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Fine Dining
Haute Cuisine |
HAUTE CUISINE BACCO A must dine for those in the know. An already hip and worthy hotspot, Bacco became the destination after being bestowed with HOUR Detroit’s 2005 Restaurant of the Year kudos. Chef stardom is shining on Luciano, the self-taught chef who grew up in his parents’ kitchen, the Fonte D’Amore. His chef-sense is becoming folklore; his signature dishes are aesthetically simple and emotionally complex. He works his flavors to excite the entrées, and his often-indulgent ingredients can elevate the plate to nirvana. The carpaccio, gleaming with truffle oil, illustrates this, as does the misto di pesce alla griglia (giant scampi, diver scallops, calamari and salmon). Once a year, the truffles arrive fresh, and you can indulge yourself in a risotto garnished with fresh tableside shaved truffles. Even the assertive presences of gorgonzola and amarone sauces don’t overwhelm the filet. Despite the white linens and felicitous service, this chomping ground remains casually comfortable. CAFÉ CORTINA One of the best and certainly one of the most romantic restaurants in the USA, Café Cortina is an amazing story. It was an intimate family restaurant when Rina Tonon started it in 1976, a cozy clandestine spot that had been the best-kept secret of foodies and lovers alike. Her children, Adrian and Giancarlo, who were weaned in the business and have marinara in their veins, have become amazingly adept restaurateurs, heading this family corporation. A commitment to excellence that has Cortina receiving no end of accolades, awards and national recognition. Still, there is no corporate feel here, rather a general feeling of love; fresh vegetables are still grown on the family garden out back, and a sense of all too rare warmth accompanies the four diamond service. Chef Hoffa’s skills are amazing; combining garden fresh with superior ingredients, he takes the simple cuisine of the Italian countryside to empyrean heights. The environs are warm as well, especially when aglow from the centerpiece fireplace, and the patio is as inviting as al fresco dining can be. Like the fine wines they serve, Cortina has aged to perfection. Reservations are in order, this is no longer a best-kept secret and an experience that’s far too delightful to be savored only on special occasions. COACH INSIGNIA Perched atop GM RenCen headquarters, the second highest restaurant in America has food and service as memorable as the panoramic view of the city. Named after the Fisher family’s namesake wine, Coach is considered the crown jewel of the Matt Prentice collection, and wisely follows his recipe; high-end cuisine that’s creative, accessible and priced consciously. The menu is a meld of daringly whimsical and tried and true traditional, often blurring the lines between. Example, the Dueling Foie Gras comes seared with a banana brulée, the pâté is on a brioche crostini with chipolte cherry jam. San Mazono tomato bisque comes with a mini grilled cheese. The restaurant in the sky offers a selection of aged beef (Stockyard’s), as well as a variety of fresh seafood (remember, they operate Northern Lakes Seafood as well) and a sprinkling of special plates just in case a vegetarian or lamb lover shows up. It’s all teamed up with delightful spins on the sauces, starches and sides. Master Sommelier Madeline Triffon has meticulously assembled an impressive collection of wine; we believe it is large enough to try a new one every day of the year. CUISINE A comfy clandestine gem. Chef Paul Grosz takes risks and turns them into some of the most pleasurable plates you will experience. He takes the flavors of the world, interprets them in French and translates into a contemporary masterpiece. Grosz’s mad skills and magic bag of ingredients (which can be unlikely at times but always top-notch and never too many) create some of the most remarkable meals in Detroit dinedom, combined artfully on your plate and remarkably in your mouth. The radiant dining room has consistently been a top ten and “best of” since it opened. The culinary courage that happens here is nothing short of genius. A sublime sense of taste, both in décor and diet, suffuses the place like a zephyr. Grosz, you’ll recall, was executive chef of the Whitney for years, and he knows his glitz. Cuisine’s carefully cultivated menu genuflects toward France, but spans the globe (largely as sides) with eclectic additions like salsify quinoa, nutmeg gnocchi and Parmesan polenta. Off-the-eaten-track main courses include sablefish roasted with oven-dried tomatoes, mushroom-dusted sturgeon and roasted squab. Price points for such sumptuous entrées are extremely reasonable for the creative depth of skill and detailed attention that’s evident across the chopping board. FIVE LAKES GRILL Specializing in the food of the Great Lakes with a style that is decidedly more Californian than corn-fed, Five Lakes is truly special. A menu that is proudly regional, often showcasing the ingredients and foods of the Great Lakes, like our Mitten State it’s different every season. Brian Polcyn has paid his dues and it shows on every plate that comes out of his kitchen. Starting out at The Lark and the Golden Mushroom, he went on to head up his own ventures (most notably Pike Street) before settling in sleepy Milford. Polcyn also lends his experience instructing at Schoolcraft, and under his tutelage Five Lakes