If you’ve said “let’s do dinner” to a friend recently, you have no excuse not to make it happen — the Let’s Do Dinner Detroit restaurant week starts Sunday, with specialty prix-fixe menus at more than 20 eateries and a donation to Forgotten Harvest for each meal.
Also on the menu this weekend and beyond: a Scandinavian festival, a documentary film, an artist talk, a day dedicated to mapping Detroit, trivia for bird brains and more. Send the Get Busy roundup to your people and make plans to do dinner or whatever you’re into.
Thursday
🍽️ If you’ve ever been intimidated by the recipes in a gourmet cookbook, why not let the chef who wrote them cook for you? Michigan chef Abra Berens serves some of her best recipes from her acclaimed cookbooks “Pulp,” Grist” and “Ruffage” at Frame in Hazel Park. $115.
🎷 The Detroit Sound Conservancy celebrates the history of the Graystone Ballroom at the Jam Handy with From the Ballroom to the Museum: Celebrating Black Resistance in the Graystone Collection. The event features reworked jazz compositions performed by Ali Jackson and the New Graystone Ensemble, as well as an exhibit, storytelling and refreshments. Free.
💼 Transgender Michigan hosts a job fair dedicated to the transgender community at the Affirmations LGBTQ+ community center in Ferndale, also featuring workshops and panels. Free.
🎹 Celebrate the “power, beauty and versatility” of Black artists with music by singer-songwriter-actor Lulu Fall and spoken word from some of Detroit’s enduring talents (including Nandi Comer and Scheherazade Washington Parrish) in BLK GOLD, hosted at The Cube in Midtown. $20-$40.
🗣️ Satisfy fascinations with urbanism and art at a Cranbrook Art Museum talk with Chicago artist and designer Norman Teague, who will explore “speculation” through a lens of Black space and freedom. Free.
This weekend
📽️ Join speaker Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian American human rights attorney and activist, at Trinosophes on Friday for a screening of the documentary “Radiance of Resistance.” It focuses on two young Palestinian activists in the occupied West Bank. The event is a fundraiser for the National Lawyers Guild’s Detroit and Michigan Chapter. $20-$25.
🦸 Motor City Comic Con comes to the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Friday through Sunday, with some big names attached — David Harbour, Billy Dee Williams, Harvey Guillén, Chris Parnell, Lorraine Bracco and Dermot Mulroney are just a few of them. From autograph signings to sketch duels and a kids cosplay contest, the weekend will be jam-packed. Adult tickets start at $30 with cheaper and some free tickets for kids.
⛪ On Saturday, commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Northern Negro Grass Roots Leadership Conference (which featured Malcolm X at Detroit’s Historic King Solomon Baptist Church) with an intergenerational conversation reflecting on what the historic gathering can illuminate for building revolutionary movements today. Join the panelists at The James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership on Detroit’s eastside, or stream it live. Free.
📜 Calling all writers, storytellers, historians and students interested in the ancient literature of Mesopotamia: Join the Chaldean Cultural Center for a day of engaging discussions and networking opportunities at the Beth Nahrain 2nd Annual Writers of Mesopotamia Conference on Saturday in Sterling Heights or online. Free.
🛍️ Check out the Scandinavian Market on Saturday at the Finnish Center & Hall in Farmington Hills. Enjoy live music by FinnFolk while you shop for art, clothing, jewelry, food and other imports. $2 donation at the door.
🪧 Find out the “Secrets of a Successful Organizer” — based on the eponymous Labor Notes book — at a Sunday workshop in Southwest Detroit. $15-$25; $0 for workers currently on strike.
📖 Join Rising Voices at 27th Letter Books on Sunday to celebrate Curtis Chin’s new memoir “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant.” The event pulls history into the present with a discussion about teaching the histories of Asian Americans, Black and Indigenous people of color in local classrooms. Free.
🎥 Find your peace with artist Cyrah Dardas on Sunday at Playground Detroit, where they’ll host a screening of their short film “To Each of Those, the Ones Who Leave” and a discussion of the film and their work, now on view at the gallery. Free.
🍽️ Sunday through Nov. 16, check out Let’s Do Dinner Detroit to enjoy a three-course meal while supporting Forgotten Harvest, no matter your budget. More than 20 of Detroit’s stalwarts and fine dining restaurants are offering prix-fixe meals throughout the week. $20-$75.
Next week
🦆 If you want to prove how much of a bird brain you are, join Detroit Audubon (soon-to-be Detroit Bird Alliance) on Wednesday at Brewery Faison for an evening of avian-based trivia. $20.
🗺️ Navigate your way to Taubman College’s Michigan Research Studio in Midtown for Detroit GIS Day on Wednesday. Matt A. Williams, Detroit’s senior advisor on neighborhood economic development, will give a keynote on how the city uses GIS, and a host of others will give “lightning” talks on mapping Detroit trails, businesses, properties, hidden waterways, elections and more. Cartographers-in-training can also register for workshops throughout the week. Free.
🕊️ “An Other World” author and diversity, equity and inclusion expert Hanif Fazal will facilitate a community conversation about community safety, belonging and inclusion, Nov. 16 at the Arab American National Museum. Free.
🍄 Open your mind with comedian Shane Mauss on Nov. 16 at the Senate Theater as he takes you on a comedic “trip” through his personal psychedelic use. It’s worth noting that there won’t be any psychedelics at this event. $35-$40.