The December Hit List: Highlands, Forest, Rattlesnake, and More

It’s the most wonderful time of the year at The Oakland, when the dimly lit lair glows brightly with yuletide cheer, twinkling lights, and all the North Pole-themed tchotchkes you didn’t know you needed, as the holiday-themed Miracle bar pop-up takes over the normally brooding Ferndale cocktail house. The serious menu takes a end-of-year pause to make space for spiked egg nog, old fashioneds chilled by snowballs, and one expletive-laden nod to that famous Christmas movie starring Bruce Willis.

The pandemic hasn’t been kind to many foodservice operations, but Nick Wilson’s Lobster Food Truck is one Detroit-born exception. With public events and parties canceled, Wilson made arrangements with local businesses to park his food truck and then ran it like a drive-thru, serving up hot lobster rolls and lobster bites to COVID-weary travelers. The success of the truck sparked the need for a bigger kitchen, and in late November Wilson introduced the carryout-only Lobster Food Truck & Pitstop across from the Ford-Wyoming Drive-In.

The bigger digs and growing team mean an expanded menu that still highlights high-quality Maine lobster flown in whole daily, but with a few more embellishments. Among the new additions, you can now order a cold lobster roll (Maine style), as well as a surf-and-turf burger featuring two beef patties topped with butter-poached lobster meat in Alfredo sauce, or even a whole split lobster served with fries and shrimp.

Perhaps it’s the affiliations with sunshine, sand, and surf that have made seafood such a popular restaurant concept in and around Detroit recently. The folks who brought us Sloppy Chops in Northwest Detroit recently debuted their seafood-focused followup, Sloppy Crab, directly across from the RenCen in the space that once housed Brigg’s Sports Bar. The bar vibe remains thanks to its central location in the renovated space, but the food’s been kicked up a notch to include fried lobster tacos, blackened salmon, and the sloppy seafood pot — a full-blown lobster, king crab, and shrimp boil. There’s also the sister restaurant’s trademark Sloppy Chops and a ½-pound burger for those who prefer their meat to have walked on land.

Across the street from Sloppy Chops and a full 71 stories up, James Beard award-winning chef Shawn McClain oversees an eclectic New American menu atop the RenCen building at Highlands. Perhaps best known for his Las Vegas restaurants, McClain’s high-flying perch comes with the best views of the city (and Canada, depending on where you sit). Squint hard and you can convince yourself those twinkling lights are the Vegas Strip, especially after a seasonal cocktail or two from head bartender John S. Neely.

While the food menu features some McClain calling card dishes like foie gras brûlée, served here with Michigan cherry preserves, the real specialty of the house can be found on a separate list of reserve steaks and wines. Choose from Michigan-raised wagyu beef, Cape Grim vintage beef from Tasmania, or Australian wagyu to pair with a rare Scotch from an impressive selection of brown booze. Dinner is currently served as a three-course option starting at $80, with plenty of room for add-ons and extra dishes.

If going big is the preferred move, few places provide a dining playground as ostentatious as Heirloom Hospitality’s Prime + Proper on Detroit’s Capitol Park. The see-and-be-seen environment attracts plenty of movers and shakers, but anonymous types also pack in this swanky steakhouse to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries over towers of chilled seafood and, perhaps most notably, various cuts of USDA Prime beef, dry-aged in-house and cooked over fire on a custom Grillworks unit. Get your holiday shopping done in the same place by grabbing a few chops from the butcher counter on your way out.

Whatever you do, don’t skip dessert. The baklava sundae nods to the one of the Detroit area’s most ubiquitous Middle Eastern treats, while the peanut butter pave remains the best riff on a Butterfinger you’re likely to encounter anywhere.

Though a full 45 minutes from downtown Detroit, the somewhat sleepy suburb of Sylvan Lake received its own big-ticket restaurant development earlier this summer. Sylvan Table’s bucolic setting, farm-to-table approach, and rustic interior made from a 300-year-old Maine barn painstakingly deconstructed and rebuilt in southeast Michigan is a far cry from the big-city trappings of, say, Prime + Proper, but the sheer investment required to bring the project to life is just as impressive.

While Sylvan Table shines in the warmer months with an ample patio overlooking five acres of farm, the comfort-forward approach of Executive Chef Chris Gadulka pairs well with the roaring hearth in one of the expansive side rooms. Choose either lamb or goat to be braised in stout and served over mashed potatoes and carrots from the farm. Rabbit, too, is braised and served with jus and grilled onions. The rustic aesthetic of the space echoes onto each plate. Get there early if you plan to walk in — patrons line up daily before opening for a chance at one of the coveted bar seats.

Call 248-369-3360 for reservations.

While COVID put an early end to a number of newer restaurants that had cropped up in and around Detroit during the local hospitality boom of the last few years, some of the classics remain remarkably untouched. Opened in 1988, the Rattlesnake Club brought Detroit its only James Beard Foundation Award when former chef-partner Jimmy Schmidt won for Best Chef: Midwest in 1993. Schmidt moved on years ago and so did much of the media attention, transforming the Rattlesnake Club into somewhat of a hidden gem of fine dining on the city’s near east side. There are no cheffy sleights of hand or deep craft beer lists here, just straight-ahead American chophouse fare served with heartfelt hospitality in a romantic riverfront location.

Turning 20 in May, Luciano DelSignore’s Italian fine-dining institution — known both for legendary power lunches and romantic dinner dates — continues to hum reliably along on this well-traveled stretch of Northwestern Highway. For Christmas, Bacco is planning a takeaway dinner to celebrate the season Italian-style for those who don’t want to cook themselves. In the dining room, the menu retains the simple sophistication DelSignore became known for in the first place, with each dish utilizing no more than three or four impeccable ingredients treated with respect. As another cold Michigan winter bears down, few bowls of food are as comforting as Bacco’s classic strozzapreti norcina.

Bacco’s little brother began its life in Birmingham in the fall of 2019 as an ultra high-end tasting menu restaurant, but the timing couldn’t have been worse for such a concept as the  pandemic bore down. After a smart rebrand that brought it in line with its contemporary Italian counterpart, Casa Pernoi found new legs under chef de cuisine Logan Robb. While chef-owner Luciano DelSignore can still be found in the kitchen most dinner services, Robb’s increasing confidence as a chef is on full display in plates of house-cured charcuterie and roasted Verlasso salmon with mushroom brodo. And you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better bread basket anywhere.

A bit off the beaten Birmingham path, Forest stands alone on the ground floor of the Templeton Building in a mostly residential neighborhood east of Woodward and doesn’t get the same attention as its well-worn neighbors. But those in the know, know. Executive Chef Nick Janutol is one of Michigan’s finest cooks and Samy Eid (whose family’s restaurants also include Birmingham stalwart Phoenicia and Leila in Detroit’s Capitol Park) one of its finest operators.

Contemporary Mediterranean is the organizing culinary principle at Forest, but its specialty is understated elegance. You can’t go wrong with pasta here, especially when showered in truffle shavings, and rotating entrees have their own appeal. But first-timers shouldn’t miss the shaved brussels sprout salad, farm egg, and black rice with cobia from the starters section.