Mabel Gray

MABEL GRAY– Yesterday I had an amazing, wonderful impromptu dinner at Mabel Gray:)
Chef James Rigato was a gracious and generous host! He and his team (Sam Stanisz and crew) created some of the most «to die for» chow I’ve ever had… Different dishes, with different textures, different taste, just kept coming at us, timed perfectly, as we couldn’t believe how good one dish was, another one appeared, each one more beautiful in appearance than the last, and all were beyond worthy of the reputation that Mabel has established!
Mixologist Paul Fradenack, should be working for NASA, I explained to him the types of drinks I prefer, and asked that he surprise me with something «special», boy did he ever, only had two because of driving, but if someone pullout a Beer Bong, UBER was on for sure!
The Pastry Chef, Kristina Conger, a beautiful creature, behind the scenes mostly, with talents beyond anything the palate is capable of imagining, or dreaming of. Her dessert (some cake with a million ingredients, she explained it all as she presented it to us, but I can’t remember, I think my mind, eyes, nose, were all focused on the prize:) was the most toothsome, delectable, mouthwatering, delicious thing I’ve ever put into my mouth, seriously!!! I wanted to ask for a whole cake to take home, but felt that I would be denying others of the same experience… Almost said the hell with others, but I didn’t:)
All in all, it was a uniquely perfect, and memorable experience, that should be had by all, «I’ll be back»! Thank you, to all of the Mabel Gray Family!!!

Mabel Gray was a total hotty.
Ambience 5: An immaculate mural illustrating the amazing story of Mabel Gray highlights the beautifully crafted decoration of Mabel Gray. It isn’t a large restaurant by any means but it’s more about quality than quantity at this restaurant.
Food/​Drinks 5: Wow… it was all amazing. The pork belly slider, the octopus, the beat salad, hamburger… ummm…I just realized I ate a TON. But how can you not. The food is so delicious. Seriously, we are talking about a chef at the top of his game.
Service 5: The servers were knowledgable and engaging. They thoroughly explained the menu as well as provided the background on the name and explanation on the exquisite mural that covers the ceiling.
Overall this place was fantastic. A sentence from my blog sums up my thoughts about mabel gray expertly.
«Not only named powerfully, the owner and head chef from The Root, masterfully architects a dynamic menu, that reaches the pinnacle of modern cuisine.»

Best meal I have had in a long time. Definitely on the map of the best restaurants in Michigan.
Went there last night for a birthday dinner celebration. We had 4 in our party, and had quite a late reservation — 9:30pm. We were sad to find out that they were out of their chef’s tasting menu. We did not know that you are actually able to reserve the tasting menu when you make your OpenTable reservation — just indicate in the comments. With that being said though, our party of 4 just ordered several items and shared them. I would recommend to the business to ask parties when they call to confirm the reservation if they want the tasting menu, versus just assuming people know they can reserve it in advance.
Here was our lineup:
— Savory friend banana (4 stars) — mole poblano sauce a bit in your face, but was tasty. My friend LOVED them.
— Drunk Fires (5 stars) — omg… so.good.
— Asparagus (2.5 stars) — really disappointing. lacked flavor and content. such puny spears.
— Mussels (3 stars) — great quality, BUT all of our party was not a fan of the preparations — too minty. I would still order the mussels again with a different broth.
— Vegan Fried Rice… we added duck confit and a duck egg to this dish to make it more hearty. Sooo happy we did. Very hearty, very plentiful and flavorful. Duck confit was spot-​on tender and delicious. (5 stars)
— Quail (5 stars) — really flavorful take on hot chicken
— Dessert: Strawberries/​Chantilly (4 stars) — large portion, fresh strawberries, the shell pastry could have been more complex — vanilla? sugar? it was missing something.
With drinks our bill came to $ 133 — so much cheaper than anticipated. I am not sure if the $ 65/​pp tasting menu is worth it — maybe if there are only 2 people. A little bit of a hipster vibe… (forties, bike racks that noone probably uses,… c’mon). Speaking of drinks though, the cocktails were awesome. Drink prices were also reasonable. Service was great (above expectations) — bartender and server.
Will definitely be back. Complex, fresh, locally sourced.

