Empire Kitchen & Cocktails

[swingline]

https://www.freep.com/story/entertai...ils/769567002/

I think that this restaurant review of Empire Kitchen is highly troubling on at least a couple of levels.

First, it’s just disappointing that this review comes from the Freep’s reviewer, Mark Kurlyandchik, who is one of the best journalists they’ve hired in the past few years. His sharp, creative and insightful reporting on the region’s burgeoning food scene shines in comparison with most other local food writers’ by-the-numbers reviews.

Second, why savage a restaurant that is doing nothing but competently, if perhaps uninspiringly, executing a theme that it is being completely honest about? Kurlyandchik found some dishes disappointing but he never claimed that the kitchen produced routinely awful food. He didn’t claim that it was cynically overcharging its patrons. Rather, a close read of the article discloses that Kurlyandchik seems to be mightily offended at some sort of inauthenticity that he perceives has descended upon Midtown. So okay. Write about that. Don’t put the hard work and savings of small business-people at risk simply because you think that they should have attempted a restaurant theme that wasn’t so “safe.” What kind of hubris is that? Amazingly, the Freep website front page headline writer doubles down by cravenly generating clicks with the statement that the restaurant should be “avoided.” The whole article is really unfair. It draws into question Freep editorial oversight and the writer’s ethics. I hope Empire Kitchen isn’t crippled by this article. I haven’t been there but I’m going to go now.

[rjlj]

Agreed. A completely contradictory and chip on the shoulder review. He mentions boring offerings but the tone is to expect more, and better while being cheap and better. All the while mentioning gentrification in a spot that was a dead zone no less than 5 years ago. Do you want dumpster food or a 5 star experience?

https://www.freep.com/story/entertai...ils/769567002/

I think that this restaurant review of Empire Kitchen is highly troubling on at least a couple of levels.

First, it’s just disappointing that this review comes from the Freep’s reviewer, Mark Kurlyandchik, who is one of the best journalists they’ve hired in the past few years. His sharp, creative and insightful reporting on the region’s burgeoning food scene shines in comparison with most other local food writers’ by-the-numbers reviews.

Second, why savage a restaurant that is doing nothing but competently, if perhaps uninspiringly, executing a theme that it is being completely honest about? Kurlyandchik found some dishes disappointing but he never claimed that the kitchen produced routinely awful food. He didn’t claim that it was cynically overcharging its patrons. Rather, a close read of the article discloses that Kurlyandchik seems to be mightily offended at some sort of inauthenticity that he perceives has descended upon Midtown. So okay. Write about that. Don’t put the hard work and savings of small business-people at risk simply because you think that they should have attempted a restaurant theme that wasn’t so “safe.” What kind of hubris is that? Amazingly, the Freep website front page headline writer doubles down by cravenly generating clicks with the statement that the restaurant should be “avoided.” The whole article is really unfair. It draws into question Freep editorial oversight and the writer’s ethics. I hope Empire Kitchen isn’t crippled by this article. I haven’t been there but I’m going to go now.

[Honky Tonk]

Here's a look @ the menu. All the usual adjectives are there. $11 for 2 eggs, toast, potatoes, and snausages? I'd be more excited if someone would open a reasonably priced sit-down restaurant with good food. Enough with the theme park restaurants.

http://empirekitchenandcocktails.com...6.182-flat.pdf

[mikeg19]

Yea I read that yesterday and it's been awhile since I've read a review not on TripAdvisor or Yelp that was that scathing. It seemed he was wanting something more from the restaurant.

[dtowncitylover]

I will agree on one point that his use of "Avoid" shouldn't have been there. I think critics should state their case but it seems out of line to tell us where and where we should not eat. Warn us but don't outright tell us.

Having said that, I love the critique. I'm not sure we ever get to see reviews like this because Detroit's restaurant scene has fared pretty good, perhaps that's an understatement. I think he was trying to call out Empire for trying to be like the rest [[Chartreuse, Grey Ghost, Prime + Proper). Perhaps the hubris is the restaurant? I mean the owners are already franchise owners of Five Guys. Perhaps they thought they could walk into Midtown open up, as the author points out, a Brooklyn Bar Menu Generated restaurant and think people are going to flock to it and it be the 2019 Restaurant of the Year?

[EastsideAl]

I'm not sure what the problem is here. I would hope that Detroit has passed the small-townish "critics must act as boosters" phase. The author of this review just calls out [[quite rightly in my view) the cookie-cutter bar and grill trend that has enveloped a lot of our local dining scene. And then he is rather critical of this place and its offerings as second-rate exemplars of this trend, which is called doing his his job as a reviewer.

[Honky Tonk]

I was out and about @ lunchtime and WDET interviewed Mark Kurlyandchik on Culture Shift about the article. Now I wonder if the meh review was a plan to draw attention to the restaurant.

