Considered a food desert not so long ago, Detroit is now a culinary oasis, Ann Arbor freelancer Jennifer Conlin writes in The New York Times.
The story, posted Wednesday in advance of publication in Sunday's travel section, continues The Times' extraordinary coverage of all things Detroit in the past year.
Conlin writes:
In the last year alone, nearly a dozen new restaurants have opened, from Grille Midtown serving everything from jambalaya to rib-eyes in a renovated century-old former theater on Woodward Avenue, to Craft Work, which serves seasonal cuisine in the historic district of West Village. And while the city has long been known for its great diversity of ethnic food and chili dogs, it is finally getting a reputation that reaches beyond ribs.
What is abundantly clear is that some of the most enterprising restaurateurs in Detroit are those burrowing into empty buildings and taking advantage of start-up funds from regional and citywide competitions, as well as from eager investors.
Conlin shines the spotlight on these new or new-ish establishments:
- La Feria, the Spanish tapas place on Cass
- Wright & Company, the club-like spot in the late-19th-century brick building on Woodward
- Detroit Vegan Soul, in Indian Village
- Rose’s Fine Food, the diner run by two cousins on E. Jefferson
A local urban and regional planner, UM doctoral student Patrick Cooper-McCann, has no quibble with the list -- just with how Conlin frames it:
Someone please inform the @nytimes that a "food desert" isn't a neighborhood without a gourmet restaurant
— Cooper (@rethinkdetroit) October 9, 2014
