Food

Royal Oak’s Monty’s Beef Co. is where the healthier beef is

By Newsroom

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June 6, 2013

A beef from the Piedmonte region of Italy and prized there and in the U.S. for its quality is being sold from a new market in Royal Oak. Monty's Beef Co. opened June 1 at 324 E. Fourth St. in downtown Royal Oak and specializes in Piedmontese beef from a herd of cattle imported from Italy and raised humanely by a rancher in mid-Michigan. It is sold at the store, online and by phone to customers -- whether for home use or by restaurants -- looking for cattle raised organically, fed well, not pumped with chemicals and known for producing meat that's as flavorful as prime, aged beef but with less cholesterol and fat. The owners Jon and Rachel Leemis spent many months researching the beef industry, looking for purer, higher quality beef. Their Monty's Beef Co. will sell directly or through orders that can be picked up in the store or delivered. Monty's has a Steak of the Month Club and gift packages as well as its regular menu of choice cuts. In Italy, the Piedmonte breed of cattle graze in the Alps. The beef has been eaten there for centuries and is said to be tastier and healthier and considered superior to North American cattle breeds. It can be found occasionally on menus in the U.S., but the owners of Monty's Beef Co. hope to make Piedmonte beef a menu staple. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Rachel Leemis, owner, Monty's Beef Co.

Latest in Food

Hamlin Corner mega sports bar opening in Royal Oak

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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May 23, 2013

Hamlin's Pubs, a metro Detroit restaurant and sports bar chain, is opening what it describes as a sophisticated sports bar with live entertainment on the ground floor of the Wooodward North Lofts in Royal Oak. Hamlin Corner, named after its corner spot in the loft and retail development, opens May 23 in the renovated 6,700-square-foot space at 386 N. Main near 11 Mile Road, a location that's been disappointedly vacant for six years. Besides a redone interior with rich colors and dark woods, there will be sidewalk seating with restaurant windows opening to the patio. The restaurant capacity is about 300 customers, and a DJ stand and dance floor are part of the design by the owners who have years of experience in restaurants. The menu will be "locally inspired," manager Anthony Mancini says, and offer burgers, sandwiches, soups, heartier entrees and specials like mussels and 50 beers on tap. It'll also give the ambitious Woodward North Lofts project more life and activity. Giancarlo DeAngelis, majority owner of Hungry Howie's pizza restaurants, and Anthony Mancini co-own Hamlin Corner. Mancini will be the operating manager, continuing the growth of Hamlin Pubs, which has six other locations: Lake Orion, Rochester Hills, Troy, Clarkston, Chesterfield and two in Shelby Township. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Anthony Mancini, owner/manager, Hamlin Pub Royal Oak

Where’s the Beef in Metro Detroit? (& Lamb, Pork, & Duck)

By NICOLE RUPERSBURG

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Arts & Culture

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May 23, 2013

Man does not live by gluten-free vegan cuisine alone. Some might argue that's not living at all. For all the love that's given to the how-green-is-my-garden folks, Metromode's Nicole Rupersburg feels it's time to give a big bloody hug to locals who want to put their incisors to good use.

Snogo mixes up self-serve ice cream concept

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 9, 2013

A new self-serve, self-top ice cream bar with a smorgasbord of choices has opened on Fisher Road in Grosse Pointe Farms. Serving your own ice cream from a wall of different flavors and picking out the toppings, from cookies to fruit to sauces and nuts, is trendy but not so new. Snogo, however, is taking some of the bite out of the concept, which usually has consumers paying by weight and paying a pretty penny for it. At Snogo there is no weighing, just a set price per cup, to keep it more affordable and fun, says owner David Cracchiolo. Snogo seems to be in an ideal location, across from a high school with a swimming pool and athletic facilities that go seven days a week at all hours. Snogo opened a few weeks ago and has been so busy more employees are already being hired. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: David Cracchiolo, owner, Snogo

A Market Grows in Downtown Pontiac

By Natalie Burg

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General

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April 25, 2013

If there's a canary in the coalmine for downtown vibrancy, it's a thriving grocery store. Lafayette Market and Cafe in downtown Pontiac opened its doors at the end of 2012 and is reaching beyond the loft-dwellers that live above to connect with the surrounding community.

Oakland County adds fresh foods market to downtown Pontiac

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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April 25, 2013

An effort to increase Pontiac residents' access to fresh, healthy foods is spreading in Oakland County with the opening of a third goverment-run market. The newest market will operate one day a week on Tuesdays and sell fresh fruits and vegetables at a low cost. The markets are a project of the Healthy Pontiac We Can! Coalition and the Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency. Two other markets sell on Fridays and Saturdays, and all three share recipes for meals using fresh foods, lead cooking demonstrations and offer free samples. "This market is a part of Oakland County's strategy to improve the quality of life of our residents through healthier lifestyles," says Kathy Forzley, Oakland County Health Division manager and health officer. "Consuming a diet high in fruits and vegetables decreases the risk of many chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes and some cancers." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Kathy Forzley, Oakland County Health Division

Local 212 spotlights local foods options in downtown Royal Oak

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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April 25, 2013

