DINING

You might have noticed you’re eating at home more these days because of the pandemic. For many people, it has meant pulling the same plates out of the cupboard day after day. After all that use, it might be time to swap out your dinnerware. So where should you start, and what’s trending right now? Emilie Gleason, the marketing manager of The Italian Dish in Birmingham, shared some advice on “Live In The D.”

Located on the top floor of the tallest building in Michigan is a restaurant with one of the best views in all of Detroit, Highlands. Michelle Oliver takes us there to Dine in the D.

Dinner by propane light is back—for now.

Appetites for indoor dining wane amid Delta variant, while outdoor seating becomes less palatable as temps drop.

A sizzling steak or delicious lobster is often paired with a special sauce to help take the flavor up a notch, but how do you know which sauce to pick?

When you feel like doing it up for a nice night out, you want to go somewhere with an intimate atmosphere, fancy drinks, and of course, some delicious, sophisticated food. That’s what Ryan and Alicia Racine tried to create at Toria, a new restaurant in Northville.

It’s not a big secret that Ann Arbor has one of the best dining scenes in the Midwest.

It’s Takeout Tuesday and this hidden gem could satisfy all your carb cravings and more. Eddie’s Gourmet restaurant and bar in Oak Park is taking diner-fare up several levels.

Artist Tony Roko is teaming up with Detroit area restaurants to help them bounce back from the pandemic.

Isla is serving up Filipino dishes and desserts.

Pasta Bowl will add some soul to your favorite Italian dish

ImaginATE Restaurant is turning the dinner table into a work of art.

Get a taste of some of the most diverse menus in the city

This food truck makes delicious Asian cuisine curbside, your curbside!

Stop by for a fresh take on traditional brunch dishes.

Nothing pairs better with a baseball game than an ice-cold beer, and some tasty food. The Detroit Beer company has been serving up this winning combination since 2003.

Who doesn’t enjoy a cocktail and an appetizer in the sun? Here are 5 unique places for you to try in Detroit!

It’s decision time.

See which Ann Arbor restaurants OpenTable users have rated "Exceptional."

In an open letter, the owner of Detroit Street Filling Station and The Lunch Room Bakery & Cafe implored city leadership to stop nonessential activity.

Many restaurants are still struggling to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

Over the past few years, the outdoor dining game reached a new level with igloos and chalets. Now, Frame in Hazel Park is offering a way to enjoy a meal outside of the box, or igloo, with their yurt village. The restaurant has four yurts that are all individually and uniquely designed to reflect the genre of food that is being served by the current rotating in-house chef. Frame came up with their yurt village as a way to not only continue their dining services during the COVID-19 pandemic, but as a different way for their customers to be immersed in the culture of their meal. Watch the video above to see how cool the yurt village at Frame in Hazel Park is.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says indoor dining can resume in New York City at 25% capacity on February 14, Valentine's Day. Cuomo closed restaurants to indoor dining on December 14, preventing the struggling businesses from cashing in on the lucrative Christmas and New Year's seasons. "Hospitalizations have not stabilized, and with a rising infection rate and NYC's density, this means that indoor dining is too high of a risk," the governor tweeted at the time. The governor has since been under enormous pressure to bring indoor dining back, including through lawsuits, CBS New York reports. Cuomo also announced marriage receptions can resume at 50% capacity or up to 150 people starting March 15.

As the economy staggers along through the pandemic, perhaps nothing stands as a better sentinel than local restaurants and the business perils they’ve endured since the state shut down in the wake of COVID-19 last March. Many local restaurants, as detailed in a report in this week’s edition, have staggered on with varying degrees of success. Some but not all local restaurants also have benefited from state and federal assistance programs. Rising vaccination numbers combined with the countdown to warm weather should herald survival — for residents above all, but also for the local restaurants they so appreciate. Even when it means going out on a cold night for a curbside pickup, residents need to do what they can in supporting what their local restaurants have to offer.

LANSING, Mich. – If Michigan restaurants are allowed to reopen their doors to indoor dining at the beginning of next month, it will be with new and strengthened COVID-19 safety rules, according to state officials. Gretchen Whitmer said the state hopes to resume indoor dining at restaurants by Feb. 1, as long as COVID-19 metrics meet state standards. Whitmer’s COVID update Wednesday (Jan. 13)If they do reopen, restaurants will face increased restrictions, Whitmer said. “We’re working on a path to allow indoor dining at restaurants with safety measures such as mask requirements, capacity limits and a curfew, starting on Feb. 1,” Whitmer said. He said whether or not restaurants actually reopen Feb. 1 will depend on what happens with COVID-19 cases between now and the end of the month.