walked away with Freep honors. We told you to keep an eye on Steven Grostick, Polcyn’s chef d’cuisine; he is now the executive chef. IL POSTO Pass through the arched doorways and you’ll find richly colored walls weighted with an endless array of well-deserved awards. Further on, lush banquettes and several levels of dining add to the overall sense of luxe. Everything at Il Posto, including the staff, appears to have been airlifted directly from the Old Country. The cuisine, from chops to snapper, is brilliant and the service impeccable. Still, it’s the ambience that hooks you most. Il Posto is the closest you’ll get to Italy without a ticket to Rome. IRIDESCENCE Atop the Motor City Casino sits the most dramatic dining room in Detroit...or anywhere else we have seen. And that’s without taking the spectacular view into consideration—a twinkling cityscape framed with skyline and stars. Two-story windows open up the massive space, which is softened with curved geometrics, levels and personal space. Scores of dangling glass bubbles hang from the ceiling, and color-changing iridescent panels on the walls highlight the open kitchen. The dazzle doesn’t stop, your table is set with works of art, from the thinnest crystal glasses (filled with gratis bottled water, not tap) to the weighty, modern silver service. The menu is equally exciting. Chef Adam Hightower’s inspired dishes are as well designed as the room, each is assertively flavored with an eclectic assortment of top-end, rare and usually organic ingredients. The seafood bounty (lobster, scallops, shrimp and sea bass) is swimming in lobster truffle sauce; the pheasant, seasoned with lavender and cinnamon, is accompanied with a cranberry compote and complemented with a morel laden risotto. Most of the other entrées are equally intriguing and artfully constructed. Steaks and shellfish are the only remnants of the previous Iridescence menu. Generously proportioned and perfectly seared, they are brought to the table en mass, by a group of servers. Desserts also delight; pastry chef Patricia Nash plays with her food, creating amusing presentations with an array of small portioned cakes, mousses, ice creams, sauces, sprinkles and even tiny milkshakes...all on the same plate. THE LARK On your short list of things to do before you die, The Lark should be at the top. Named the best restaurant in America by Condé Nast Traveller, this should be enough of a hint; the Lark is what grand dining is all about. You’ll understand that the second they wheel out the appetizer cart—laden with shrimp, oysters, tenderloin and duck; be careful not to overgraze, your evening is just starting. Your hosts, Mary and Jim Lark, are Detroit’s food gods and the forthcoming prix fixe will satisfy, entertain and otherwise rock your world. This is more than a meal; it’s a culinary experience. Chef John Somerville will woo and wow you with his meticulously plated dishes, from artful salads and amusements to your main masterpiece—be it a classic European dish or a more adventurous aside—as cutting edge as any contemporary heavyweight. Fresh is the only rule, from glorious fish to choice meats like the legendary Genghis Khan rack of lamb. With more signature dishes than seats, the room is delightfully intimate and understated. Designed after a Portuguese country inn, it is homey, comfortable and expectedly romantic. The dessert cart is yours for the asking, take as little as a berry or a truffle, or as many sweet diversions as your glycemic index can handle. MACKINNON’S Impressing us for over 25 years, Mackinnon’s is a cozy favorite, down to the bare brick walls and Tiffany style lighting. Combining the charm and atmosphere of a European country inn as well as enough of the great American steak house to satisfy any meat tooth, this is what top table dining is about. Chef Ian Mackinnon blends classic French and Belgian technique with inventive modern style—an artful mix of the old-world and cutting edge which resonates in every course. You’ll be blown away by signatures such as the French taco appetizer (a scrumptious baked crépe filled with chicken or black forest ham, scallions, Swiss cheese and watercress sauce), the incomparable lobster bisque, entrées such as Beef Bourguignon and the highly recommended “blown-up duck” on the extensive menu. The service is A+, eurostyle with mid-western warmth, with the knowledge and expertise it takes to fillet the Dover sole at your table. Desserts are wonderful as well, a number of sinfully delightful chocolate choices (the Belgian chocolate mousse is heavenly), one-of-a-kind creations like the banana Wellington or a classic like the crème brulée. OPUS ONE Jim Kokas’ vision of an eye-popping dining room in the midst of urban blight first found fruition in the mid-eighties and twenty-plus years later, Opus One has outlived a slew of pretenders. Ensconced within a vintage, beautifully renovated taxi garage, the Opus One visual feast includes a trio of dining rooms heavy with beveled mirrors, luscious paneling, Paladiana floors, Italian marble and an oak bar that’s said to be the busiest in town. The sensory assault is magnified by the kitchen’s output under the direction of Executive Chef Timothy Ginzsky, whose incomparable larder ranges from signature béarnaise-blanketed Alaskan king crab cakes to rack of New Zealand lamb à la Greque, and an innovative improv menu where guests choose entrée preparations, sauces and sides. The