Joe Cwik dot com

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Bug Cookie

Ronan gave me this homemade bug cookie. It is so awesome, I don't think I could possibly eat it.

Also: it was delicious.

Labels: food

Monday, March 24, 2008

Downtown - Detroit Beer Company / Slows

Since I had today off from the office, I hit the gym and spent a good part of the day in downtown Detroit, enjoying the scenery and partaking in local business wares. I met up with some friends at the Greektown casino, and parked in the new structure. Let me tell you, it is sheer brilliance. I love the fact that the signs tell you how many vehicles are parked on the floor. Very nice.

I met up with my friends, popped onto the People Mover, and walked around Comerica Park and Ford Field. From there we went over to the Detroit Beer Company. Totally awesome.

The Detroit Beer Company is located near Comerica Park, in the space which was once occupied by the IO -- a hole in the wall coffee/soda place which catered to the emo and indie bands in the late nineties. They re-did the interior, and it's awesome now.

The beer sampler is five of their on-site brewed beers in sampler glasses. With eight beers on tap today, we had to add a couple more in there. I stayed away from the Broadway Light, but I might have to try it next time. Every other beer was quite tasty, so I'd assume it's delicious as well.

After that, we popped down to Slows at the far end of Corktown. The place is marked by a large black and red sign, and a very interesting wood door. I really should have snapped a few photos, but hunger was setting in... Inside, the atmosphere was awesome. Everything was brick or wood, and the place radiated the scent of BBQ sauce. Pork, ham, chicken, and ribs were on the menu, and you could smell it. I ordered "The Reason" -- a pulled pork sandwich, along with cole slaw and cornbread.

"The Reason" was delicious... served on two slices of Texas toast, and piled with a healthy mound of pork and the side of cole slaw apparently ON the sandwich. I didn't get that, though. Why put it ON the sandwich when you bill it as a side? I've also learned cornbread is not something I'm really hip on, but that's okay. The big irk about this place was that they had five BBQ sauces on the table, but they never cooked the food with it. Isn't that the epicenter of BBQ sauce cooking? That way, the flavor really gets into the meat.

I enjoyed the food, but it wasn't as good as it was made out to be. Could have been a bad night to go. But you have to find it interesting that they do not place carry-out orders -- only dine-in.

So, that's today's excursion to downtown Detroit. I have to say, good times were had.

Labels: beer, Detroit, food, friends

Friday, July 13, 2007

The Wallpaper Saga

So, as many of my friends know, I like White Castle. I've been talking for quite a while about the idea of wallpapering my kitchen with the same wallpaper they use in the Castles.

Eventually, I called them. 1-800-THE-CRAVE.

The lady who answered was nice, and asked what she could do for me.

"Well, this will probably be an odd request, but I'd like to know where I can aquire the Castle wallpaper you have in your restaurants."

She seemed shocked, and a bit weirded out. This, in turn, weirded me out, since the company seems to pride themselves on the weirdos who like their food. I mean, come on now. Isn't it weird enough that there are millions who eat their food, knowing they have a shot at a tinge or more of dysentery? I want wallpaper used in a retail business. Surely, they have a viable way of getting it to me. They have franchises for Christ's sake. (BTW, Jesus can kill a Crave Case in about fifteen minutes. True story.)

The lady put me on hold for a few minutes as she inquired around, but due to the holiday which was occurring the next day (Independence Day), I knew I'd get little to no response. She came back, took down my mailing address and phone number, and said someone would get back to me.

I didn't think anyone would.

Today, I come home to see something sticking out of my mailbox.

Let's take a closer look at the label:

(sorry for the blurriness)

WHITE CASTLE!

Could this be what I was waiting for?

Wait.

No.

The tube is too light. Maybe a sample and an order form?

I quickly pulled the end off the tube and found the following letter:

Dr Mr Cwik:

Thank you for your recent inquiry directed to the corporate office concerning the castle wallpaper that is hanging on the walls in some of our castles that have not been remodeled yet. Unfortunately, we long ago used up all of that wallpaper and have since moved on to a different design style for the decor in our restaurants.

Recently we used 3 designs from our old posters for a coupon give-away, the coupons have expired, but we do have some of the poster "sections" left over, so I have enclosed those for your use.

We are sorry we could not give a favorable response to your inquiry, but hope we can look forward to serving you again soon. If you require further information, please contact us, and we will be glad to send you what we can.

Thank you again for your interest in White Castle.

Sincerely,

White Castle Marketing Team

So, that's the proverbial end of that, although, I've seen it in semi-recently remodeled White Castles, so who knows?

Here are the posters I received: