Metro Times - Food: Food Stuff

6/21/2006

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Food & Drink > Food stuff

Food Stuff

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By Metro Times food staff

Pie-eyed — For downtown diners, upscale choices are on the upswing, with a post-Superbowl plethora of places for the peckish. But what about gut-busters for the burger-and-pizza crowd? Fear not: Downtown's Buzz Bar is introducing an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet, and the choices sound outstanding. Pie-lovers can enjoy slices, bread sticks with pizza sauce, salad, and a beverage for $6.99. Pepperoni and cheese pizzas will be available for every buffet, complemented by pizzas that sound unusual. "Philly style" is adorned with sliced steak, green pepper and onion, while "Detroit style" features sliced hot dogs, onions and chili. "Lebanese style" has sautéed onion, mushroom, red pepper and spices on house-made hummus sauce. The varieties go on to include such unlikely entries as "Mexican style," "BLT," "meatball pizza" and "Thai chicken pizza" with Thai peanut sauce. Any way you slice it, this buffet promises something for everyone. Buffet open 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, at Buzz Bar, 546 E. Larned St., Detroit; 313-962-1800.

Heat the Page

For all you dinner party chefs who relish the idea of transforming your home skills into something akin to celebrities whose kitchen escapades appear on our flat-screen TVs every night, there is Bill Buford's Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscan ($25.95, Knopf). Be forewarned. It is not a pretty picture, but it does sound like fun. Working on the line in a high-end, busy kitchen gives new meaning to pressure. It sounds like the culinary branch of the U.S. Marines.

A Tasty Beverage

The first word that the image of a frosty Sierra Nevada Pale elicits is crisp. Whether drunk from a frosted mug or from the bottle, this full-bodied, spicy brew is the perfect thirst-quencher on a hot day. Not a light beer, this ale is perfect when paired with hot barbecue (what isn't?) and is rumored to be the perfect ingredient for beer batter for fish or shrimp. Located in Chico, Calif., the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company even has a tap room, a restaurant and a live music room. These folks are dedicated to good taste and fun — our kind of people.

In a Jam

For 24 years, American Spoon Foods has been making some of the best fruit preserves and relishes to grace our palates, right "Up North" in Petoskey. Justin Rashid, the founder, has discovered farmers who grow particular varieties of fruits and vegetables, many of which are considered heirloom — that is, descended from produce that was grown before the produce business sacrificed flavor in favor of better color and longevity on the supermarket shelf. Their Mango Habanero Salsa is hot and sweet, full of the flavors of pineapple, onion, cilantro and peppers. See their Web site at spoon.com.

Know of any new restaurants, special dinners or food-related events? Have any scoops on culinary classes, wine-tastings or outlandish pizza buffet deals? Let us know. Send comments to mjackman@metrotimes.com.