wine list (as might be expected in a restaurant named after a wine) is miles long and has won a Wine Spectator award every year since 1987. As an impeccable wait staff coats the experience with professional gloss, Opus One remains a delicious testament to the longevity of quality in Detroit’s dining scene—and our willingness to support it.. RATTLESNAKE CLUB A sweeping room on the shore of the Detroit River, with wonderful contemporary art on the walls and even more wonderful art coming out of the kitchen. The Rattlesnake is Jimmy Schmidt. Having cut his culinary teeth at the London Chop House, Schmidt helped reinvent fine dining and has been tantalizing taste buds ever since. Combining solid technique with vanguard innovation, Schmidt has turned Detroit on to fresh and often esoteric ingredients for years—always on the money and ahead of the curve. The Rattlesnake continues to set the bar; the menu is built with seasonal, sustainable, farm to fork foods often local and always of the highest quality. As always, the flavors are ingenious and the presentations dazzle. Like rust, Schmidt never sleeps, his status is not only legendary, it’s well earned. He’s Detroit’s only James Beard chef, the culinary equivalent of the Oscar. If they had a Nobel Prize for desserts, we’re sure he would have a few of those as well; after all, this is the man who invented white chocolate ravioli. The Rattlesnake has elevated Detroit dining like no other and remains as vital and exciting today as it was when it opened in 1988. THE RITZ CARLTON GRILL ROOM The RC has been wooing and wowing auto execs, newlyweds, and special-occasion pogues like you and me looking for a dose of pampering amid impeccable ambience which (in the fickle world of haute cuisine) is arguably metro Detroit’s most elegant. Service standards are near-mythical and breakfast is served in the same upper crust setting as dinner; fresh fruit, freshly squeezed juice, fresh vegetables in the omelets and a brunch that is mind-boggling. If you want to know where the phrase “puttin’ on the ritz” comes from, here’s a hint: not from the crackers. RUGBY GRILLE Rare the restaurant with a star-studded résumé that serves breakfast and lunch seven days a week. Nestled within the four-diamond (AAA) Townsend Hotel, the Rugby exists as a template for what hotel dining should be—theatrical tableside service, phenomenal top-toque cuisine and expansive hours. The Rugby continues to reach new heights with the recent addition of a master sommelier and a new executive chef, Jim Barnett, who probably has opened as many top ten restaurants as anyone in the area. Barnett’s contemporary continental cuisine blends well, adding more excitement into the menu while still retaining Rugby signatures like Dover sole and the ever popular high tea. TRIBUTE Some might have considered Tribute trendy when it first opened. Now that the rest of the world has caught up, you would have to declare them trendsetting. They’ve been called “the best restaurant between NY and Chicago” by no less than the New York Times. With good reason, Tribute is the highest quality avant-garde and progressive restaurant in Detroit—ever. On packed nights, Tribute throbs with excitement and glamour; on quieter nights, it exudes the trendy elegance of the world’s most hallowed gourmet rooms. Tribute pushes the envelope for what a great contemporary restaurant can be. Service is as attentive and intuitive as any five-diamond hotel gourmet room, yet it seems so casual. The labor and cleverness that goes into creating the culinary eye candy on your plate is legendary. The tradition continues with Chef Don Yamauchi, whose fusion of classical French with modern global accents reaches new heights. Every course is an amazement and, as always, the wine selection is staggering. THE WHITNEY There are few restaurants in the world as grand as the Whitney, a pink granite American palace built in 1894 by a lumber baron. Just under a hundred years later it was turned into a restaurant, garnering instant “most romantic” poll notoriety. The home is as magnificent on the inside as it is from Woodward. There are 20 fireplaces, umpteen historically tricked-out rooms; it was crafted along the adage, “they just don’t make them like this anymore.” They didn’t make them like this back then either. When built, the $400,000 estate was considered the best in the Midwest. Now under the ownership of PR guru Bud Liebler, who hopes to turn the restaurant into the finest fine dining establishment in Detroit. Liebler promises, “The Whitney will remain the Whitney people know and love, only better.” He’s off to a great start; Michael Lutes is now heating up the kitchen. With a range of experience from Chi-town’s 5 diamond Charlie Trotter to his more recent stints in New Orleans, he is creating some of the most remarkable culinary creations in town. Scallops are accompanied by grits, corn hash with the filet, a yam mash and creamed watercress with the wild grouper—haute Orleans. It is an amusement, not a theme; Lutes lets the market and seasons dictate the menu, and his flavors reach around the world as lemongrass encrusted kampachi with maitake mushrooms illustrates. These are all appended descriptions, each dish is designed around a number of accompaniments, sides and sauces that elevate the entrée to Trotter territory. This is the best food the Whitney has served in its 21 award-winning years. © 2008 Guide to Detroit, LLC |