There is a restaurant (steak house) in Birmingham which has a grand piano in the attached lounge. If we met on a Sunday afternoon the lounge is very slow. Manager might allow us to use the piano and have coffee, desserts, mingle etc..

A couple of years ago, I was hosting out of state pianists. I inquired and and was given approval by management for a get together of this nature on a Sun. afternoon...however our group ended up changing plans.

I'm not sure this would be acceptable to everyone, but its just a thought. If interested, I could inquire.

Teri

Birmingham is a very nice location and is fine with me!

(This venue sounds less complicated -as we'd have to deal with Kerrytown rental and bring our own refreshments...and with only 5 or so people- doesn't sound worth the effort...)

I called the Birmingham steak house I was referring to, and sadly found that the piano has been removed from their lounge - slated to be placed in a new restaurant opening next month. :-(

So.. I am calling other venues to check on feasability of us getting together informally around a piano. There is a place in Madison Heights I know of (small steak and seafood restaurant called "Boodles")which I will check out... and I have messages in at establishments in Birmingham (Beau Jack's), Troy (Charlie's Crab) and Dearborn (Dearborn Inn).

I'll post an update later this week concerning outcome..

Teri

I'm still interested.

If you want a more accurate count of people who are interested, you might consider PM'ing the people who expressed interest at the beginning of this thread, but haven't responded to the most recent plans. They posted a while ago, but a lot of people read this forum only infrequently.

Nan W

Here's one option so far...:

I just spoke with a manager at Beau Jacks near on 15 Mile Road near corner of Telegraph in Bloomfield Hills. He gave approval for us meeting from 4:00-5:00pm on a Sunday - with advance notice provided. The piano is located in the bar area (which is also smoking section). He said we could alternate playing the piano as long as its not "loud rock music"
(:-) Classical, Jazz, New Age is just fine. This bar opens at 4pm which is why we can't meet earlier...and dinner crowd increases after 5pm.

I will email other options as I become aware of them. Charlies Crab in Troy is my next call, but this might be too far east for some...

If someone finds options closer to Novi, Ann Arbor, I would be happy to travel there for a gathering. Sounds like this will be alot of fun!

Teri R.

Hey Teri, thanks for making so many calls! Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Ann Arbor, (or elsewhere) is all fine with me. I'll let you know if I think of something else.