[Real Detroit Weekly] Red Ox Tavern

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

"Red Ox Tavern defines itself as an 'upscale sports bar,' and that's probably the only way to really describe it. A massive building on Walton just north of Squirrel Rd., in what is formally listed as 'Auburn Hills' though others insist it's Rochester (we'll just say it's 'on the edge' of both), Red Ox is a large, impressive space with quite the eye-catching waterfall behind the bar and a large outdoor patio with a firepit.

'As far as 'sports bars' go, this is the kind of place where you can go to watch sports in an atmosphere that still feels like a casual-upscale restaurant – in other words, you won't find the walls plastered with vinyl Budweiser banners or fat dudes named 'Tiny' with their faces painted the colors of their fave team. The clientele here is mostly business types from the nearby Chrysler headquarters, as well as students from Oakland University (which is right across the street). Suits and newly-legal seniors may make strange drinking buddies, but the mix works well here. (Weekends, obviously, are a different beast altogether.)..."

Read the rest of the story here.

Want to see more? Check out the Flickr set here.

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[Real Detroit Weekly] Orleans Billiards Cafe

All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

"Downtown Mount Clemens has seen plenty of change over the last two decades. Before it was the charming, somewhat quaint brick-paved hub of independently-owned businesses and outdoor art installations that it is now, it was ... well, NOT that. When Orleans Billiards Café opened 15 years ago, it was right at the beginning of downtown Mt. Clemens' transformation, and the place is still evolving.

''We have to keep it fresh,' says Paul Boone, who owns Orleans with his brother Mark. 'We have to do something new every year. I want people coming back asking, "what's he done now?"

'His latest change will be a revamping of the menu. Wait, what? What's that you say: Menu? They serve food in a pool hall?

'First off, DON'T call it a pool hall! Yes, there are six pool tables. There are also three shuffleboard tables, three dartboards, 27 plasma TVs (32''-63''), 10 LCD TVs, Keeno, Quizzo, even beer pong on Tuesdays (and starting in August, Thursdays too). There's also a nice outdoor patio. So it's not a pool hall. It is the watering hole equivalent of an everything bagel..."

Read the rest of the story here.

Want to see more? Check out the Flickr set here.

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Halal [HOT LIST]

Chicken Tikka Pizza from Halal Desi Pizza. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Sunset today marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, and the beginning of Eid, the two-day Muslim holiday following Ramadan. Here in metro Detroit we have an estimated population of over 200,000 Muslims, and we also have the highest concentration of ethnic Arabs outside of the Middle East. To honor our Muslim friends (truth be told, Dearborn is one of our favorite cities in metro Detroit), we bring you this Halal Hot List.

Halal means "lawful," referring to food (and other items) that are permissible in accordance with Islamic law. Islam forbids the consumption of pork, alcohol, carnivorous animals and birds of prey, and blood, as well as any food that may be contaminated by these products. "Halal" also refers to a specific method of slaughtering (the Jewish "kosher" is very similar to the Islamic "halal"). A restaurant that is certified halal will serve none of these outlawed items and will prepare everything in accordance with Islamic law.

There are certified halal restaurants all over metro Detroit, from Dearborn to Garden City, Hamtramck to Sterling Heights. They are Iraqui, Yemeni, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Lebanese (we'll look specifically at these ethnically distinct restaurants in future posts). The five restaurants featured here specialize in five very different kinds of foods. "Halal" doesn't have to mean Middle Eastern or Indian food ... it also means burgers, tacos, pizza, and rotisserie chicken; a little something for all palates (including wholly Midwestern American ones). And to our Muslim friends during this holiday, Assalamu alaikum.

#1 Halal Desi Pizza (Hamtramck)
If you've ever driven down Caniff off of I-75, you've noticed Halal Desi Pizza. It's a box of a building at the corner of Lumpkin and Caniff, covered in signage announcing their pizza, gyros, burgers, chicken wings, Chinese food, and Mexican food. Yes, all of those things. This Bangladeshi establishment serves a variety of popular catch-all American fast food items, and every last one of them is certified halal. The pepperoni for their pizzas is made from beef and they also serve a lot of lamb (their New York-style gyros are a bestseller, and they also have a lamb burger for only $5). But the chicken tikka pizza makes a journey to Hamtramck for pizza alone entirely worthwhile. Chicken tikka (marinated and seasoned tandoori chicken) baked crispy on the edges and bright red with seasoning, along with green peppers and onions on chewy, traditional round crust (do yourself a favor and say "yes" when they ask if you want the crust buttered and sprinkled with parmesan). Alhamdulillah, we love a good melting pot!

