Michael Symon’s restaurant Roast in the Book Cadillac is a lovely place to grab a place at the bar and do a little work. They’ve recently sweetened the pot, so to speak, by introducing their Cocktail Hour.
Michael Symon's drink.
They launched it all this past week with a festive event, “The Return of the Cocktail Hour.” I was there along with my Drink Tank colleagues Diane and Michael Geiger to get the lowdown and try some of the bar food specials (since we’d all tried the drinks there before).
While there I had a chance to chat with Symon about cocktail hour, and you can read that interview over in this week’s Model D.
They’ve hit all the right Drink Tank notes with this, and for those of you looking for a place to settle down in late afternoon and get a little work done, the Westin wi-fi signal is solid and free. The bartenders are great. I tried out the drink Michael Symon said was his favorite - gin with Campari and orange - which is indeed fantastic. And then the friendly bartender suggested I try a slight variation in the negroni (gin/Campari/sweet vermouth), but with a splash of lemonade in it. Also fantastic!
The regular cocktail hour there will be civilized and without sensation, but the launch night was a real hoopla. In addition to a festive crowd, complimentary cocktail and free nibbles, there were free temporary tattoos from the fellas at Eternal Tattoos. From this we get our cautionary tale.
I had a bit of an attitude about fake tattoos until I had a manhattan and an absinthe in me. My curiosity piqued, I went over and asked them if they could do a specific tattoo, a tattoo that is unsuitable for a family blog like this. They did it with gusto. The temporary tattoos aren’t there permanently, just on Thursdays through May. But every weekday, you can get some work done and get a great deal too.
As a special Drink Tank reader bonus, be one of the first ten readers to email your address to detroitdrinktank@gmail.com and get a pass for a free drink to enjoy at the Roast Cocktail Hour!
Roast Cocktail Hour, weekdays from 4-6 at the bar. $3 bites, $4 select beer and wine, $5 select pours. Don’t overdo it though, you’ll end up with a fake tattoo (not for genteel viewing, but you can see it here).
May 12, 2009 at 7:19 pm
I have 2 comments.
1. I’m still traumatized by Joe’s fake tattoo. But will hopefully get over it soon.
2. The bartenders at Roast are fabulous, FYI. They get my vote of “best in town”, for sure.
May 18, 2009 at 3:57 pm
[...] Model D article and blogger at Detroit Drink Tank, wrote about Roast’s cocktail hour here, and interviewed bar manager Frank Ritz here. To read another blogger’s take on the Roast [...]