Detroit: Eat Detroit Foodie Event

This past Tuesday, June 27th, Mitch Albom’s Say Detroit Charity hosted it’s 3rd Eat Detroit event downtown. Mitch started this charity following the Super Bowl in Detroit in 2006. His vision was that the city “should be super all the time, not just for one weekend”, and helps Detroiters in need.

Fast forward 13 years, to 2019, and Eat Detroit was born. This is an event where a number of local restaurants are involved, and offers an evening of strolling and dining throughout the city. This year there were 25 restaurants on the list in the Downtown, Midtown, Brush Park and Corktown neighborhoods. Every restaurant offers 2-3 signature small plates, plus a specialty cocktail, which is all included in the price. They also offer a shuttle system to get you from area to area to maximize your experience. While it is impossible to get to all 25 in the 4 hour window, with a lot of strategic planning, we were able to get to 12 of them. Our focus was on restaurants we had not been to before, or maybe hadn’t been there in a while . . . with the exception of Second Best, which is one of our favorites, so we HAD TO go there.

The experience is different from location to location. Some places offer live music, others might have a DJ or maybe a jazz band playing in the background. San Morello at the Shinola Hotel had Alexander Zonjic entertaining the guests.

We aren’t going to go on and on about every restaurant, we will let the pictures speak for themselves. However, there were a couple of surprises that truly caught us off guard, in a good way, and we will definitely have to make a special trip to get back to try their full menus. While everything was delicious a few standouts were the Roasted Porchetta at San Morello, the Moroccan Lamb Meatballs at Supergeil, the Lump Crab Cake at Savanna Blue, and the Char Sui Pork Belly at Pao.

We hope you enjoy the photos. If you would like more information on this event for next year you can reach out to us directly and we will be happy to let you know when we hear news on next year’s date.

These are the places we were able to get to in the order we visited them:

Brush Park

Bar Pigalle located at 2915 John R St offered:

All beef patty, house-made American cheese, iceberg shred, house pickles, dijonaise, brioche bun
Hand-Cut Frites with malt vinegar aioli
Zucchini Salad - brussels sprouts, toasted walnuts, baby kale, breakfast radish, lemon anchovy vinaigrette
Kingston Negroni – Appleton rum, Campari, sweet vermouth

Second Best located at 42 Watson St offered:

Corned Beef Rangoon with Reuben dressing
Nashville Fried Chicken Sandwich – Nashville hot, celeriac slaw, ranch mayo
Mac and Cheese – Cheddar, gouda, breadcrumb
Chicken skewers – grilled chicken thigh with umeboshi barbecue (FROM THEIR NEW RESTAURANT BASAN)
Home from Miami – Bourbon, sweet vermouth, grenadine, lime, salt

Waka Food Truck by Baobab Fare located at 6568 Woodward Ave Suite 100 offered:

Beef Chapati – Tender beef slow simmered in ripened tomato Sauce, rolled in flat bread, plantains and beans
Chicken Chapati – Pan-fried chicken in tangy mustard-onion sauce, rolled in flat bread, plantains and beans
Eggplant Chapati – Fragrant eggplant stew, rolled in flat bread, plantains and beans

Downtown

San Morello located at 1400 Woodward Ave offered:

Roasted Porchetta – Peperonata, salsa verda
Rigatoni Pomodoro – with garlic breadcrumbs
Beet Salad – citrus, lemon-poppy yogurt, mint, pistachio
Summer Negroni – Cocchi Sweet Vermouth, Campari, Fresh Grapefrut juice, House-made Berry Syrup Floater (Strawberries & Cherries)

The Statler located at 313 Park Ave offered:

Smoked Salmon Cornets - Lemon, chive, salmon caviar
Truffle Tart - Creme fraiche, butter poached lobster
Seared Foie Gras - Crispy waffle, lingonberry jam, sauternes reduction
Parisian Pear - Grey Goose La Poire vodka, Domaine Canton, fresh lime, simple syrup

