Among the many pitfalls to opening a second restaurant is failing to create a new identity. Some notable chefs and restaurateurs in Detroit and beyond have opened second spots that have felt like an extension of their first, which is OK, but it leaves one with a sense of wanting.
Freya chef Doug Hewitt says he was cognizant of this challenge as he and restaurateur Sandy Levine developed their sophomore concept, and though some former Chartreuse employees are now at Freya, there’s a bit more of a team approach, and there’s a lot of new faces playing big roles, Hewitt says. Among those is Phoebe Zimmerman, Freya’s chef de cuisine, who arrived from Marrow and collaborates on many of the plates.
There’s also Ben Robinson, Freya’s baker and “pasta guy” who came over from Chartreuse but Hewitt says is given more room to put his touch on the restaurant’s identity, and does his thing in an in-house bakery with a proper bread oven. Robinson’s excellent work greets diners as they’re seated: sourdough bread with an earthy, rich mushroom pate adorned with brightening pickled mustard seed, red cabbage mostarda, green garlic, and edible flowers. It’s served next to a small mound of greens grown by students from Drew Farm at Detroit’s Drew Transition Center.
The dish’s textural interplay, bright palette, and the perfectly contrasting flavors and counterpoints set the tone and are indicative of what’s in store. Even when Hewitt, Zimmerman, and Robison’s plates are busy, they’re harmonious. Freya offers three menus, and a dining partner and I got the pescetarian and omnivore options, though there’s also a vegan menu. It was $85 for each, and we chose a wine pairing for an additional $50, required 22% gratuity, and spent another $50 on cocktails from the adjoined bar, Dragonfly — no duds in the mix.
Among the finest Zimmerman-Hewitt collabs is a plate of entwined jumbo shrimp with slightly spicy lobster-tomato broth that’s packed with flavor from fried ginger and garlic, shells from Freya’s shellfish, and roasted tomatoes that were grown last year by Drew Farm then roasted and frozen. The savory side is balanced with a sweet-ish poblano cornbread that holds the shrimp, and the package offers a real creole vibe. Freya’s Heritage pork plate comes with medallions of high end hog wrapped in prosciutto that are set amid nettle gnocchi and pickled mushroom awash in a slightly acidic spruce tip cream, while a mustard bread crumb provides additional tang and crunch.
Hewitt cures his delicate scallops for just an hour in salt and sugar, then lightly sears to get them just inch beyond raw. The thin slices are arranged in an electric green jalapeño-basil broth, and nestled among Szechuan pickles, fermented bell peppers, dill, and other herbs. The omnivore and pesecetrian menus each came with a “soup” that’s really more like a sauce with a white asparagus puree with potato and brown butter that supports a generous portion of lump crab and lobster. Lentils provided contrasting texture along with green garlic, slivers of asparagus, and edible flowers — a crowd-pleaser.
Among the desserts was a pine nut panna cotta with a “vegan butterfinger,” lemon puree, fennel, tarragon, and rhubarb jam, all of which is pulled together in a rhubarb broth. Hewitt describes it as “quintessential Ben Robinson.”
The front of the house staff is, in a word, attentive. There’s not just one server per table — it seemed like we had interacted with the entire staff by the time we left. The interior is clean, simple, and minimal with gray exposed brick, and early in the evening the room is filled with a pleasant light that filters through the big glass brick windows. It manages to be intimate, and Hewitt said they aimed for something that’s “sexy without being weird” — that’s a good way to put it. The open kitchen is inviting, filled with wood and warmth, a departure from the stainless steel and subway-tiled sterile kitchens that are commonplace these days. Just as with the dishes, the interior holds a sense of the familiar, but the evolution to something new and exciting.
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