Fat Tuesdays: Vinsetta Garage

With the world ending on Friday I decided not to buy groceries. My fridge is scarce and the cupboards are bare. If all else fails, I'm sure Meijer will be open with a sale during the Mayan apocalypse.

No, actually, I hate buying food before I leave for a period of time. You know that time when you really need to buy food, but if you buy food you probably won't eat it all because there are so many stinking Christmas parties to go to, and then you're going to be gone for a while so you don't want to stock up, or risk wasting a bunch of food that you could never eat in time? Yeah. That's right now.

So, instead of making anything cool for Fat Tuesday today, I give you a tale of a trip to a restaurant I recently visited. It was in a faraway place called Berkeley, north of 8 Mile, in a land that we south of the border rarely see.

It was a few weekends ago when I called up my buddy Matt to see what he was up to. Matt is from Chesterfield, via Warren, via Troy. If you don't know your Detroit geography, Matt is from the northernmost parts of the big yellow blob on the Michigan map and I live somewhere near the bottom. Despite the fact that we both live in the yellow blob, it gets a bit tricky to meet up sometimes. This particular weekend worked well, however, and we decided to do some dinner with our significant others at Vinsetta Garage, located on Woodward Avenue between 11 and 12 mile roads.

Vinsetta Garage, I came to discover, is a fairly recent and quite popular establishment. The draw, at least for me, is the ambiance of the restaurant, located in the oldest service station still in existence east of the Mississippi River. If you can imagine a service station from the days of the past, now with a brick pizza oven, full service bar, and numerous tables filled with people, you've either been there before or you're getting a great picture of what this place looks like.

We picked a Saturday night to visit the Garage, which may have been a bad idea. We didn't actually arrive until probably 7:30 or 8:00, but it was clear that the place was popular. When we arrived, parking was tough to find. Vinsetta has a nice valet service available, but I'm not quite that cool. Instead, I opted for one of the side streets for parking. After a short walk, we managed to get back to the restaurant to put our name on the list. The neighborhood surrounding Vinsetta is nice and quaint, at least in the dark, and easy to navigate.

The second indication that the place was popular was that when we checked in with the hostess, we were told the wait would be about an hour and a half. AN HOUR AND A HALF! That's pretty amazing. And what I think was more amazing was that it actually took an hour and a half. You know how you go to a restaurant and they tell you 45 minutes, but its really like 30 minutes and then you're happy because they over delivered, but they knew all along it was only 30 minutes? Yeah, that didn't happen here. It was really and hour and a half.

Since it was 8:00, we were all pretty hungry. Naturally, we grabbed a few beers and decided to take up a table on the patio. I imagine the patio is a nice place in the summer. It sits right on Woodward (so Dream Cruise Day is probably really special) and people are constantly coming and going so the people watching is excellent. However, early December is probably not the best time to sit and enjoy the outdoors. It was dark and cold and downright chilly, beer or not.

This is a rendition of what we all looked like. Not actual footage.

Being the good friends that we are, we enjoyed the hour and a half chatting, catching up on things we've missed in each others lives, and using movie references that few would understand. We had a few laughs, drank our beers, and anxiously watched the buzzer on the table. I'm thankful my back was to the window or I would have been salivating over the food that kept flitting by.

When the buzzer finally went off we all leaped to the hostess with great haste and ravenously asked for our table. Inside, the place was still jammed. The decor was difficult to see while zipping through the dining area, but it was clear they put some details into the room. The most notable piece to me was that the kitchen was clearly the old work bench in the garage and that each chef wore overalls like the old greasemonkeys of yore.

Inside Vinsetta Garage. There were approximately 3,000 more people inside when we were there. 

Having waited for an hour and a half, I was now at the point where any kind of food would have been tasty. Basically, I was expecting that this food had better be the best food I've ever eaten. Ever. I only recall being so hungry that the choices on the menu were overwhelming. Its not that there were that many choices, just that all the choices looked outstanding.

Matt and Desiree ordered a few burgers, while I split a pizza with Janel. I think at this point I must have slipped into a coma. I don't really recall what we talked about or how long the meal took to arrive, only that it came to our table and we devoured the food. I think it was good. Yes, it was good. Was it worth an hour and a half wait? I'm not convinced.

All in all, I enjoyed the experience. I like being in restaurants full of people. It always seems like something is happening. It was clearly a place to be. And the guys who own the joint are what is being dubbed as the new type of restauranteur. These guys own several restaurants in the metro region that have done quite well. They own multiple restaurants, but unlike a franchise owner, these guys have themed restaurants that fit the space they have renovated. I think its an outstanding concept.

Would I recommend Vinsetta Garage? Yes. Would I recommend going on a Saturday night? No. I'd like to visit again when it is lively, but not too crowded. And I'd like to visit again when my appetite isn't quite so savage that the pile of trash on the street starts to look appetizing. If you're looking for a place with a great atmosphere that has good food, this is a place to go. Just be sure that in the near future you plan for your entire evening to be spent with the company you keep. And you're not there on an empty stomach.