Here’s what you missed on Local 4 News at 5:Michigan aims to resume indoor dining at restaurants next month -- What to knowMichigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the state is aiming to resume indoor dining at restaurants in February after a spike in COVID-19 cases late last year sparked a ban of more than two months. Depending on how COVID-19 cases trend in the next two weeks, restaurants might be able to resume indoor dining with certain restrictions. Those rules would include a mask mandate, capacity rules and a curfew, Whitmer said.

Gretchen Whitmer said state leaders hope to reopen restaurants on Feb. 1 when the latest extension expires. If Michigan’s COVID-19 numbers keep declining, Whitmer said indoor dining may be allowed to restart Feb. 1 with mask requirements, capacity limits and a curfew. Indoor fitness classes and non-contact sports can restart, while indoor dining, water parks and night clubs are among the sectors still closed. “Indoor dining brings risks because it involves taking off masks,” MDHHS Director Robert Gordon said. Michigan is one of only three states with a statewide ban on indoor dining, per the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association and the restaurant reservation company Open Table.

Indoor dining to resume in Philadelphia, with limits Philadelphia officials are allowing restaurants to resume limited indoor dining in the city after rolling back some COVID-19 restrictions. The restrictions will be eased on Saturday, January 16. Watch the update from Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley.

ANN ARBOR – Downtown area associations have joined an annual campaign to encourage visitors to continue shopping and dining in the city throughout the month of January. Typically a slow time of year for business, the pandemic has only exacerbated the lack of customers at local establishments. The Main Street Area Association, State Street District, Kerrytown District Association, and South University Area Association have partnered with the getDowntown Program for “Conquer the Cold - Pandemic Edition.”The annual challenge by getDowntown -- in partnership with the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (TheRide), the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority and the City of Ann Arbor -- is designed to encourage and educate commuters to use alternative modes of transportation during the cold winter months. Many restaurants will be participating in the Comfort Food Challenge, and users can get prizes for dining outdoors, ordering curbside and shopping downtown. “The Downtown Districts are excited to be partnering with GetDowntown for Conquer the Cold this year,” Sandra Andrade, executive director of the Main Street Area Association said in a statement.

The owner of Andiamo restaurants in Metro Detroit is backtracking and clarifying his intentions after first penning a letter to Michigan restaurants urging them to defy Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the state health department’s COVID-19 shutdown orders and reopen. Here is the statement released Friday:“We are and will always be citizens and stewards of Metro Detroit. We want to encourage hope and action so that Metro Detroit will survive and come out of this united and stronger. Michigan health officials have said it’s extremely difficult to contact trace outbreaks in restaurants because of the short duration a patron may spend inside.

The steep increase in daily cases in October has also seen a slight increase in hospitalizations related to the coronavirus. On Oct. 1, there were 37.9% of the state’s ICU beds open. On Friday, the most recent data, there were 33.7% ICU beds available. While none of the state’s 11 regions are below the benchmark 20% of available medical/surgical or ICU beds, Chicago, suburban Cook County, DuPage and Kane counties, Will and Kankakee counties, and the Metro-east region that includes East St. Louis are within 10 percentage points.

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan’s top medical official said anyone who eats at restaurants should wear a mask until they’re physically putting food in their mouths and limit talking as much as possible. Khaldun spoke about Michigan’s recent rise in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases during Gov. “If you choose to dine indoors, keep your mask on at all times, except when you are actually putting food in your mouth, and limit your talking. Talking without a mask on increases the risk of spread.”She said if there’s a choice between eating at a restaurant or getting takeout, Michiganders should strongly consider the latter. LATEST: Michigan Gov.

If you want a taste of something new and different, a fusion of Asian flavors, then head on over to New Age Café in Clinton twp. Working his way up, he ended up helping to open the fine dining steakhouse, Prime and Proper as a Sous Chef. Since his father and grandmother always wanted to open up a restaurant, he partnered up with his family to open up New Age Café. "And the consistency and everything like that has obviously come from my fine dining training that I’ve got. New Age Café is located at 20860 Hall Road, in Clinton Twp.

Meanwhile, have you been wondering what’s going to happen to outdoor dining when winter hits? If so, you’re not alone — in fact, there was a whole competition to determine the best plan for it. The winners for Chicago’s Winter Design Challenge were announced on Thursday — here’s what they came up with.

If you’ve walked around downtown Royal Oak recently, you will have noticed Mr. B’s, a long time sports bar, has closed, and in its spot is the all-new Alchemi. The chic new restaurant is still headed by former Mr. B’s owner, John Prepolec, more commonly known as Johnny Prep. This new restaurant is much more in line with his style of cooking and he is excited about the change. They spent the pandemic completely remodeling the very large restaurant dividing it into two, Alchemi, and Prep’s Gaming Room and Nightclub. If you would like to try out Alchemi, it is located at 215 S Main Street in Royal Oak.

