Selden Standard is a large place offering seating at regular tables, high-top tables, on the patio and counter seating at the bar or kitchen area. We chose the kitchen area and had a wonderful time talking food with the two hard working chefs manning the wood oven and wood grill and also got to see a number of the items on the menu prepared. The restaurant focuses on sourcing ingredients from their community and have been named the #1 restaurant in Detroit by various local press publications for the last two years. Floors are of concrete and the ceiling is planked wood with a variety of lights hanging down. Soft, subtle music plays in the background. It was not noisy at lunch but then it was not full. Service started with a little hiccup but they were kind enough to comp dessert for us because of it.
We chose to split three of their plates and started with the Cacio e Pepe. The pasta was cooked nicely al dente and the delicious sauce lended a perfect hint of spiciness. The Pecorino cheese made it a tad on the salty side but still perfectly edible. The dish was full of flavor and totally savory. A winner here.
The Grilled Squid was placed on a bed of black beans and covered with crispy breadcrumbs and a mixture of dressed onions, fava beans, radishes and parsley. The squid were nicely cooked and completely tender with a hint of smoke, as they were cooked on the wood grill. The breadcrumbs added that essential textural contrast to make a very nice dish.
The Steak & Soba Noodle Salad was made with a perfectly rare piece of tender, tasty skirt steak. It was mixed with pieces of asparagus and other crispy greens that added a lovely textural contrast to the noodles but overall it was a blander offering than the first two.
For dessert we had the Rhubarb Panna Cotta with hibiscus granita. The panna cotta was wonderfully smooth and combined with the sweet granita it made a perfect summer dessert. It was accented with a line of pistachio nut crumble and orange cream. The orange was nicely creamy with good sweetness and the nuts gave a nice textural contrast but the star here was the panna cotta. A lovely ending for a very tasty meal.
