Wed Jun 24, 2009
Slow Hot Wind
Music by Henry Mancini
Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
His gaze
Swept over me
Like a slow hot wind
Some days
It's too warm to fight
A slow hot wind
There in the shade
Like a cool drink waiting
He sat with slow fire in his eyes
Just waiting
Some days
It's too warm to fight
A slow hot wind
Under $5 - IV
I took a road trip to Ann Arbor.
Are we allowed to call The Shops In Kerrytown a "mall"? Malls are supposed to have chain stores, and I think Kerrytown must be entirely filled with independent store operators. Like Kosmo Lunch Counter.
More...
Sun Jun 21, 2009
My neighborhood
I took this photo while biking home from the grocery store. I shop almost exclusively at Honeybee/La Colmena on Bagley. When I moved to this neighborhood in 1998, Honeybee was a small, clean, Mexican grocer with a well-regarded butcher case and many bulk spices. It expanded a few years ago, and as Corktown began to attract a new generation of urbanists, Honeybee diversified. Now you can find Bells two Hearted Ale, Organic eggs and whole bean coffee from Ethiopia and Costa Rica.
More...
Fri Jun 19, 2009
Lesbians By The Lake
2 comments (238 views) | Posted by: putnam | Jun 19, 09 | 9:57 pm
Mon Jun 15, 2009
the Evolution of Muscadet Monday
there have been two Muscadet Mondays at Slows. today is the third one in the 2009 summer series.
thanks to everyone who has come by to check out the food, drink and company. Muscadet Monday has already become something of a media sensation, with mentions in Metro times and Gang of Pour (scroll to the bottom.) Local food champions in attendance have included Molly Motor (Le Petit Zinc), Dave Mancini (Supino Pizzeria) and John Linardos (Motor City Brewing). Monday is now one of my favorite days of the week!
In response to the flood of questions I've been receiving, I feel I should reintroduce the concept:
More...
Sun Jun 14, 2009
Under $5 - III
tacos al pastor con todo, from taqueria Lupita. $1 each. I mean, ... I mean, ...
More...
Fri Jun 12, 2009
Under $5 - II
I just missed happy hour at Roast, so I didn't get a $3 burger. Instead I had a Sazerac which came unexpectedly in a rocks glass on shaved ice; there are less expensive watery drinks options. (On a previous visit it came strained in a martini glass. Brilliant)
there was a place in front of PJ's Lager House to chain my bike, so I stopped. I suppose a man can't expect to sit at a rock n roll bar in Detroit, with a glass of white wine, reading the collected works of M. F. K. Fisher, without being quizzed by the public, and this is how I met Craig and Regina Kuper.
More...
Thu Jun 11, 2009
M M
I biked past the old MCS train station today, and instead of the usual impromptu photographer I saw a full-fledged film crew, with trailers and lights.
So I took pictures. Only the settings were off on my camera.
A man asked me what I was doing there. I asked him what he was doing there. He said I had to move along. Standing on city property, I asked him on what authority he said this. He would reveal nothing.
It turns out it was a shoot for an M&M video.
I always loved that guy.
Tue Jun 09, 2009
firkin 3 comments (284 views) | Posted by: putnam | Jun 09, 09 | 10:03 pm
Sun Jun 07, 2009
Under $5
I work for Slows.
I intend to begin a series of posts about tasty things you can find in Detroit for $5 or less. You'll see and read about tacos, pierogis, slices of pizza, quail eggs, draft beer, crepes, etc, but I thought I'd start with the restaurant that pays me.
if you ask for the dressing on the side you can basically eat this like a crudites platter, dipping pieces of fresh vegetables in the dressing and sharing it with your party. there's a larger version for $5 too.
More...
Thu Jun 04, 2009
Detroit Food in the Media
With all the hoopla about journalistic standards in the academy of wine commentary, its nice to see good old clean press accounts of important developments in taste:
Supino Pizza. Free Press. Detroit Drinks.
