A 'Promising Start' at Stache; Diamond Jim Brady's Offers 'Polished' Old Detroit Flavors

Serena Maria Daniels finds throwback flavors at Diamond Jim Brady's Detroit: "Amid the frenzy to introduce Detroiters to the newest culinary trends ... you have restaurateurs who want to give you a taste of Old Detroit, but with a polished, modern look." This is the case with Diamond Jim Brady's in Royal Oak, writes the critic. The venue offers classics from the original Detroit restaurant, including three-bite jumbo shrimp cocktails, Charlie Brown burgers, 7 Mile Caesars, and Jim Brady's chili, which "has a nice bean-to-meat ratio and the kind of fiery heat you might expect in a recipe from the American Southwest (a good thing in our book)." Entrees, however, received mixed reviews. According to Daniels, the Chicken a la Brady was a flop that "resembled a rubbery airline chicken." [Metro Times]

Molly Abraham feasts on sandwiches at Stache International: Although Stache International smokes its own meats, the eatery's menu also "offers something for vegetarians, including a changing array of green salads made with fresh ingredients from the nearby market, and spring rolls, known as firecracker bites, filled with sweet jalapeno jam and a pair of cheeses, to be dolloped with two house-made hot sauces." The critic favored the Happy Drunk, "a combination of the delicious house-made sausage marinated in, of all things, beer and butter, topped with the mild sauerkraut and brown mustard on a bun." Stache, she writes, "is off to a promising start." Two and a half stars. [Detroit News]