[NEWS BITES] Chef Kate Williams leaving Rodin for new pursuits

Dance party at Rodin.

Chef Kate Williams is leaving Rodin to pursue some new ventures, which are still on the DL but one of them is going to be SO AWESOME YOU GUYS I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL YOU.

Kate and Rodin owner Torya Schoeniger wanted to go in different directions with the restaurant/bar. As a French-trained chef, Kate understandably wanted to focus more on the dining end of the business, but with a tiny kitchen she was limited and both she and Torya said she couldn't do what she really wanted to do there, which was basically to have a full restaurant. The parting of ways is wholly amicable and you can expect to see some changes at Rodin soon - different food and more music being the biggies.

Rodin first opened its doors for Noel Night last year on December 1, with a grand opening on 12/12/12. After nearly a year in business, Torya and her team have had time to settle into the Midtown nightlife market and see what their clientele most demands and best responds to. Torya wants to transition the nighttime hotspot to have a greater emphasis on live music. And with a one-year anniversary coming up, you can bet there's going to be one hell of a party.

Rodin will still serve food, but the food will be less preparation-intensive and more along the lines of heavy snacks - think cured meats, cheese boards, pickled vegetables, and raw seafood, similar to this. They'll still have all the great cocktails, unique wines, and craft beer you love, and the sexy mid-century Parisian cafe-meets-urban industrial chic atmosphere that makes it such a delightfully unique space in Detroit.

Kate is officially done at Rodin this week. I'll have more details on some of her upcoming projects soon but SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS THIS ONE THING IN PARTICULAR THAT I KNOW ABOUT IS GOING TO BE AWESOME. And keep an eye out for Rodin's one-year anniversary party; I'll be sure to remind you!

[Model D] Beignets brings a taste of the Bayou to the New Orleans of the North

From the Paris of the Midwest to the New Orleans of the North: Detroit is getting a taste of the Bayou with Beignets.

After many years of travelling to the Big Easy and enjoying late-night beignets with chicory coffee at the famous Café du Monde, Michele Pearson and her partner Mark Hausner launched Beignets to bring the dense French doughnut to Detroit. "We just loved the fact that when people were together eating beignets all hours of the night, listening to zydeco, they were happy," says Pearson. "We figured with the French influence in Detroit, why doesn't Detroit have something like this?"

Read more.

Chicago's Cafe des Architectes and My Cardinal Rule of Restaurant Dining

I would like to share with you today my cardinal rule of restaurant dining: food in restaurants should not be difficult to eat. If it cannot easily be cut apart, chewed apart, portioned into reasonable-sized bites utilizing the cutlery at my disposal, picked up as a finger food and bitten into reasonable-sized portions without half of it landing on or around my plate, slid onto a fork, stabbed onto a fork, or in any other reasonable and passingly polite way transferred from YOUR plate to MY mouth, you should not be serving it in your restaurant. Fine dining is already intimidating enough for a lot of people - what's proper etiquette? which fork do I use first? what's the proper way of ordering? how can I not make an ass out of myself in front of this waiter who just greeted me in French and told me he would be my "emissary" to the restaurant for the evening? Really, all these rules of decorum - whether real or simply perceived by the insecure diner - can be daunting, but once you get past all that -- past ordering the wine (oh thank god there's a bin number and I don't have to try to pronounce it!!!), past ordering the entree ("What's 'ratatouille'???" "I don't know, I never saw the movie!"), and are finally at the point of being able to relax and enjoy yourself, your mono-lingual fumbling through the Fratalianish menu comfortably behind you, the last thing you expect to encounter is having to fumble with your food. But too often chefs get a little too stuck on visual presentation and fail to account for any practicality in the act of actually EATING it.

Take for example the "Pintxos" at Cafe des Architectes in Chicago. "Pintxos" is French for "tapas" which is Spanish for "small plates" which is American Bougie for "appetizers." Basically the pintxos menu is a small plates menu, served daily from 4 to 7 p.m. and only available at "Le Bar" (that's what it's called, srsly). The pintxos is a combination of toppings - think chorizo with crushed tomatoes, Manchego with black olives - served on crostini. At only $5 each, they're a wonderful and inexpensive way to sample a number of different items. I always prefer going this route since I like to be able to taste more for less, especially without having to lock into an expensive entree I may or may not even enjoy and will probably get sick of eating after just a few bites. I get bored with food easily. Unless it's cheese.

And yes, I also ordered the cheese plate while I was there.


