tweet "Beer, burgers & B-dubs for a cause @EatItDetroit @BRUFestMI #BRUFest" (YES ALL OF THAT) for your chance to win! Winner will be notified by 5 p.m. Thursday June 16.

HOW FUN IS ALL OF THAT????

Good luck to all of you and even if you don't win you can still cough up the $35 and go. (10 tastes of beer and all the burgers, wings and ice cream you can eat? It practically pays for itself.)

PS, be careful with that Bell's Batch 10,000; that there's a black magic beer. (I do believe that was the official "Point of No Return" for me last year at the Detroit Fall Beer Festival.)



Read all the official event details below:

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan is hosting its very first BRU Fest Michigan fundraiser to bring together aficionados of great craft beers and delicious food to benefit Michigan children and adults affected by leukemia, lymphoma and other blood-related cancers.

The event will take place on Saturday, June 18 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Royal Oak Farmer’s Market. Advanced tickets are $35, and tickets can be purchased at the door for $40. With each ticket purchase, attendees receive 10 tokens for 10 five-ounce beers and all the burgers, wings and desserts they would like. Tokens for additional beers can be purchased for $1 each.

DJ Mike Anthony will provide the musical entertainment at the event.

Event sponsors include:
• Culinary partners: Bagger Dave’s Legendary Burger Tavern, Buffalo Wild Wings and Treat Dreams

• Exclusive Microbrew Brand: Bells Brewery, Inc. Bells will provide 13 of its craft beers, four of which are special to the event (Bell’s Batch 9000, Bell’s Batch 10,000, Bell’s Cherry Stout and Bell’s Consecrator Doppelbock). The Cherry Stout and Consecrator Doppelbock are typically not available this time of year.

• Exclusive Microbrewery Distributor: Rave Associates

• University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center

“We wanted to take a different approach with this fundraising event and build it around fun, entertainment and great craft beer and food,” said Bill Seklar, president and CEO of Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan. “By focusing on making it affordable, we hope this event will appeal to people of eligible drinking ages, particularly the younger demographic in Michigan. This important event will raise awareness and funds for our patients and families affected by leukemia, lymphoma and other blood-related diseases.”

For more information or to register for the event, visit https://brumichigan.com/.


Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan is a statewide nonprofit organization helping families cope with leukemia, lymphoma and related disorders by providing information, financial assistance and emotional support. In addition, CLF has provided more than $6.5 million in research dollars to Michigan’s comprehensive cancer institutes. Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan is headquartered in Troy, Michigan. For more information, call 1-800-825-2536 or visit http://leukemiamichigan.org.

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[Real Detroit Weekly] Danny's Irish Pub

Nicole Rupersburg     

For the latest edition of Real Detroit Weekly, I head out to Ferndale, where I learn that cool and trendy aren't necessarily the same thing -- Nicole

"25 years ago, Ferndale wasn't the charming community full of cute boutiques and cozy brunch spots with forward-thinking community organizations, arts programs and edgy theatre troupes that we know it to be now. 'People told me not to buy a bar here because it wasn't a good area, but I grew up here and I liked the area; I had high hopes for it. Now it's justified!'

'That's Dan Reedy. And this is his bar.

'Danny's Irish Pub opened 25 years ago and stands as a testament that a traditional friendly neighborhood pub never goes out of style. It looks pretty much the same as it always has – lots of Irish paraphernalia on the walls, long wood bar, wood paneling on the walls. Not much else. It looks like a bar, the kind of place you come to NOT crane your neck to see who's noticing you, but the kind of place you go to whet your whistle and flap your jaw with your fellow humans..."

Read the rest of the story here.

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[944 Detroit] Morning, Noon and Night! Frita Batido's

"Chef Eve Aronoff has an infectious energy. She is fun, wacky, light-hearted and makes one feel instantly comfortable in her presence without even trying. Her latest restaurant venture, Frita Batidos in downtown Ann Arbor, reflects her welcoming spirit, seemingly as effortless as her naturally gracious demeanor.

''I wanted it to be super casual,' she explains. 'I’m a very informal person … [Frita Batidos] has the conviviality and warmth I wanted without compromising the integrity of the food.'

