The June Hit List: Marrow, Hazel’s, Cash Only Supper Club, and More

After a historic winning streak on Last Chance Kitchen, Marrow executive chef Sarah Welch is back in the running for the title of Top Chef on the hit show’s 19th season. Her triumphant and charismatic comeback puts her in the finals, cementing her place as Detroit’s most successful contestant to date (if you discount Season 12 winner Mei Lin’s Dearborn roots). Metro Detroiters have long known what the rest of the nation is just now learning — that Welch is a true culinary leader who walks the walk, even if she can also talk quite the talk. Marrow reservations have been harder to come by since her newfound fame, but Wednesdays and Sundays are easier days to sneak in for some of Welch’s trademark (and true) farm-to-table fare.

The women-owned and operated Backbone Hospitality — which runs Marrow, Mink, and The Royce — also oversees the cafe on the ground floor of this social club and co-working space for women and nonbinary people.

BasBlue’s female-centric ethos extends to the cafe, which emphasizes women-owned purveyors and products in its offerings. Wine is overseen by award-winning sommelier Liz Martinez, who joined as Backbone’s beverage director earlier this year. All are welcome to sample the cafe’s weekday soups, salads, and sandwiches, and the space also frequently hosts weekend pop-ups by local women chefs.

No reservations.

Dinner service returns to Rose’s Instagrammable dining room and beautiful backyard garden patio beginning June 3. From Wednesday to Saturday, pop by after 5 p.m. to sample a rotating menu featuring creative pizzas that complement pastry chef Eggy Ding’s baked goods and breads. No matter your order, expect organic ingredients and produce from local farms. Bonus: natural wines by the glass and no corkage fees for bottles bought on site.

No reservations.

Chef Emmele Herrold and partner Beth Hussey’s bustling seasonal seafood restaurant highlights culinary offerings from a different region of the United States every quarter. June finds Hazel’s at the tail end of its “Eastern Shore” menu, where Chesapeake Bay blue crabs are the star. Just like in Baltimore, the crabs are steamed live with J.O. Spice and then dumped directly on to the table, to be eaten with mallets and picks and a side of drawn butter. Get a dozen while you still can — Hazel’s shifts its sights to Maine waters and the summer lobster season beginning in July.

Stephanie Byrd’s family has been in the bar and restaurant business in Detroit for decades, having owned the stalwart downtown hot spot Flood’s since the mid ’80s. But the second-generation restaurateur stepped into her own during the pandemic, becoming a powerful voice for Black-owned restaurants in America’s Blackest big city while supporting the community ailing around her.

Byrd’s generous spirit continues to be displayed at The Block, which recently faced a power outage that shut the restaurant down an hour before Mother’s Day brunch service. Instead of panicking, Byrd and her team gave away all the food they’d prepped for the day to a local food rescue organization. The Block’s build-your-own mimosa bar, however, can only be enjoyed in person.

Call 313-832-0892 for reservations.

Summer is the season to sit canalside at one of Detroit’s few waterside restaurants, nestled at the edge of a district that’s been called Little Venice (emphasis on “Little”). At Coriander Kitchen & Farm, chef Alison Heeres and farmer Gwen Meyer treat locally sourced proteins and produce grown on their nearby plot with the utmost respect. Grab a vermouth cocktail, a tray of fried Canadian smelt, and a wild mushroom and fennel salad while you watch the kayakers trek out into Lake St. Clair.

Outdoor dining is first come, first served.

“Donnerstag” means “Thursday” in German. At Juma Ekic’s Balkan House, Thursday is known as “dönerstag,” a day of the week when every order of the house specialty döner kebab comes with a free side of fries and a drink.

As a refugee of the Bosnian War, Ekic fell in love with Berlin-style döner during her stay in Germany on the family’s way to the United States. In 2019, she introduced döner as well as a menu of Bosnian diner fare to the Detroit area with a Balkan House location in Hamtramck, and quickly followed up on its success with a second outpost in Ferndale. Balkan House’s döner uses a spice mix and sauce imported from Germany, but the bread it comes stuffed in is the Balkan flatbread lepinja, adding up to what could be referred to as “Detroit-style döner.”

No reservations.

Veteran restaurateur Holly McClain is at it again. While tapas-inspired Olin continues to turn out Spanish-inflected brasserie fare, the neighboring walk-up window off Parker’s Alley is getting a new activation for the upcoming summer season. The creative pretzel takeaway Twist is no more, making room instead for Better Half, an artisanal grilled cheese concept debuting early summer. Details on the new spot are limited, but you can expect irreverent items like a mac ‘n’ cheese grilled cheese and other goodies. In the meantime, make a reservation for Olin’s breezy sidewalk patio, offering a front-row view of the new Hudson’s Site tower being built across the street.

While Holly McClain presides over her street-level brasserie in the heart of downtown, her husband, James Beard Award-winning chef Shawn McClain, toils 70 stories above the city at Highlands, an upscale steakhouse atop the GM RenCen with the undisputed best views of Detroit. Beginning June 6, Highlands will reopen for Monday service, filling a day of the week seriously lacking in dining options as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grab a date or a friend and ring in the beginning of the week in baller style with a three-course prix fixe menu. If you really want to up the ante, order a dry-aged imperial wagyu steak from the reserve menu.

This former nightclub below Capitol Park’s Prime & Proper rebranded in May as a swanky supper club offering a seven-course tasting menu and live entertainment for $175. (Beverage service is à la carte.) Inspired by Hollywood glam, Cash Only mandates dinner jackets for men amid a strictly enforced dress code that ranges from fancy cocktail to black-tie. The high-end affair is available only on Friday and Saturday evenings with a menu overseen by executive chef Anthony DiRienzo, an alum of Michael Mina and Stephen Starr restaurants. Expect dishes like lobster tartelette with citrus glace, tableside Caesar salads with optional truffle add-ons, and short rib on the bone. Guests must be 21 or older and no photography is allowed inside the venue.