It's Time for Pig & Whiskey 2015!

Get your fill of BBQ and Booze this weekend at Pig & Whiskey! The FREE 3 day festival kicks off on Friday, July 17th and runs all weekend long. There will be food from over a dozen local restaurants, over 50 different whiskeys available, some of your favorite local musicians on stage, and your favorite beers on tap. 

This year's list of restaurants includes some of the best restaurants Metro Detroit has to offer. Alley Taco, Detroit BBQ Company, Famous Daves, Jay Ray's BBQ, Mac Shack, Old Carolina, The Proper Pig, Rock City Eatery, RUB, Rubbed, Slows, Sticks & Bones, Smoke Ring, Treat Dreams, Union Woodshop, Vinsetta Garage, Woodpile BBQ Shack and Zeke's Rock & Roll BBQ will all be on deck filling your belly up with barbecued goodness. Earlier this week the main man behind the festival, Chris Johnston, and Zeke's own Mike Mouyianis hit the airwaves to spread the word about this year's festival and show off some of the eats that Zeke's will be offering this weekend. Check it out below. 

If that food isn't enough to get you to this festival, we're sure the music will be! The bill for the weekend includes something for everyone, and a few of our favorites like The HandGrenades, Tunde and The Muggs. Here's the entire lineup:

FRIDAY
6:00 p.m. - Unlimited Head
6:5o p.m. - Beggars
7:50 p.m. - The Handgrenades
8:50 p.m. - Tunde Olaniran
9:50 p.m. - Will Sessions

SATURDAY
1:00 p.m., 2:05 p.m. - Billy Brandt
3:15 p.m. - David Biermann Overdrive
4:20 p.m. - American Mars
5:30 p.m. - Le Voyage
6:30 p.m. - The Muggs
7:45 p.m. - Old Empire
8:40 p.m. - Oak Bones
9:50 p.m. - Murder By Death

SUNDAY12:00 p.m. - The Hummingbirds
2:00 p.m. - Scott Fab
3:05 p.m. - Jo Serrapere Trio
4:10 p.m. - Stone
5:20 p.m. - Ryan Allen & His Extra Arms
6:30 p.m. - The Blueflowers
7:40 p.m. - Ryan Dillaha & The Miracle Men
8:40 p.m. - Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers

On Friday and Saturday nights there are also after parties in The Loving Touch. Cover for those is $5. Friday's lineup includes Siamese, The Scrappers and George Morris & The Gypsy Chorus. Saturday The Vonneguts, Woven Tangles and Jon Zott will be playing. Doors open at 9 p.m. and the music starts inside as soon as it ends outside. 

And last, but definitely not least, is the whiskey. Like we mentioned, there will be over 50 different whiskeys available. Some old reliables like Jack Dack Daniel's, Jameson and Wild Turkey will be on deck. But there will also be new favorites like Fireball and some whiskeys you may have never tried before, like Zeppelin Bend or Bird Dog. If you're not to keen on the hard stuff, don't worry. There will be a bunch of beers available as well, with everything from PBR to Blake's Hard Cider. 

The fun all kicks off Friday night at 6 p.m. The festival runs until Midnight on Friday and Saturday and 11 p.m on Sunday. Admission is free, but make sure you bring some cash. Trust us, once you get there you will want some BBQ! 

Pig & Whiskey all takes place on Troy Street right outside the WAB at 22646 Woodward Ave. in Ferndale. For more info on Pig & Whiskey visit PigAndWhiskeyFerndale.com.

~C

Make the Drive up 75 to Union Woodshop!

I've heard about Vinsetta Garage's older brother Union Woodshop for a while now. It was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It has won numerous awards for their mac and cheese, amongst other menu items. But, for some reason I had never taken the trip up 75 to this raved restaurant. Well, when I finally took the trek tonight, I found one of my new favorite restaurants.

Sadie suggested going to the Union Woodshop because she loved it the few times she went in the past and she had been wanting to head out there for another venture she's working on, called Tastemade. (You can get more details on that here.) I was in the mood for something new, so I figured, why not!

When we got to the restaurant there was about a 30 minute wait for a table, but the hostess directed us upstairs to a bar and lounge area. Kind of bummed about the wait, but holy crap, cutest bar area ever. I was already super digging this place. The decor is retro and woodsy, like I was in a cabin in the '60s.

Plus, at the top of the stairs was an awesome little shop that sold all sorts of cute gifts and quirky items. There was everything from coffee table books about Dads being hipsters to Skull shaped coin banks. Even the greeting cards had me entertained for quite a while. While we were upstairs we also had one of the best cocktails I have ever tasted, made up of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and whiskey.

Once our buzzer buzzed, we headed downstairs to the main area of the restaurant, which was even cuter than upstairs. A mix of art deco lights, '50s style booths, red, teal, awesome artwork and even a mirror with Simpsons' lines on it, it all added up to one of the coolest looking restaurants ever. Let me put it this way, I wish my house was decorated exactly like this place. But, we all know that when it comes to restaurants it's not the looks that matter, it is the food.