#2 Al-Ameer (Dearborn, Dearborn Heights)
We couldn't NOT put a straight-up Middle Eastern restaurant on this list, and this is the most famous of all. At Al-Ameer, you get the full Lebanese-Muslim experience: lamb, lamb, and more lamb; skewered, marinated meats (like lamb; also chicken); and also plenty of light, flavorful vegetarian dishes like fattoush salad, hummous, baba ghanouge, tabbouli, falafel, labneh ... and then lamb. "He don't eat no meat? That's okay. I make lamb." Etc. The baked kebbie is tasty, but the raw kebbie is where it's at. (Hint: it's lamb.) But if you only ever order one thing here, the buttery-tender stuffed lamb with labneh should be it.

#3 Fuego Grill (Dearborn)
There is perhaps no other country on earth that loves pork more than Mexico. Except America. So opening a certified halal Mexican restaurant is certainly not without its challenges. Fuego Grill is the only certified halal Mexican restaurant in the state of Michigan: that means no carnitas, no tacos al pastor, no tripe. But the food here is fresh, all made in-house from scratch, and they do what they can with what they have. They make a chicken-based chorizo with vinegar, cumin, and a dried pepper paste that could easily pass for "the real thing" (and even if not, it's still damn good). They also serve excellent tender, juicy steak dishes (like the braised beef tips).

#4 Zayeqa (Farmington Hills)
It's Chinese food done in Indo-Paki style, the end result of Chinese diaspora into northern India. What this means: it's spicy. It has flavor. There's a lot of curry. And it is better than most other Chinese places you will eat; spare us the almond chicken and egg foo young. The menu is a melding of Hakka, Indian and Pakistani items; we recommend the hakka noodles and every last one of the chicken dishes. But take note: this is legit Indo-Paki food, which means it is H-O-T. If your palate is most comforted by Choose-Your-Meins, this might not be the place for you.

#5 Golden Chicken (Dearborn)
You want chicken? They got chicken. Chicken shawarma, shish tawook, chicken and rice, etc. But if you order anything other than the rotisserie chicken you are doing both yourself and this restaurant a disservice. It would be like going to Roast and ordering a vegetarian dish. You haven't actually experienced this place and are out of your element in all discussions of it. Beautiful, golden, juicy chicken cooking on a spit until it's charred up crispy on the edges; this is what Golden Chicken is about.

Bubbling under Al-Ajami (Dearborn), Byblos Cafe and Grill (Detroit), Al Sultan Restaurant (Garden City), Tawaa Cuisine (Garden City), Najeeb Kabob House (Warren), Sheeba Restaurant (Hamtramck), Aladdin Sweets and Cafe (Hamtramck)

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[EID Feature] Star Lanes Inside Emagine Theatre: It's a Restaurant, Too

All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

I have a secret. This secret might shock you. Some of you might be disappointed. Others might even be so devastated they'll choose never to read this blog again as a silent act of protest. I accept these potential consequences because I feel that it is time to unburden myself so I can stop living this shameful, deprived lie. I love food, I do, OBVIOUSLY I do because I'm doing this, but there is something that has my heart even more than all the Neapolitan pizza, craft beer and raclette cheese in the world: movies.

I am a hardcore, unrepentant film and media uber-nerd. So when the $19 million Emagine Theatre in Royal Oak broke ground, as others bemoaned the "big box corporateification" of Royal Oak (something I am prone to do myself) I was silently rejoicing.

It opened on May 16. I saw X-Men: First Class there on June 3. I fell in love immediately. DBOX motion effects! Luxury seating with bar service and 56'' of legroom! Digital posters that play the trailers! Sparkly! SPARKLY!!! Emagine is a movie palace, a SHRINE to movie worship, the Taj Mahal of Michigan movie theatres. It is majestic. And shiny. The 71,000 square foot 10-screen sparkling cinema masterpiece pays homage to the magic of the movies with its grandiosity, and grandiose is certainly nothing new to the Emagine chain: this was the first movie theatre chain in the world to offer all-digital projection, and the first chain in Michigan to offer all-stadium seating (Metromode recently ran this fantastic piece on the chain and its ambitious owner Paul Glantz so you can read about all of their innovations in movie-watching). The chain is also known for offering a full bar at each location (can't really go wrong there), and supporting the local film industry by hosting premieres and screenings of Michigan-made films.