I selected the asparagus + goat cheese and the beef tenderloin + roquefort pintxos. The presentation was lovely: two large crostini piled high with thinly-sliced asparagus/sliced tenderloin and crumbled goat/roquefort cheese, diced tomatoes, greens, held together (but not really) with a toothpick on a plate EXACTLY big enough to fit the two crostini. So cute! So clever!

How the fuck do I eat it?

At this point in your meal you are intractable ... you've already come this far, after all. You're not about to let it all come crashing down around some damn crostini. With steely determination you grab your fork and butter knife and begin sawing into this pretty dish. The crostini cannot - WILL NOT - be cut. It is toasted but still chewy; as you saw back and forth the only thing you succeed in doing is knocking all of the toppings off of it, which ultimately means they end up all AROUND the plate because the plate is *just* big enough to fit them in the first place. With dedication you decide to pick the crostini up and eat it as finger food - it's only a few bites, really; this seems perfectly appropriate. But alas, the toppings are piled too high and are too unstable--no sooner do you attempt one bite than half of the tiny artfully diced tomatoes end up on your plate, in your lap, on your chest, in your cupped hand and all over your fingers. Pretty much everywhere but your mouth, really. Then one of the large gobs of goat cheese plops onto your phone as you still have the crostini raised to your mouth with which you are trying to gently pull and shake the loose toppings in the greatest danger of going over thereby coaxing them down your gullet, then the crostini itself gives in and the whole bloody mess ends up in deconstructed piles on and around your plate, and despite this place having the word "architect" in the name you're pretty sure it wasn't meant as a Derrida reference.

You are undeterred. It is now a matter of principal.

Surely there MUST be some way of eating this. So now you determine that you must first eat the majority of the toppings off the crostini THEN eat the crostini with just a few sparse toppings on it as finger food because CLEARLY you cannot pick up the whole thing nor can you cut it into manageable pieces for ease of edibility. I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. So you pick up your fork and resolutely begin eating the individual toppings. Until you get to the thinly-sliced asparagus. Which is too long to be slid onto the fork, and too thin and slippery to be stabbed onto the fork, and too ungainly to be picked up crostini-and-all and consumed as wholly without the fork.


You start to panic. The diced tomatoes are everywhere. It looks like a four-year-old child ate at your place setting. You've stained your shirt, soiled the table linens and the napkin on your lap which thank GOD you remembered to put there or else you'd have to buy a new pair of jeans for the remainder of your stay in Chicago, your food is all over your face and fingers and you STILL haven't figured out just how in the holy hell you're supposed to eat these things and you're humiliated because you KNOW the entire staff has seen your struggle and are probably laughing to themselves about it and you think to yourself, THIS is the fine dining experience??? You're convinced it's you; that you're doing something wrong and that everyone else is effortless and graceful in the way they delicately eat these dishes.

I am not a delicate person. Most often I'm a bear with a bullhorn in a china shop full of anthropophobics with sensitive hearing. I'm loud and messy and clumsy. I prefer paper plates over china, licking my fingers clean over wiping them on linens, and eating with my hands over using utensils pretty much always. (I'm not sure how I got this gig as a food writer either. Moving along.) If there is something to be spilled, stained, dropped, knocked off a plate, flung from a plate due to a utensil malfunction, etc., I will be the person who makes it happen. So I understand what's it's like; I do. You don't have to be ashamed anymore! Much as I loathe restaurants that try to sell me on the idea of preparing and cooking my own food at three times the cost of me just doing it at home and having to cut my own salad greens, I ***HATE*** not being able to actually EAT the food I order because it's just too damn difficult to maneuver.

It always makes me think of my days in retail, may I starve and die a thousand deaths before returning to that realm. We would receive new visual directives, like extensive window changes that required 10-ft ladders, fishing line, wooden planks, 5-ft decals, 8-ft foam boards, 2 boxes of straight pins, a roll of packing tape, industrial-strength double-sided tape, 14-ft banners, 27 mannequins each wearing 3 layers of clothing and heavily accessorized, beaded chandeliers and added track lighting we had to install ourselves (go ahead: ask me about my last trip to the emergency room that resulted in 11 stitches), and we would be allocated less than $40 in payroll (or approximately one manager and one part-time minimum-wage associate working two hours each) to implement the directive. And all these times I would wonder, has anyone on the corporate visual team ever actually TRIED to set this within the same set of restrictions in personnel, time, and professional skill sets as they expect us to be able to do? Much like I wondered that I also wonder if some of the chefs in these high-profile kitchens ever try to eat some of their more visually striking creations with a plain old fork and knife.

They tasted great, BTW. Not trying to diminish that. Once I was able to Cirque du Soleil them into my mouth, that is.


