The January Hit List: Selden Standard, Phoenicia, Grey Ghost, and More

When partners Evan Hansen and chef Andy Hollyday opened this farm-to-table small plates torchbearer on what was then a forlorn stretch of the Cass Corridor in 2014, they couldn’t have known how apropos the restaurant’s name would remain nearly a decade later. Setting a new standard for New American dining in Detroit was quite an accomplishment, to be sure, but maintaining that status all these years has been even more impressive.

It’s a well-worn formula by now: Start with local, seasonal produce, add pan-Mediterranean flavors and techniques, complement it with a wine nerd’s wine list and crafty but unpretentious cocktails served by friendly servers in a casual space enlivened by a central wood-burning hearth, and voila! To build it today would be cliché, but Selden’s maintained its authenticity and novelty all these years. No matter how many times you’ve had Hollyday’s corn agnolotti or vegetable carpaccio, it feels like the first time. And no formula can get you there without a healthy dash of a key ingredient — soul.

Speaking of torchbearers, Corktown’s Astro Coffee became Detroit’s first third-wave cafe when it debuted on Michigan Ave. in 2011. So it came as a shock when the community staple closed in May 2022. But in late November, former Astro barista David Valdez resurrected the gathering space as a cafe that would now be considered “fourth wave” for its single origin beans and commitment to ethical sourcing.

Valdez, a Mexico City native, partnered with Milwaukee Cafe owner Carlo Liburdi, who is of Italian descent, on Alba, which takes inspiration from both owners’ heritages. Astro fans will appreciate the reintroduction of counter seating, as well as a legendary egg sandwich, though Alba’s takes it into Mexican territory with chile de arbol aioli. The other big difference from its predecessor? Alba is open on Mondays, an essential day of the week for caffeine.

More info here.

Junior Merino hails from Puebla, but his self-described “Nuevo Latino” restaurant in Dearborn would fit right into Mexico City’s trendy Condesa or Roma Norte neighborhoods of Mexico City. A former New York mixologist known for high-flying techniques and an obsessive collection of ingredients from around the world, Merino now trades in “cocina de autor,” the Mexican analog to the chef-driven movement in North America.

At M Cantina, Merino can be found both behind the stick and behind the stove, building on traditional pan-Latin dishes until they reach the stratosphere. Order the chips and salsa — accompanied by more than a dozen house-made salsa varieties in squeeze bottles — and you’ll immediately understand this isn’t like any other Mexican place in town. In addition to boasting one of the area’s largest collections of agave-based liquors, M Cantina is also one of the few Detroit-area restaurants where you can sample a full range of edible insects, from chapulines to the less common escamoles and chicatanas. The more willing you are to give into the full experience, the more you will be rewarded with Merino’s passion.

Proprietor Ping Ho and chef Sarah Welch do things right in West Village, showcasing what it means to truly walk the walk when it comes to local sourcing to support farmers and whole animal butchery to reduce food waste — all in the name of building a more sustainable Great Lakes food system. By day, Marrow acts as a neighborhood butcher shop, selling cuts of the best retail meat you’ll find anywhere in Michigan. By night, it morphs into a moody date night spot to savor the other bits of butchery that don’t make the display case, manipulated by a talented chef and her top-notch culinary team.

A steakhouse Marrow is not, though you’ll still likely find the requisite tartare alongside a cut of Michigan beef and the restaurant’s namesake dish. Marrow chef de cuisine Eddie Moreau is a Nantucket native who previously served as chef-partner at Central Provisions in Portland, Me., so Marrow’s seafood game is just as on point as its meat. If you don’t know where to start, throw caution to the wind and spring for the 5-course family-style tasting for $90 a head. You’ve already made the right decision just by being here.

It’s easy to become transfixed by the inspirational story of Baobab Fare founders Hamissi Mamba and Nadia Najimbere, the refugee couple who landed in Detroit after fleeing violence and political instability in their home country of Burundi. In a few short years, the couple went from refugees with little more than a dream to an American success story, having rallied the community with their optimism and heartwarming East African cuisine, and raising enough money to open a stylish restaurant on one of Detroit’s most iconic corners.

That restaurant has since spawned its own spinoff product line, a fleet of food trucks, and a forthcoming second location, while also earning awards and recognition in all corners. (Last year, Mamba added “Chopped” champion to his resume, too.) But there’s more than just a good story. The food at Baobab Fare — Burundian-style braised goat shank, spiced pilau rice, smoky eggplant stew — somehow tastes even better than it does back in Burundi. And while they’ve come improbably far in under a decade, all signs point to this being just an auspicious beginning for a couple who still have a long way to go and big plans to bring their growing community with them.

