Detroit

Grey Ghost, Detroit, 7/19/17

~ hsnixon ~ Leave a comment
Exterior
Building

Grey Ghost is a good sized place with a large bar area,  small patio and dining room.  The long bar has stool seating at the counter and additional counter seating that seemed available for walk-in diners.  The partition this area backs up to forms the main dining room and a long seating bench is on the other side.  Next to the streetside windows are better spaced tables. The restaurant has not been open quite a year but the weekday evening we were there the place was packed with a multi-aged casual crowd that wound down by around 10:00 pm.  Fairly loud music plays in the background and coupled with the crowd size, noise level is an issue.   Continue reading →

Chartreuse Kitchen & Cocktails, Detroit, 7/19/17

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building
building

Chartreuse is a fairly large place with a predominantly green theme.  Green walls work nicely with the bare wood tables and natural wall decorations which include live and dried plants.  Ceilings are high with exposed ductwork but noise level was not a problem since the place was not that full at lunch.  A table of lovely fresh produce is next to the entrance to greet you and bottles of Chartreuse fill the shelves over the bar to set the tone. Tables are nicely spaced and modern music is in the background.  There are a number of high back booth like seating areas with low tables adjacent to the bar.  The bar is ‘L’ shaped with the short part being in front of the actual liquor and the long part set for diners.  Service is friendly, efficient and helpful.   Continue reading →

Mabel Gray, Detroit, 7/18/17

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building
building

Mabel Gray is a medium-sized place.  It is long rectangular restaurant with bench seating running the length of one side that is opposite the kitchen and bar areas.  Tables are small and set fairly close but with enough room to be able to get out between them.  It was packed with people the evening we were there and with rock music playing in the background there was a fair amount of noise to deal with.  They offer an a la carte menu as well as a surprise tasting menu.   Beverage pairings are available to go with the tasting.  We had the tasting and pairings and the friendly servers were able to keep a nice pace to the meal despite the number of people.   Portions on the tasting menu are fairly generous  and table water is served in old Lillet bottles.   Continue reading →

Selden Standard, Detroit, 7/18/17

~ hsnixon ~ Leave a comment
Exterior
Exterior

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.   Continue reading →