All of that being said - and it was quite a mouthful! AY-OOOO! - I feel bad that Cafe des Architectes has to take the brunt of my wrath regarding challenging cuisine. It's not just them. It's actually a very fine restaurant with a clever and inventive French-inspired menu and really wonderful staff (Lisa at "Le Bar" was absolutely lovely: very engaging, clearly able to read her customers well, gave a great wine recommendation - the whole staff seemed excellent in this regard). I came here to try their Chicago Restaurant Week lunch menu, which sounded rather exceptional in a sea of some 200+ rather average-sounding menus. But being the perennially tardy person that I am, I missed the lunch menu and wasn't as excited about the dinner option, so I opted for the pintxos and, naturally, the French cheese plate with Brie de Meaux, Langres, Crottin Maitre Seguin, mango chutney, an OUTSTANDING balsamic reduction, candied walnuts, and crusty breads. The glass of Pascal Jolivet Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc I had to pair was absolutely delightful, and at $19 for a glass I could have bought a whole bottle AND a king-sized candy bar at Costco! Yes, my biggest gripe about this place specifically was the outlandishly overpriced wine list (see: Ravenswood Zinfandel, $14; Cakebread Cellars Merlot, $19...per glass).


It being located inside the ultra-sleek Sofitel Hotel, the decor is done in an edgy, dramatic art deco palette of red, black and white with a lot of play on geometric shapes and patterns seemingly echoed in the presentation of the dishes. Despite my above griping (come on, I NEVERRRRRRR get to do that anymore!), I did enjoy this place and would certainly visit again. Having not been to all the gastro-this-and-thats in Chicago I can still pretty comfortably say that I don't think this place is doing anything so terribly different than the others, but it is nonetheless an enjoyable meal. Check out their Restaurant Week lunch menu below to see for yourself why this place made my short list.

Café des Architectes
French | Lunch, Dinner
20 E. Chestnut St. | Chicago IL 60611
City-N.Michigan | 312 324-4000
Enjoy Executive Chef Greg Biggers' cuisine rooted in French culture showcasing products from Midwestern farmers at Cafe des Architectes. The restaurant is located in the fashionable Gold Coast neighborhood and is a modern restaurant with dramatic appointments created by interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon. Vibrant colors, overstuffed chairs, sprawling banquettes and lamps that employ upside-down toques as lamp shades grab your attention. The carefully crafted interior's design serves as the perfect landscape for the approachable cuisine crafted from ingredients procured from local farmers. "Top Ten Chicago Restaurant," Chicago Sun-Times, 2009. 3 stars, Chicago magazine, Chicago Tribune. Open Daily. B: 6am-11:30am; Br (Sat. and Sun. only): 11:30am-5pm; L: 11:30am-5pm; D: 5pm-11pm. Reservations accepted for lunch and dinner only.Valet

RESTAURANT WEEK
February 18-27, 2011
Lunch Menu
$22

APPETIZERS
(choice of one)
Celery Root Velouté
truffles / micro salad / fresh herbs
Artichoke Salad
oven dried tomato / carrot mousse / lemon confit
Rillettes of Salmon
chives / crème fraiche / baguette croûton

ENTRÉES
(choice of one)
Shrimp Terrine
avocado / piquillo peppers / lemon
Grilled Red Mullet
dill / cider vinegar sabayon / spinach purée
Stuffed Leg of Lamb
ratatouille niçoise / winter spices / cardamom jus

DESSERTS
Pistachio Cream
chocolate coulis / iranian pistachios / crisp
Pineapple Soup
coconut sorbet / brunoise of exotic fruits / vanilla
Chocolat Moelleux
cakey / creamy / crunchy

A Romantic Evening with Some Good Girls: January Supper Club

There is hardly another hidey-hole in the city that has more classic romantic flair than Good Girls Go to Paris Crepes in Midtown. With the waitresses all dressed as English maids, the walls adorned with vintage film posters (from owner Torya’s own collection), black and white tile floors reminiscent of a timeless London ballroom, and candy heart-red walls, Good Girls exudes an aura of romance fit just as much for the silver screen as for the City of Light.

“This creperie is very me; it’s my idea of heaven,” says Torya Blanchard, owner of Good Girls Go to Paris Crepes. And she has much to be proud of: her business has recently been profiled by both the New York Times and the New York Post as one of the businesses resuscitating the city of Detroit, showing that an entrepreneurial spirit still survives here despite hard times. But such high-profile coverage hasn’t affected the quaint charm of this cute creperie.