[mikeg19]

I'm not sure what the problem is here. I would hope that Detroit has passed the small-townish "critics must act as boosters" phase. The author of this review just calls out [[quite rightly in my view) the cookie-cutter bar and grill trend that has enveloped a lot of our local dining scene. And then he is rather critical of this place and its offerings as second-rate exemplars of this trend, which is doing his his job as a reviewer.

I agree. But at the same time, is it necessary to mention in the article the restaurants perceived attribution to gentrification? No. The way that the article is written is just dripping with vitriol. Comments like "Ours also came with a dollop of ignorance from the server" or ""This is like a single lady dessert that you make in a coffee mug in the microwave" are over the top ridiculous. If the food is bad, write it. If the service is bad, write it. But don't bash the place because you thought you were going to get Morton's and you got Texas Road House. I'd hope I never run into this guy on the street or he may quip "Hmmmm, wardrobe uninspired, dad bod starting to show, no reason for a 2nd glance."

[dtowncitylover]

There's ignorance by a waiter/waitress to what exact city a French wine comes from. But to answer, "It's buttermilk dressing" to question of "Is this ranch?" is rather silly. I would totally roast a friend if I was given that answer seriously. Especially in the midwest, where ranch dressing is a sacramental.

[Meddle]

I'd be more excited if someone would open a reasonably priced sit-down restaurant with good food.

When I want to eat, I want to EAT. Gimme Luigis or Ham Heaven where I get a plate FULL of food, REAL food for a couple of bucks. Not an 'eating experience' in a 'dining environment' where they serve a teaspoon of tuna on a single saltine for $10.

[swingline]

Having said that, I love the critique. I'm not sure we ever get to see reviews like this because Detroit's restaurant scene has fared pretty good, perhaps that's an understatement. I think he was trying to call out Empire for trying to be like the rest [[Chartreuse, Grey Ghost, Prime + Proper). Perhaps the hubris is the restaurant? I mean the owners are already franchise owners of Five Guys. Perhaps they thought they could walk into Midtown open up, as the author points out, a Brooklyn Bar Menu Generated restaurant and think people are going to flock to it and it be the 2019 Restaurant of the Year?

But there’s no evidence of this.

Look at it this way. Let’s say you’re a Vietnamese immigrant living in the Madison Heights/Troy Vietnamese community and you follow your life’s ambition to open a Vietnamese restaurant in your community. You lease some space on John R, invest a hard earned $200k to completely redo the space and open your restaurant. Your restaurant offers nothing original that can’t be found in a half dozen other places within a couple miles or so. Your kitchen is spotty but not awful. Some dishes ok, others not as good as the nearby places. Bottom line: you have a bright, clean new place that serves its customers commonplace, ok food. Do you deserve to have the most visible restaurant reviewer that writes for the largest newspaper in Michigan write a review of your place that savages you and essentially threatens your livelihood all because of the transgression of a lack of originality? How is this example any different than the Empire Kitchen review? Responsible restaurant criticism doesn’t mean that a critic has to become a shill, but it should mean that highly negative reviews are limited to the truly bad places where the food and service indicate that the owners really don’t care about their customers.

[Honky Tonk]

When I want to eat, I want to EAT. Gimme Luigis or Ham Heaven where I get a plate FULL of food, REAL food for a couple of bucks. Not an 'eating experience' in a 'dining environment' where they serve a teaspoon of tuna on a single saltine for $10.

That's a farm-fresh, locally-grown, organic, fair-trade, mixed with essence-of-mushroom, free-range tuna, on an organic, whole wheat, salt and gluten free, baked, and sprinkled with white pepper, cracker, I'll have you know.....

[Richard]

When I want to eat, I want to EAT. Gimme Luigis or Ham Heaven where I get a plate FULL of food, REAL food for a couple of bucks. Not an 'eating experience' in a 'dining environment' where they serve a teaspoon of tuna on a single saltine for $10.

+ 100

I kinda like the fad restaurants,I sell them equipment then buy it back 9 months later 10c on the dollar when they shut,rinse and repeat.

Here they are in a race to put a brewery on every corner.

[Meddle]

^^ I remember when there was a Quickee Cafeteria on every corner [[or so it seemed).

[dtowncitylover]

But there’s no evidence of this.

Look at it this way. Let’s say you’re a Vietnamese immigrant living in the Madison Heights/Troy Vietnamese community and you follow your life’s ambition to open a Vietnamese restaurant in your community. You lease some space on John R, invest a hard earned $200k to completely redo the space and open your restaurant. Your restaurant offers nothing original that can’t be found in a half dozen other places within a couple miles or so. Your kitchen is spotty but not awful. Some dishes ok, others not as good as the nearby places. Bottom line: you have a bright, clean new place that serves its customers commonplace, ok food. Do you deserve to have the most visible restaurant reviewer that writes for the largest newspaper in Michigan write a review of your place that savages you and essentially threatens your livelihood all because of the transgression of a lack of originality? How is this example any different than the Empire Kitchen review? Responsible restaurant criticism doesn’t mean that a critic has to become a shill, but it should mean that highly negative reviews are limited to the truly bad places where the food and service indicate that the owners really don’t care about their customers.

