Friday, September 3, 2010

Round 3: New Additions to the 3rd Edition of Detroit Restaurant Week

The participating restaurants for this third installment of Detroit Restaurant Week have officially been announced, and not only are there two n00bs in the mix but they've added an additional restaurant, bringing the total up to 18 overall.

Let me break down that +2 = 1 math for you: the newly-opened Detroit Seafood Market replaces the shuttered Detroit Fish Market (both literally and figuratively: the new restaurant even inhabits the old restaurant's space in Paradise Valley), and the historic Caucus Club has also joined the line-up.

The Caucus Club is one of the few remaining pillars of Old Detroit, a true "gentlemen's club" in the very proper customary English sense that does NOT mean "strip club." Initially conceived as the "waiting room" for the world-famous London Chop House across the street, the Caucus Club is perhaps most famous for being the place where Barbara Streisand began her singing career. The Caucus Club is a relic of -- nay, tribute to -- the former era of Detroit's glory days, and maintains much of that good-old-boy Mad Men-esque vibe. Not stuffy ... NOSTALGIC.

Named "Detroit's Best Business Lunch" by Gourmet Magazine, this is the kind of place where the three-martini lunch is still very much in vogue (too bad you can't also puff a pricey Cuban cigar, that would be SOOOO '50s chic). While you're here try their signature cocktail the Bullshot, a mixture of beef broth, vodka and spices that's been served here since 1952.

Another change to this round of Detroit Restaurant Week is the pricing: there's been a hike in the three-course prix fixe pricing from $27 to ... wait for it ... and you might want to sit down ... $28. You okay? You want some water? Paper bag to breathe in? You got this?

Next week I will start bringing you fun tidbits and factoids to get you ramped up for Restaurant Week, which runs Friday, September 24 - Sunday, October 3. Start making reservations NOW through Open Table (and don't think for a second that I'm kidding).

And here is the complete list of participating restaurants for the Fall 2010 Edition of Detroit Restaurant Week:

24Grille – Westin Book Cadillac Detroit
Andiamo Detroit Riverfront – GM Ren Cen
Atlas Global Bistro – Midtown
Caucus Club – Penobscot Building
Coach Insignia – GM Ren Cen
Cuisine – New Center
Da Edoardo Foxtown Grille – Foxtown
Detroit Seafood Market – Paradise Valley
Forty-Two Degrees North – GM Ren Cen
Iridescence – MotorCity Casino-Hotel
Mosaic Restaurant – Greektown
Opus One – Downtown
Rattlesnake Club – Stroh River Place
Roast – Westin Book Cadillac Detroit
Roma CafĂ© – Eastern Market
Saltwater – MGM Grand Detroit
The Whitney – Midtown Wolfgang Puck Grille – MGM Grand Detroit