“Each bagel is a work of art.” That’s the motto of Ben Newman, owner of the Detroit Institute of Bagels. Newman is a Detroit native, and his love for the city led him to open up shop in a century-old building on Michigan Ave. DIB’s perfectly chewy bagels are Martha Stewart Living-approved — the lifestyle brand’s Executive Food Editor paid the place a recent trip and gave it a glowing review. (She went for poppyseed — what’s your bagel of choice?)
Source: Martha Stewart Living
Have you had a chance to relax in a #CitySeat this summer? The Chicago Loop Alliance’s #CitySeats initiative places red tables and chairs randomly throughout the Loop. Their location is broadcast on Twitter, but the seats only stick around for a limited time. The goal is to invite residents and tourists alike to stop and enjoy the downtown space. We love this impromptu patio project!
Source: Curbed
Today we’re featuring Midwest hotspots that landed on Bon Appetit’s list of nominees for America’s Best New Restaurant. Minnesota’s contribution to the mouthwatering list is Travail and its neighboring cocktail bar The Rookery. The chefs at Travail never grew out of playing with their food, and the wildly inventive menu is proof of that. Right next door The Rookery whips up eccentric cocktails and small bites with similar flare.
Source: Bon Appetit
Kansas City’s Novel landed on Bon Appetit’s list of nominees for America’s Best New Restaurants. The restaurant, situated in a renovated Victorian home, serves up everything from duck neck dumplings to chilled corn soup with seaweed, for a unique twist on American cooking.
Source: Bon Appetit
Today’s daily pics come from Bon Appetit’s nominees for America’s Best New Restaurant. Nico Osteria in Chicago made the list, and it has the pedigree to win it all — the founders had a hand in Chicago hotspots The Publican and Avec. Nico Osteria serves up three glorious meals a day, moving from breakfast to lunch to dinner with a packed house ’til close.
Source: Bon Appetit
Bon Appetit released their nominees for America’s Best New Restaurants, and four of the dining hotspots are right in the heartland, including Chicago’s Mott Street. With communal tables and crab brain fried rice, Mott Street emphasizes family style dining and eclectic cuisine.
Source: Bon Appetit
We’re dreaming of a weekend getaway at Honor & Folly, an inn nestled in the oldest neighborhood of Detroit. They have a rotating schedule of guest chefs who stop by for cooking classes, including pasta making and pickling. A great starting point for a tour of Detroit.
Source: Honor & Folly
Throw out what you think you know about puppets and settle in for a show from Manual Cinema. The Chicago puppetry troupe combines handmade shadow puppetry and sound design to create engaging theater performances that have played at festivals around the country. Catch a preview of their newest work at the MCA; the full show, which debuts in 2015, incorporates over 300 shadow puppets and tackles the theme of how digital culture has changed our relationship to death and dying.
Source: Manual Cinema / MCA Chicago
“There’s a bit of a renaissance happening here,” says chef Leonard Anderson, speaking at his new restaurant Tongue in Cheek, which just opened in St. Paul’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood. Eastside St. Paul’s culinary scene has long been anchored by the Strip Club steakhouse, but Tongue in Cheek is one of many new dining hotspots popping up in the area. Anderson’s menu is also decidedly meat-centric, with plates that range from two-bit teasers to full entrees.
Source: City Pages
Actors have agents, musicians have agents, football players have agents… So what about chefs? Enter Yum Village, the brainchild of Brent Foster and Godwin Ihentuge. Foster and Ihentuge consider themselves culinary agents, helping chefs achieve their foodie dreams, whether it’s a pop-up dinner event, a cooking show or a cookbook. Not a half-baked idea!
Source: WDET
The Purcell-Cuts house, maintained by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, is an architectural gem. Built in 1915, the home is loaded with built-in furniture designed to be functional and flexible. Pictured is a bedroom nook modeled after a sleeping car on a train, with a lofted bed, folding desk and hidden storage. You can tour the house online or in person, courtesy of the MIA.
Source: Metamuseum
Blu Dot lets their product names speak for themselves: meet their Real Good Chair. Their signature seat now comes in a copper plated finish, styled here by Roam Interiors in Minneapolis.
