Rick And Carlos Have Dinner; General Motors, Renault-Nissan Arrange 90-Day Money Back Guarantee
Rick and Carlos had dinner last night in Metro Detroit — and although folks may not know where, we do know they've now moved from an agreement to sit down and talk about an "alliance" — to an agreement to discuss for 90 days an "alliance." But for us anyway, the question of "where" they ate is much more interesting — and both parties are being very quiet about the location. To wit, our thoughts on potential Ren Cen restaurants for last nights dinner:
Coach Insignia: Top o' the Ren Cen to ya Carlos Ghosn! This up-scale modern restaurant at the top of the Ren Cen has a penthouse view of Metro Detroit. The fare fuses some of the best of American tastes with Asian and French cuisines — the perfect way to say "Hey, we're open to having the best of all of our worlds working together — we can be like 'Ebony and Ivory' and live together in perfect harmony." However, the high cost of the meal may leave certain spending-adverse CEO's wondering whether they'll be able to leave the table without bankruptcy protection.
Riverwalk Cafe: Like a Saab, this over-priced eatery looks good from the outside, what with the view of the riverfront — but as all who go know, it's nothing more than a hotel restaurant — despite the taglines to the contrary. This would be the perfect location — if one of them was just trying to screw the other.
Seldom Blues: The Freep's restaurant of the year. Detroit's premier jazz restaurant, combines live Jazz music and a cutting-edge contemporary menu featuring continental cuisine with a French flair. This would be Carlos Ghosn's best choice to remind Monsieur Wagoner how not only can all three companies work together — but look at how well they can do together when unified under one French roof. Start enjoying those escargot now, Rick.
Andiamo's: This Italian eatery's tagline is "What Italian's meant to be!" And oh, it is! Despite a Spaghetti Alla Andiamo that isn't quite as good as Lelli's or Mario's in its prime — the bolognese sauce is still simply to die for. And considering the Bloomfield Hills location of this restaurant (back when it was another famous Metro Detroit eatery named Machus Red Fox) was the last known sighting of Jimmy Hoffa — we think this is the best place possible for GM's CEO to put a li'l bit of a squeeze on the boisterous Brazillian-French-Lebanese Renault-Nissan CEO. You hear us, wise guy?
The RenCen Food Court: More than likely, the cash-strapped GM CEO took Carlos to the only place he could afford — the RenCen Food Court. With its neon signs and harsh fake lighting, this could be exactly the type of bargain basement dining spot Rick could use to say "Hey Carlos, we've got a lot of baggage — is this really the kind of thing you want hanging like an albatross over your neck?" Plus, we hear they have a Sbarro!
CEOs SET TIMETABLE: Ghosn, Wagoner meet, order 90-day review of proposal [Freep]
Related:
Here's Looking At You, Rick: Carlos "Big Man" Ghosn Heads To GM [internal]