The first Supper Club of 2010 will be held on Wednesday, January 27th at 7:00PM at Good Girls Go to Paris Crepes located at 15 E. Kirby, inside the Park Shelton building. With the day for lovers fast approaching, it seemed only appropriate that Supper Club visit the place where amore might as well be on the menu!

Feel free to sample any one (or two, or three!) of the 50 different crepes offered with a variety of sweet, savory, vegan, whole wheat, and gluten-free options to choose from! Good Girls also serves the fair trade Intelligentsia brand coffee and espresso. (Please note: Good Girls does not serve alcohol.) The menu is separated into two halves, the “Right Bank” (sweet) and “Left Bank” (savory) named for Paris’s division of arrondissements by the Seine River. Each crepe is named after one of the cherished females in Torya’s life—the “good girls.” Hence, Good Girls Go to Paris! (Which is actually the name of a classic comedy film from 1939.) You can also build your own from their list of ingredients. Crepes range from $4.50-$7.00 and are ample for one person.

Because of extremely limited capacity, this will be another non-traditional Supper Club event. There is a strict 20-person limit. You MUST RSVP to supperclub@detroitsynergy.org in advance.

There is no pre-payment or prix fixe menu for this event; diners will be billed individually at the restaurant.

Email supperclub@detroitsynergy.org with any questions. Please pass this information on to your friends, family, and coworkers, and anyone else interested in Detroit dining!

Detroit Synergy is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization. Its mission is to generate positive perceptions and opinions about Detroit by bringing together a diverse community and building upon the City's strengths and resources to realize a common vision for a greater Detroit. Please visit www.detroitsynergy.org for more information about the group.

Read more about metro Detroit's Crepe Expectations here!

DRW Preview #4: The Whitney

My, how things have changed since my first visit to the Whitney. It was probably about 10 years ago, when I was just 18 years old. A boyfriend and I were celebrating our anniversary and, although we were novices, we were interested in experiencing the Whitney, having heard so much about it (and come to think of it, this would have been when Chef Paul was still there). When a stack of artfully arranged mushrooms and tomatoes piled high like a sculpture arrived as my appetizer, I knew how very much out of my element I was. Lucky for me AND you, I soldiered through, and 10 years later found myself back at the Whitney enjoying a special 6-course Detroit Restaurant Week preview/tasting menu prepared and served personally by the Chef himself, Dan Maurer. What a long, strange trip it has been!

I'm not the only one who has gone through some changes over the last decade. The Whitney has seen a number of chefs turn over since then (including Paul Grosz, who then went on to open Cuisine). The result has been as varied as the chefs themselves--some were hits ("The Whitney is back!") and some were misses ("The Whitney as we knew it is gone forever"). Over the last year, the Whitney has made a number of changes to reinvent itself and appeal to a wider audience. Lower prices, lunch and Sunday brunch hours, a bistro menu, a trendy new bar/lounge area on the third floor called the Ghost Bar, and a hip new chef have all helped to redefine this Detroit dining institution.

Chef Dan Maurer has a full sleeve of tattoos and long hair (worn in dreds) which he keeps tied up for work. You want a rock star chef? This is your guy. You want an ego? You're going to have to keep searching. His look might scream "SLAYER!!!" but he's sweet as honey and exceptionally talented. Every dish that was served to me and my dining partner was brought out by Chef Dan personally, with a thorough explanation of each item and plenty of conversation in between. He only started here 6 months ago, but already the difference is obvious. There are no foams or gelées, but there are hearty dishes that are both familiar and surprising that place emphasis on fresh, seasonal flavors, utilizing produce and herbs grown out back in the garden.

For Detroit Restaurant Week, patrons can begin with a soup of the day, which will most likely be some sort of squash. (We chatted about how, despite the fact that summer has ended, fall is the most exciting time for foodies because that is when all the great squash, pumpkin, apples, cider and such come into season. Chef Dan told us that he has a parchment paper posted in the back where everyone is scribbling down their ideas for fall menu items, and they're all very excited about it.) For us, Dan presented an asparagus soup with asparagus tips, shaved parmesan, and truffled white vinaigrette. In the center was a terrine of pork, pistachio and shittake mushrooms wrapped in prosciutto and lying atop a crouton. The asparagus tips still maintained a slight crunch (just enough), and the vinaigrette added an unexpected zest to the slightly bitter asparagus flavor. Mrs. Julia Child--so popular now in everyday conversation thanks to the film Julie & Julia--once referred to terrine as "a luxurious cold meatloaf," and I think that pretty much nails this one. Except for the part about "wrapped in prosciutto"--which made it even better.