I was very excited to try Mabel Gray, and came here for dinner on a Friday night.
I hate to give it three stars as I cannot deny they are putting out well-​crafted food. However, there were a few deal-​breakers for me, to the point that I can’t see myself going back (especially since I live five minutes from Selden Standard).
In terms of atmosphere, the place is tiny and cramped. That, by itself, could be appreciated as a charming quirk for a fine dining restaurant. However, combined with the blasting 90s hip hop, it basically meant that conversation was difficult, and peppered with the shouted conversations of other diners.
The food– it’s good. Overall, it seems the dishes are well-​conceived, somewhat creative, influenced by a wide range of cuisines, and expertly executed. However, it is just not a vegetarian-​friendly restaurant, and that was a huge disappointment. Out of a long list of options, only three were vegetarian-​friendly – which wouldn’t be a huge issue, except they were all literally small plates of vegetables. For my dinner, I had a plate of lettuce, a plate of broccoli, and a plate of asparagus. Yes, they were well-​cooked, and there were some bells and whistles, but I did not feel blown away by anything to the extent that it counterbalanced my desire for an actual meal. I wasn’t exactly hungry when I left, but I was dying for some legumes, a slice of crusty bread, maybe some buckwheat noodles, a hunk of cheese, a pint of ice cream.. .
Yes, I know it is my fault for being a vegetarian and this is my punishment. However, in this day and age, it seems bizarre to me from a business perspective for a restaurant to exclude the needs of a growing demographic of consumers who exclusively eat or prefer plant-​based food. I would say 20 – 25 percent of my peer group is vegetarian or pescetarian, and many more would happily select a vegetarian dish over a meat one.
Additionally, there are some restaurants that appropriately market themselves as meat-​centric, so I would not waste my time going there. Mabel Gray seems to project a very vegetarian-​friendly image (the first image on their website is a panoply of vegetables), so it was disappointing they did not offer a single dish with a plant-​based protein or even a carb. Basically, I think they should either adjust their menu or change their marketing.
One last personal/​pseudo-​snooty comment; my broccoli was described as being cooked on a «hibachi», which is a stove used to heat rooms in Japan, not to cook. Why are even fine dining restaurants not immune to this misnomer perpetuated by chain Japanese «steakhouses»??

Mabel Gray has been on my foodie bucket list and I finally made it to this little gem of a restaurant the other week. I met some friends on a Tuesday night for a late dinner. We had reservations but opted to sit at the bar which I find can be more fun than sitting at table. I decided to go with the tasting menu which I think is always great for getting an overall flair of a restaurant. But fret not those who don’t like to be surprised… the regular menu has many interesting dishes to choose from. Two of my friends went with the menu and my other friend also chose the tasting menu.
1^st — liver toast — rich and tasty with a hint of sweet and crunch
2^nd — thinly sliced mushrooms, with pine nuts, pesto and a lemon vinaigrette
3^rd — grilled asparagus with a quail egg and house hollandaise
4^th — house cured lox, pickled cucumber, pickled mustard seeds and crème fraîche
5^th — duck with fried rice and tofu
6^th/​Intermezzo — coconut sorbet and jalapeño granita. Such an interesting combination of flavors. Sweet with the bit of heat at the end.
7^th — lamb chop with a little gorgonzola and harissa sauce (I think). It was really tasty and grilled to perfection — medium rare
8^th — chocolate, dates, and avocado. A most interesting combination. You would never know that there were dates and avocado in this chocolate goodness!
I noticed that a few of the reviews complain about the cost of the tasting menu. In my experience, tasting menus are going to be a bit more expensive than ordering one dish but the trade off is you get a variety of courses. And yes, the portions are small but it’s a «tasting menu.» It is well worth the price if you want to get a little taste of everything. Don’t let the small portions fool you… I was full after our dinner. Full and happy.
And yes… the parking lot is exceedingly narrow.
I would highly recommend going here for dinner. Whether you choose the tasting menu or the regular menu, you won’t go wrong. Happy eating!

Reading reviews about portion size, my first reaction was «psh, people just don’t understand proper portions.» Having gone here, I now fully understand. I’m fine paying top notch prices for top notch dishes. However what I am not fine with is $ 29 for two lamb chops. TWO. On a bed of couscous, which is virtually free. Was it tasty? Yes. Well seasoned? Yes. But that does not excuse the price. I’ve never spent $ 100+ on a restaurant where I left hungry.
On a side note, I don’t understand the vibe of this place. Its a more expensive restaurant, where no one dresses well. The «decorations» and random paintings of things like an Otter with a bird on its head, are strange to say the least. The loud rap they were playing towards the end of the night was also quite a surprise. Funny at first, but very quickly annoying. Maybe I’m just not hip enough, but this place seems to be really, really, into itself.

Outstanding! We came in for my Birthday and it was the best day ever. We did the chefs dinner paired with drinks. They know their stuff the drinks were paired perfectly with the food. The food was so full of flavor and freshness. We did the full 8 course dinner. It is worth doing right when you go, so let the chef pick it for you. The somm knows her stuff as well and is super friendly not rude at all.