Frita Batidos exhibits a little less decorum than her previous venture, eve: the restaurant, but retains all of the same painstaking attention to detail in a decidedly more relaxed atmosphere. Meals are served on paper plates, water is placed in carafes alongside plastic cups on the long, communal tables, silverware is found on a counter at the back — the whole concept is cafeteria-style self-service, perfect for a more conscientiously unpretentious vibe and also in keeping with the college town-chic of Ann Arbor. “It’s just fun,” says Aronoff. 'It feels like a party. I was ready for a change in that direction....'"

Photograph by Scott Spellman for 944 Detroit. Read the rest of the article here.

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[EID Feature] Royal Oak's Bastone Complex (4 unique businesses, 1 unique chef)

Chef Robert Young doesn't want his picture taken. Why? "Because my face is blotchy and I look fat in pictures."

Robert is the Executive Chef who oversees operations of the four distinctly different entities that make up the Bastone complex in Royal Oak: Bastone Brewery, Vinotecca, Cafe Habana, and Commune. Originally from the U.K., Robert has worked in kitchens since he was 14 and has been with Bastone et.al. for a year and a half now. And what he may lack in photogenic finesse he makes up for in menu-management prowess: most chefs have a big enough job managing one restaurant; Robert runs three (plus a lounge).

The three restaurants are as different in theme and identity as any three randomly-selected restaurants can possibly be. "It's funny 'cuz you'll see people rip me apart on Yelp for something they had at Bastone then praise me a few weeks later for something they had at Cafe Habana, not knowing it's the same food, same kitchen, same cooks and same chef behind it all," he laughs. (Robert has a very dry Welsh wit, which I'm not entirely sure is inherently Welshian but is very no-bullshit and I'd like to think of that as a trait indicative of his native land. Totally the kind of guy you'd want to spend several hours in a pub with, anyway.)



Bastone, which was the first of the restaurants to open, is the Belgian-American brasserie heavy with German and French influences, furthering the overall Belgian theme constructed around Master Brewer Rockne van Meter's multiple award-winning Belgian-style beers."Rockne may be the most award-winning brewer in Michigan," says Managing Partner David Ritchie. "He's taken about 75 in the last three years, and these are international blind-tasting awards, the biggest tastings in the world." This includes a gold medal at last year's Great American Beer Festival for the Belgian Tripple, a very specific style of beer that's time-intensive and difficult to brew. "He got the gold medal for the best Belgian beer in the country, so when we say we're a Belgian brewpub we back that up with the best Belgian beer." Ritchie hails Rockne as a genius (and he's not the first person I've heard refer to him as such - the local beer geeks love this guy). "We're really proud that we're not just a little brewpub on the corner of Royal Oak; people all over the world have heard of us even if they've never tasted our beer."

But an award-winning beer needs exceptional food to pair with it, and that's where Robert comes in. The menu at Bastone is full of beer-friendly Belgian-inspired foods, including seven different flavors of award-winning twice-fried pommes frites (served, appropriately, with mayonnaise), moules (mussels) in three different rich and aromatic preparations, and a savory "Leuven Waffle" topped with pan-seared chicken, leeks and bell peppers in a sour cream and white wine sauce. And even with all of these options, their grilled sirloin burger with pommes frites and beer is their most popular combination - top it off with gourmet items like smoked bacon, smoked gouda, or truffled wild mushrooms and it's a far cry from your basic boring burger. The food isn't what you might call "light," but then again beer-friendly food usually isn't. (Still, even Robert reels at the amount of heavy cream his kitchen goes through on a weekly basis.)

Next door, Vinotecca is the worldly wine bar serving wine-friendly global cuisine. The menu used to be primarily small plates but Robert has since shifted it more towards full entrees. They serve everything from paella and gourmet pizza to seared tuna and carpaccio. Most notably they offer a create-your-own cheese and charcuterie board featuring an extensive selection of cured meats, imported cheeses, olives and spreads. The intention with Vinotecca is to source as much locally as possible.  "The menu here changes every 2-3 weeks so we have a lot of leeway to do that," Robert says. "It stops me from being stagnant cooking the same things over and over."

Behind Bastone in Cafe Habana is where he really gets to spice things up - literally. Cafe Habana is a Latin-Cuban-fusion restaurant serving lunch and dinner, as well as brunch on weekends. They serve strong Cuban coffee, fruity Cuban milkshakes, meaty Cuban sandwiches on Cuban bread (which is a heavy, dense bread made with lard), but their by-far most popular item is the decidedly less Cuban Carne Asada - grilled hanger steak served with yellow rice and sauteed greens, with their incomparable chimichurri sauce (a green sauce with an olive oil, garlic and parsley base, packed full of flavor and so outstanding you'll want to do shots of it). "We opened two other locations based on that dish," Robert jokes. Their signature Volcanic Mojitos, made with mango nectar and pomegranate liquor, are also the BEST in town.

