No soup for you! There's something strangely satisfying about the the culinary war wounds you earn from restaurants that specialize in great food and bad service. Metro Detroit has more than its share of inglorious joints, places where even Seinfeld's Soup Nazi might feel right at home.

Sometimes it's the little things that count. What might seem like flower gardens or stretches of grass can be valiant guardians of the health of the region's waterways. Low impact development uses native plants to minimize the impact of water overflow into lakes and streams -- and looks pretty doing it.

In a region littered with Krogers, high quality, locally owned food markets are not only holding their own, they're attracting a loyal fanbase of Metro Detroit foodies.

Star Wars. Cynicalman. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Mouse Guard. Metro Detroit is home to an ecclectic and fiercely independent group of graphic novelists, cartoonists, and comic book artists. This is their story.

A cicerone is to beer what a sommelier is to wine. There are only 17 in the U.S., and Annette Bardallis of Allen Park is one of them. In fact, she's the only female cicerone in the nation. How does her husband Michael feel about that? Proud. He's one too.

Agnes de Mille once said "The truest expression of a people is in its dance." For nearly 30 years the Detroit Dance Collective has boasted an intergenerational company of artists dedicated to the truth of modern dance. But even more impressive than their longevity is their ability to attract and keep young talent in Metro Detroit.

Metro Detroit is big. Really big. And not all scenes are created equal. Finding the right restaurant, the right nightclub, even the right place to buy naughty underthings can be daunting. Metromode feels your pain. That's why we created our Insider Guides. Come on in and we'll explain it all to you.

Homegrown, homemade, home brewed. Whether it's the faltering economy or a rejection of what prefab corporate America has to offer, Metro Detroit do-it-yourselfers are taking matters into their own hands. And it's good libations all 'round for local beer aficionados, who are learning to handcraft their own buzz.