Jefferson House Aims High, Great Lakes Coffee Turns One

MIDTOWN — Great Lakes Coffee, Midtown's favorite fresh coffee, beer and small plates emporium just turned one, and they're celebrating with a blow-out brouhaha this Sunday. With a 5 p.m. chocolate tasting and other Michigan beverages companies like Bell's Beer and Two James Bourbon on hand for $1 libations throughout the afternoon, Great Lakes is the place to say goodbye to June 2013 and hello to another year of great coffee. [EaterWire]

DOWNTOWN — The Crowne Plaza Pontchartrain Hotel is just about set to open this month, and Eat It Detroit had an exclusive walk-through and photo session of the hotel's new high-end restaurant, The Jefferson House. Chef Justin Vaiciunas, who is also behind the hotel's bar, Urban Cellars, told Nicole Rupersburg he hopes to snag a "Best Restaurant" nod in the first year of operation, although the verdict is still out on exactly which local publication he hoped to score the title from. [Eat It Detroit]

LANSING — There's a lot of craft beer in the state of Michigan, and don't think that Lansing hasn't noticed. A compilation of recent bills either passed through or pending in the State Legislature would give Michigan craft brewers and brewpub owners greater access to the booming beer market through changes in growler sales and on-site consumption points. Whatever the fate of these bills, there's more than 140 breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs in the state at the moment, meaning it might be time for the brewers to get political. [MLive]

DOWNTOWN / NEW CENTER — As a kind of epic closer to their 2013 Hotels Week, Curbed Detroit features a write-up of Detroit's finest hotel bars in a bid to get the weekend started right. Motor Bar (at the Westin Book Cadillac), Volt (at the Marriott Ren Cen) and La Musique (at the Hotel St. Regis) make appearances, as do some bars at hotels not necessarily known for their drinking splendor. Guests and non-guests welcome. [Curbed Detroit]