The January Hit List: Pearl’s Deep Dive, Hazel’s, Stage Deli, and More

Yes, the ground floor restaurant at the busy corner of Main and 11 Mile in downtown Royal Oak has flipped once again, trading the airy suburban steakhouse vibes of its short-lived predecessor for a brooding seafood supper club aesthetic from restaurateur Adam Merkel. With a look straight out of the Roaring ‘20s and a crowd-pleasing menu featuring oysters, lobster rolls, crab cakes, and lobster mac ‘n’ cheese, Pearl’s walks the line between nostalgia immersion and Instagram bait with stylish aplomb.

The restaurant formerly known as Hazel, Ravines & Downtown enters 2022 having shed some of its overly wordy (not to mention confusing) name. As of January 5, the fine-casual Birmingham seafood joint shall officially be known as Hazel’s — a shortened moniker many locals have been using all along. The winter season at Hazel’s finds it flexing its “Crab Trap” menu, highlighting fresh Florida stone crab and other delights from the Gulf, including frozen daiquiris. Now that’s easy to remember.

After shutting down during the pandemic in the face of sexual misconduct allegations against a former partner, Public House returns to the Ferndale dining fold under all-new ownership and a refresh that highlights both the beloved backyard patio space and an entire separate menu dedicated to plant-based fare. (Hence, the addition of “Garden” to the name.) The sliders of yore are no more, but the fan favorite smoked carrots remain — as does the focus on cocktails, gussied-up bar food, and casual walk-in service.

Call 248-773-4905 for more info.

The beloved Stage Deli turns 60 in 2022, and while it has come a long way since its original Oak Park digs, Jack Goldberg’s formula for fine, full-service Jewish deli dining remains the same under his son, Steve, in West Bloomfield. Have a seat in the upscale dining room while you choose from the extensive menu, which features deli staples like corned beef and pastrami piled ridiculously high on thick rye bread, plus matzo ball soup and stuffed cabbage, alongside American family dining classics like burgers and fettuccine Alfredo.

After a low-key debut in 2021 with carryout-only sushi, sustainable seafood pioneer and former Mashiko chef-owner Hajime Sato’s new Clawson outpost is finding its groove as a sought-after omakase experience. The modest strip-mall space is home to a few tables for à la carte ordering and a long sushi bar for the chef’s reservation-only multi-course tasting experience. Sozai offers a few different omakase options depending on your time constraints, budget, and inherent level of adventure. With a deep focus on ethically sourced seafood harvested with minimal negative impact, you can count on trying plenty of creative, impossibly fresh seafood preparations you won’t find at any other sushi bar in town. (Just don’t ask for soy sauce.)

Call 248-677-3232 for reservations.

There are few better salves against the winter blues than the energy of seeing live music in a dimly lit room full of history while you sip cocktails and enjoy supper club favorites like deviled eggs and a wedge salad followed by a big hunk of steak with mashed potatoes. The holiday celebrations might be over, but polar vortex season begs us to keep the party going — and few places deliver that classic combo better than Cliff Bell’s. Now that you’ve welcomed 2022, leave it at the door as you step into an Art Deco time warp.

The more modern Detroit music-heads out there will be happy to know that The Beat Profile originators Paramita Sound reopened on Broadway in late November. The pandemic shuttered this pint-sized wine and record shop and for a while there it looked like it might be for good. Paramita and its sounds are back, but proof of vaccination or negative COVID test is required for entry into the cozy, 650-square-foot space. You’ll be rewarded with a curated selection of house and techno records in both the bins and on the decks as well as a lineup of all-Michigan wines from the state’s most exciting producers, complete with impressionistic tasting notes. “Astral jazz played underwater” is the description Mari Vineyards’ dry riesling receives here, the rare place where the music just might match the juice.

No reservations; walk-ins only.

West Village restaurant Craft Work and Corktown’s Gold Cash Gold closed within a month of each other in early 2020, just before the pandemic would’ve hastened their demises anyway. But in Detroit — to paraphrase the city’s official motto — better things tend to rise from the ashes. And so Gold Cash Gold chefs Brendon Edwards and Hailey Enszer find themselves now tending the kitchen at the old Craft Work space, rechristened as the Metropolitan Bar & Kitchen, a restaurant complement to the attached Metropolitan Variety Store boutique market. From the kitchen, expect a tight menu of colorful, Latin-inspired dishes like grilled octopus with green romesco and roasted carrots with yellow mole. Grab some groceries or pantry staples from the attached market on your way out.

Call 313-469-0976 for more info.

Another market-restaurant hybrid, Eatori offers a stylish front bar with windows onto one of the most aesthetically pleasing pockets of downtown, as well as a place to grab both a hot meal and supplies for the impromptu Netflix session later. People come for the brunch and happy hour, but chef-owner Zak Yatim’s inventive dinner menu features its own share of crowd-pleasers, from the duck Bolognese to the fried chicken sandwich. Grab a seat and a drink and watch the city move.

Detroit is no stranger to birria. Thanks to its large population of residents with roots in Jalisco, the traditional goat stew has graced Mexican menus in Southwest Detroit for decades. But this inconspicuous food truck parked on an empty lot in the shadow of Michigan Central Station is fast becoming the local social media star of the quesabirria trend sweeping the nation. The family-run truck is open Friday through Sunday and trades almost exclusively in the trademark dish of fall-apart beef and gooey cheese between red-stained corn tortilla, all served with a cup of consommé for dipping. The consommé also is repurposed with knockout results in a piping hot birria ramen that will brighten even the grayest of January days.