See also: a glass of champagne from northern Michigan's L. Mawby label--Lawrence Mawby is an unrivaled genius and the envy of his fellow oenophile peers.

Our next course was also from the list of first course DRW menu options: the flash-fried calamari. It is served with a sautee of heirloom tomatoes (grown in the garden), house-pickled Hungarian hot peppers (also grown in the garden), bell peppers, garlic, and herbs (you guessed it: grown in the garden). The natural juices of the vegetables and pickling brine make for a proper accompaniment for the calamari in lieu of the standard marinara sauce (but never fear, they do keep some on hand just in case). This particular dish is the one Chef Dan is the most excited about. He knew that if they were going to serve calamari without sauce that they had to get it right, and feels confident that they did. The tangy brine and spicy pepper acts in place of a lemon wedge or cocktail sauce, and makes for a daring spin to an otherwise common dish. Indeed, they got it right.

Course 3 came also from the first course DRW options: the Brie salad. Now, I may have mentioned once or twice here how much I love cheese. Sound familiar? Chef Dan pretty much had me at "phylo dough," but I stayed tuned in to hear about the organic mixed greens tossed with toasted almonds, red onions, blueberries, and blueberry-Thyme vinaigrette. The Brie is served on the side and is baked wrapped in the most delicate phylo dough I've ever seen Brie baked in any restaurant. The result was a dough that was thin, unobtrusive, and ever so slightly flaky--not the big dry wad of over-baked phylo dough even the best of restaurants tend to serve. This was soft and chewy, a delicate pastry membrane to hold all that warm, near-melted cheese. Ah, cheese...cheese is good...what? Where was I?

Next up we sampled one of the DRW entree selections, chicken. Yes, chicken. Plain old "pedestrian" chicken. But unlike any chicken you've ever tasted in your life. This chicken is stuffed with a chicken mousse made with carrots, peas, and sundried tomatoes, served with braised carrots (they tasted almost like sweet potatoes), carrot chips, and a savory bread pudding with natural jus. The chicken itself retains its skin, which is slightly crunchy and full of flavor. The chicken is tender and juicy, the mousse a creamy contrast, and the savory bread pudding??? The best way I can describe it is to liken it to stuffing, though after having this the very thought of Stove Top will make you cringe. I've never had a savory bread pudding before (in fact, it's kind of like crepes: you don't even realize the savory kind are even possible until someone presents you with it), but it was superb. Slightly crunchy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside, made with shredded chicken, carrots, and peas--like a chicken pot pie cake! This dish was Dan's first dish he made at the Whitney. After the last chef deemed chicken too "pedestrian" (it wasn't just my pithy turn of phrase), the owner really wanted to see it on the menu, and this is what Dan came up with. The complimentary textures alone make this dish a stand-out (Chef Dan is a self-admitted texture king).

Next we had a much "darker" dish, the filet with a celeriac potato pancake, Swiss chard, baby turnip, and a port demi. When Dan presented it to us, he kind of excused the appearance of the dish, noting that he usually likes to balance the colors (visual presentation is just one of the many elements a superior chef must balance in order to make a truly outstanding dish) but the addition (or subtraction) of anything would throw off the dish's flavors and textures. So, the dark lady it is, which suits it just fine. The Swiss chard is braised with pork (me: "Bacon! I taste bacon!") and the potato pancake is crisp, a nice way to offset the tender (and practically still "moo"-ing but that's JUST the way it should be) beef and the wilted greens. For you naysayers of Swiss chard, my dining partner insisted it was not Swiss chard because, quote, "It can't be Swiss chard because I don't like Swiss chard but I like this." So there you have it.

Last but certainly not least, dessert. The Opera Cake is the selected dessert for the Detroit Restaurant Week menu, which was fitting since my friend and I were on our way to the Opera House to see The Phantom of the Opera (a wonderful production, btw). Opera Cake is a classic French pastry and pretty standard in most upscale pastry shops. It is layered almond cake with coffee butter cream and chocolate ganache, drizzled with more chocolate and caramel. One bite and my dentist was likely twitching inexplicably somewhere. Too rich for my blood, but you sugar freaks will love it.

The Whitney is an old Detroit dining mainstay and I'm thrilled to see it back in form, once again on top of its game. The charm of this historic old mansion, still adorned with a number of original furnishings, is something that can't easily be replicated. The lovely gardens are an oasis during the summer months (and the location of some of the summer's most popular weekly parties) and offer an relaxing retreat from the city. There is a reason why the Whitney is widely considered to be one of the most romantic spots in metro Detroit, and still it is one of the finest places to dine.