The Royal Oak location is the fifth in the Emagine chain, but it is the first to introduce Star Lanes, an upscale 16-lane bowling alley with three enormous projection screens at the end of the lanes and three flatscreen TVs on each lane (there are over 70 flatscreen TVs throughout the complex, playing everything from Tigers games to PGA tournaments and anything else you might request). And located in Star Lanes is a restaurant, a full-service restaurant with a full bar offering upscale tapas-style bar food. And upstairs is the Skybox Lounge (overlooking the lanes) which can hold private parties for up to 250 people with full sit-down meals, staffed bar and live entertainment, as well as the High Roller Room, which can accommodate up to 50 people with four private bowling lanes, a pool table, shuffleboard, full catering and a private bar.

When you think "bowling alley restaurant" you're probably thinking pizza, burgers, etc. And, yes, you're on the right track ... but how many bowling alleys boast an American Culinary Federation-certified Executive Chef?

"When you go to a bowling alley its greasy burgers and hots dogs. We wanted to get away from that stereotype," says Executive Chef Matthew Johnson. The operation is a full banquet facility which can cater to ANY request. Johnson most recently came from Great Oaks Country Club in Rochester, and if there is one thing a country club chef knows how to do best it's everything (a recent soul food party paired with the film The Help was a huge hit). "We have the chance to 'wow' everyone who comes in the building." Kids' parties, corporate functions, wedding receptions - they can (and do) do it all.

Johnson was recently certified as an Executive Chef through the ACF. He says his has been a "storybook career," starting out as a dishwasher at the Farm in Port Austin and working his way up from there. "I was 16, my parents said 'If you want a car you have to have a job; you can either find a job or we can find a job for you," he explains. "Me being a lazy teen I said, 'Go ahead and find me a job.' They found me a job as a dishwasher at their favorite restaurant in Port Austin."

He remembers the very first day he walked in and instantly knew this was his life's calling. "Sean Loving was there working on his menu" - for what would eventually be the Loving Spoonful in Farmington Hills - "I saw him and the chef who owned the restaurant, I saw the way they talked and acted and lived their lives, how much fun they had cooking ... it was meant to be. I could never imagine myself having as much fun doing anything else."

Loving would end up being Johnson's Intro to Cooking instructor at Schoolcraft College. He would also be Johnson's coach in culinary competitions, and is now a consulting chef for Star Lanes. "It's cool to see it go full circle," Johnson says.

At the Farm, the tiny Port Austin restaurant owned by ACF-certified Executive Chef Pamela Mary Gabriel-Roth, they have a 1-acre produce garden where they grow the majority of their vegetables. "I think that’s a great environment for a chef to grow up in," says Johnson. "If I had to make pesto I had to go and pick the basil!"

He completed his Culinary Arts program at Schoolcraft in 2006. "I would gauge it as one of the top two culinary schools in the country," Johnson proclaims. "The classes only have 16 people so you get more hands-on training with certified master chefs than anywhere else in the world." After the Farm and while attending Schoolcraft, Johnson worked at Great Oaks for almost seven years. With his varied background ranging from remote farm-to-table restaurants to massive country club banquets, Johnson takes his professional training and personal ethos to define the kitchen at Star Lanes.

Johnson demands his vendors source as much from Michigan as possible for him. In the kitchen they make about 80% of the food from scratch - they make their own short ribs, brisket, pulled pork, chicken wings, pizza dough, soups, potato chips, dipping sauces, guacamole, even desserts (like warm chocolate chips cookies served with milk!). The tortillas for their nachos are bought pre-cut and raw from Michoacana in Mexicantown. They have a $40,000 wood-burning oven ("I call it my Ferrari") for their pizzas, and use recipes from Crust Pizza and Wine Bar.