Downstairs from Bastone is Commune, a turn-of-the-century Parisian-themed lounge formerly known as Cinq, though it isn't even recognizable from its former incarnation. With semi-secluded solid oak enclaves, ornate chandeliers, antique mirror frames and sheer crimson curtains, Commune is Royal Oak by way of Montmarte, an old-world absinthe den (with a full selection of absinte liqueurs served properly with flame and sugar cube). The limited menu is basic American bar fare but it's rare for anyone to eat here - this is a drinking kind of place.

With four different businesses under one roof (and all overseen by one chef), you might think it would be hard to keep them all separate enough to have their own unique identities. This is where the Bastone complex really shines. "People come here just for the beer or just for the wine," Ritchie says, "but the most interesting thing is that there's one chef and one management staff and we have three restaurants and a nightclub ... You could shut them all off from each other and not even know [they're affiliated]; they're all totally different - different uniforms, different music, different food."

Each individual restaurant is centered around a specific kind of food and drink which forges its unique identity, whether that's Belgian beer and burgers, wine and cheese, Cuban cuisine and cocktails, or back-alley  absinthe.

For Robert, the biggest challenge of his job also helps keep it manageable. With three high-volume restaurants all operating out of the same kitchen (and with shared food costs), Robert has to be rather savvy in his menu planning. "The most important thing to me is cross-utilization of the product," he explains. "I try to multi-use as many things as possible without getting too many products in the building. You can use the same item but put a different twist on it to make it suited to the region." Brussels, Paris, Napa, Havana, and all from a guy from Wales. Whatever you desire, it's all here under one roof.

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[Real Detroit Weekly] Brunch of Champions

"To paraphrase Joyce Kilmer, I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as brunch. Maybe it's because you can only get it once (sometimes twice) a week. Or maybe it's because it's the only time it is socially acceptable to binge-drink before 3 p.m. in polite company. Or maybe it's just because we love eating breakfast foods at non-breakfast times. Regardless, brunch is not a meal. It is an art. Here's some of our faves..."

Read the full article here.

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[944 Detroit] Cork Wine Pub

To view this article you must view the PDF by clicking here.

Here is also the full text of this brief "Inside Dish" piece:

Birmingham, Royal Oak, Ferndale…Pleasant Ridge?  Thanks to the newly-opened Cork Wine Pub, this stretch of Woodward that was previously a dead zone is now the new “it” place to be, and with good reason: while there are no shortage of bars, clubs, lounges, and restaurants in the surrounding areas, there are few that truly cater to an adult crowd with a sophisticated palate.  “This is a place adults can go to and enjoy a bar,” explains Beverage Director Jeffrey Mar.  “It’s a place you can feel like a gentleman.”

The cozy space is bright and colorful, full of natural light and warmth.  As a “wine pub” they offer 150 wines by the bottle with 40 available by the glass, all of which were chosen because they are a great value, immediately drinkable, and really represent a place – there are no big-name mass-produced labels here.  They also offer a small but handsome selection of craft beers, but where they perhaps shine the brightest is in their extensive selection of liquors and liqueurs.  “I’m a big connoisseur of craft cocktails,” Mar admits, and the timing couldn’t be better: the trend is catching on like fire on absinthe and Cork is ahead of the curve with a robust menu of classic cocktails, hand-crafted contemporary creations, and limited-quantity barrel-aged cocktails.  This may not be a lemon-drop-and-Jaeger-bomb kind of place, but it’s not trying to be.

The menu is an equal accomplishment.  Executive Chef Bree Hoptman is putting forth exceptional effort.  The menu is seasonally-themed with locally-procured ingredients featuring succulent combinations such as duck with quinoa and winter vegetables and roasted beets with brown butter, garlic and bleu cheese.  The artisanal cheese selection is decadent, as is Pastry Chef Tanya Fallon’s tantalizing spread of housemade breads and desserts.

Also in keeping with growing trends, Cork has a retail wine shop next door open Tuesday – Saturday from 10 a.m. to last call where all their wines are available for purchase at 35% off their restaurant prices.

