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3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
EAT Detroit event draws raises money for Detroiters in need
A dining frenzy tantalized the palates and taste buds of more than 1,000 patrons on Monday, June 10, with signature dishes from restaurants around downtown Detroit and Corktown. Diners roamed the streets of Corktown and downtown at the annual EAT Detroit event, dashing into restaurants and feasting on samplings of signature dishes and drinks for the restaurant crawl-style event. A highlight of this year's event is it began and ended with a VIP reception at the historic and renovated Michigan Central Station in Corktown. Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press columnist, founded and hosts EAT Detroit. The event is a fundraiser for SAY Detroit, the nonprofit Albom founded 20 years ago that helps Detroiters in need. Albom mirrored, with permission, a José Andrés Dine-N-Dash event that he attended in Washington, D.C. The Andrés event follows a similar concept of visiting an array of restaurants and also has a charitable arm that benefits the renowned chef's World Central Kitchen. In its five years, Albom said the event has raised nearly $1 million. 'I think in our fifth year, this sort of cements the event as a permanent red letter, you know, charity day on the calendar,' Albom said. Various diners said the excitement and highlight of this year's event was its beginning and ending receptions at Detroit's stunning Michigan Central Station. It was the first time the opening and closing of the event happened at the same place. Albom said they are going to try and make the train station a permanent part of the event. 'You can kind of feel being in here (Michigan Central Station) that it's (EAT Detroit) grown, and this would have been inappropriate in its first year. We weren't big enough to do it here, and we weren't organized enough to do it here.' More than 1,200 people purchased tickets to the event, which sold out within a week, Albom said, plus an additional 300 to 400 bought VIP tickets. Before heading out to restaurants, a VIP reception took place at the beautifully restored and renovated train station. VIP guests dined on appetizers from Detroit's West Village award-winning Marrow restaurant and Leña, Brush Park's Spanish-influenced eatery. Both restaurants have been named Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Top 10 Best New Restaurants in the past. Albom, Mayor Mike Duggan and Detroit Free Press restaurant critic Lyndsay C. Green spoke to the crowd, highlighting the event, Albom's charity, cheering on Detroit and its restaurant scene. Around Corktown and downtown Detroit, diners feasted on everything from fried catfish bites to roasted lamb shoulder, filet mignon au Poivre, fried lobster, chopped cheeseburger and Maurice salad and meatballs the size of golf balls served with marinara and whipped ricotta and pecorino cheese. Diners could also sip on various summery cocktails and mocktails. It was the first time for friends Anna Sinagoga of Berkley and Diana Gomez of Rochester. 'It's a great way to get people to come downtown and showcase the restaurants in an accessible way,' Sinagoga said. Gomez added that they check out the menus in advance and would 'try to get to as many as we can.' For the roaming feast, diners boarded shuttle buses or walked to participating restaurants, sampling offerings from preset menus of food and drink. More than two dozen restaurants participated in this year's event. This year, Julie Wallace of Eastpointe bought VIP tickets to get inside the renovated train station, which she called 'impressive.' 'Last year we did seven restaurants and are hoping to get to a few more this year,' Wallace said. The evening ended back at Michigan Central Station with a VIP reception featuring a beautiful and delightful array of desserts, including lemon tarts, cannoli, mango passionfruit tart and hand fruit pies. Providing desserts were MK Cannelle, Mad Nice, Prime + Proper, Sister Pie and Townhouse Detroit. Scott and Melissa Ringlein of Ann Arbor have attended every EAT Detroit event and make sure they view the menus in advance 'We like just being able to go to a lot of these restaurants,' Scott Ringlein said. On of the favorite restaurant stops, Ringlein said was Le Suprême, which featured filet mignon au poivre. The Ringleins said they always do VIP and make a weekend out of the event. This year, Scott Ringlein said, they took in a Detroit Tigers game, visited Pewabic Pottery and Detroit's RiverWalk. Michigan Central Station was also a highlight of the event. 'It was the first time I got to come here,' Ringlein said. 'It's beyond miraculous what they did.' EAT Detroit 2026 is already on the website, taking emails to join a waitlist for advance ticket sales. 'You never know how big something is going to get, but I knew when you mixed food and walking and nice weather. You're going to get some kind of crowd.' Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@ Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mitch Albom's EAT Detroit event draws more than a thousand diners
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why did Mitch Albom blame only Democrats for COVID-19 pandemic failures?
Mitch Albom's take on the fifth year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic seems to miss the point of the chaos caused by the pandemic. ("5 years later, COVID-19 reminds us that fear makes us small," Detroit Free Press, March 16.) He glosses over then-President Donald Trump's response, and looks at it through the lens of false equivalency. It's disappointing that he mentions the shortcomings of Andrew Cuomo and former President Joe Biden, but left out the more serious ones of Trump and his right-wing allies who amplified unhinged conspiracy theories. Trump's name is not even mentioned in Albom's column even though he was president at the onset of the pandemic. There is no mention of how Trump injected politics and made it more about him. Why no mention of Trump contradicting Dr. Anthony Fauci at every opportunity? Why no mention that instead of deferring to science, Trump floated the idea that injecting disinfectants or a powerful light might cure the virus? No mention of people who died who thought the virus could be cured by the use of hydroxychloroquine or horse pills. When describing the legitimate fear of those who wore masks during a pandemic, Albom does not mention the illegitimate fear of those who claimed the vaccine would alter your DNA, or that 5G mobile towers were spreading the virus. What about the absurd claims that the virus was created by Bill Gates as a means of implanting chips through vaccines? Or that the vaccine would make you magnetic, or that masks actually activated the coronavirus? Let's be clear, many people died who didn't have to because of the politicizing of the pandemic. It should have been something that brought us together as Americans, instead it tore us apart and made the rift between us even greater. Eddie Dee Novi More from Freep Opinion: Hamtramck mayor gets Trump appointment he's been angling for. Good riddance. I may be tugging on Superman's cape, but I think that John Gallagher's advocacy for demolishing part of the Renaissance Center is totally misplaced. ("I'm a historic preservationist, but these RenCen towers have to go," March 12.) Yes, I agree that the RenCen should never have been built where it was, and is. Although downtown, it's not really part of downtown. The solution, however, isn't to demolish it. Make it part of downtown by redoing Jefferson Ave, and eliminate the moat ― which also serves as an anti-pedestrian expressway entrance that isolates the RenCen from the rest of our city. Yes, access to our international riverfront should be a priority. After all, it's undoubtedly the premier asset of our city, and why our city is located where it is. But the RenCen doesn't block access to the riverfront. Immediately to its west is Hart Plaza, with the iconic Noguchi fountain, statuary commemorating the Underground Railroad, the landing of Cadillac, and more. And to its east is Cullen Plaza, the carousel and more. Finally, the Renaissance Center is an iconic feature of our skyline, one that appears in nearly every media report from the area. Do we really want to see the media highlight the demolition of it? I suspect the demo will be characterized as the fall of General Motors. Recent business reports have suggested that international automakers, including those from China, are likely to establish larger footprints in the U.S. The owners of the Ren Cen (absent GM, of course) should be actively soliciting them! Imagine the initialism of (Chinese automaker) "BYD" replacing "GM" on the central tower. Thomas E. Page Detroit Submit a letter to the editor at and we may publish it online and in print. If you have a differing view from a letter writer, please feel free to submit a letter of your own in response. Become a Free Press subscriber. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Albom blamed only Democrats; GM, lease the RenCen to China | Letters
