Jena Brooker

Detroit

Environment and Food Reporter at BridgeDetroit

Environment & food reporter @BridgeDet313 | Previously @grist, @planetdetroit

Articles

New growth for Cadillac Urban Gardens in Southwest Detroit

2 weeks ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

A parking lot-turned-garden in Southwest Detroit is growing several tons of free produce each year for residents in a neighborhood with some of the highest rates of food insecurity in the city. And the May addition of a new greenhouse and electricity at the lot at 4601 Merritt St. will allow the garden to grow to new heights and serve more neighbors.
Southwest Detroit parking lot grows unexpected harvest

2 weeks ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

FUN FACT: Michigan ranks sixth in the nation for wine production. Hey, it’s JB!A few weeks ago I had the distinct pleasure of presenting on environment and media at Yale University’s New Horizons Conservation Conference, focused on diversity, equity and inclusion within the conservation field and assessing critical gaps. On the shuttle from the airport to campus, I was surprised to see a fellow Detroiter – Dolores Perales, co-executive director of Cadillac Urban Gardens.
Wine Club for Detroiters

3 weeks ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

FUN FACT: Michigan is one of the only places in the world that makes ice wine. Hey, it’s JB!I eat out perhaps more frequently than the average person and I still find myself intimidated by certain spaces in the food scene, one of them being the wine bar. “Biodynamic” and “natural” wines, tinned fish, crusty sourdough, and a bill more than a nice dinner out – my experience with tinned fish starts and ends with my grandpa cooking sardines and seasoned rice as a low-cost meal.
Detroiter starts wine club to bridge communities

3 weeks ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

A new wine club founded by a Detroiter seeks to make the city’s burgeoning wine industry an inclusive one. In the last year, Detroit has seen two new wine shops open: Vesper Bookstore & Wine Bar in Core City and Bar Chenin downtown in the Siren building. The additions join standout Paramita Sound, named one of the 2024 USA TODAY Bars of the Year, long-time favorite outdoor wine garden Motor City Wine and newcomers, like Ladder 4 Wine Bar, which sources food from local farms.
E. Warren kitchen for rent

1 month ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

FUN (or not?) FACT: There are no longer any Pizza Hut locations in Detroit. Hey, it’s JB!Last Friday, I toured a new commercial kitchen in East English Village expected to open in June. E. Warren Development Corp. broke ground about a year ago on the renovation project at the site of a former Pizza Hut.
New kitchen rental space coming to Detroit's east side

1 month ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

Detroit chefs and small food businesses looking to rent a commercial kitchen will soon have a new option on the city’s east side. A shared, commercial kitchen from the E. Warren Development Corp. is set to open in East English Village the first week of June. It will offer unique benefits like local produce for renters to purchase, a compost program, and a service window to turn the kitchen into a pop-up take-out restaurant.
It’s the season for invasive plants in Detroit

1 month ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

It’s the season for invasive plant species and the first spring for a new addition to Michigan’s watchlist. Lesser celandine in July, in recognition of the threat it poses to the ecosystem. The plant, which grows low to the ground and produces yellow buttercup flowers, spreads rapidly, out-competing native wildflowers while starving native insects and contributing to riverbank erosion.
New Greek-Lebanese restaurant

1 month ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

FUN FACT: Michigan has some of the strictest hot dog laws in the country, which is why Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in 1994 that she never eats hot dogs outside of Michigan. Hey, it’s JB!A new Lebanese-Greek restaurant from the owners of Woodbridge Pub is set to open in the first week of June. Toum and Tzatziki, which will be open until 3 a.m., is inspired by the unique backgrounds of pub owners Yianni Linardakis and Ibrahim Chahrour.
Woodbridge Pub owners opening new Greek-Lebanese restaurant

1 month ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

A new restaurant will soon bring late-night Greek and Lebanese cuisine to the Woodbridge neighborhood across from Wayne State University. Toum and Tzatziki is inspired by the unique backgrounds of Woodbridge Pub owners Yanni Dionisopoulos and Ibrahim Chahrour. Dionisopoulos is from Chania, a city on the northwest coast of Greece, while Chahrour is from Nabatieh in southern Lebanon. Both came from working parent households and spent their childhood with their grandmothers.
plant trees, bike, or attend a film screening

1 month ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

Bike around the cityâ€™s east side to monitor pollution, plant giant sequoias in Poletown, learn how to make public comments at a City Council meeting, or attend English and Spanish film screenings in recognition of national Air Quality Awareness Week.Â Clear the Air, a coalition of local community and environmental justice advocacy groups, is hosting events in metro Detroit from May 1-17 in alignment with the awareness campaign established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 18 years...