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.
No comments:
Post a Comment