I want to like MG and on a different day with a different menu maybe I will but today with the menu du jour I simply don’t. It would be nice if they post the menu on their website when they come up with it in case you have particular dietary needs/​restrictions. Or if they were like Grace in Chicago where they have the flora and fauna taster menus. As I have recently re-​embraced my vegetarian roots working towards vegan paleo I started to skip MG but decided to soldier on. I found some dishes that were acceptable (and I even bent my own dietary rules by having one of the dishes which included fish oil but at least it isn’t the flesh) but I truly wish I hadn’t found anything acceptable. I ordered the green apple kimchi and sugar snap peas. The Kimchi was just wrong on many levels (basically it was cut apple with some spice and yogurt and nuts. The sugar snap peas were A) way too sweet and 2) the stems were left on which made it neccesary to either remove them or eat them. I ate them and wished I hadn’t, imagine eating twigs. They were both painful and tough to chew. I may give it another try on a different day but not any day soon. I will just try Green Space Café or another veg-​taurant. Where they handle vegs enough to know to remove the stems from snap peas. I won’t mention the Parfait, which was crammed into a small glass and fell all over the plate and table as I tried to eat it and had some water collecting in the bottom like they didn’t dry the berries before they served it but at least they washed them right. Also it had some really weird burnt sugar pieces on it that gave it such an off taste (bitter burnt berries) 3B seems more apropos then simply parfait… All in all everyone is entitled to an off performance and I hope this was Chef’s as opposed to standard sub-​standard fare at Mabel G… I will say the staff is very nice and friendly, I was seated immediately and the manager even served my 3B Parfait. Plus there was a very nice conversation about being vegetarian vs omnivore with a tattooed Goddess that almost made up for… the food.

So happy this gem of a restaurant opened down the street from me in Hazel Park, as there aren’t ANY fine dining options around here. It’s pricey, but certainly worth it for a date night or special occasion and the ever-​changing menu keeps things exciting. I have visited twice now:
#1 Date night out with the husband: We didn’t have a reservation, but stood at the bar for a stiff cocktail (Manhattan rendition) and got a few sharing plates and an entrée each, all at the bar. The highlights were the bomb apple + kimchi salad, potatoes with garlic 2-​ways (black roasted garlic and a white garlic sauce) topped with a duck egg, my lamb burger, and the dessert: a pumpkin cheesecake with sage caramel. The pastry chef is amazing…
#2 Coffee + dessert with my sisters: We popped in 15 minutes before close. and sat at the bar. I had an amazing french press and we split/​shared 3 desserts. All were delicious, but the olive oil cake with mascarpone, mint and dates was divine!
The barstaff was helpful and knowledgeable and gave the «right» amount of service, not rushing you out either. The parking is a situation, but we ubered to Cellarman’s and then walked over to Mabel Gray so it wasn’t an issue for us.

This is a tricky one. I can see why some people really like this place, but here is why I am not of that opinion: 1. In the middle of nowhere and impossible to find, 2. Ridiculously small, cramped parking lot, 3. Tiny, narrow dining room, 4. Small wine portion sizes-​maybe 5 ounces, 5. Miniscule food portion sizes, and that isn’t for the tasting menu, 6. Did i mention microscopic portion sizes?
The quality and taste of the food is great. The servers were very friendly, available and engaged. But when you have to come home and eat a second dinner after putting $ 130 on your credit card… just not for me. You might like it though.

I’d been wanting to try Mabel Gray for a while, being a fan of it’s sister The Root, and we were not disappointed. We went with another couple who arrived just before us. Though the staff couldn’t find record of the reservation I’d made through Open Table upon their arrival, they managed to seat them anyway due to a cancellation. When I arrived and looked at my confirmation e-​mail it turned out the error was mine, and I’d accidentally reserved for Tuesday, not Saturday, so kudos to the staff for accommodating my stupidity.
Our personable waiter was very knowledgeable on both drink and food recommendations. Once we had our cocktails all four of us decided to go with the Chef’s Tasting Menu. Our waiter told us it changes not only daily, but table to table as well, so you never know what’ll come out. If I recall correctly, the courses were a BBQ shrimp, followed by a beet salad, a ceviche, then wild mushroom soup, a fig & goat cheese palette cleanser, sliced duck cooked to a perfect medium rare, and a chocolate/​caramel/​walnut dessert. We also started with a few oysters. Every dish was a culinary delight, including the beet salad, which made me realize I DO actually like beets.
Service was truly outstanding, with each dish explained to us as it arrived, prompt drink service as needed, we never felt rushed. They even brought out an additional salmon dish for my wife because she has an aversion to duck, and then packaged up her share of the duck which I had for lunch the next day. It wasn’t cheap, ending up near $ 250/​couple with tip, but for a memorable dining experience it was money well spent.