While indulging in yet another fabulous meal, it occurred to me that we here in Detroit are very lucky to have so many outstanding (not just merely "good") restaurants nearby, and also how difficult it will be to choose between them! Luckily Restaurant Week is a generous 10 days, and prices are a generous $27.00, so even if you can't decide you don't really have to--try them all! (A few, at least.)

Detroit Restaurant Week Menu for the Whitney

First Course (Choice of):

~Soup of the Day
~Calamari: Flash fried, house pickled peppers, home grown tomatoes, garlic and herbs

~Brie Salad: Baked "en croute" with organic mixed greens, toasted almonds, and blueberry-Thyme vinaigrette
~Mussels: Saffron broth, house made sourdough tomato

Second Course (Choice of):
~Halibut: Fresh linguine, Chorizo sausage, fennel, corn, lemon dill buerre blanc

~Chicken: Peas, sun dried tomatoes, savory bread pudding, carrot chips, natural jus
~Filet: Celeriac potato pancake, Swiss chard, baby turnip, port demi
~Sweet Potato Gnocchi: Fennel, apples, Pecans, Brown Butter, Sage

Third Course

Opera Cake: Layered almond cake with coffee butter ice cream and chocolate ganache

Much Ado About Crepes: What Crepe?

Photo courtesy of Michelle Matiyow and Lians for www.lmstudios.com

One of the advantages of being a food writer is a little somnething called a "media tasting." I was invited to one such of these "media tastings" last week for What Crepe?, the new creperie in Royal Oak.

And thank God for it...left to my own devices, it would have taken me who knows how long to make the trip out to Royal Oak ALLLLLLL the way from my usual Detroit-Dearborn circuit. But now, just four days after the tasting, I was back again having the exact same crepe I had the first time because it was, quite simply, THAT good.

Photo courtesy of Michelle Matiyow and Lians for www.lmstudios.com

Inhabiting the former Cafe Muse location, a tiny little hallway of a building on Washington Ave., the spot is by its very nature terribly cute and cozy. As Cafe Muse, it was cheery and eclectic and quaint. What Crepe? is just as quaint, but with a little more drama. The walls are a deep berry-stained red, with dramatic dark wood accents and a distinctly Parisian flair. The furniture, glassware, and plates are all amusingly mismatched, like the lone leftovers of an antique sale that desperately needed a home. You might sit in a plush velvet wingback chair, or on a backless leather bar stool. One plate might be flowery like something found in Grandma's pantry, and another might have a wild zebra pattern. The menus are made with old French record sleeves, completing the apparent effect of what almost feels like a trendy Euro-style antique salvage space. The (mismatched) wrought iron cafe tables out front complete the vibe of a thoroughly modern Parisian cafe reborn out of the old.

Photo courtesy of Michelle Matiyow and Lians for www.lmstudios.com

I noted before that creperies seem to be all the rage right now, so I will admit that my expectations for What Crepe? were a little high simply because I expected that they would (nay: MUST) have something new to offer to the scene already getting a little creped-out. The various crepe offerings around the city range in quality, with some more impressive than others. Prior to my discovery of What Crepe?, Le Petit Zinc was my favorite. And while I do still love the child-like sunniness of Le Petit Zinc, the menu at What Crepe? takes the, well, crepe.

On Tuesday What Crepe? will debut their new menu designed by Chef Justin Kopsch, who was hired on specifically to expand the menu and increase portion sizes. This new menu features some 50 specialty crepes, each plentiful enough as a meal on its own. The old favorites--such as MY favorite, the Mushroom Madness--will remain on the menu, which will also now include such items as an asparagus, prosciutto, and gruyere savory crepe and the brings-out-the-kid-in-me peanut butter, chocolate sauce and marshmallow sweet crepe.

On my first visit I had the chance to chat with owner Paul Jenkins Jr. (PJ), who is equally adorable as he is most assuredly insane for opening a new restaurant in this current economic climate, having no previous restaurant experience. "No time like the present," he tells me with a winning grin. "I always dreamed of opening my own restaurant, and now I'm finally living my dream."

The advantage What Crepe? has over some other restaurants is that, for $30.00, a couple can come out and have a lovely evening with amazing food, without breaking the bank. "I love seeing people come here on dates," PJ tells me, and he seems genuinely happy that people are choosing his place for their special nights out. They currently have no liquor license, but are third in line to receive the new "Bistro Liquor License," introduced by the Royal Oak Liquor Control Commission to allow restaurants with limited seating the ability to serve wine and beer (particularly in a city like Royal Oak which is already 2 or 3 Class C liquor licenses over its quota).

