For local would-be food entrepreneurs, incubators give them a chance to get their ideas out of the kitchen and into the market.
We gave our current and former minions $20 to try a new restaurant and tell us about their experience. Here are the results, as told to us by the minions.
Open seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m., the younger bearded brother of the Cherry Deli and cousin to the recently closed 4th Street Deli serves up several dozen of the city's exquisitely stuffed sandwiches and decadent salads.
Co-owner Bill Weier's quote "give me some crusty bread, simple food, good friends and a bottle of wine ... now that is a meal!" does not give Rustica a fair description. This small, cozy Kalamazoo Mall wine bar has a ton more to offer.
Brewery Vivant has an ever-evolving rotation of French, Belgian and Bavarian-inspired dishes that deserve a published cookbook. Dinner specials change often and past plates have included roasted half-chickens in a vivacious pan jus and a cumin and bee pollen rubbed pork tenderloin sided with rosemary scented beets.
With so many businesses devoted to craft brews, and new ones constantly popping up, it's safe to say Grand Rapids loves beer. Recently voted Beer City USA and named one of the Top 10 Vacation Cities for Beer Lovers, the city is home to dozens of microbreweries and counting.
Chances are you already know last year was chaotic for couple Gianni and Lisa Licari, having been featured on the Food Network's "3 Days to Open with Bobby Flay." The couple opened the only authentic Sicilian restaurant in Grand Rapids last April with Flay's help, whose greatest accomplishment was convincing Gianni's mother to share several of her secret recipes. Nearly a year later and the Licari's kitchen has settled into a north side pizza staple.
Cue Vader's Imperial March and storm to downtown Grand Rapids for the inevitable return of Founders Imperial Stout. This 10.5% ABV silky smooth stout is brewed in 10 varieties of malted barley and remains complex and rich.
Food and drinks just taste better outside. But winter always seems to ruin this luxury by making it unbearably cold. Defy Mother Nature this winter by going to any of these four locations that harmonize our love for the outdoors with our love of reasonable levels of body heat.
Farm-to-table Radix Tavern serves up southern-style cuisine with local ingredients courtesy of Chef Jayson Leek, a Kansas transplant and former sous chef of Judson's Steakhouse and Gilly's.
