Fall 2008
The Heritage Company II Architectural Artifacts
As usual, my favorite season flew by. Thank god I didn’t feel compelled to ruin it this year by dragging two tons of metal and wood across the country and standing in a field trying to sell it in 100 degree weather. What me getting smarter as I get older? Fat chance, more like three, brave, creative souls opening their own businesses in metro Detroit rescued me from myself and challenged the Heritage Company to find them things to love and bring to life to suit their personal visions. What fun we had hunting this summer. Going no further than a tank of gas, we are picking up salvage for them and you to bend to your will.
Supino Pizzeria: It always helps a new restaurant when the food is good to start with. It doesn’t hurt if the chef /owner
is the world’s nicest and most appreciative man. Dave Mancini has been perfecting an authentic brick oven Tuscan Pizza in his Detroit apartment kitchens for years and meanwhile making a living as a physical therapist. This winter he secured an 1800’s storefront in the Eastern Market with 13’ ceilings and we began planning for his pizzeria. He handed me a modest budget and the complete freedom to remake a failed former pizzeria into a completely different and fun place to come and eat. Out came the drop-in ceiling and clutter and up went the tomato soup-colored paint and paneling fashioned from reclaimed, walnut-stained school doors. We created lighting by sticking factory fixtures inside upside down galvanized tubs. Tables, chairs, stools and a chalkboard we rescued from a defunct GM plant and an old school look cool and were a bargain to boot. But, the piece de resistance is the art on the walls. Using old bakery drawers found in Hamtramck and metal scraps we made wall art resembling pizzeria cuisine. The pizza is more than good, it’s sublime. Add to that his own family dessert and manicotti recipes and you’ve got a new great place to eat in the city and it’s thumbs up from our picky kids!
The Annex: It always helps when the owners are young and gutsy! Just when you thought everyone creative was on their way out of town to somewhere cooler, in walks Doug and Annie. Boy did I feel old. What they dreamed, an accessory store as cool as any they had seen in New York or LA, they made real and right here in Royal Oak. And I mean just right, right down to the floor joists they had replaced and covered with wood flooring and up to the as-found vintage tin ceiling they installed. Forget catalogue ordered shelves and cabinets, every display piece is hand-picked, vintage and unique. An ornate-carved piano is the central display. Add to that old armoires, a drafting table, Victorian seating, a wine rack, commercial kitchen equipment, pulleys, a pommel horse we made into a bench, porky pig the playground toy…Who does that? The goods are just as unusual: jewelry, hats, scarves, belts, shoes, hand bags, home goods and outrageous books to name a few and it’s equal time for men and women. The windows change with mood, season and collection, just like New York. And, it’s not just a store, it’s a hang out with a help-your-self samovar of freshly brewed exotic ice tea from a neighboring café and the invitation to lounge with their dog and watch the fashion show on the flat screen. If you don’t know what’s au courant, you will when you leave there. And, of course they’re on line, in the know and ready to hook you up. Every week something new is in and we are off and running to find something even more outlandish than last time with which to display it…go there, be somebody.
Doug and Annie
The Annex
738 S. Washington
At Lincoln
Downtown Royal Oak
(248) 808-6843
http://www.theannexonline.com/
So, we have two new great places to send you shopping and dining and now we are off and running to help Hollywood make movies with the best of Detroit. Run don’t walk to find out what’s fresh and on the red carpet at the heritage company this fall and we’ll try not to brag about the stars hanging out with our stuff (soon to be bff: Ann Margaret, Christina Ricci….Jack Black?! God! I hope he can figure out how to drive around the block to the shop!!) -- marisa
The Heritage Company II Architectural Artifacts
As usual, my favorite season flew by. Thank god I didn’t feel compelled to ruin it this year by dragging two tons of metal and wood across the country and standing in a field trying to sell it in 100 degree weather. What me getting smarter as I get older? Fat chance, more like three, brave, creative souls opening their own businesses in metro Detroit rescued me from myself and challenged the Heritage Company to find them things to love and bring to life to suit their personal visions. What fun we had hunting this summer. Going no further than a tank of gas, we are picking up salvage for them and you to bend to your will.
Supino Pizzeria: It always helps a new restaurant when the food is good to start with. It doesn’t hurt if the chef /owner
is the world’s nicest and most appreciative man. Dave Mancini has been perfecting an authentic brick oven Tuscan Pizza in his Detroit apartment kitchens for years and meanwhile making a living as a physical therapist. This winter he secured an 1800’s storefront in the Eastern Market with 13’ ceilings and we began planning for his pizzeria. He handed me a modest budget and the complete freedom to remake a failed former pizzeria into a completely different and fun place to come and eat. Out came the drop-in ceiling and clutter and up went the tomato soup-colored paint and paneling fashioned from reclaimed, walnut-stained school doors. We created lighting by sticking factory fixtures inside upside down galvanized tubs. Tables, chairs, stools and a chalkboard we rescued from a defunct GM plant and an old school look cool and were a bargain to boot. But, the piece de resistance is the art on the walls. Using old bakery drawers found in Hamtramck and metal scraps we made wall art resembling pizzeria cuisine. The pizza is more than good, it’s sublime. Add to that his own family dessert and manicotti recipes and you’ve got a new great place to eat in the city and it’s thumbs up from our picky kids!Supino Pizzeria
The Annex: It always helps when the owners are young and gutsy! Just when you thought everyone creative was on their way out of town to somewhere cooler, in walks Doug and Annie. Boy did I feel old. What they dreamed, an accessory store as cool as any they had seen in New York or LA, they made real and right here in Royal Oak. And I mean just right, right down to the floor joists they had replaced and covered with wood flooring and up to the as-found vintage tin ceiling they installed. Forget catalogue ordered shelves and cabinets, every display piece is hand-picked, vintage and unique. An ornate-carved piano is the central display. Add to that old armoires, a drafting table, Victorian seating, a wine rack, commercial kitchen equipment, pulleys, a pommel horse we made into a bench, porky pig the playground toy…Who does that? The goods are just as unusual: jewelry, hats, scarves, belts, shoes, hand bags, home goods and outrageous books to name a few and it’s equal time for men and women. The windows change with mood, season and collection, just like New York. And, it’s not just a store, it’s a hang out with a help-your-self samovar of freshly brewed exotic ice tea from a neighboring café and the invitation to lounge with their dog and watch the fashion show on the flat screen. If you don’t know what’s au courant, you will when you leave there. And, of course they’re on line, in the know and ready to hook you up. Every week something new is in and we are off and running to find something even more outlandish than last time with which to display it…go there, be somebody.Doug and Annie
The Annex
738 S. Washington
At Lincoln
Downtown Royal Oak
(248) 808-6843
http://www.theannexonline.com/
So, we have two new great places to send you shopping and dining and now we are off and running to help Hollywood make movies with the best of Detroit. Run don’t walk to find out what’s fresh and on the red carpet at the heritage company this fall and we’ll try not to brag about the stars hanging out with our stuff (soon to be bff: Ann Margaret, Christina Ricci….Jack Black?! God! I hope he can figure out how to drive around the block to the shop!!) -- marisa
