Food Stuff

Wine down after work — Are you curious about wine but a little intimidated by the choices and prices? There’s a little shop downtown that can help. It’s MotorCity Wine, and they’re hosting their monthly tasting this weekend. It’s no hurry, no pressure and promises an array of at least 18 quality, reasonably priced wines. They’ll have cheeses, charcuterie and antipasti so you can see how the pours work with food, and all wines will be available for purchase should you find you like them. It’s $25 at the door, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23, at MotorCity Wine, 608 Woodward Ave., Detroit; motorcitywine.com

Collation station — Here’s an interesting event with a food-related hook: Salt & Cedar, a letterpress studio in Eastern Market, is offering a workshop in producing hand-sewn, softcover journals, and it includes a light dinner prepared with ingredients from the market. There’s room for a dozen participants, so act fast. It happens 6-11 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23, at Salt & Cedar, 2448 Riopelle St., Detroit; for reservations and information, email info@saltandcedar.com or see www.saltandcedar.com; $75, all inclusive.

Rolling to a new start — We’ve written before about Ann Arbor’s all-food-cart food court Mark’s Carts (it reopens this year on April 1, see markscartsannarbor.com for more info). The space has been a whopping success, incorporating a mix of cuisines, communal seating and live music to create a low-cost attraction unlike any other in town. One of the most successful carts has been the court’s “The Lunch Room,” serving such vegan dishes as barbecue tofu sliders, banh mi chay sandwiches, loaded nachos and ice cream sandwiches. Last week, with great fanfare, they announced their transition from cart to brick-and-mortar restaurant in Kerrytown, taking over the space formerly occupied by Yamato at 403 N. Fifth Ave., with plans to open by June. This marks the second time a cart from Mark’s has announced a permanent restaurant (the first was “eat,” in fall of 2011). Naysayers have said that food carts were unfair competition to permanent restaurants. Is this more evidence that they’re more like low-cost ways to test dining concepts and a path to establishing traditional eateries? No doubt the debate will rage on, but congratulations are due to proprietors Phillis Engelbert and Joel Panozzo, and we look forward to trying out their sit-down restaurant this summer.

Know of any upcoming food or drink events? Let us know! Call 313-202-8043 or email mjackman@metrotimes.com.

Canal House

Cooks Every Day

by Christopher Hirsheimer

and Melissa Hamilton

Andrews McMeel, $45

All cookbook authors, in their own way, pay homage to food and dining, but Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton’s Canal House Cooks Every Day takes the love of food to another level. The authors’ immersion in cooking and dining, writing and photography has inspired this exceptional volume, in which they share their recipes as well as their thoughts on the seasonal ingredients that make those dishes so irresistible. The culinary creations are indexed by season and by type — fowl, vegetables and legumes, soups, salads and desserts among them. Conjure up, if you will, butternut squash and candied bacon on fresh pasta, followed by curried shrimp roast and what looks to be the best strawberry shortcake ever.

If you think that you’ll never be able to duplicate the elaborate, decorative frostings that adorn the cakes and pastries in your favorite bakery cases, look no further than this duo icing set, which will help you do just that. The two-compartment pastry bag lets you pipe two colors at once in a variety of shapes. The set includes four 18-inch and four 12-inch disposable icing bags, and a coupler ring. The plastic tip shapes include writer, small writer, star, turning border, rope and flower. It’s simple to use and the tips are easy to clean. The set is $14.95 at Sur La Table.