Detroit's Coney dog premiers in West Hollywood

Detroit's Coney dog premiers in West Hollywood
6:37 PM, Jun. 19, 2011

BY KELLEY L. CARTER

DETROIT FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER

WEST HOLLYWOOD – It was just before noon today, and a line of characters, many of them dressed in U-M, MSU, Red Wings and Lions and other Detroit-themed garb, were wrapped around the corner on Sunset Boulevard, waiting for a little Motor City flavor in the heart of movie-making country.

The reason for the excitement was the opening day for the 100-seat Coney Dog, a new Detroit-themed restaurant that has set up shop on one of Hollywood’s most well-known drags, next to Whisky a Go Go rock club and just down the street from the Chateau Marmont, a longstanding celebrity haunt.

Detroit-styled coneys, loose burgers, Sanders, Stroh’s and Faygo are all on the menu, and before it even opened the restaurant became a social-media rallying point among former Michiganders now living in the Los Angeles area.

Admitting to first-day jitters was Birmingham-born Mike Binder, the actor-writer-director who owns the restaurant with several other Michigan-connected big shots, including comic-actor Tim Allen, director Sam Raimi and Detroit Red Wing Kris Draper.

“It feels like the night before I shoot a movie. I hope nothing goes wrong,” said Binder, who greeted restaurant patrons and made sure they were enjoying their dogs. “It's like making a movie because of all of the attention to detail. I had bun steamers flown in from Michigan, I toured the hot dog factories … even got the right silverware. We wanted to do it right.”

The inside will look familiar to ex-pats. The 100 seats are a mixture of booths, bar seats and long communal tables, a layout not unlike Lafayette Coney Island in Detroit. There are photos of famous Michigan coney locations. Four large flat screens hang on the walls -- many in the opening-day crowd said they'd be back later this week to watch the Detroit Tigers, who will be in town for a series against the Dodgers.

Binder said because of health inspection issues, it was unclear if the restaurant was going to open as planned today, a soft opening geared primarily for those who had connected with the restaurant through Facebook. “But then they gave me the go ahead to open and I thought it was going to be a slow week. Then I thought, ‘Oh my gosh! The Tigers play this week!’ It’s going to be nuts, but clearly this is all meant to be.”

Dave Kensler, 33, of White Lake Township, was first in line with his wife Tiffani Kensler, 30, of Detroit.

The two have lived in Studio City for almost 8 years, and usually make a coney stop when they visit Michigan. They got in line almost two hours before the restaurant opened -- Dave wore a Tigers cap and a MSU hockey T-shirt; Tiffani wore a U-M tee. They are alums of the rival universities and met and married in Michigan.

“I love it. I miss coneys; I miss Detroit in general. It's almost like a little oasis of Detroit here in West Hollywood,” Dave Kensler said. “It's not only the coneys, but it's the Vernors and the Stroh’s and the Faygos and people who are calling it pop.” And as for how they taste?

“It feels like home,” Kensler said, piercing the air with his fist and talking around a bite of his coney dog.

FROM THE DETROIT FREE PRESS: http://www.freep.com/article/20110619/FEATURES02/110619014/1027/FEATURES/Detroit-s-Coney-dog-premiers-West-Hollywood

INTRO FOUND IN APR 13 ISSUE OF THE FREE PRESS:


Will Hollywood dig Detroit coney dogs?
1:47 AM, Apr. 13, 2011

BY SYLVIA RECTOR

DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Can the coney cut it in Hollywood? Will the loose burger find love on Sunset Boulevard?

Actor-comedian-director Mike Binder has no doubt they'll be a smash hit when he and several other famous Detroit ex-pat pals open a 24-hour coney restaurant late next month in the heart of Hollywood's nightclub district.

The 65-seat Coney Dog will serve natural-casing hot dogs and spicy chili inspired by Lafayette Coney Island, along with Faygo pop, Better Made chips, Stroh's beer and several Detroit-area microbrews, said Binder, a Birmingham native.

