[NEWS BITES] MEX opening in Bloomfield Hills Labor Day weekend

MEX exterior.

Celebrity chef Zack Sklar (because we are all celebrities in our own minds, are we not?) is opening MEX in Bloomfield Hills later this month. His first solo restaurant Social Kitchen + Bar in Birmingham has been a huge success and his plan was always to grow a restaurant empire to rival Lettuce Entertain You in Chicago, so this is his next step towards that. Much like with Social, a great deal of attention has been paid to the concept and design. Being over in Bloomfield Hills, Sklar's biggest competitor will be fellow restaurateur Bill Roberts of the Roberts Restaurant Group, which owns both Roadside B+G and Cafe ML in the area, neither of which are anything close in concept. And again, as a former area resident, I can tell you that 20 new restaurants with the exact same concept could open in the area and all would do well.

Huerto Tequila Bar and Grill, opening in near-ish West Bloomfield this fall, will be MEX's biggest competitor in terms of concept, with a design by Ron Rea, a big brick fireplace in the dining room and a second one on the huge outdoor patio, SW/Mexican/American food, and 75 different tequilas. Both of these restaurants seem to be ushering in the second wave of the contemporary Mexican cuisine-and-tequila-bar concept (and let's not forget La Feria in Midtown, also opening this fall). The first time around, the model didn't have much luck - there was the recent Barrio bomb in Birmingham, and those of us who have lived here for more than 5 minutes aaaaaaaaaaall remember Agave. (When the day comes that Midtown Inc. finally removes that sign it will be a very, very sad day. Also, Sue, can I have it? No but seriously.) In both cases, however, it would seem the problem stemmed more from mismanagement on owners' and/or landlords' ends than anything else, having much less to do with the popularity (or lack thereof) of the concept.

Below is the presser. Those who read it and think "Rick Bayless" are not in the wrong.

MEX interior

After opening Detroit Metro’s hottest new restaurant, Social Kitchen and Bar in June 2012, 27-year-old chef Zack Sklar is brining his trademark innovative style to his second restaurant endeavor, MEX.

The menu will feature authentic Mexican comfort food like carne asada, corn tamales and queso fondido, as well as homemade horchata, more than 100 types of tequila, and an inspired selection of handcrafted cocktails and margaritas.

“I think Detroit needs this,” Sklar says. “Mexican is one of my favorite cuisines in the world, but in Suburban Detroit it can be difficult to find the genuine, high-quality Mexican food I’ve learned to love, so I created the Mexican restaurant of my dreams.”

While traditional Mexican will be the restaurant’s lifeblood, the menu will also feature modern twists on classics, like hot dog taquitos and Mexican-spiced edamame. A variety of “stone bowls” (including a vegan option) incorporate a mix of beans, vegetables and spices. Cooking the stone bowls at 550 degrees and serving them in their vessel straight out of the oven ensures the Spanish rice is cooked to crispy perfection while meat and vegetables remain tender.

Desserts will include tres leches, corn-flake-crusted fried ice cream, and key-lime avocado pie.

Every dish on the menu will feature ingredients specially imported from all over the globe — including morita chiles, knob onions, a variety of quesos, and cinnamon straight from Mexico — to ensure a level of unmatched quality and authenticity. The 100% corn tortillas used in many of the entrees are made fresh daily.

In addition to its formidable list of tequilas — including some artful infusions —specialty drinks like mole margaritas and chipotle raspberry margaritas will round out a bar that also included 30 kinds of beers including eight on tap, and an inventive wine list.

The 200-seat multilevel restaurant is modeled after the work of iconic Mexican architect Louis Barragán. Mexican and Michigan culture collide at this unique building, featuring floors salvaged from Detroit homes built in the 1920s, and a kaleidoscopic array of colors for which Barragán is famous. Numerous garages convert the indoor bar into an outdoor fiesta in the summer.

“There’s nothing like this building and there’s nothing like this menu in Michigan,” Sklar says. “The refinement of our food, presented in fun casual ways is just what we do. With the approachability of the food and décor, we’re trying to bring over an eclectic youthfulness that’s accessible to everyone, which is exactly what has made Social so successful.”

About Zack Sklar
Chef Zack Sklar has been lauded for his innovative presentation and conceptual approach to classic cuisine. As a student at the world-renowned Culinary Institute of America, Sklar started his catering company Cutting Edge Cuisine in New York City in 2007. After graduating in 2008, the precocious chef returned home to Michigan and brought his business with him. Since then, the 27-year-old has made his mark on the Metro-Detroit culinary scene, most recently with the 2012 opening of Social Kitchen and Bar, a refined comfort food restaurant that has turned the Detroit Metro dining scene on its head. Sklar, who now employs 175 staff members, has also developed a growing list of high-profile clients, such as the Ritz Carlton, the Detroit Pistons, Microsoft, Mitt Romney and Dan Gilbert. Future plans include partnering with Gilbert on a restaurant in the city of Detroit.