More info here.

One of the most consistent — and consistently busy — restaurants in Detroit, Four Man Ladder Hospitality’s flagship Brush Park restaurant is tailor-made for a Midwest audience. Chef partners John Vermiglio and Joe Giacomino came up in Chicago’s dining scene, working for Windy City luminaries including Charlie Trotter and Art Smith before returning to Vermiglio’s hometown of Detroit in 2016 to open Grey Ghost.

For the first six years, the oysters were served “Chicago-style,” eschewing mignonette for bright green relish, pickled mustard seeds, and tomato. That type of whimsical approach typifies the Ghost’s approach. And while executive chef Anthony Patton has taken things in a slightly more serious direction lately, you’ll still find dishes like a supreme pizza twice-baked potato on the specials list. And you can still count on Grey Ghost’s best-in-class bar burger to keep things simple: double patty, melty American cheese, shredded lettuce, and special sauce. Wash it down with one of beverage wizard Will Lee’s out-of-this-world cocktails.

You’ve probably heard of Detroit-style pizza, but if ever there was such a thing as Detroit-style noodles, you’ll find them at Ima. Chef Mike Ransom opened the first Ima in a shoebox-sized space on Michigan Avenue in the final days of 2017 after his original location fell through. The reduced footprint forced a streamlined concept, limited to udon noodle and rice bowls. In the intervening years, Ransom opened additional Ima locations in Midtown and Madison Heights, each one expanding ever so slightly in its offerings.

And when Ima Izakaya debuted in 2022, Ransom’s original vision came to fruition, with a full-service sit-down restaurant and bar serving up Ima’s trademark udon, ramen, rice bowls, and karaage, but with an expanded menu of sushi handrolls, skewers from the robata grill, and dinner plates like seared Chilean sea bass with miso-yuzu glaze. In contrast with the quick-service model of its predecessors, Ima Izakaya beckons guests to stay a while, especially during its generous weekday happy hour, which features $5 handrolls, skewers, and stiff cocktails.

Call 313-306-9485 for more info.

When proprietor Eli Boyer opened Voyager in the inner-ring suburb of Ferndale, its inauspicious location in an old garage behind a tire shop next to the train tracks seemed an improbable place to launch an oyster bar, let alone one that would indelibly change the local seafood game. But with the help of opening chefs Justin Tootla and Jennifer Jackson, that’s exactly what Voyager did, not letting its location a thousand miles from the ocean rein in its ambitions. Tootla and Jackson have since gone on to do their own thing, but Voyager remains a quirky neighborhood gem of national relevance, still providing one of the best selections of oysters in town and crispy hushpuppies that rival the Lowcountry’s. Belly up to the bar for half a pound of thick peel ‘n’ eat shrimp with comeback sauce and a house rum punch. There are fewer remedies against the winter doldrums that are quite as potent.

As icons go, few have stood the test of time as long as Sameer Eid’s Lebanese-American jewel, now a few years over the half-century mark. But the restaurant’s age doesn’t show, especially following a full-scale kitchen remodel and expansion and the addition of executive chef Talia Clark, who ran the short-lived Ochre Bakery kitchen when it was awarded a “Best New Restaurant” designation from Bon Appetit.

With a stalwart menu that regulars — and most of the crowd are regulars — order from without even looking at, Clark’s initial impact can be most felt on the dessert offerings. Sure, the local press praised Eid’s rice pudding 30-some years ago, but Clark has brought finesse to the sweet side of the menu through elegant cardamom custard tarts with bruleed fig and slices of chocolate peanut butter pie. It’s  a challenge to improve a beloved classic without alienating the existing fanbase, but Clark appears to be doing so with gusto.

Algerian-born pastry chef Warda Bouguettaya became a household name in 2022 when she won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef — the first chef from Detroit in 30 years to win a Beard. But the national recognition was no surprise to in-the-know Detroiters, who’d been flocking to Warda Patisserie for the chef’s immaculate pastries inspired by her heritage and experiences living and traveling around the world. From Warda’s mango and black sesame financiers to yuzu-glazed madeleines and sand-dollar-shaped pear and frangipane tarts, each creation is devastatingly beautiful in its elegant simplicity but bursting with complex flavor. Warda puts her heart into every bite, so it’s nice to see that love returned in spades.

More info here.