"We're doing it right," he added. Joining him in the project as investors, he said, are comedian Tim Allen, "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi, comedian Adam Sandler, Red Wings center Kris Draper and former University of Michigan football player Braylon Edwards, now with the New York Jets. All but Sandler have Detroit roots.

News of the project has created a frenzy on the restaurant's Facebook page, where more than 3,000 former Detroiters in the Los Angeles area and beyond have logged on to plead for a quick opening.

Craving coneys in Hollywood

"As soon as I got out here, I said, 'If anyone ever put a coney island on Sunset Boulevard, it would be huge,' " said Binder, who came to Hollywood 25 years ago as an aspiring comic. "And as the years went on ... I had so many other Detroit friends say the same thing."

To get them all a coney fix -- and introduce other people in the entertainment world to Detroit's most famous delicacy -- Binder has had coneys and chili shipped to his home once a year for a huge, all-day hot dog party in his backyard.

As many as 400 people would show up, "and they'd all just love it," Binder said.

Then one day, he said, he was driving down Sunset Boulevard and saw the perfect location for Hollywood's first coney restaurant: a new building going up at the corner of Sunset and Clark in West Hollywood, next door to Whisky a Go Go, across the street from the Viper Room and two doors from the Roxy -- "in the middle of all the big rock 'n' roll nightclubs."

"On weekends and even Wednesday and Thursday, the street is jammed. There's nothing like it," said Binder, who has directed movies such as "Reign Over Me" and "The Upside of Anger" and acted in numerous film and TV projects.

The white, one-story building with rooftop parking had "this big rotunda window, and the guys could cook in the window like they do in Detroit," he said.

Inside, the restaurant will look like "a 2011 Los Angeles version of Lafayette" -- the model on which he's basing Coney Dog. The restaurant's formal name doesn't mention Detroit, but its logo prominently features the words "Detroit Style."

Binder's investors are mostly former Detroiters like himself.

"I got Tim Allen to invest with me, and I got Sam Raimi, and Adam Sandler is a friend, and I called Kris Draper from the Red Wings and Braylon Edwards," who played football at the University of Michigan and is now with the New York Jets. Sandler is the only one without a Detroit connection.

Draper said he couldn't pass up the chance to be involved in a project with his friend Binder in a group that included "names ... like Tim Allen and Adam Sandler. ... There was no hesitation."

He also said he's looking forward to visiting the eatery after the Stanley Cup playoffs. "It would be very cool to walk in ... and know, 'This is my restaurant.' "

Binder is planning a grand opening for a Saturday at the end of May or early June, with a guest list that will include scores of entertainers who have had coneys in his backyard or at Lafayette, when they've come to Detroit for film projects.

"I've turned so many people on to coney islands -- Tom Cruise, Owen Wilson, Will Smith" and many others, he said. "Kevin Costner came to one of our hot dog parties and called the next day and said, 'Where can I get those hot dogs?' "

Binder's natural-casing franks will come from Winter Sausage in Eastpointe, which has been Lafayette's supplier for decades. Lafayette closely guards its chili recipe, but Binder says his will be close in flavor. He'll also be serving other Detroit mainstays.

"We'll have all the flavors of Faygo, Better Made chips ... and we'll be the only distributor of Stroh's beer on the West Coast."

To be sure the food is authentic, his chef and manager will be Nick Vlassopoulos, whose father owns Apollo Coney Island in Sterling Heights.

Faygo and Coke will be served in bottles along with a glass of ice, and the restaurant will be full-service.

"You will sit down and people will serve you with silverware and plates. We're doing it right," Binder said.

The menu will be limited to coneys and loose burgers, without the Greek salads and other items typical of suburban coneys. However, there also will be vegetarian dogs and vegetarian chili "because this is Los Angeles." And besides, he said, "my daughter and my wife are vegetarians, so I had to do it."

Free Press staff writer Helene St. James contributed to this story. Contact Sylvia Rector: 313-222-5026 or srector@freepress.com

Coney Food Wars

Two Detroit icons, American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island, are the focus of an episode on Food Wars, a cable show from the Travel Channel. This is a true rivalry between two neighboring restaurants.