You can’t do better than this in Hazel Park. James Rigato really puts on a good show. Everything about the place, from the décor, the service, and the food is very faithful to the concept. It may be a little over the top — the waiter giving a spiel about which farm every ingredient in your dish comes from (for each dish in the multicourse tasting menu) — but it’s amusing, at least. And, by god, the ingredients are all really fresh and delicious. To fully take advantage, you probably should get the testing menu and a few cocktails.
The only downside in our experience was getting our dessert to go — the waiter put a scoop of ice cream on the warm cake, and it was totally melted after our 10 minute drive home.
Ample parking is a plus. All in all, Mabel Gray is the best thing to happen to Hazel Park since Kyle’s Coin Laundry.

I loved this place. The tasting menu is the way to go, we also splurged for the drink pairings as well. Every course comes with a story or explanation that really elevates the tasting experience. The staff are all kind and knowledgeable. Getting a table can be a chore though. I tried a few weeks in a row to get a Saturday night, ended up getting a late Tuesday night spot. Some have complained about the price, but you really do get what you pay for. I’ll definitely be coming back for a special occasion.

Definitely get the tasting menu. Two of us split this so it wasn’t as expensive and it was definitely enough food, they also asked us if we were starting to get full or if we wanted them to add any extra dishes before the main course and dessert, so you can do that too.
But the tasting menu gives you an 8-​course meal, each of the courses is a small plate that’s only a few bites per person. But this route allows you to taste the full variety of their menu. Everything was good and most items were absolutely incredible. The sweet potatoes, octopus, and bison were our favorite dishes.
The cocktails were also good. They made good house drinks, classic cocktails, and even a custom mixed drink that was spot on.
We had no reservation, which means you have to sit at the bar when they’re booked, but we only waited 20 minutes or so and they got us drinks while we waited. The service was very well done. Everyone there was super educated on the dishes and could tell us everything that was in each of them. They all made sure we were taken care of throughout the entire evening.
This is one of the best restaurants that I’ve been to in a long time; and not just in the Detroit area, not just in Michigan, but anywhere. I highly recommend that you check it out at least once.

Everything here is animal based or cooked in animal fat, leaving me sitting on the sidelines as my friends raved about the tasting menu that featured spotted beast (beef is packed with carcinogens, you goddamn fools!), sea monsters (our oceans are so overfished that we could be without sea beasts by 2050?), and hooved swine (eh, no one really gives a shit about pigs). The tasting menu is fairly priced and you get a decent amount of food. $ 80 fed two beefy dudes who added two additional meat plates to the mix.
I settled on the restaurant’s only vegan option, the bok choy — the over-​the-​pants HJ of a hardcore meat-​based menu.
It was fine. I guess. But instead of complaining about the lack of vegetable options, I took matters into my own hands and got savagely drunk on well-​made craft cocktails. My friends quickly followed suit and started popping 40 oz. bottles of Budweiser.
The night culminated with even more beef — this time in song form, as Tupac bragged about having sexual intercourse with the Notorious B.I.G.‘s wife, Faith Evans.
Fine dining paired with rap feuds. This place works for me.

We were lucky enough to grab a few spots for their Valentine’s Day dinner, and it surely did not disappoint. We had sample Chef Rigato’s food before at Root, Revolver, and the last Young Guns dinner and have loved almost every bite.
A special 8 course menu was designed for the evening and I made sure to partake in the well thought out wine pairings as well.
First course came out as a simple, yet delicious East coast oyster, pairing perfectly with the glass of champagne presented on arrival.
Next course was a wonderful earthy salad of poached pear, endive, pomegranates and brioche. Flavors bounced off each other beautifully.
To follow, came one of my favorites of the night — a perfectly seared scallop with an arresting combination of yam, coconut milk and hot peppers. This one packed a punch, but not enough to overwhelm the delicate nature of the scallop.
Next came the pasta course — a housemade gnocchi on top of a fantastic chestnut purée with a copious amount of shaved perigord truffle. A thought provoking final touch of sliced radish finished off the plate. Excellent, and I could have used twice the portion.
Afterwards, a nice fusion of Asian and Southern came out in the form of a Korean BBQ roasted quail paired with greens and buttermilk fried onions.
A lovely sorbet came out to cleanse the palatte, followed by the main entrée of the evening — a perfectly cooked venison with corn bread stuffing in a warming winter spice essence. Fantastic plate of food.
The dessert was right up my Lebanese loving alley with flavors of rose water and pistachio complementing dark chocolate.
All told, a wonderfully thought out and executed special meal with fine service and inventive wine pairings to compliment another spectacular meal from Chef.
Looking forward to heading back on a «normal» night to sample some more of the rather whimsical, yet homey, cuisine. And another one of the best old fashioned’s I’ve ever had…