It took quite a while to decide what I was going to have for dinner, I definitely had to go over the menu about five times. So, Sadie and I decided to get a starter, fried pickles. Always one of my favorite appetizers, but Union does them a little different than a lot of the places have been lately. They fry up entire spears instead of chips and they use a thick fluffy batter. So frickin' good! The dipping sauce was smokey and wonderful too. Plus this appetizer was super cheap, only about $3.

It was really tough to decide what to get as our main courses. The "Samiches" all sounded delicious, I thought about a tasty salad, but I figured if I was going to try this place, I had to go all the way.

I chose the pulled pork with potato salad and the famous Union Mac & Cheese (you get two sides with your meat, I wasn't just being a pig). It was all delicious. The pulled pork was probably the best that I have ever had. The macaroni and cheese was rich, but not too rich with a super crusty baked cheese on top and the potato salad was a little dill-y and had me wishing it was still summer.
Sadie chose the special for the night, that was a steak with blue cheese melted on top, with mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts on the side. She said it was one of the best steaks she ever had and her boyfriend agreed when he tried her leftovers. That brings up another big plus of this place, not only was the food delicious, but they give you a ton of it! We both left with carryout boxes full of food, definitely enough for another meal.

Now, I realize that some of you vegetarians and vegans reading this might be disgusted by the entrees that I have described so far. Don't worry, Union Woodshop has options for you too! One item that popped out to me and I actually almost ordered was a sweet potato burrito with spicy sweet potatoes, black beans, and a whole bunch of other tasty veggies packed in a tortilla. I was also excited to see the pizza menu, which included the Loaded Potato Pizza, one of my favorites at Vinsetta Garage. This is another friendly option for non-meat eaters and it even has mushrooms on it that taste like bacon. Super good!

There were some awesome desert options on the menu as well, but we were too stuffed to even consider that. This was by far one of the best meals I have had in awhile. I can see what everyone has been raving about for years. Do yourself a favor and take the ride up to Clarkston to try the place out. It sounds like waiting is pretty common though, so leave home before you are super hungry. Also, while you are in town, head down the sidewalk to the Union General which we were told is a larger version of the small shop upstairs. We didn't make it there tonight, but now I have double the reason to make the trek to Clarkston again soon!

~C

I Might Be A Little Tipsy, But This Is The Best Thing I've Ever Had!

Over a year ago now I remember reading an article about how the owner of Union Woodshop (and a few other things) had bought the old Vinsetta Garage and had plans of turning it into a restaurant. After reading the article I got so excited! I love cool, eclectic places like it sounded like it would be and, if I remember correctly, it was supposed to open last year around Dream Cruise time. Sadly, Dream Cruise came and went and the doors on Vinsetta Garage were still closed. I have been, not so patiently, awaiting the opening of this restaurant for over a year now, and I finally got a chance to go the other day with Christie, even though they opened a little while ago. Let me tell you, this place was well worth the wait!

As soon as you walk into Vinsetta Garage, you realize it's easily the coolest looking restaurant around. The host area in in what was obviously the office/cashier of the garage and there are all sorts of mechanic and garage influenced decorations everywhere. Even the cooks wear mechanics shirts! Now, I don't want you to start thinking that it's a super cheesy restaurant and the garage thing goes too far, because it definitely doesn't. It's done just right. The bathroom floor is even pretty cool made, entirely of pennies! 

I could go on and on about what the place looked like, but what matters most is the food. And the booze. The food was amazing. I ordered the lamburger, which was complete with beets, tzatziki sauce, feta (once I hear feta, I'm sold) and I don't even remember what else because I ate it too damn fast and couldn't get enough of it. I also ordered a side of the famous and delicious mac 'n cheese. You definitely cannot go wrong with that. Christie ordered one of their more interesting sounding pies- the loaded potato pie. Basically it's the perfect marriage of potato skins and pizza. To me, that sounds disgusting.  To Christie it was heaven. Despite my initial thoughts, I tasted the pizza and it was indeed tasty. They mainly have mac 'n cheese, different types of burgers and pizzas, but one side of the menu is dedicated to their pasta and a few different types of meatballs that I will have to try sometime. The food prices are pretty average. The most expensive thing on the menu was probably $15 or so.

Now, the booze. From what I could tell, they have only Michigan beers on tap, and you can never go wrong with that! However, the real winner in the booze department had to be the fact that they have whiskey on tap, too! There was Jim Beam, Red Stag and I think one other option. If you have only had whiskey from a bottle before, you are missing out. 

So, if you couldn't tell by now, we liked Vinsetta Garage a LOT. If you were sitting near Christie and I during our meal you would have heard our constant remarks of, "OH MY GOD this is SO good!" and, "I don't want this to be over!" You probably would have given us weird looks at first, but then realized that we were right. They have been really busy, so plan ahead or try to go during the day when they are less busy. 

We recommend everyone try it, even vegetarians can find some delicious sounding items on their menu! We will definitely be frequenting the place and we hope to see you there!

~B