PJ might not have any restaurant experience, but before you start getting a fanciful picture of a boy with a simple love of crepes taking a chance and opening a restaurant with nothing but his dreams, this boy happens to have YEARS of experience operating his own promotions and publicity business, throwing parties all over the world for people like P-Diddy. In fact, that love of crepes which inspired this new restaurant venture came from his international travels when he and his girlfriend would search for the best crepes. And through a familial connection he was also able to sit in on meetings at Motor City Casino regarding all aspects of restaurant operations, so he was not without prior exposure. Oh, I should probably note he also has a degree in business management and marketing. So yes--a boy and his dreams, sure, but not quite wide-eyed and inexperienced, and also a bit of a wunderkind. In other words, don't get your hopes up that opening a restaurant could be so easy. Try also not to be spurned on by the fact that he achieved this all within three months of having the idea for What Crepe?

Photo courtesy of Michelle Matiyow and Lians for www.lmstudios.com

As the owner, PJ is constantly striving to offer the best ingredients to make the finest crepes. He will not TRY to be the best; he WILL be. This sort of full-throttle attitude is evident all over the menu: where else can you find such items as Truffle Zip Sauce, Agave Nectar, Creme Fraiche, as well as an assortment of vegan options and substitutes so that everyone can enjoy the items on the menu?

The Chicken Truffle is made with marinated all-natural chicken, arugula, and truffle zip sauce. The chicken is tender and juicy and the truffle zip light and tangy, perfect for a light lunch. The mixed fresh berry is a simple combination of smashed fresh raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries, topped with powered sugar and whipped cream. At first this sounded a little boring to me, but at the enthusiastic recommendation of our server, the endearingly sweet Sophie, I went for it. With crepes, simplicity is often key; here the tart berry compote with the cream and the delicate, slightly sweet crepe shell made for a tastefully simple combination.

Though there is also something to be said for indulgence: the What Chocolate Eclair Crepe is full of vanilla custard and coated with nutella, topped with shaved white chocolate, whip cream, powdered sugar and cocoa powder. You really just can't go wrong with custard, but custard with nutella makes for the juggernaut of desserts. Doughtnut, your days are numbered.

But I have yet to tell you about the crepe de resistance: Mushroom Madness. Cremini, shitake, and whole button mushrooms, soaked in butter and wrapped in a crepe shell that looks like it's about to burst. It is drizzled with truffle zip sauce and loaded with melted gruyere swiss cheese. Gruyere makes me happy, and tangy, melted gruyere covering butter-soaked exotic mushrooms makes me even happier. Having sampled it once already, I couldn't help but sample it a second time--the huge chunks of mushrooms burst with their uniquely exotic flavors and taste richer, more robust than some of the finest cuts of beef. The high-quality gruyere is sharp and tangy, offsetting the basic (as in, opposite of acidic), slightly bitter mushrooms. The crepe is hearty and filling and absolutely decadent.


From top, Chicken Truffle, Mushroom Madness, and Wild Berry
There is a small garden plot behind the restaurant where they grow their tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, and strawberries, staying true to the garden-to-table ethic Slow Foodies and locovores all over are taking up.

The service is consistently wonderful. Sophie was my server on both trips and her genuine smile and upbeat attitude was a delight. On my second trip they had run out of some items after a particularly busy Sunday morning, and she was incredibly apologetic for it. Lita, whom a sixth-sense tingling makes me believe is PJ's crepe-loving globe-trotting partner, also personally came over and apologized for the inconvenience, offering to help us make different selections. This was in stark contrast to an experience I had almost two years ago at the Frank Taylor restaurant Detroit Breakfast House, where a terse and unapologetic "We're out of that" (orange juice, bananas, bacon) was met with impatience at our dawdling over the menu (suffice it to say I haven't been back since). Then Sophie later thanked us for being so nice to her, which caught me off guard because I certainly hadn't thought we had done anything special. Another server (Molly? Megan?) introduced herself to the table of middle-aged women next to us having a riveting conversation about medical ailments because she recognized them as regulars.

One thing I should note is that the space is very SMALL. The other patrons become your inadvertent dining partners--every conversation is easily overheard, and no matter where you sit you're likely to be sitting very close to someone at another table. The patio offers a little more privacy, if you don't mind baking in the sun. But despite this, the experience is still enjoyable--just know what to expect.

At What Crepe?, you're made to feel genuinely welcome, like each and every person there is sincerely happy and grateful that you came. This level of graciousness is hard to find, and it, much like this restaurant and its wonderful crepes, is a welcome treat.

The Crepes Have It (Again)

Creperies are all the rage right now, no? Mais oui!