Source: Roam Interiors
Mid-Century modern architect Edward D. Dart is best known for his role in Chicago’s Water Tower Place, but he also designed custom homes across Illinois. This Glencoe gem recently came up for sale for $2.3 million. Built in 1965, the seven bedroom home is aptly nicknamed “The Fortress.” Pictured is the home’s grand entrance, with soaring ceilings and original brickwork.
Source: PrairieMod
How does your garden grow? In Detroit, the answer is splendidly. The number of urban gardens in the city has exploded from just around 100 in 2000 to over 1,400 today. Collectively, these gardens produce 200 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables a year. Forbes writer Jeff McMahon asks: why can’t more cities be like Detroit?
Source: Forbes
Forget parking lots and embrace the parklot. The Hennepin Theater Trust transformed a downtown Minneapolis parking lot into a community gathering space for the summer months. The asphalt wasteland has become a welcoming space with greenery, seating and live music.
Source: Made Here MN
Cult Collective put on a high fashion fusion event over the weekend at a secret-until-the-last-minute location in the Twin Cities. Models took to the catwalk in rock-inspired fashions from local designers, and the crew behind the Sound Unseen film festival screened four rock-themed films for party-goers. Is it too much to say the party rocked?
Source: Cult Collective
The annual Summer Concert Series in Millenium Park plays on. Audiences have been treated to free opera, jazz and rock concerts under the Frank Gehry-designed Pritzker Pavilion all summer, and there’s many more left on the schedule. Come for the architecture, stay for the music.
Source: City of Chicago
Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood welcomed a new indie bookstore recently: Ditto Ditto. Ditto Ditto is also a small publishing house in and of itself. It’s run by Maia Asshaq, a paper enthusiast, and Andrea Farhat, a graphic designer. You can see their taste for design at work in the store.
Source: Curbed
Explore Kansas City with a little help from Matt Baldwin, founder of Baldwin Denim. He listed his favorite KC spots for Infinite Legroom, and Retro Inferno made the cuts. According to Baldwin, it has the largest collection of mid-century furnishings in the whole Midwest. Definitely worth a visit!
Source: Infinite Legroom
Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood welcomes another buzzed-about new restaurant: Promontory. The restaurant’s design draws inspiration from the nearby lakeshore park, Promontory Point. The layout features a large central hearth in the dining room and retractable glass walls that can transform the space into a perfect summer patio.
Source: Eater Chicago
Yesterday was National Lighthouse Day and we can’t believe we missed it. How was your annual lighthouse party? Illuminating, we hope. To celebrate, belatedly, we’re paying tribute to Wisconsin’s lighthouses. The state is home to over 50 stunning historic lighthouses, including Wind Point Lighthouse, built in 1870.
Source: LIghthouse News
When Duluth-based architecture firm LHB Inc. moved into the Loose-Wiles building in Minneapolis’ North Loop, they wanted the space to serve as a design showcase. They were building on history: the space was home for nearly a century to the Sunshine Biscuit Co.. The final result is an open floor plan that capitalizes on natural light — even the conference room feels open with its floor-to-ceiling glass walls.
Source: Finance & Commerce
Something new is brewing at Schmidt Brewery, but it’s not beer — it’s art. The 100 year old Brewhouse and Bottlehouse have been transformed into affordable housing for artists. All 260 of the new apartments are now full, home to artists of every medium: painters, filmmakers, dancers, poets and more. The basements of the restored buildings have rooms for yoga, sound-mixing and pottery. The hallways themselves are a gallery, featuring art by the new tenants. We love the creative restoration of this historic space. Cheers to another 100 years!
Source: Pioneer Press
If energy drinks and fine art seem an unlikely pairing, you haven’t been to the Red Bull House of Art yet. The warehouse space in Detroit provides studio space for up-and-coming local artists; if chosen for a residency, artists also receive a supplies stipend. Tomorrow is the opening night for its latest cycle of artists-in-residence, which includes Chad Davis, whose work is pictured at right.
Source: Detroit Free Press
Matt Baldwin makes some of the country’s most popular menswear in an unlikely place. Kansas City, Missouri is home to Baldwin Denim, which was named one of GQ’s Best New Menswear Designers in 2013; the company countsJay Z and Jason Sudeikis among its many fans. Baldwin’s newest piece of Kansas City pride comes in the form of a classic baseball hat, which is fast becoming a must-have accessory far beyond Missouri.
Source: Infinite Legroom