A look back at Detroit's year in the restaurant and café industry
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Le Suprême, the French restaurant in the historic Book Tower downtown. Photo: Courtesy of Olsovsky Williams
For the local restaurant industry, 2023 was a year of hotels, coffee and settling into the "new normal."
- We're looking back at some of the industry's significant themes over the past 12 months.
The big picture: There's no getting back to "normal" after the height of COVID-19, and that became apparent this year for restaurants, Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association communications VP Emily Daunt tells Axios.
- "We saw an adjustment within the industry to a change in societal norms. People are carrying out more … people are dining out more at 6pm than the later hours," Daunt says.
What they're saying: Melody Baetens, the News' restaurant critic, wrote that 2023 was a year of higher menu prices and new hotel restaurants.
- The Godfrey Hotel in Corktown debuted I/O, a semi-open rooftop bar and restaurant with sweeping city views, plus Hamilton's on its first floor, from local restaurateur Samy Eid of Phoenicia in Birmingham.
- The historic Book Tower, with high-end apartments and a Roost Apartment Hotel, is now home to Parisian-inspired Le Suprême — one of Baetens' favorite new eateries this year, she wrote.
- Plus, the Siren Hotel closed local chef Kate Williams' old-timey Karl's diner and replaced it with Ash—Bar, an all-day concept from Baltimore.
Between the lines: For Eater Detroit, 2023 was about "creating spaces" in "unusual or overlooked places."
- "We're here to celebrate the people and places that have taken Detroit's many underutilized or ignored spaces and have found ways to build a sense of community," editor Serena Maria Daniels wrote.
- One such place is the Wine Side, offering wine by the glass and to take home in an old revitalized building alongside Red Hook cafe on the Dennis Archer Greenway leading to the riverfront.
- Another is Paradise Street Eats, an Indian fusion food truck posted up in a Greektown parking lot whose food we highlighted this summer.
- The city also got its first Black-owned food hall, bringing together nine operators on Six Mile.
Zoom in: Chef Omar Anani's announcement that the beloved Saffron De Twah would close for six months provided a prominent example of a restaurant industry truth — that it's tough, both physically and mentally.
- Anani took time to focus on his health and some community projects, such as Saffron Community Kitchen, which provides meals to those in need and is looking to expand. He is also telling Palestinian stories through food via a pop-up called Shaebi.
- Saffron expects to reopen in March, though it'll likely look different, Anani told Axios in an email.
Plus: You could also call it a year in which entrepreneurs worked overtime to sate Detroit's caffeine needs.
- The city's new coffee shops include Craig's Coffee in the Cass Corridor, La Ventana in Eastern Market, Morningside Cafe on the east side, West Village's Encarnacion, Cred Cafe in Rivertown, James Oliver Coffee in the Guardian Building downtown and Alba replacing Astro Coffee in Corktown.
- Yet, there's always a shifting of the guard. Detroit has lost 30 coffee shops — including chains — this year and gained 34, according to Detroitography founder Alex B. Hill.
What's next: We heard some much-anticipated restaurant news for next year. After closing, iconic Dutch Girl Donuts was purchased by the Schvitz bathhouse owner Paddy Lynch and is expected to open back up in January, Eater reported.
- And we should see forward movement next year on hit New Center spot Baobab Fare's planned second location on the east side.