I’m still trying to wrap my brain around Hazel Park being hip, but I digress. I knew the place would be packed on a Thursday night so we hit it early and grabbed seats at the bar. There must be a new trend in restaurant décor, make the seats as uncomfortable as possible. There were a few bartenders/​servers behind the bar who all seemed too busy to actually wait on us. Okay enough with the chit-​chat here’s the order break down: a Greek salad type dish with whipped ricotta, very nice with a bit of heat. Roasted cauliflower with a curry-​ish sauce, again pleasant. My fiancé’s duck confit was by far the best thing we ordered. I had the octopus and while the flavor was good it was like chewing rubber. I’m a huge octopus fan so I have a lot to compare it to. My panna cotta desert was okay but I wish I’d known it was made with almond milk because it just wasn’t the same without actual milk.
All in all this place is worth multiple visits as the menu changes daily. My only advice is spend less time explaining what’s on the plate and more time giving attentive service. Oh and stools with backs on them wouldn’t hurt either.
3.5 for this visit

When you walk in to a restaurant establishment as refined and eclectic as Mabel Gray, your experience is enhanced even further with the food options.
Husband and myself along with our foodie friend came here on a Saturday night and made reservations for 5:30. Word to the wise — make one, as you’ll have one helluva wait. However, it’s worth it. They book out pretty far in advance, so give yourself plenty of time to reserve a table.
The space, though cozy and intimate, didn’t feel cramped. The choices of light interior colors offset with wrought iron and industrial flair are a perfect reflection of Chef Rigato’s refined style and elevated flavor executions.
Two of us had the tasting menu ($ 65, $ 35 with wine pairing), and Husband opted to order a la carte. So for those not in the mood for tasting menus, you don’t have to get it if the rest of the table is.
The tasting menu is comprised of 8 courses. Two of them are an amuse bouche and an intermezzo. The pace was very well done, and we appreciated that our server was considerate enough to space out Husband’s dishes with ours, even though he only ordered two items.
Stand outs of the evening were the potato gnocchi with braised rabbit, bison with a parsley cilantro purée and crispy potatoes and a fried duck egg (omg the potatoes were DIVINE! I could have eaten a plate of those. they were magical), and the sea scallops. Everything else was pretty good, but those were the top dishes for us all around.
Overall, I felt the evening was great and not rushed, however, the noise volume was alarming for such elevated food. For the caliber of food offerings, I would have liked to dine in a quieter setting. However, other than that, Mabel Gray is force to be reckoned with in this neighborhood. With the resurgence of Detroit city increasingly emerging as a foodie destination, Chef Rigato has begun a fantastic movement in this area, only to perpetuate further growth of the local food scene.
I absolutely love The Root, and if you do too, Mabel Gray will offer a similar approach and sensitivity towards local sustainable food, but with a slightly edgier and grittier twist.
Come and enjoy!

Loved the service, loved the chef, loved the music, but most of all, loved the food. Actually, I loved it all equally. ;)
I enjoyed all the dishes, but my favorites were the Reuben and pork belly dish.
The place is small and gets busy, so make a reservation. Although I live in midtown, I love the location of this restaurant; it’s not too far away making it nice to get away from the city scene. Can’t wait to come back :)

Chef James has knocked it out of the park (actually Into the Park is more like it)!! Excellent food, super friendly staff, and creative, delicious food! By creative, think things like house-​made lox on onion toast with chive cream cheese and pepper jelly, or goat bolognese with house-​made ricotta gnocchi. They have a pastry chef too, and the desserts are amazing!
Try the tasting menu! The menu changes weekly, and with the tasting menu you are bound to get a few surprises not on the menu. Ambiance is loud and friendly, and tables are close so you’re bound to get to know other diners on your outing. I wouldn’t call this a «romantic dinner» place, it’s much more of an upbeat vibe. Special shout outs to Hannah, Bradley, and Tiffany who were super awesome and attentive! Can’t wait to come back! Thank you, Chef, for bringing some awesomeness into HP!
/​Amazing!