The menu boasts items like Thai Sweet and Spicy Calamari, cheese fondue (win), baked brie (win!), and a variety of hearty salads, but their signature items are the wood-fired pizza and the nine "Celebrity Row Sliders," mini gourmet burgers made with items like Angus beef, crab and shrimp cakes, tuna, BBQ pulled pork, and portabella mushrooms. But the REAL star - the Marilyn Monroe of sliders - is the "Paparazzi:" a hand-packed Angus beef patty stuffed with a braised short rib, covered in Gruyere cheese and their secret-recipe "galaxy sauce," served on a bun that I swear was dipped in butter and grilled up crispy. This burger is AMAZING. As I sampled/inhaled it I could only grunt and moan. "If I can give someone a culinary orgasm, that's what it's all about!" Johnson laughs. Well Matt, it was good for me, thank you.

Coming for a movie? Great; eat here. Just want to bowl? Great; eat here. In Royal Oak and hungry? Great; eat here. You don't have to be bowling or about to watch a movie to enjoy the food; they're open 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. seven days a week, with happy hour specials 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. If you bring your same-day movie ticket stub, you'll save up to 25% off food and drinks from their "Why Go Home?" menu. This fall they'll also be participating in the Royal Oak Restaurant Week Fall Harvest with a three-course seasonal Michigan-themed prix fixe dinner menu. So it's not JUST a movie theatre. And it's not JUST a bowling alley. It is a welcome addition to Royal Oak's dining scene, and a progressive Michigan-owned chain that thinks outside the big box.

Want to see more? Check out the Flickr set here.

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[Real Detroit Weekly] Wolfgang Puck Grille

Sauteed Alaskan Halibut. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

There is no doubt that "foodie culture" has gripped the nation with the kind of obsessive, feverish madness reminiscent of family fallout shelters in the '60s and the Great Bottled Water Rush of Y2K. This has led to the rise of the Food Network and the celebrity chef (an exquisite irony for most of these so-called "celebs," who started their careers when the idea of being an American chef in America was a joke – much like looking classy while smoking, it was something only Europeans could really pull off). Any major city you visit now – Chicago, New York, Las Vegas, L.A. – is populated by an ever-increasing number of celebrity chef ventures.

Chicago has Rick Bayless, Grant Achatz and Charlie Trotter (and a few DOZEN others). In Detroit, we have Michael Symon, Michael Mina and Wolfgang Puck.

But the real celebrity at the Wolfgang Puck Grille inside the MGM Grand Detroit is not Mr. Puck himself. It's Executive Chef Marc Djozlija, who has worked for Puck for nearly two decades and has opened all of the eponymous Grilles. Lucky for us, Djozlija has stuck around for awhile, and the Detroit dining scene is all the better for it.

Read the rest of the article here.

Want to see more? Check out the Flickr set here.

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[HOT LIST] Hot dogs

"The Frenchy" at Rosie O'Grady's, Ferndale. All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

No, NOT Coneys ... we'll get to that eventually, but Detroit's Coney dog scene is well-documented enough already. What isn't well-documented is the quietly-growing gourmet hot dog trend. It makes sense: Detroit is so close to Chicago and Toronto (Chicago, where hot dogs are SERIOUS business, and Toronto - even Windsor - with the best damn street hot dog vendors in North America) that their cosmopolitan processed meat influence had to take hold eventually. Unfortunately some of the budding flowers of the metro Detroit gourmet hot dog scene have already been stomped back into the ground before they were able to fully bloom - the owner of the building that housed Gourmet Hot Dogs on John R (where a certain crepe stand once called home) decided the space would be better served as an ATM, while legal woes with investors have temporarily closed the brand-new Big City Dogs in Clawson - but the desire is still strong here for a hot dog with anything other than chili. We shall overcome, etc.

The truth is, gourmet dogs are in Detroit's blood. With local meatpacking companies like Koegel Meats (those Viennas in natural casing with the signature SNAP when you bite into them is the stuff Coneys are made of), Dearborn Sausage Co., and Kowalski Meats, it's kind of a shame these tasty dogs get buried under all that chili and onion. Don't worry, there are still hundreds of Coney Islands where hot dogs come no other way and WE'LL GET TO THAT ... but for now ... here's something a little different.Whether loaded up with toppings or so good you want to eat them plain, here's some of our favorite local weiners. (*snicker*)

