Corktown pops — Think of it like a guest star, but in a restaurant. It’s the St. CeCe’s Takeover, in which Brad Greenhill of righteousrojo.com will command the kitchen for a pop-up dinner. There will be a small a la carte menu and dinner service in the evening. Starters will include buttermilk biscuits, steamed mussels, lacinato kale and tetsukabuto squash. Choice of dinners will include chicken-fried chicken, ham service as well as a vegetarian fried tofu and mushroom platter. Dinner will be served 5-10 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12, at St. Cece’s Pub, 1426 Bagley St., Detroit; 313- 962-2121; stceces.com.
Taking the cake — There’s a new cake-maker in town. The former executive pastry chef at the Whitney has struck out on her own and started a new company in Detroit called Cake Ambition. Like a host of other small food producers, she is working out of the facilities at Traffic Jam & Snug, and her pastries, from full-on wedding cakes down to cupcakes, are on the daring end, colorful, wild and unusual. Curious? Have a look at cakeambition.com.
In Rust we trust — Ferndale’s Rust Belt Market is rad. It isn’t easy for two people to run a huge, 15,000-square-foot space, having to pour all the money right back into the business. What’s more, by rights the place should be open every day, even though the proprietors simply don’t have the money in their budget for that. If they could only scrape together enough capital, they could … well, we’ll let them tell you what they could do. Take a look at the kickstarter site at tinyurl.com/rustbeltmarket. If you want to help this totally awesome endeavor out, the way will be clear.
Scone-heads — We hear that the scone business has been picking up at Elwin & Co. in Berkley. Although it’s primarily a wholesale bakery, people have been increasingly dropping in to sample the joint’s from-scratch, prepared foods, which go beyond scones to encompass chicken pot pie, beef stew, tuna noodle casserole, salmon patties, “stuffed” mac and cheese, as well as such soups as chicken, split pea, Hungarian vegetable barley, Tuscan white bean and chili, both vegetarian and sausage. Drop in for a taste at 2971 Coolidge Hwy., Berkley; 248-547-8846; elwinandco.com.
Know of any upcoming food or drink events? Let us know! Call 313-202-8043 or email [email protected].
Fish: Recipes from the Sea
by CJ Jackson
Phaidon Press, $45
FOOD THOUGHT If you’re intimidated by the thought of cooking fish, you’re not alone. And don’t worry: The editors of Phaidon Press and writer Barton Seaver have collaborated with C.J. Jackson, director of Billingsgate Seafood Training School, to produce Fish: Recipes from the Sea, a collection of Italian seafood recipes. Each dish has symbols with page numbers that refer you to the well-described and photographed techniques needed to prepare the dishes successfully, dispelling all preconceived notions of fish’s supposed difficulty. The allure of the numerous full-color images — try to resist the spicy prawn risotto — will get you cookin’.
THE WORKS A perfect gift that any fisherman or, for that matter, any outdoorsman, will covet is this River’s Edge realistic looking, hand-painted, wall mounted, bass bottle holder. This is a conversation piece that will instill pride, giving a rustic feeling to the room while providing easy access to the beverage at hand, be it beer, wine, whiskey or any other beverage of choice. Fangled for the angler, it almost guarantees that the bait — that is, the bottle — will be taken before long. Listed on Amazon for $54, it’s now priced at $23.38. They are also available in a variety of other animals to keep that drink at hand.