What Crêpe opened just two months ago in Royal Oak and is a welcome addition to the Oak's sometimes stale dining scene (the good places are great; the rest a parade of mediocre). Following the trend started by Josephine Creperie & Bistro in Ferndale, made hugely buzzworthy by Good Girls Go to Paris Crepes (still on John R at Woodward, but soon to be opening second and third locations in Midtown and Grosse Pointe Park), and further popularized by the divine Le Petit Zinc in Detroit, What Crêpe is serving up more of these delicate little dishes that are populating their way all over metro Detroit.

What Crêpe offers crepes of both the sweet and savory variety, as well as vegetarian and vegan options. Some of their specialties include Mushroom Madness with a blend of cremini and shitake mushrooms, Mixed Berry with strawberries, blackberries and raspberries topped with powdered sugar, and the signature dessert What Chocolate Éclair Crêpe, complete with creamy vanilla custard and topped with rich chocolate. They also serve organic teas and fair trade coffee to pair with your pastry (is a crepe shell considered a pastry, I wonder? And if it isn't, then what is it? Surely, even as pancake's cousin, it is still in the family of pastry? Ah, life's mysteries...).

In recent news, owner Paul Jenkins Jr. has hired on Chef Justin Kopsch, formerly of Little Tree Sushi Bar, to expand on the menu and double portion sizes. This little creperie is a concept unique to Royal Oak (frankly I'm surprised it took so long), and I imagine it will do well here (I'm specifically reminded of the success of the similarly-minded and similarly-eclectic Cafe Muse). This charming little crepe cafe is further proof that slowly but surely, Royal Oak is learning to re-embrace its indie roots (even if it is in a more upscale way). If Ferndale is the new OLD Royal Oak, the NEW Royal Oak is the new Birmingham, and Birmingham is...well, it's still Biiiiir-mingham, and it always will be.

P.S., the name is most clever when you pronounce "crepe" properly...shorten the "e"...kind of rhymes with "strap"...get it now?

What Crêpe is open for lunch, dinner, and private parties. It is located at 317 S. Washington Avenue and also offers outdoor patio seating. As added incentive, service industry folks receive 15% off their food bill on Tuesdays, and Royal Oak residents save 10% Tuesday-Friday from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Their hours are 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Closed Mondays.

Detroit Restaurant News, from Greektown to Corktown

One restaurant's ending is another's beginning, and there's a lot of that going on in Detroit right now. First up, overlooking the three-story lobby of the newly-opening Greektown Casino Hotel, is Bistro 555, a casual dining spot serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily (Sun-Thurs 6:00AM-11:00PM, Fri & Sat 6:00AM-midnight). Next is Mediterra Italian Bistro, the long-rumored Italian restaurant taking place of the original New Hella's location. While legal battles have stalled the opening of this venture, Ted Gatzaros still plans to open this much-buzzed-about and already controversial Mediterranean/Italian eatery. The signs in the windows still promise "Coming Soon," and I hope it doesn't get held up much longer. As much as an Italian place in Greektown has caused old-world Greektowners to gasp, complaining that it takes away some of Greektown's authenticity and cultural homogeneity, the Mediterranean theme is still very much in keeping with the predominent Greek cuisine in the area, and downtown is hurting for a really solid contemporary Italian spot (aside from the lone Angelina). Being that it is still Greek-owned, methinks the complaint over the choice of cuisine is just a lot of unnecessary hoopla indicating a crippling aversion to change (and nervousness over competition) as opposed to a sharp business sense and a genuine concern for the welfare of the area.

In sadder news, the Central Business District's Indian spot Sizz'l-N-Spice, located on Monroe St., celebrated its final weekend with the Final Four, after which they will no longer be open for business. A shame to lose this lunchspot as it is one of the only restaurants within city limits offering genuine Indian cuisine; one may be hard-pressed to find such a place nearby now, especially after the loss of the superior Kathmandu Chullo in Royal Oak last October, which offered first-rate Nepalese food. Detroit still has American Masala near Wayne State; Hamtramck offers the Pakistani/Indian Taj Mahal, as well as the Indian cafe Gandhi. Ferndale isn't too far away and boasts the popular Star of India. Otherwise one might be forced to travel out as far as Troy to try Ashoka, or Auburn Hills where Rangoli is located.

And in happier news, I had a wonderful lunch at the colorful, eclectic Le Petite Zinc today. I'll save the praises for a forthcoming review, but I can tell you now that beginning April 8th they will be extending their hours to 10:30PM (presumably Mon.-Sat.).

That's it for now; now get out there and EAT!