I'm back!

I’ve been M.I.A. for the past few months.  Despite not having written any posts, this blog has been on my mind.  I can’t help but think about why I decided to start this blog whenever I get in my car and drive around town.  More and more buildings are becoming vacant.  There’s this restaurant that’s in my neighborhood that closed its doors a few months ago. This restaurant has been the location for many anniversaries, bridal showers, communions, and birthdays within my family. While this restaurant was closing, there was a chain restaurant down the street that just went up.  This makes me upset on a few different levels. For environmental reasons, I find it unnecessary to build a completely new space, when there’s plenty of vacant spaces around that could have been renovated.  Most important, I find that chain restaurants are killing the art of dining. First of all, chain restaurants require your food to be processed. There needs to be consistency, so a chicken tender in Dearborn must taste the same as it does in Sacramento, California.  I guess you can argue that that some “mom and pop diner” could purchase the same chicken tender as the local Coney Island from the same food distributor.  This is true, but when dealing with independently owned restaurants you leave more room for creativity with ingredients.  They are also more likely to purchase ingredients that are locally produced. And let’s face it, food is art. What other medium can be appreciated through different senses? The creativity that goes into combining ingredients, the way it’s presented, the way it can create such a sensation before you take the first bite…creating dishes is an art form.  Now, let’s talk about economics. Did you know that when you spend your money at an independently owned business more of your money stays within that local economy versus spending the same amount of money at chain?  There are so many reasons to stop and think about where you want to spend your money the next time you go out for dinner. I vow not to eat at any chain restaurants, will you do the same?

 Now, let me go into another aspect of this blog that I want discuss. I love the city of Detroit.  There’s been a lot of debate over regionalism.  People need to realize that in order for our region to succeed, the city of Detroit must also. We need to lift the city up.  I’m tired of people thinking that the city isn’t worth saving. My very small way of doing that is by celebrating what the city has to offer through it’s restaurants.

So, that’s why I’m back. I’m here to support some of the great works of art that people are creating through their food in the city.