An unusual dog treat born when a rottweiler dropped a business idea into his owner's lap four years ago is being turned out of a bakehouse in Grosse Pointe Park. Cohiba's Beer Bones, made from the nutrient-rich, hardy and apparently tasty by-products of beer brewing, leave the ovens at Mack and Maryland and end up on the shelves of dozens of metro Detroit stores. Locally, Cohiba's Beer Bones can be found at businesses such as Lou's Pet Shop, Pointe Pet Supply, Alger's, Oxford Beverage & Deli and others. The bones are named after Cohiba, the dog that decided to lap up the leftovers of a batch …

Don't think you're an artist? Estela Boudreau begs to differ, and if she could get you into her Galeria Mariposa in Grosse Pointe Woods, a place she calls the "vortex of creativity," she just might commence to converting the self-doubters. "People believe I am an artist and they are not. They say, 'How do you that? I could never do that.' I say, 'How can I be created different from you?' What I do is get them to open up to see they are creative, that art is part of our spirit. As they open up they are absolutely amazed by what they can create." She helps them open up, to see it they are more …

Trader Joe’s in the Village is getting a makeover that will make it feel so Grosse Pointe. And that’s the point. The Monrovia, CA-based chain is moving away from its themed interiors that typically have a beachy, tropical paradise feel to a look that is reflective of the community each individual store calls home. For Grosse Pointe, that means sidewalk scenes that speak to the Village – you’ll see one in a mural behind the tasting counter. You’ll see in the street signs added to each checkout lane – all of them streets in the City – University, Lakeland, Neff.  Three artists on staff at the …

Over the years the concession stand at Windmill Pointe Park has gone by different names: the snack shack or the snack bar, the food hut or simply the concession stand. Its more formal names, Jo Jo's and Abraham's Oasis, among others, have come and gone, but it's not so much what's in the old names, but in the family name that has taken over the operation. The new operators, the Muer family, have some street cred when it comes to restaurants. Mary Lou Muer is the wife and business partner to David Muer, owner/operator of the Blue Pointe restaurant in Detroit for more than 30 years. David is a …

Michael Richman's eye-catching Jeep--wrapped in a Barney purple and slime green ad for the Tutor Doctor--can be seen zipping around town, throughout the Grosse Pointes, St. Clair Shores, Harper Woods and a handful of other cities. It's probably safe to say that some students who see him--or any one of his roster of tutors--coming, just want to look the other way and pretend not to see, especially when he turns up at their door for a consultation, something Richman does for free before he matches tutor with pupil. “Sometimes, when we first start, I’ll ask the student, ‘So you want a tutor?’ …

If Fou d’ amour, a bakery and café whose recipes wind up on dozens, if not hundreds, of Pointers’ tables each week, had a motto or a tagline there would be no need to take a fancy or French approach. For a business whose name means Crazy in Love, it could be simply: Dinner driving you crazy? Let us handle it! It’s what Michele Makowski and Darcy Towns, partners and co-owners of the bakery, catering and dinner-take out spot that turns five this year, do nearly every day of the week. That is make dinner for someone else, not their own families. Each has two children, each work long days and …

Meet Allen Fender, the hands behind Pointe Relief. He takes his massage therapy around town to festivals and other public events. He and his table (or chair) do their work in the privacy of homes around town, in one-on-one appointments and at group parties, girls night outs, showers, etc.. On Saturdays Fender and his chair are posted at Do, By Hair Co. on Kercheval in the Park, for chair massages. The 23-year-old Roseville native fell in love with the Pointes when he moved here at age 16 to work in a salon. "It was an amazing experience, coming here…I learned a lot working in Grosse Pointe. I…

If you’ve been around The Village lately you might have noticed a towering Eiffel Tower on a sign filling the window of the former Burger Pointe, a restaurant passing that some Grosse Pointers still lament. But there may be reason to move on--on to what might be the opposite of a burger joint: a creperie! The poster with the imposing tower speaks to passersby in French and English and invites them to experience What Crepe, a funky, Euro-inspired crepe restaurant now serving its savory- and sweet-filled delicacies in downtown Royal Oak and Birmingham. If a lease is signed as expected, says …

What unfolds before you on a drive down Mack or Kercheval avenues, the Pointes two main business drags, is mostly just a blur of stores, offices and other businesses. Some stand out more than others. Their signs, facades, etc. but in cities like the Pointes, the storefront standard is a unified, cohesive look that, frankly, can add up to bland. While other cities' storefronts and window displays are drenched in creativity, uniqueness, comedy or drama (live mannequins), that level of artistic style is at a trickle in the Pointes. However, if you slow down and look closer there are local …