It’s too damn hot in Detroit. I felt sweat dripping down my forehead as I exited my car and walked to Slow’s Barbecue on Michigan Avenue. A cold pint of beer was calling my name as I inhaled a waft of roasting pig. Despite my hatred for hot weather, I couldn’t help but smile as I walked in.
Slow roasting. Time and care. Hot smoke rising and engulfing a slab of tepid pork. Changing it gradually. The proteins inside slowly unwinding and breaking apart releasing millions of new chemicals into the meat and air.
It takes time to make good barbecue, time and the right setting.Slow seems to have found both. Since 2005 it has become a culinary mecca for fans of sloppy sweet barbecue and has drawn national attention for it’s delicious succulent meats. The local draw has been noteworthy too: Slow’s has become a magnet for terrified suburbanites who would rather play Russian roulette than cross 8 mile.
As I seated myself at the bar I pulled out my phone and checked in on foursquare. I pulled up the tip section and chuckled as I read “Slow’s is where white people go to feel safe”. Hmmm... now there is food for thought. I often like mulling over social problems like gentrification while nibbling on ribs and drinking beer, so I ordered a pint (Espresso Love Breakfast Stout, Arbor Brewing) and began to ponder these tough questions.
Slows is an archetypal example of an overall trend in the city: suburbanites buying a spot and turning it around. The owner, Philip Cooley, is a well known Detroit booster. He’s spent time improving the surrounding area including the median across from the restaurant and working on a park in front of the old train station. He’s often held up as a poster child for “New Detroit”. When Johnny Knoxville came to Detroit to film a documentary about the city Cooley was one of the people that he interviewed. Watching the film you can see a definite glow in his eye as he talks about the city and he remains committed to improving it.
Detroit has a long history of being wary of suburban influence and think it’s these tensions that drive people to criticize places like Slow’s. There is a very valid concern that we’re just bring the suburbs back into the city, and in doing so not really fixing the social problems of the financial devastated areas. But this argument quickly falls apart, Detroit is huge! The cities of Boston, Manhattan and San Francisco can fit inside Detroit. It would take a substantial spike in population in order for the housing costs to rise that drastically and the local economy would flourish on the way.
I sat pondering all of this while waiting for a friend to join me for another round. I noticed the restaurant was picking up in pace as more and more chipper families walked in. A birthday cake cruised through the restaurant and landed in front of a smiling WASP. A fedora clad woman with freakishly white teeth took a picture of herself with a friend. All of these chipper people made me order another pint (Rumination IPA, Stone Brewing Co.).
Yeah, I guess we all look the same. But if everyone is looking happy? Is that so bad?
So take your suburbanite buddies to Slow’s. Get them hooked on the barbecue. Buy them a nice pint of a local beer and have a great time. Barbecue won’t solve all of the worlds problems but a sincere interest in our communities will sure help.
Slow roasting. Time and care. Hot smoke rising and engulfing a slab of tepid pork. Changing it gradually. The proteins inside slowly unwinding and breaking apart releasing millions of new chemicals into the meat and air.
It takes time to make good barbecue, time and the right setting.Slow seems to have found both. Since 2005 it has become a culinary mecca for fans of sloppy sweet barbecue and has drawn national attention for it’s delicious succulent meats. The local draw has been noteworthy too: Slow’s has become a magnet for terrified suburbanites who would rather play Russian roulette than cross 8 mile.
As I seated myself at the bar I pulled out my phone and checked in on foursquare. I pulled up the tip section and chuckled as I read “Slow’s is where white people go to feel safe”. Hmmm... now there is food for thought. I often like mulling over social problems like gentrification while nibbling on ribs and drinking beer, so I ordered a pint (Espresso Love Breakfast Stout, Arbor Brewing) and began to ponder these tough questions.
Slows is an archetypal example of an overall trend in the city: suburbanites buying a spot and turning it around. The owner, Philip Cooley, is a well known Detroit booster. He’s spent time improving the surrounding area including the median across from the restaurant and working on a park in front of the old train station. He’s often held up as a poster child for “New Detroit”. When Johnny Knoxville came to Detroit to film a documentary about the city Cooley was one of the people that he interviewed. Watching the film you can see a definite glow in his eye as he talks about the city and he remains committed to improving it.
Detroit has a long history of being wary of suburban influence and think it’s these tensions that drive people to criticize places like Slow’s. There is a very valid concern that we’re just bring the suburbs back into the city, and in doing so not really fixing the social problems of the financial devastated areas. But this argument quickly falls apart, Detroit is huge! The cities of Boston, Manhattan and San Francisco can fit inside Detroit. It would take a substantial spike in population in order for the housing costs to rise that drastically and the local economy would flourish on the way.
I sat pondering all of this while waiting for a friend to join me for another round. I noticed the restaurant was picking up in pace as more and more chipper families walked in. A birthday cake cruised through the restaurant and landed in front of a smiling WASP. A fedora clad woman with freakishly white teeth took a picture of herself with a friend. All of these chipper people made me order another pint (Rumination IPA, Stone Brewing Co.).
Yeah, I guess we all look the same. But if everyone is looking happy? Is that so bad?
So take your suburbanite buddies to Slow’s. Get them hooked on the barbecue. Buy them a nice pint of a local beer and have a great time. Barbecue won’t solve all of the worlds problems but a sincere interest in our communities will sure help.
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