Detroit: Grey Ghost’s Annual Halloween Dinner
When we are trying to decide what and where to feature each week, we try to mix it up so we aren’t constantly downtown or featuring the same style food week after week . . . and that is not an easy task. With that being said, we have featured this restaurant in the past since it is, BY FAR, our favorite restaurant. We have actually featured it a few times and usually this time of year since they always do a family style themed dinner for Halloween. If you haven’t guessed by now it’s Grey Ghost in Detroit’s Brush Park neighborhood.
Since they opened in 2016, past Halloween dinner themes have been Grey Ghost dresses up as Johnny Noodle King in 2016, Coney Island of Horrors in 2017, Fantasma Gris Taqueria Takeover in 2018, Ghost Shack (playing on the Chicken Shack name) in 2019. An Italian themed Red Foxx, Hoffa’s Last Meal in 2020. Last year was the announcement of their new venture Basan (opening sometime this month) which featured Asian inspired street food. This year’s theme was Mardi Ghost, which featured a variety of New Orleans style dishes and cocktails.
Since this is a family style meal, they bring out most of the items at the same time. There was so much food we really needed a larger table. They started us off with some fresh oysters. If you like raw oysters you have to try them here at Grey Ghost. They are typically served Chicago Style (like a Chicago Style hot dog) however for this meal they were just plain with cocktail sauce, but were still fresh and delicious. Next were some Hush puppies with Jalapeño butter & jam and some Fried Gator Nuggets with a Remoulade sauce. The Hush Puppies were perfect with the jalapeño butter and jam and the Gator bites were cooked perfectly.
For the main courses we had Muffuletta Sandwich, Shrimp Étouffée, Okra Macque Choux, Braised Chicken with Gumbo Gravy and Holy Gold Rice. I love a Muffuletta sandwich. If you are not familiar with it, it’s a sandwich typically made with the same ingredients as an Italian Sub (Salami, Capicola or ham, Mortadella and sliced Mozzarella and Provolone). However, instead of using a sub bun, it is made on a round Italian loaf of bread and topped with a Muffuletta relish consisting of a giardiniera (pickled cauliflower, carrots, celery and onion), olives and pimento. It is not a flavor for everyone but if you like olives, you will love a Muffuletta.
The Shrimp Étouffée was perfect with the Holy Gold Rice, full of shrimp and not too spicy. I had never had the Okra Macque Choix before. It is like a corn succotash, made with andouille sausage and okra . . . a nice side dish for this meal. The braised chicken in the Gumbo Gravy was a big hit! It was super tender and the gumbo gravy was SO good that we would have probably eaten twice what they brought. Thank goodness they didn’t. (Hmmmm, It is giving me an idea of what to make for dinner tonight!) We finished with a dessert that was the best of both worlds. New Orleans in known for their Beignets and Bananas Foster so why not have both? A Banana’s Foster Beignet? This was not your typical Beignet. It was square and about the size of a doughnut, topped with powdered sugar and bananas. But it gets better . . . when you cut it open a rich banana cream filling came oozing out which made life glorious. We were miserably full, but we found a way to clean that plate.
Thank you for taking the time to share in our Grey Ghost experience. This is definitely something I recommend for next Halloween if you don’t have any plans. Being empty nesters it is the perfect way for us to spend Halloween.
Until next time, live well and eat well. Enjoy!
- Keith & Teresa Becker
