We recently attended a special “Detroit - The City of Chefs” dinner at Schoolcraft College, and were seated at a table with some wonderful people, Mark & Sadina Pulgar. They are foodies, just like us, and shared their love of dining out, wines, bourbons etc.  Sadina specifically said she loves to be in the kitchen . . . not just cooking, but specifically baking.  They mentioned their daughter, Ellen Genaw, had just opened a new restaurant in the heart of Downtown Monroe called PRIMAL PLATES. 

In 2012 the Yaquinto family opened The Sardine Room.   They were not new to the restaurant industry. They started in Dearborn, with Paisano’s Pizza over 40 years ago. In the early 2000’s they opened Campari’s On The Park, a very popular downtown Plymouth dining location.  Around 2009 they opened Fiamma Grill (which is currently being renovated) right next to Compari’s. Finally, in 2012, The Sardine Room was born. If you live in the surrounding communities, you are likely familiar with at least one of these 3 locations

In 2013 Bob & Dorothy Ostendorf, and their business partners Jim & Kathy Sulllivan, took over a pub located at 860 Fralick in Downtown Plymouth.  It was an old Irish Pub  and the Ostendorf’s and Sullivan’s were not crazy about what the place was, even though they frequented it regularly.  They changed the name to Stella’s Black Dog Tavern. The name comes from the Ostendorf’s Bernese Mountain Dog Stella. 

In 2016, Michael Ransom decided to return to Detroit to open a casual restaurant featuring Japanese inspired food with Midwestern ingredients. He named this restaurant IMA. Ima in Japanese kanji means ‘now’, as in ‘in the moment’. Chef Ransom said “My philosophy behind the ‘now’ thing is that food is an escape. When you’re sitting down at a table with great food and great people … nothing else matters. It’s kind of an escape from reality a little bit. It’s that break in the middle of your day or night that really does allow time to stand still.”

This week we are visiting Coach’s Corner in Livonia, checking out some of their great Happy Hour specials.  We went back through our posts and realized we have never featured Coach’s Corner before . . . so it’s about time we do so!  Coach’s Corner is located in Livonia on 7 Mile at the Fox Creek Golf Course. However, you don’t have to be a golfer to go there.  They are an extremely family oriented sports bar and are known to be a gathering place for sports teams of all ages to gather after a game or event.

This week we ventured out to Downtown Northville, to a place that is serving up some great happy hours selections available ALL DAY MONDAY and from 1-6 PM Tuesday through Thursday.   The Northville Sports Den. This is not a new place. It has been open since around 2010. They are a family owned restaurant, located in the Northville Square business complex. There is an entrance in the rear right off the parking lot behind the building so parking is usually not a problem. 

Located at the north end of Walled Lake, just east of Pontiac Trail, is a long standing restaurant that has been many names through the years.  My memories are from when it was Key Largos back in the 90’s. Today, it is the home to The Beach Tiki Bar & Boil

Everyone is painfully aware that dining out has become very expensive.  As you probably know, we eat out often! Usually, when we go out, we end up sitting at the bar and sharing a few appetizers and a beer, bourbon or cool cocktail.  It’s QUICK (because you get your drinks right away) FUN (because you get to talk to the bartenders, and other people at the bar) AND the best part, no leftovers to take home and no irritating styrofoam containers in your fridge. A lot of restaurants do SMALL PLATES / SHAREABLES or TAPAS. People don’t really want to commit to just ONE entree to eat.  They want to sample things and share food!  Although COVID changed a lot of things in the restaurant world . . . HAPPY HOUR HAS MADE A STRONG COMEBACK!

Located a ¼ mile apart, on M-59 (aka Highland Rd) in White Lake Township, are two places that are worthy of making a trip for some legitimate carry out food.  We are taking you from Nashville to Graceland in 30 seconds, visiting Nashville Detroit for their great Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich and Graceland King Gyro, a liquor store selling some great gyro sandwiches.

The story of Karl’s Cabin goes back to January of 1936 when Romanian immigrants, Alex and Katie Rusceak, purchased a 220 acre farm in Salem Township, MI for $1 from the Union Stock Land Bank of Detroit.  1 years later they opened Rusceak’s Rustic Tavern, a log framed tavern with a fieldstone fireplace build form boulders found on the property.