The menu at a new restaurant in Royal Oak is striving to show that what it serves can come from close to home and not from a box. Local 212 -- the 212 comes from its address on Fifth Avenue in downtown Royal Oak -- opened just over a week ago and the reception to the shrimp from Okemos (there's a farm there), the Northern Michigan boar, Michigan chestnuts on a baby spinach salad and grilled cheese on Detroit Avalon bread has been hearty. When the Royal Oak Farmers Market opens veggies will come from there and other farmers. All the sausage and bacon is made in house at Local 212 and the slider patties are ground in the kitchen too. The meats served at Local 212 come from local farmers through Sparrow's Market in Ann Arbor. Local 212 also serves beer and wine, many made locally and around the state, as well as from places around the world. While there are plenty of ingredients not from Michigan, none are processed. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Jenna Goudrea, general manager, Local 212

MIT grad returns home to launch Vitamin start-up, SunDaily

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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April 18, 2013

When local leaders talk about retaining talent, they probably have someone like Adam Leeb in mind. The Metro Detroit native graduated from MIT with a degree in mechanical engineering and went to work for a private equity firm in New York City in the late 2000s. After watching a number of his colleagues lose their jobs in the economic downturn and a few other not-so-flattering things about the finance industry, he decided he wanted to move back home. "I knew it wasn't something I wanted to make my career," Leeb says. That was last year, roughly the same time he started working on his own company, SunDaily. The Royal Oak-based start-up is working to create a premium brand of vitamins and supplements. It's a hole in what Leeb sees as a crowded market. "I saw a lot of different formulas and a lot of confusion on the consumers' end," Leeb says. SunDaily and its team of four people began its soft Beta launch earlier this month and plans to go public with it this week. The new brand of vitamins offers traditional staples like a multi-vitamin, Vitamin D and a fish oil supplement. As many as a dozen different products are expected to be launched this year. Leeb plans to create some market separation with high-quality products that are easy to understand and come in aesthetically pleasing packaging. Source: Adam Leeb, founder of SunDaily Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Holy expansion: Rochester-based Holy Cannoli’s adds Berkley shop

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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April 4, 2013

The fifth-generation recipe for Holy Cannoli's cream-filled pastries has caught on so much that the downtown Rochester business has opened a second location in Berkley. The new store is at 2752 Coolidge Highway. The first, which opened about a year ago, is at 415 South Main St. in Rochester. The business has been in the making since at least 2010, when owners Nicole Franey, her mother Cathy Schulte and grandmother Sharon Beheler decided to sell to friends, to their friends' friends, and at festivals and farmers markets, and then make the jump from family service to anonymous consumers. Franey calls the expansion "an anniversary gift to ouselves." Holy Cannoli's cannolis come filled with traditional creams and specialties such as key lime, pistachio, Michigan cherry, cookies and cream, and revolving choices. The creams are piped in after customers order. Holy Cannoli's is also known for baked goods like its cassata cake. Although it's moved into retail spaces, Holy Cannoli's hasn't abandoned farmer's markets. Every Saturday, Eastern Market shoppers will find Holy Cannoli's at Shed #5 in Eastern Market. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Nicole Franey, co-owner, Holy Cannoli's

Belgian beer abbey & groovy ’70s-themed bar coming to Royal Oak

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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March 28, 2013

The owners of Bastone Brewery and its offshoot restaurants and bars at the corner of Fifth and Main Streets in Royal Oak are changing up, opening a new restaurant, adding a patio and reworking the nightclub -- all part of focusing on their success with Euro-inspired eats and Belgian craft beer. The first to change will be Cafe Habana, a 40-seat Cuban spot connected to Bastone. It will become Monk: A Belgian Beer Abbey. The club, Commune, downstairs will be reworked into Craft and focus on fresh-made, home-spun spirits. Bastone, the mostly Belgian-flavored restaurant with favorites such as mussels and frites washed down with house-made Belgian suds, will grow in size, adding a space with high top tables and TVs. It will be more of a true bar space, with spots for a quick meal and a waiting area for tables. A lounge, extra tables and a private room will be added above the bar and an extra seating area will be added to the first floor. Outside on the sidewalk along Fifth Street, 36 seats will be added. Vinotecca, the intimate wine bar also connected to Bastone, will remain the same. "With a concept like ours where we have moveable parts, we can keep it fresh, change it up," says David Ritchie, operating partner. "People have asked if sales were good. They don't believe sales were good if we're closing Cafe Habana. For us, this suits us so we streamline and focus on our core business, the European aspect of what we do. And we have a beer guy right here who's won many awards." The changes will happen in phases, but quickly, and lead to at least five new full-time jobs, Ritchie says. All parts of the latest iteration are expected to be complete by mid-May and open slowly and completely by June 1 so that kinks can be worked out, he says. Café Habana has already closed and is under construction. As Monk, it will have about five more tables and open by about April 15, Ritchie says. It'll be almost nine years to the day since Union Brewery LLC, which operates all the establishments, opened, he says. Next will come Bastone, and the transition from Commune to Craft will start after that and be complete by the middle to the end of May. The club first opened nine years ago as Cinq. With nightclubs, it's probably wise to change it up at least every five years, he says. "We want to move away from the mass market drinks and serve craft cocktails," Ritchie says. We'll use fresh ingredients, make our own infusions and syrups. It flows right into the craft beer." Craft will have a retro look, decorated with big stereo speakers and other details that "give you the feeling you're hanging out in your friend's basement." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: David Ritchie, operating partner, Union Brewery LLC