Grande Ballroom Draws Eyes, City Gets Interns

LA SALLE GARDENS — The venerable — and abandoned — Detroit nightlife institution, the Grande Ballroom, is getting attention after decades of underdevelopment. Howard Kramer, the curatorial director at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, used a Friday night discussion at the DIA to urge Detroiters to launch a digital fundraising campaign to restore the legendary space to its original glory. Once home to a thriving big band scene in the early part of the 20th Century, the Grande became a psychedelic wonderland in its later years, and was the site of the original premiere of The Who's rock-opera, "Tommy," in 1969. The dance hall closed in 1972. [MLive]

DOWNTOWN — The interns are here, and they play ping pong. Untold "thousands" (no specific total figures were given, although main Detroit booster Dan Gilbert's Quicken Loans has 1,175 interns alone) of interns are working and living in the city's downtown core, bringing new life to the center city. Winners in this equation include Campus Martius' Beach Bar & Grille, Cadillac Square's rotating cast of food carts and Woodward's Drive Table Tennis Social Club. No word yet as to how the interns found housing downtown. [DetNews]

BRIGHTMOOR / EASTERN MARKET — It's always a fun day when the Freep posts its weekly 'Freep Five' food list, and today is no exception. The focus this week is on house-made condiments, and the list is a good one. The tartar sauce at Scotty Simpson's Fish & Chips in Brightmoor and the legendary jams from Eastern Market's Russell Street Deli are the two entries from the city proper, and Ferndale's Fly Trap, Royal Oak's Bastone and Ypsilanti's Tmaz Taqueria round out a full and filling list of condiment contentment. [Freep]

[Scotty Simpson's Fish and Chips]