The evidence is the restaurant itself.

It seems like there would be a difference between a humble immigrant trying to make it, and a corporate/fast food backer who pours in money expecting they can do what a half dozen other restaurants do in a 1 mile radius and think it's something great and get away with it. That's hubris and I think that's what the article was about.

[swingline]

The evidence is the restaurant itself.

It seems like there would be a difference between a humble immigrant trying to make it, and a corporate/fast food backer who pours in money expecting they can do what a half dozen other restaurants do in a 1 mile radius and think it's something great and get away with it. That's hubris and I think that's what the article was about.

The Empire Kitchen owners are not some big corporate restaurant group. They are group of small businesspeople that are also franchisees in a small handful of Five Guys stores. They almost certainly have a lot of money at risk in the venture, just like in the Vietnamese restaurant hypothetical. How does a lack of originality translate into hubris? If the Freep wants to be consistent, maybe they should make a Top Ten Coney Island list and then have Mr. Kurlyandchik go around to the ones that didn’t make the list and write about how they are banal and should be avoided.

[SyGolden48236]

That's a farm-fresh, locally-grown, organic, fair-trade, mixed with essence-of-mushroom, free-range tuna, on an organic, whole wheat, salt and gluten free, baked, and sprinkled with white pepper, cracker, I'll have you know.....

Excuse me, but that is properly known as a carefully curated, hand selected, locally sourced, farm to table, artisanal wafer with hand applied craft pepper.

[JBMcB]

Ah, the New Journalism. Don't write about a subject, write about your personal experience of the subject. Contextualize the subject within the greater social picture. What does this menu say about the socioeconomic pressures in the Metro Detroit area? How is this desert a metaphor for race relations in a modern American metropolis?

Good food? Bad food? There is no such thing. There is only the hierarchical system of power and those who use it to exploit those beneath them.

And thus, journalism dies.

[p1acebo]

+ 100

I kinda like the fad restaurants,I sell them equipment then buy it back 9 months later 10c on the dollar when they shut,rinse and repeat.

Here they are in a race to put a brewery on every corner.

Better than putting a fast food chain restaurant on every corner.

[archfan]

Here is, I think, the point of the article - he's trying to head off a trend:

But the trouble is that we are entering an era of rampant mixed-use developments, with dozens of projects in various stages popping up around the downtown core. Almost unfailingly, the ground floor is reserved for retail and restaurants.

If people turn out for Empire in its current form in droves, that only means many more like it will soon be on the way. Copies of copies of copies until there's nothing left but a faded memory of what was once an exciting town to dine out in.

[Towne Cluber]

Here is, I think, the point of the article - he's trying to head off a trend:

But the trouble is that we are entering an era of rampant mixed-use developments, with dozens of projects in various stages popping up around the downtown core. Almost unfailingly, the ground floor is reserved for retail and restaurants.

If people turn out for Empire in its current form in droves, that only means many more like it will soon be on the way. Copies of copies of copies until there's nothing left but a faded memory of what was once an exciting town to dine out in.

One could interpret it that way, although in that case the question would also become who appointed him the arbiter of Downtown restaurant and retail?

Another interpretation could be that he's against further downtown development and prefers things the way they used to be...and that mindset would be troubling to say the least.

[JBMcB]

If people turn out for Empire in its current form in droves, that only means many more like it will soon be on the way.

How many of the hot new restaraunts downtown are "New American" cuisine, or burger joints/gastropubs, or steak/seafood places? How about a really excellent, high-end Chinese place, like Hong Hua in Farmington Hills? Or French? The most famous cuisine in the world and there isn't a single French restaurant downtown [[Zinc doesn't count, it's a cafe.) I think the downtown restaurant 'scene' is already a bit homogenized.

Now, I have absolutely no problem with this. A new Venezuelan place opened up in Grosse Pointe that I'm excited to try. There are loads of options in the suburbs. All the new high end places are New American because that's what sells. But if you are complaining that downtown is becoming homogenized, then I think you've missed the boat.

[Honky Tonk]

Excuse me, but that is properly known as a carefully curated, hand selected, locally sourced, farm to table, artisanal wafer with hand applied craft pepper.

I guess I'm just not a carny-sewer of fine food.

[Richard]

Better than putting a fast food chain restaurant on every corner.

True,but after a few beers even road kill tastes good,so there is that.

[Zacha341]

There you go again with those ever-crucial details HT! In a way I say all power to these places. If folks want to eat like that fine. With yelp, and other more realistic reviews and word of mouth you can hone in on good drinks and dining even in the midst of the fanshy-snanshy!

Oh you missed a detail: Superbly plated with a delicate wreath of organic parsley - and a half dollop of asiago dressing! That knocks off the dryness a bit!

That's a farm-fresh, locally-grown, organic, fair-trade, mixed with essence-of-mushroom, free-range tuna, on an organic, whole wheat, salt and gluten free, baked, and sprinkled with white pepper, cracker, I'll have you know.....