East English Village and Morningside, two neighborhoods on Detroit’s east side, are sprucing up majorly: newish coffee shops, Next Chapter Books, and now a fine-dining seafood restaurant with live jazz, all on a revitalized East Warren Avenue. East-siders have long looked further east to the Pointes or west to downtown when seeking a date-night place to eat; now they can stick closer to home.
The Savoy name was suggested by co-owner Jai-Lee Dearing, who wanted guests to “put on their best,” says daughter, co-owner, and chef Melba Dearing. “It has a ring to it. You know it’s not just a fish-and-chicken place.”
The Dearings’ approach to “affordable fine dining” focuses on seafood, though the menu is long and includes plenty of choices, such as meatloaf, roast chicken, wings, sandwiches, salads, steaks, and lamb chops.
I liked the look of Savoy the minute I walked in: the long lines of tables with comfortable armchairs and the fact that you could see everyone in the one rectangular room — somehow that made it stylish and yet welcoming. It was also out of the ordinary to be greeted by a doorman in a top hat.
Professional waitstaff are a big enhancer of the Savoy experience. IMO, the best server is non-servile and clearly knows the business. He does not address the clients as “you guys.” Savoy’s servers checked all those boxes, with personality. It was the first time I’d heard water offered as “God’s Kool-Aid.”
Savoy is not cheap, but that’s just saying it’s in line with every other restaurant these days, and of course seafood is always pricier. Special deals, such as $25 for a whole lobster on Wednesdays; $75 for an appetizer, two entrées, and dessert on Thursdays; and $29.95 for two whole pounds of crab legs on Tuesdays soften the pain.
Plus you get live music. Marty Ballog croons standards and plays piano on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Chiara and Elevation perform R&B on Fridays, Nate Topo and the 313 Group hit some soft jazz licks on Saturday night. Joe Smith plays guitar for Sunday brunch, and pianist Fred Scott has also been known to drop by.
Another classy note is Savoy’s complimentary bread, almost a lost tradition. One night the warm triangles came with garlic butter.
My favorites at Savoy were seafood pasta dishes, probably because of their calorific and creamy sauces. The Frutti di Mar Feast (“fruits of the sea”) is listed with a tomato sauce, but the astute waiter offered the choice of Alfredo. I couldn’t discern Parmesan in the sauce but didn’t mind— it was so buttery luscious, though the sauce did tend to overwhelm the mussels, shrimp, and scallops. There was so much sauce, in fact, that after slurping the linguine I was able to take some home to brighten a gloomy day.
Roasted salmon ravioli were also enjoyable; the big ravioli are cheese-filled, and the salmon is tossed in the abundant red chipotle cream sauce.
Savoy’s New England clam chowder is equally rich. I was less impressed with the crabcakes, which weren’t showing a lot of flavor inside the perfect crisp crust, or a special lobster corn dog — who could resist such a concept? I tasted more corn dog than lobster, and if the lobster had asserted itself, the honey-mustard sauce seemed wrong for it.
Salmon over risotto, especially porcini risotto, is a sure winner, and this salmon was grilled just right. It’s served with lemon-herb compound butter. The humble Fisherman’s Feast — essentially fish and chips — was done to perfection, the walleye in flawless balance with its beer-batter crust. The beer was Atwater’s Dirty Blonde, but how would you know? East-side loyalty, though.
A couple of dishes I found a bit salty: a scallops-and-wild-rice special and a massive serving of Mama Shirley’s Meatloaf. The meatloaf is topped with pepper gravy, all over garlicky mashed spuds.
The desserts at Savoy shone. Crème brûlée achieved the requisite crackly crust with just a hint of the blow-torch. Pumpkin cheesecake avoided the seasonal spice cliché in favor of maple and cinnamon notes.
My friends and I weren’t thrilled with our cocktails; a margarita lacked lime and kick. My Moscow Mule, though served in the iconic copper mug, had a chemical undertaste. Perhaps I should’ve tried the Mexican, Tennessee, or Irish mules instead. A miniature bottle of sparkly Cava Codorníu Brut, though, was perfect with the highly flavored, though delicate seafood. Savoy has a respectable list of reds and whites and, unlike many places, offers all of them by either the glass or the bottle.
Savoy is open every day for lunch and dinner and for brunch on weekends: seafood omelet, catfish and grits, shrimp and grits, salmon hash. To make sure it hangs on to those professional servers, management adds an automatic 18% gratuity.