#1 Hippo's Hot Dogs (Troy; Clinton Township)
There's really only two things Chicago does exceedingly and consistently well, and that's steakhouses and hot dogs. Chicago is a meatpacking town, and as much as it's now trying to all fancify itself to compete with the coasts, it can't, it doesn't, it won't. But. They have some good goddurn hot dogs. Maybe you've heard of Hot Doug's? Hippo's has been doing the Chicago-style dog since 1988. What makes a hot dog Chicago-style is "dragging it through the garden:" chopped white onions, tomato wedges, pickled sport peppers, a dill pickle spear, neon-green sweet pickle relish, yellow mustard and celery salt (or some variation of that). Here it's just called the "Hippo Dog," but it doesn't stop there. Hippo's has about a dozen other gourmet dogs including the "Polish Hippo" - same thing, only with charbroiled all-beef Polish sausage.

#2 Bucharest Grill (downtown Detroit)
There is a temptation to call Bucharest Grill the best-kept secret in Detroit, except it's not much of a secret and no one's keeping it. Their garlicky chicken shawarma is legendary in late-night and lunch circles (being essentially inside the favored local hangout Park Bar has certainly helped that reputation along), but they do serve other food. Their "Gourmet Dog" menu offers six options of knockwurst, bratwurst, and kielbasa dogs, which include the knockwurst-based Coney-style "Detroiter," as well as the "Hamtramck" with kielbasa, braised red cabbage, bacon and grainy mustard on a sesame seed bun. For funsies try the simple 1920 Red Hot, a spicy "old school" dog with grainy mustard.  Do this while drinking a full cold beer.

Best damn ballpark mustard, period. Served at Ford Field.

#3 Rosie O'Grady's (Ferndale; Sterling Heights; Chesterfield)
The 10'' USDA choice beef dogs in natural casings are custom-made just for Rosie O'Grady's, as are the artisan buns steamed to order. Choose from over a dozen "special" and "super special" dogs, including the Frenchy with sauteed mushrooms, Swiss cheese, bacon and Dijon mustard; and the New Yorker with sauerkraut, yellow mustard, and onion-spiked ketchup. For $3 add a side of their garlic parmesan French fries or their homemade onion rings, which are basically like pillowy deep-fried doughnuts with onions inside.

#4 Zack's Hot Dogs (Clinton Township; Warren [coming soon])
Zack's Hot Dogs differentiates their dogs by "snap" and Kosher-style skinless - an important distinction to make for the serious hot dog connoisseur. The "snaps" are natural casing dogs; Kosher are those beautiful all-beef, plump, juicy dogs - your classic ballpark frank. We could start getting into the specifics of Vienna vs. frankfurter vs. weiner which refers to whether they are beef, pork, or a mixture, but that's a whole lot of extra hot dog etymology. For our purposes, Zack's - a Baltimore-based chain that gets its dogs from Chicago's century-old Vienna Beef - covers the major bases, serving only all-beef regionally-inspired dogs.

#5 Tortitas El Rojito (Southwest Detroit)
Who loves gas station food in Southwest Detroit? We do. For as much lip service as Southwest's taco carts and taquerias get nowadays, the happy hot dog seems all but forgotten. Luckily the folks at Tortitas El Rojito haven't forgotten the joys of this Anglo-American treat, and they've added their own Mexican spin; they wrap it up in bacon, cover it in grilled onions, add tomato, ketchup, yellow mustard, and two kinds of homemade salsas.

Bubbling under The Henry Ford and Greenfield Village (Dearborn), Ford Field (Detroit), Lowe's and Home Depot (various locations throughout metro Detroit), Motor City Franks (Ferndale, mobile cart), Detroit Underdog (Ferndale, mobile cart)

Want to see more? View the Flickr set here.

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[Real Detroit Weekly] Steve's Backroom

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

"Steve's Backroom started as a back room in Harper Woods: in the early '80s Steve Khalil opened a bakery and deli on Kelly Rd. then decided to open a little restaurant in the – you guessed it – back room. The St. Clair Shores location is their second location, owned by Steve's cousin Charlie Raffoul.

'The general concept is essentially the same, but this restaurant and deli serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, has a full bar and is also about to expand with a brand-new upscale 50-seat bar and dining area. This renovation and expansion will also include an earthstone oven in which they'll bake their own pita bread, which means that now everything will be made from scratch in-house..."

Read the rest of the article here.

Want to see more? Check out the Flickr set here.

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