The November Hit List: Lumen, Willis Show Bar, The Bricks, and More

New to the Resy fold this month, three-year-old Beacon Park anchor Lumen has been a COVID-era favorite thanks to its futuristic open-air design, which seamlessly integrates the building into the bustling park just west of downtown while allowing ample airflow. The floor-to-ceiling window panels may be closed more often this time of year, but outdoor fire pits provide extra warmth to bolster a straight-ahead menu already loaded with trademark bistro comfort. With the LePage family announcing the imminent closure of their Birmingham stalwart Big Rock Chophouse at the end of the year, Lumen will become their new flagship — a fitting light for longtime torchbearers of metro Detroit hospitality.

After a pandemic-driven pivot to subscription boxes and providing free meals to the community, Omar Anani’s award-winning Moroccan street food restaurant is finally welcoming back dine-in guests beginning Nov. 4. The Maghrebi oasis on the near east side returns with a newly built patio with lush greenery and a dry bar specializing in non-alcoholic cocktails. The popular fried chicken sandwich will now be relegated to the specials list, but you can expect Anani’s welcoming service and bountiful tagines Thursday through Sunday.

Reservations available by calling 586-359-6138.

Though there’s plenty to love at this takeaway cafe and market during the warmer months, Folk really shines when the weather turns toward hoodie-wearing and seasonally spiced lattes. Grab a honey pumpkin or salted maple variety with a dozen cider donuts from the walk-up window. Or try the new Cade stack, a curried vegan sausage and JustEgg sandwich developed with newly minted Detroit Pistons star (and proud vegan) Cade Cunningham. And stay tuned for Thanksgiving meal plans. Last year, the community-minded shop offered a take-and-bake meal honoring Indigenous ingredients and foodways.

November isn’t just for pumpkin spice and turkey. Soup season is officially upon us, and so begins the busiest few months of the year for the three area locations of Ima (pronounced “ee-mah”). A perennial favorite for steaming bowls of spicy pork ramen, vegan pho, and luxurious, butter-poached lobster udon, the flagship Corktown location of Mike Ransom’s fast-casual noodle shop includes a spacious heated patio to get your slurp on. And while you’ll have to visit either the Midtown or Madison Heights locations for one of the beloved karaage fried chicken sandwiches, you can now get barbecue pork or tofu between brioche in Corktown.

The new tasting menu restaurant from the team behind Chartreuse Kitchen & Cocktails debuts to the public in early November, following a few weeks of soft trials for friends and family. Named for the Norse goddess of love and beauty, Freya takes a few cues from the homey, approachable fine-dining style exemplified by Smyth in Chicago. Enter and be greeted by a glass of Champagne, to be enjoyed as your party selects a vinyl record to play during the course of your dinner. Working from a barely-there kitchen at Chartreuse for the last six years, executive chef Doug Hewitt now finally has the proper space to showcase the true range of his team’s impressive culinary skills.

Just around the corner from Freya, Joe Louis’ son and managing partner Johnny Cannon introduced a down-home diner to a neighborhood growing quickly in culinary cachet. The breakfast and brunch spot debuted in the old New Center Eatery space in May, just before a series of summer floods damaged the building. Detroit Black Restaurant Week sponsor Pepsi awarded the ailing restaurant $15,000 to help with the flood damage and the restaurant has bounced back to serve Southern breakfast staples like cinnamon roll flapjacks, bananas Foster French toast, and Creole shrimp & grits.

For carryout orders and reservations, call 313-788-8338.

Mootz serves some of the best pies in Detroit not made in the city’s namesake style. The New York-inspired pizzas are baked at 700 degrees in a gas-powered oven, lending them a generous char and distinct chew. Mootz is an especially clutch option during off hours thanks to a bustling happy hour and late-night slice options. With November 1 marking World Vegan Day, Mootz plans to lean hard into its plant-based offerings, having hired a vegan recipe consultant to develop special dishes just for the month of November.

Though its corner spot at Kercheval and Lakepointe anchors this quaint commercial strip of Grosse Pointe Park, The Bricks doesn’t get the wider recognition it deserves as one of the area’s most dedicated pizza-making enterprises. New England Culinary Institute grad and Michigan native Trenton Chamberlain oversees the 750-degree wood-fired oven himself most nights, but that’s just part of what makes The Bricks special.

The wood for the fire is harvested using sustainable management practices and comes from property owned by the Cotton family, who also own the bustling restaurant. They also run a farm on that property — about an hour and a half north — which provides much of the produce, honey, and eggs that grace The Bricks’ menu. Even the flour used in the pizza dough is milled on-site at the restaurant. With that kind of commitment underpinning its neighborhood vibe, The Bricks can remain an east side secret for only so long.

To truly embrace the fall layers, choose a few of your more fashionable duds and dress up for a night of live music and drinks at one of Detroit’s most intimate venues. The ambitious cocktail program matches the classy Art Moderne space, revived in 2018 under its original moniker after 40 years of sitting empty. Hit the second seating of the night and stay for the late-night happy hour, featuring $8 well cocktails and $10 classics, mixed by some of the city’s most talented barkeeps.

The cool kids have been packing it in at this eastside hot spot from the moment 1xRun co-founders Roula David and Jesse Cory swung the doors open on their hybrid bar/cafe/music venue/record store/art gallery in May. By day, Spot Lite doubles as a laid-back cafe, which also hosts a Cairo Coffee pop-up. But the spacious creative hub attracts a diverse crowd in the evenings thanks to a rotating roster of events and DJs pumping the bass late into the night, paired with a bar that does classic cocktails well (with prices in the single digits). Squint and you can convince yourself you’re in modern day Berlin, or at a warehouse party back in Detroit’s techno heyday.