23810 Woodward Ave
Pleasant Ridge, MI 48069

(248) 544-2675

www.corkwinepub.com

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DishKin: Local Entrepreneurs Launch All-Food Answer to Groupon

Dishkin's Donny Minchillo / Photo by Nicole Rupersburg

By now you’re familiar with Groupon. Living Social. Half-Off Depot. Hour Detroit’s Deal du Jour. Fox Detroit’s version, the upcoming Free Press version … let’s face it, there’s a TON of copycat discount sites styled after Groupon that follows the same business model – give them your email address, they send you daily emails with discounted deals, and you buy these deals at half off or more from the face value. 

For businesses, particularly new and struggling ones, it helps drive traffic through their doors and gets them huge amounts of exposure they wouldn’t have otherwise had; for customers, obviously you’re getting a great deal and nowadays it’s savvy to save. Win/win (for the most part, though there are businesses that have legitimate objections to just how much they’re actually “winning”).

The thing is, the business model is so new – bear in mind, Groupon launched barely over two years ago in Chicago in November 2008 with only 400 email addresses on their mailing list – and the opportunity so infinite that, while we can of course expect these off-shoot sites to keep popping up by the day and there seems to be an endless supply of consumer support for them, there are also some flaws.

Take Groupon, for example. Aside from the moronically goofy intros they insist on including for each deal, (which I consider a flaw but probably most people do not), the speed at which they grew and expanded into new markets allotted for very little localization, and because of the simplicity of the site – both a blessing and a curse – there is no way to narrow down your search parameters.

In preparation for a recent trip to Vegas, I had to keep consulting Google Maps to see just how far off-Strip the various deals were (most of them were pretty far). Here in metro Detroit, deals are scatter-shot across the broad tri-county area in a way that makes sense to pretty much no one (at the time of writing, deals were located in Romulus, Troy, Sterling Heights, Richmond, Royal Oak and Brighton for offers that included discounted bowling and lunch-only seafood specials). And across the board with Groupon, Living Social, Half-Off Depot and all the MANY many others, the offers include everything from … well, bowling discounts to lunch-only seafood specials.



You’ll also find a lot of spas and salons and nail salons and home décor items and teeth whitening offers and LifeStyle Lifts and … well, pretty much everything else you would have found advertising in the now-obsolete direct-mail marketing books that went straight into your trash bin five-plus years ago. (It was called “junk mail” back in the days of mail.)

^That last line there was for the sake of posterity.

But what if there was a website service, similar to Groupon et.al., that was more targeted (at least for starters) in the denser population areas in metro Detroit (I mean, Brighton? BRIGHTON???), and was also – and here’s the best part – SPECIFICALLY dedicated to food and restaurants.

Helloooooo DishKin.

DishKin was launched a mere 17 days ago. It is owned and operated by Donny Minchillo Jr. and Pedro Ribeiro Jr. These two friends come from totally different professional backgrounds but ironically both originally came from Brazil and perhaps more or less ironically (but who’s to say) met here in Detroit playing soccer.

Pedro is the computer guru programmer/designer, but Donny is DishKin.

“I was tired of working for other people,” says Donny, regarding the genesis of the idea for DishKin. “I knew I was capable of doing my own thing. I’m eager, hard-working, I know I’m capable. I’ve owned businesses before; I had the experience of opening a business and failing, and that has helped me decide that I am ready to make this one successful,” he says with a shy smile.

Donny may live in metro Detroit now but his life story is a colorful one. He grew up in Brazil, then lived and worked in New York as a teenager in the restaurant and bar business, hustling his way up into management. “It was a good experience,” he says of that time. “I don’t know if I’d do it again but I learned a lot!”

Preaching to the choir.

At the age of 23, Donny left the restaurant business, started his own online retail business selling sporting goods and shoes through eBay, and moved to L.A. Why? Because of a girl.

“She wanted to go to school in L.A. and I could run my business from anywhere, so I went. I needed something different. I’m not afraid of trying new things and going outside of my safety zone. I don’t have a safety zone!”

While in L.A., the online retail business failed and Donny started bartending again for huge, lavish celebrity-laced parties. Then, as luck would have it, Donny met his first business partner – while playing soccer. (There’s a lot of patterns in this story; keep reading.)

“While I was there I was playing soccer and I met another guy from Argentina who sold furniture. He wanted to sell online but didn’t know anything about it, so I started selling for him.”