“I returned to Michigan because I believe I can make an impact here, and so far I’ve been able to do that,” Sklar says. “In the Detroit area I’ve been able to experiment and create something totally unique in a way that wouldn’t be possible in any other city. I’ve brought in talent from all over the country to make sure my customers get impeccable service, and I’m really proud and excited to be able to bring a taste of true Mexican culture to an area that’s starved for it.”

[EID Feature] Sexy Time in Ann Arbor: Lena + Habana

All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

Two of my favorite people in restaurateuring (actually, it would probably be safe to say that these guys ARE my two favorite restaurateurs, the end) have opened yet another business in Ann Arbor (two, really) and it looks like they've got yet another winner(s) under their belts.

Greg Lobdell and Jon Carlson of 2Mission Design and Development have been on a tear here, there and everywhere. Jolly Pumpkin is expanding their Dexter brewing facilities (so Ron Jeffries can keep brewing unicorn tears and more of it) and they'll be opening a third Jolly Pumpkin Cafe soon (this one in Royal Oak). Together they own more than a dozen restaurants and bars in Royal Oak, Ann Arbor and Traverse City, and they're not slowing down any time soon.

Meet Lena (Lay-na), the team's newest venture and Ann Arbor's latest in cosmopolitan Latin-fusion cuisine. The place is total sexy time with a stripped-down aesthetic and an emphasis on clean, curved lines. From the Jetsons-inspired ceiling-mounted fireplace (get your own for a mere $8,500) to the curved wall and sparse west coast palette (save for the very very green exterior), this place just oozes sexy savvy chic. Oh, Ann Arbor, you.

But that's not all: in the basement is the newly-relocated and revamped Habana. It's still everything that it was before (Latin-inspired food and drink, salsa dancing, nightclub on weekends), only better. Sexier.  And minus the "Cafe." (The old Cafe Habana space, in the basement of Blue Tractor BBQ + Brewery, is now Mash, a whiskey and beer bar which admittedly fits the BBQ joint above it a bit more naturally.)

Lena and Habana are both Latin-inspired concepts but the similarities end there. They are otherwise as different as night and day, black and white, below ground and above ground. Where Lena upstairs is light and airy with an open floor plan awash in natural sunlight, breezy like an outdoor cliff-side patio on the Baja Peninsula, Habana is its dark underbelly. Literally. Located beneath Lena, Habana is dark and cavernous, an ultra-sexy nightclub carved out of the earth in the footprints of former secret vaults found beneath what was once Cunningham's Drug Store.

The building itself dates back to the late 1800s (possibly as far back as 1860), when it was home to the department store Mack and Co. When the store shut down, the top floors were removed and it became Cunningham's (1940). That store closed in 1973, replaced by a flower store briefly and then the Greek restaurant Parthenon in 1975, which closed in April of this year after more than 40 years of service.

The renovations were fast and furious (the Parthenon wasn't the cleanest of places, and the basement was pretty much dirt). During the renovation process, secret chambers were found behind the walls of the basement running under the sidewalks of the city; the walls were blown out and those chambers are now lounge areas. As for the very very green exterior, it is a faithful recreation of the original Cunningham's Drug Store facade; metalwork, awnings and all.

Lena is conceived to be a culinary experience inspired by the foods and traditions of Latin America and influenced by contemporary American cuisine. Chef Gabriel Vera is from Ecuador but uses French techniques with his own spin. He also recently represented Team Michigan at the Culinary Olympics in Frankfurt earlier this month -- this guy ain't no Tex-Mex joint line cook.

The menu is tapas and tacos with items like roasted corvina (an excellent fish from the coast of Ecuador you won't find anywhere else around here), an excellent selection of ceviche (try the sampler), traditional items like Caldo de Bolas (shredded beef soup), tostones, Spanish yapingacho (potato cakes stuffed with queso blanco, avocado, peanut sauce and chorizo), giant broiled Spanish sardines (not the kind that come in cans), 58-day-aged NY Strip steaks, a primarily Latin American wine list, and a huge emphasis on craft cocktails made with fresh-squeezed juices and house-made infusions. Plus rotating Jolly Pumpkin handles and Brazilian-style Chopp beer (light and dark) brewed especially for Lena and Habana.

I could use more words to say all of these things in more detail, but I'm going to let pictures do the talking here.

The bar at Habana.

Former secret vault made lounge.

House-infused vodka.

Ceviche sampler.

Want to see more? View the Flickr set here.