Marvelous Mondays: 5 Reasons I'm Excited for 2013

Is this thing still on? Sorry about that. I've been gone for a little while. I got busy and realized last night that I really missed sharing things here and keeping my mind thinking. Since the world is ending on Friday I thought it would be nice to spend this week posting a few things on my blog. 

Naturally, when not blogging for several months, things happen in life. Thanksgiving happened. That was pretty great. I am now involved with a lady-friend whose company I enjoy greatly. I applied to a graduate program. I got to see some friends and miss some friends. I made some new friends. I worked. Its been good.

When good things happen, I tend to get fairly excited about the future. Here are 5 things I'm looking forward to in the coming year.

1). Graduate School:
I've been debating about grad school for quite some time. I can recall talking about grad school when I first started working at my current job 2.5 years ago. Some friends are exhausted about hearing my plans, but they will be happy to know that I finally made a commitment. The application is complete! 

Something finally clicked in me that it was time to start the process. I was sitting at work one day tired of organizing an event when I realized I needed something different. I read a blog about cities and had just done something cool in Detroit when I finally decided I needed to pursue urban planning. I have talked about it for years and always wanted to pursue it. Self-doubt has played a huge role in why I haven't pursued it, concentrated mostly in the idea that I have never taken part in anything urban planning related. But, my interests and my passion seem to be a good fit for the field and I crave the opportunity to see progress in places that are old. I'm fueled mostly by Detroit, but ultimately I have a love of cities.


As 2013 gets underway I am looking forward to the opportunities presented in grad school. I want the chance to mingle with others and think about ideas and study concepts. I want to learn again. And I want to challenge myself. Which leads to me being excited about...

2). Preparing for a Challenge:
I often go back and forth about my place in life. On the one hand, I tell myself I'm 25 years old, what could I possibly know? How could I possibly be a contributing member of society? And then I recall people who have done amazing things by the time they were 25 or cavemen who were the wise sages of their time. As I go through life I marvel at the fact that we have such an opportunity to challenge ourselves constantly. I think we are often pressured into finding that perfect career that motivates us, but in reality, we live in a time when it makes more sense to try many things. You either become an expert in something specialized or you go out and try new things.

For me, the only way to stay excited and motivated is to try new things. I get bored easily and that makes things challenging, but I liken it to the confidence gained in school. I always remember being slightly frightened as a freshman in high school, but marching in senior year with a smug confidence that only seniors could have. It was the, been-there, done-that mentality that sets in when you do the same thing for too long. While I've only been at my current job for a few years, I've been doing this job for much longer. Yes, I've learned new things along the way, but the fact remains that I'm bored. 2013 is the year for me to start challenging myself again. Really the last several months have been the start of that, but I look to 2013 as the year that it really takes off.

3). A Clearer Sense of Identity:
Is our generation doomed to take longer to leave the nest? Why does it seem like we have taken much longer to establish our identities? Perhaps it is over-protective parents or maybe it was the economy we were pushed into. Perhaps the world is just a tougher place to be in or maybe it was the onset of social media that allowed us to stay young for much longer. Or maybe we all take the same amount of time to establish ourselves, and my generation has taken the steps to clarify our identity more seriously; that we want to be defined by something other than our jobs and families.

I think these questions are only answered with more time, but I can say that writing personal statements for graduate school and discussing the motivations for pursuing a degree certainly help outline a sense of identity. I don't have it all figured out, but I do know things that motivate me. I see that when I talk about, think about, read about urban planning, I get an excitement in my heart and in my mind and I know I need to pursue it. It helps me to gain a sense of what I want to give back to the world, arguably the hardest question to answer. 

4). I Am Going to Meet New People:
I love to meet new people. The past few years have been difficult living on my own in Detroit. I often use this as a crutch to complain and whine about how lonely I am and blah blah blah. The truth is, I am proud of the fact that I have survived on my own and explored some great things about the city. I am proud of the fact that even though no one followed me here, I have made steps to establish myself in the city.

This year I want to do more. I am ready to join a club or organization. Is it a running club? Maybe the community choir? Maybe its a group I don't know about yet or just plain volunteering. Whatever it is, I intend on being a part of something more to gain a new network of people. Old friends will always be a part of my life, but I will not be dominated by their absence. Instead, I plan on meeting new people to open the next chapter of my life. 

5). I Am Going to Seattle:
Since middle school I have always wanted to go to Seattle. Seattle has consistently been near the top of my list of places I'd like to move and I have never been there. Along comes my girlfriend whose parents just moved to Seattle. So, I signed up for the Seattle Marathon in June and we are already actively planning our trip there. I am excited beyond my means.

The marathon should be a challenge. It is a hilly course. But, I'm very much looking forward to the sights and sounds of the city. I'm excited to travel to Seattle and visit a city that's been on my list for years. And I'm excited to travel with my girlfriend. So far, we're pretty good travel buddies.

So there you have it! 2013 is shaping up to be an exciting year. If the twists and turns of 2012 are any indication, 2013 will have its share of excitement that I am not anticipating. With any luck, by this time next year I will be elbow-deep in graduate school, completed my race in Seattle, and looking forward to celebrating 2014 with a new network of friends.