And then, another girl and another dramatic move across the country, this time to Detroit. Followed by another failed online business, this time because of issues on the L.A. end with shipping and filling the online orders. A year and an experimental stab at stock trading later, and Donny ended up at Gaucho Brazilian SteakHouse, where he met the owner – another bonafide Brazilian – and in the fall of 2010 become obsessed with Groupon.

“I wanted to do something similar but not the same because there are already enough of the same,” he explains. “If you target one thing and start small, you can take over that industry.” He references Group Golfer, a discount deal site that specifically targets golf products and experiences. Group Golfer started in Michigan (the owner is a friend of Donny’s) and is now in 14 states.

The growth potential for this kind of business model is massive. “This is such a new business model, there’s so much room to grow,” Donny states. “It is competitive but there’s a bar or restaurant on every corner; there’s huge opportunity.”

But in metro Detroit the competition is negligible. The most well-known brands have the most far-flung offers, and the others – usually run by a pre-existing media outlet – don’t seem to reach much farther than their pre-existing subscribers. As familiar as this business model may now feel, the potential here is relatively untapped.

“A lot of these business owners haven’t even heard of Groupon,” Donny says with surprise. But for a lot of these small businesses, the owner will spend 80 hours a week working themselves, which leaves very little time for keeping up with the Facebook updates of the Joneses.

“From a subscriber perspective, these sites show you the little businesses around the corner that you might not have known was there,” he says. “From a business perspective, the advantage is huge exposure, and the discount covers the cost of food so to break even would be the worst case scenario. [I went into this having] access to the information from both the business owner’s standpoint and the subscriber’s.”

Another thing that sets DishKin apart is that they offer businesses a better deal than the 50/50 split of Groupon and most other sites, as well as opportunities for repeat customers to save more and the increased flexibility in fine print that being a locally-based fledgling start-up enables them to have. They are also emphasizing rigorous follow-up with their customers, providing subscriber feedback and building a relationship with the business owners that goes beyond just getting money from them. “We wanted [the brand] to have a family feel and [for our customers and subscribers] to feel the connection.”

The name “DishKin” is meant to be short, memorable, and evoke ideas of (a) food (“dish”) and (b) family (“kin”). The site is clean and simple, with a look that will be very familiar to users of other discount sites. The site launched a little over two weeks ago and they have more than doubled their subscriber list in only their fourth deal. “I know what it can be and what it’s going to be,” Donny asserts. “I’m very confident in this.”

And he should be. At the rate this business model is growing worldwide, there may come a point at which small independent businesses that don’t participate in these kinds of deal sites might actually be hurting their own growth. (The example I shared with Donny comes from my own interaction with these sites: even right now, while I desperately need a haircut I know that if I just wait a week or two a decent salon in relative proximity to my home will be offering a cut and style for only $30, so why should I pay $65 now?)

For Donny, the prospect is thrilling, but this is also a whole new chapter in his whirlwind life. “The way life happens it teaches people how to handle things,” he explains, referring to both the good and the bad life experiences that brought him to this point. “Life brings you back to the ground when you’re flying and shouldn’t be.”

To use a reference that Groupon would approve of: Donny may have played the part of Howard Hughes trying to get the Spruce Goose to fly with previous endeavors, but now he’d better strap in because he’s about to hit Mach 3 in this new Concorde, DishKin.

…and that’s still not goofy enough.

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Real Detroit Weekly: Penny Black

"In light of the Slows phenomenon, metro Detroit is giving Mizzourah a run for its slow-smoked, dry-rubbed money. The newest addition to this upscale BBQ trend is Penny Black in Rochester.

'See, that was a great intro. But I ALSO could have said: in light of the upscale Mexican phenomenon, metro Detroit is giving chi-chi Mayan Riviera all-inclusive resort restaurants a run for their dinero (and incidentally, their dinners). The newest addition to this trend is Penny Black in Rochester.

'Because Penny Black is not just BBQ. And it is not just Mexican. The best way to describe it is coast-to-coast Southern cooking – BBQ, Tex-Mex, Southwest, Mexican, Cajun, Creole, deep South. It's the kind of restaurant you'd find in a place like Galveston, Texas, where the food is directly influenced by the surrounding cuisines of Texas, Mexico and Louisiana..."

Read the rest of the article here.

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