Slows. Bon Appetit. Detroit Drinks.
Wed Jun 03, 2009
Where do you get your eggs?
trader Joe's has some expensive ones ($3.50) which are reliably orange-yolked and fine-flavored.
Rosedale Farms in Indiana distributes to Honeybee. Horizon organic? Whatever cheapest?
What do you do with eggs?
earthshine farm?
Eastern Market?
Detroit is a Place
In the past 16 months I separated - voluntarily and involuntarily - from my job (resigned under 'stress' - don't laugh), my car (stolen, most likely by a tow truck), my wife (divorced - I objected, but I am proud of her for doing right), various social peers (they were costing me more than I could afford), and my favorite wine importer/educator developed a serious brain tumor (Joe Dressner - coincidentally my dad succumbed to one of those almost 20 years ago.)
Sometimes on this blog I've tangentially explored some of the negative emotions arising from this. I needed to learn from them. I'm a little puzzled, but I think the internet has played a significant role in helping me understand what I am and what opportunities lie ahead. It's virtual, but then you're reading this too, so some significant portion of our worlds are created and maintained here. On the internet.
I feel certain now that the fever has passed. I see sunlight. I am 40 and unencumbered. I've lost 50 pounds.
I intend this to be the last post about "me." From now on I'm more interested in "it."
What is taste, and why do we have it? Is it more socially constructed or is it driven by evolutionary biology? taste can be manipulated chemically and psychologically, right? Or does our social order depend on the illusion of taste autonomy?
What is Detroit? In the restaurant business there is a wall between server and guest. And that may be a good metaphor. Detroit is still made of formalized, antique social divisions.
Servers create an environment ideally without being noticed, except in a ritualistic play of gesture, designed to glamorize, hide or otherwise remake the visceral, mutual extraction of money and perishable goods. Self-making narratives are rewarded with return business and tips.
"Need" is an important driver. People need to eat, but more importantly people need to be nourished. Fire and smoke allowed early human beings to greatly increase caloric yields, and to populate the globe. Eating hot food is a return to the communal fire pit, an essential psychic bond that can not be obtained from a microwave oven.
And servers need tips. And cooks and dishwashers and porters need hourly pay. to earn this they must keep the fire, care for the crop and clean up for the next visitor.
My favorite restaurants lately - Slows, Supino, Le Petit Zinc, and Roast - each are designed with transitional spaces. You may eat in private, at one table with other guests of your choosing. Or you can opt for a more communal seating - the bar, the long table, etc. Operationally, the latter is more efficient, and that seems to be properly reflected in better prices and quicker service, but most of the benefit lies in how it feels.
I believe this is the wave of the future. Common seating is more cost efficient. And people are happier when they come to the fire pit and leave having met someone new and tasted with different 'eyes.'
In a year or two I would like to open a wine bar, only affordable, like a Heuriger or a Parisian caviste. Maybe we can put a fireplace in it ... Join me?
Tue Jun 02, 2009
Build, Recycle, Rebuild
now the scene of the Vinewood-and-bagley fire is supplying bricks
aged Detroit bricks are worth something
More...
Mon Jun 01, 2009
Muscadet Monday Moved over 1 table
And the internet is not working as well here - developing ...
0 comments (211 views) | Posted by: putnam | Jun 01, 09 | 5:03 pmLive Blogging Inaugural Muscadet Monday In Motown
What a great day!
GM is now publicly owned. Anxiety is defeated for a while. And cold fresh Muscadet is on special on the corner of 14th and Michigan, in Detroit, my home.
things are really starting to look up all over the place.
Check out the scene:
Sunshine and Muscadet, nothing better.
relax and have a Muscadet ... after you finish your beer.
I've been waiting for the day I could order a glass of good Muscadet in southwest D since 1998.
Muscadet Monday is Here!
I will be liveblogging the festivities all afternoon. Be sure to tune in.
0 comments (257 views) | Posted by: putnam | Jun 01, 09 | 9:53 am