Pao located at 114 W Adams Ave Suite 200 offered:

Lobster Tartare - Cold water lobster salad, sesame waffle cone, tobiko, avocado mousse
Thai Braised Shirt Rib Egg Roll - Thai braised short rib, thai slaw, hoisin chili reduction, pickled shallot
Char Sui Pork Belly - Korean char sui pork belly, pineapple mango ceviche, micro cilantro, toasted sesame
Soba Noodle Salad - Thai chili peanut sauce, carrot, cucumber, buckwheat soba noodles, cilantro, fresno chili, sesame seeds
Pretty in Pears - Wild roots pear vodka, Asian pear sake, simple, pear nectar, lime juice, champagne

Savanna Blue located at 1431 Times Square offered:

Mini Jumbo Lump Crab-Cake - Spice crab cake, warm roasted corn Brussel slaw, Cajun remoulade
Georgian Hummus - Black-eyed peas, olive oil, garlic, warm flatbread
SavannahBlue Wings - Wings tossed in our signature SB sauce paired with a fresh mango salsa
SB Arnold Palmer - Fresh squeezed lemonade, sweet tea and rittenhouse bourbon

Corktown

Cork & Gable located at 2415 Michigan Ave offered:

Bangers and Mashed - English pork sausage, red skin mashed potatoes, beef demi, fried onion straws
Palomino Bacci - Pasta filled with prosciutto and grana padano cheese, tossed in a palomino sauce, topped with pesto
Fried Dubliner Cheese - Crispy, house made dubliner cheese with marinara
The Michigan Ave - Vodka, fresh citrus juices, simple syrup

Takoi located at 2520 Michigan Ave offered:

Crispy Spare Ribs - Smoked pork ribs lightly fried and glazed in fish sauce caramel with salad of mango, pickled fennel, scallion, ginger and herbs
Som Tum Thai - Green papaya pounded with garlic, thai chili, long beans, tomato, peanuts, palm sugar, fish sauce, tamarind and lime. Spicy!
Charred Brassicas - Wok charred HiO farm bok choy and baby napa cabbage with vinegar chilies, mint, miso, sesame and curried crispy rice
Promises in Vortex - Lunazul tequila, mezcal, cilantro, thai chili syrup, mint, lime
Mocktail - Non-alcoholic cocktail with lemongrass ginger syrup, lime, pineapple and hibiscus tea.

Supergeil located at 2442 Michigan Ave offered

Hummus with North African Green Chili Sauce - Hummus, zhoug, pide
Moroccan Lamb Meatballs - Merguez spiced lamb, spicy tomato sauce
Falafel - Green herb falafel, tomato, onion, tahini cream, house hot sauce
House Sangria - Red wine, brandy, sherry, pomegranate, orange liqueur, seasonal fruit, citrus

Ima Izakaya located at 2100 Michigan Ave offered:

Chilled Sesame-Ginger Noodles - Chilled udon noodles, sesame-ginger sauce, julienned spring veggies, nori, lemon
Garden Veggie Sushi Roll - Sushi rice, avocado, pickled carrot, asparagus, cucumber and micro shisho wrapped in nori
Ahi Tuna Poke with Sesame Crisp - Sushi grade Ahi tuna, yuzu ponzu sauce, scallion, toasted sesame rice crisp
Guava Melon Punch - Yuzu vodka, melon liqueur, guava candy syrup, lime

Slows BBQ located at 2138 Michigan Avenue offered:

Pork Belly Burnt Ends - Slow smoked pork belly burnt ends with maple bbq glaze, cheddar grits, and house made pickles
Smoked Hunter's Sausage - Slow smoked house made hunter's sausage with grandma's potato salad, IPA mustard, and house made pickles
Bourbon Pecan Bread Pudding - Brioche and pecan bread pudding with vanilla custard and bourbon caramel
Slows Sangria - A blend of red and white wines with juice, fortified with citrus vodka, brandy and orange liqueur, topped with ginger ale