Whether youre catching some sun on the boat, or splashing around by the pool, North 42 is ready and waiting to serve you an enticing meal. North 42 is a waterfront restaurant, located inside MacRay Harbor on Lake St. Clair. According to the owner, MacRay Harbor used to be a swamp. For the design of North 42, they dived right into the nautical theme. If you would like to try out North 42 Kitchen and Bar, they are located at 30675 N River Road in Harrison Charter Township.

Originally he thought of making Fat Panda Kitchen into a restaurant but noticed there were several Asain Fusion restaurants in the area. Where are the closest Moroccan restaurants in the city? So I did a Google search and nothing popped up, said Omar. So in April of 2019, he opened Saffron De Twah, adding his own flair to classic Moroccan foods and flavors. The restaurant is small but features lots of colorful lanterns on the wall, and a beautiful mural on the outside wall. If you would like to try out Saffron De Twah they are located at 7636 Gratiot Avenue in Detroit.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. Originally offered as a carryout concept by Blue LLama Jazz Club, Of Rice & Men is getting its own space in downtown Ann Arbor. On July 24, the new pop-up restaurant will open the doors to its South Main Street location for dine-in services. Inspired by Asian flavors and cooking techniques, the Of Rice & Men menu offers a variety of dishes influenced by different countries including China, Thailand, Japan and Indonesia. Lead by Executive Chef Josh Wetshtein, who has worked under Wolfgang Puck, the pop-up restaurant also offers a different dining experience. Of Rice & Men is at 312 S. Main Street, right next to Blue LLama Jazz Club.

Ann Arbor Every year we ask you to Vote 4 The Best to celebrate the local businesses in and around Detroit. All week long on Live In The D we will be revealing winners in various categories, and today we are starting with Best Middle Eastern Restaurant, Palm Palace in Ann Arbor. To thank their team, theyve given raises and bonuses to their staff to help them through this tough time. If you would like to try Palm Palace, they are located at 2370 Carpenter Rd. in Ann Arbor.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. The Standard Bistro & Larder is switching gears and is introducing LaLas, a new pop-up restaurant, in its place. The pop-up restaurant is only open on weekends, with dinner service Fridays and Saturdays, and brunch offerings Saturday and Sunday mornings. While the pop-up is currently planned for the summer, the goal is for LaLas to become the concept for the restaurant going forward. The pop-up restaurant has a ten item dinner menu and a ten item brunch menu, both of which will see changes every week. (Courtesy of Allie Lyttle) (Lala's Ann Arbor) Like what youre reading?

Monday night, Gilberts Lodge had lines waiting to get in the door. READ: How customers are handling reopening of Michigan restaurants with COVID-19 changesDuring the closure of the dining room he kept carry out going and planned for the eventual reopening. Now, Gilberts Lodge has paper menus and table toppers, which are thrown away after every customer. Its exciting, even with social distancing, to be able to go out and get a meal in a restaurant like Gilberts, said Cindy Kainz. For now, the restaurant is still devoting a lot of resources to carry out but is hoping to expand into the parking lot for outdoor dining in order to serve more customers.

WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. Michigan takes a large step toward reopening Monday. READ: Michigan coronavirus updates: Restaurants can reopen Monday, June 8After nearly three months of carryout only, residents will now be able to dine in at restaurants across the state. More: Reopening Michigan updatesThe Stage Deli Restaurant on Orchard Lake Road in West Bloomfield Township put tables in storage to allow guests to socially distance. Even the normal flow of a restaurant has changed and they arent all changes customers might notice. Its been long enough.Read more: Heres whats reopening as parts of Michigan move to phase five of Gov.

On Monday, June 8, restaurants statewide in Michigan can begin to reopen with limited capacity. Of course, this does not mean every restaurant will be ready to reopen, or even choose to reopen amid the pandemic. Whitmers restart planThe number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 58,749 as of Saturday afternoon, including 5,652 deaths, state officials report. Fridays total was 58,525 confirmed cases and 5,615 deaths. New cases and deaths continue to slow in Michigan, along with hospitalizations.

LAKE ORION, Mich. With case of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the decline in southeast Michigan, the hope is that more businesses will soon be allowed to reopen. READ: Michigan retailers begin reopening slowly, cautiously amid COVID-19 pandemicIn the case of restaurants, one local township is already making plans to expand outdoor dining once they get the green light. Watch the full report above.