Michigan Part 4: Detroit's Best Upscale Restaurants

Detroit has a fantastic food scene. My only complaint was that there were so many great places, and so little time. In my last post, I covered foods birthed in the city, such as the Coney dog and Detroit-style pizza. In this post, I'll share some of the more upscale restaurants that are worth a visit in Motor City.

SheWolf Pastificio and Bar

SheWolf

First up is SheWolf, located in Midtown. Looking for a little taste of Rome while you are in Detroit? SheWolf is the place to go.

The restaurant is named after the myth about twin brothers Romulus and Remus, (sons of the god Mars and Rhea Silvia, a Vestal Virgin) who were abandoned in a river. The story goes that the twins were found by a she wolf who suckled them, and thereafter raised by a shepherd.

They eventually returned to Rome, had a dispute, in which Romulus killed Remus and then founded the city of Rome, which he named after himself. That's the short version of the story anyway.

Amuse Bouche Tartlet

SheWolf is led by Anthony Lombardo, a skilled chef whose resume includes a stint at the acclaimed James Beard House. In order to experience the range of his skill, I partook in the tasting menu. The evening began with two amuse bouche courses. The first was a tartlet made with black garlic mascarpone, chanterelles and Romano cheese.

Amuse Bouche Salad

The second was a heirloom tomato and burrata salad with sliced peaches, Calabrian salami and a grape vinaigrette.

Sourdough Garlic Bread

The first course following the amuse bouches, was a carpaccio served with sourdough, pull apart, garlic bread and house made, cultured butter.

Beef Carpaccio

The carpaccio was made using thinly sliced Wagyu round eye, topped with fried capers, toasted hazelnuts and Parmesiano Reggiano cheese.

Francodolli Raviolo

SheWolf is probably best known for their Roman-style pastas, all made in house. My first pasta dish was the francodolli raviolo or "postage stamp" ravioli. It was filled with a creamy corn and ricotta mixture and topped with pine nut pesto Genovese and a very light sprinkling of sumac.

Rigatoni

The rigatoni was presented carbonara style with a four peppercorn blend, crispy guanciale, and a zabiogne made with aerated white wine, egg and garlic. This was one of the best carbonara dishes I have had.

Capesante Seared Scallop

Though known for its pasta, I think SheWolf does proteins just as well. In fact, my favorite dish of the evening was the capesante seared scallop. Cooked perfectly with a slightly crispy crust and melt in your mouth center, it was served with corn beurre blanc, prosciutto and XO green pepper.

Vitello Piccata

Also noteworthy was the vitello piccata, a lightly breaded, pan fried, veal cutlet. It was plated alongside fried artichoke hearts and on top of a savory caper sauce.

Pistachio Gelato

The tasting course came with one dessert, but the bartender and manager, with whom I chatted throughout my meal, were kind enough to send out the restaurant's signature dessert as well - the pistachio gelato, presented soft serve style.

This dessert was so yummy, that to think about it is making my mouth water. The pistachio flavor was prominent in the gelato itself and was further enunciated by the toasted pistachios sprinkled on top. The gelato was finished with sea salt and high quality olive oil. It was phenomenal.

Peach Olive Oil Cake

The dessert featured on the tasting menu was the peach, olive oil cake. It was served with almond brittle, a basil gelato and fresh basil.

After seeing the size of the first course, I knew to pace myself and only ate a small portion of each dish, reserving the rest in to go boxes. The leftovers made an entire, equally delicious meal the following day. You can bet I finished my entire pistachio gelato in record time at the restaurant though. I mean melting taken into consideration, I had to, right?

Marrow

Marrow

The second upscale restaurant I visited in Detroit was Marrow, a four time James Beard Award nominee.

Marrow is Detroit's first restaurant and butcher shop hybrid. This is a concept I see all over California and love. I was excited to hear that the Motor City was embracing it as well. As I did at SheWolf, I also participated in the tasting menu at Marrow.

Nira Fritter

The meal began with a nira (Chinese garlic chive) fritter. It was served on top of oyster cream and topped with pickled shrimp relish.

Stuffed Fig Leaf

The second course was a fig leaf stuffed with dry aged beef, lamb, pineapple and herbs. It had a great savory, sour and sweet flavor that I enjoyed.

Local Melon Salad

The next dish was listed as a "local melon salad," confusing because there was no melon in it, unless maybe I missed it. There was however, tallow fried peanuts, shaved green papaya, long beans, lots of lime juice and Thai birds eye chilis. Whatever they chose to call it, it was spicy, crunchy, sour and delicious.

Sour Pork Meatball

Expanding on the sour elements of the previous dish, Marrow served a sour pork meatball next. The tartness was balanced by the spiciness of the red curry broth and the earthiness of the marinated mushrooms it came with.

Heritage Pork Belly

The final savory course of the evening was the crispy pork belly, served with charred bok choy, fried basil and crying tiger sauce. This was another balanced dish wherein rich, fresh, spicy, savory and smokey flavors coalesced beautifully.

Lime Cake

For dessert, Marrow served a lime cake in a jar, layered with tamarind jam, coconut mousse and topped with shredded, toasted coconut. This completed another excellent meal and my time at another Detroit restaurant that I would recommend.

Selden Standard

Selden Standard

Finally, we have Selden Standard, which like Marrow and SheWolf, is considered one of Detroit's best restaurants. Selden Standard serves new American small plates ...

... and great cocktails.

Bread and Butter

Start with the house-made bread and cultured butter that are great on their own.

Seared Haloumi

Or enjoy the bread with the seared haloumi, a semi-hard, brined, sheep or goat's milk cheese from Cyprus. Haloumi is known for its high melting point (so it's great to sear, grill or even fry) and its saltiness. For this reason, Selden Standard's choice to pair it with sweet raspberries, tangy, pickled fennel and za'atar was wonderful.

Cavatelli

Selden Standard is known for their pastas, like SheWolf, so I was sure to order one.

I chose the cavatelli bathed in a warm chicken sugo, flavored with fennel and topped with ricotta.

Dark Chocolate Bon Bon

I finished my meal with a chocolate bon bon, about the size of a silver dollar. Perfect, because that is all I had room for.

I hope you enjoyed this post and will try some of these restaurants. If upscale dining, tasting courses and reservations aren't your thing though, coming up, I have some equally great, casual restaurant recommendations to share with you, in addition to those I shared in my last post.