A meal with Mom — Local eateries offer no shortage of ideas on how to honor the mothers in your life on Sunday, May 13.
Take Big Rock Chophouse. They'll host a special brunch (11 a.m.-3 p.m.) on Mother's Day. Brunch will have chef's stations and will offer everything from shrimp cocktail to bacon, sausage and hash browns. Don't forget to leave room for the desserts, including truffles, cookies, brownies, tarts and pies. Brunch will be held in "the Reserve" — a special place that has "California wine country" style and "65-inch plasma televisions" — and will be open to the public. The chophouse will revert to its award-winning menu for dinner at 4 p.m. At 245 S. Eton St., Birmingham; 248-647-7774; reservations recommended; $35.95 per guest, $15.95 for children 11 and younger, children 5 and under free.
The Gem Theatre and Century Grille Restaurant are offering a fun Mother's Day package. Though Menopause is finally over, you can see Respect: A Musical Journey of Women, a celebration of women's history through popular song, including such tunes as "My Man" and "Where the Boys Are." The theater's adjoining Century Grille Restaurant will offer a brunch buffet, with breakfast items, breads, pastries, lunch & dinner entrées, salads, a carving station, an omelet station and more. Packages range between $35 and $74.50 and include all nonalcoholic beverages; tax and gratuity must be paid in advance. At 333 Madison Ave., Detroit; 313-963-9800; reservations recommended.
Eat the Page
Lidia's Italy: 140 Simple and Delicious Recipes from the Ten Places in Italy Lidia Loves Most is the companion book to her new TV series. Written by well-known chef, cookbook author and teacher Lidia Bastianich and her daughter Tanya Bastianich Manuali (Knopf, $35) this volume takes us on a gastronomic tour of Italy, offering recipes and historic highlights. Lidia's grandmother taught her to cook as a child and she has spent her life expanding her culinary knowledge and skills, which she loves to share.
A Tasty Beverage
No, you don't dry and somehow shrink the pear, put it in the bottle and reconstitute it. All you have to do is tie a bottle over a budding pear branch and hope that a pear will grow inside. When the pear reaches maturity, harvest it, still inside the bottle, wash it and fill the bottle with pear brandy. This pear in a bottle is a real conversation piece. And it's refillable. The bottle with the pear is about $60; the refill about $25. Black Star Farms, located in Suttons Bay, Michigan, does it all for you.
It Works
This stainless steel olive oil can is a multitasker. It's as functional as it is good-looking. Olive oil lasts longer in a dark, cool environment. Pour it out of the bottle or large unwieldy can into this sleek beauty. It's a perfect vessel to store one of those designer extra virgin, first pressing oils although it likely makes any brand taste better. Just don't store it too close to the stove. Heat will turn it rancid. (chefscatalog.com.)
Know of any new restaurants, special dinners or food-related events? Let us know. Send materials two weeks in advance to [email protected].
