Crave Lounge
ALL'S FARE
22075 Michigan Ave.
Dearborn
(313) 277-7283
cravelounge.com
1
114
Price Range:
Appetizers and sushi: $4-$14
Entrees: $18-$36
Hours:
Monday t
riday,
11 a.m.
.m.
0 p.m.-11 p.m.
S. rday,
11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
and 4:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m.
Sunday, 4:30 p.m.-11 p.m.
Guests at Crave can dine in the heated garden,
dining room or the lounge (bottom right). Try the sashimi
e (above), which includes tuna, salmon, yellow tail and
he maki-style raspberry almond cake (below).
CRAV SOMETHING EXOTIC
A Dearborn restaurant brings Euro-chic to Detroit.
BY ANNABEL COHEN I PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGIE BAAN
I
'd heard about Crave. People
told me I simply had to try it. It
was different, new etc. When I
finally drove up to the entrance around
back, I was humbled. They were right.
To enter this Dearborn restaurant-
lounge, visitors must traverse a cor-
ridor of enormous urns with
towering, dramatically lit
bamboo pole arrangements.
Walking into the lounge
with its angular sofas (which
can seat 65) and low Asian-
style dining tables set with
small plates and chopsticks,
I felt like I had been trans-
ported to New York City or
South Beach.
Owner Khalil Ramadan,
a 33-year-old Dearborn
native, isn't new to the club scene.
He owned Pure, a downtown Detroit
nightclub, lived in Europe for eight
years and gleaned his Crave inspira-
tion from "the continent," as well as
from hip spots in New York and places
like the uber-trendy Delano Hotel in
Miami. "Nothing had been created
in Michigan where you can dine in a
lounge," says Ramadan. "I wanted it
8 •
JUNE 2006 •
JNPLATINUM
to have the feeling of lounging in a
hotel-lobby type setting."
He succeeded. Everything about
Crave is chic. Gaze at the serenely
otherworldly jellyfish tank at the sushi
bar. Theatrical lighting and ethereal
white fabric panels divide spaces.
•
4110 . •
100/rite Et-
, . 0
Choose to eat in the colorful lounge
or in the garden (heated during win-
ter) rather than the stunningly sleek-
white dining room, where you might
feel you're missing all the fun.
Crave owes its menu to chef-
partner Samuel Ness who, Ramadan
explains, worked at New York's Nobu
restaurant. "We're into really pro-
gressive, modern and exotic foods
and food combining with differ-
ent cultures," such as Asian staples
and Mediterranean flavors, he says.
Mignon strips wrapped in saki-infused
green onion, tuna carpaccio, Japanese
red snapper baked in a banana leaf
and a full Mediterranean-infused
sushi bar are among the many invit-
ing offerings. My small group of
loungers staggered our orders — each
choosing two or three sushi/appetiz-
ers and entree from the enormous
menu according to individual cravings
— and shared them.
Each was a treat. We couldn't
wait for the next dish to arrive, each
served artistically with unique gar-
nishes. Don't look for bargains here,
though; concept comes with a price.
Menu items quickly add up, but it
does feel worth it for a special evening.
And don't forego a cocktail. There
are more than 50 different martinis
and saketinis (sake martinis) to choose
from, plus a full bar including Japanese
beer. For a unique dessert, try Crave's
signature Cotton Candy – a two-foot
tower of sugar spun in a different color
each week.
Go on Wednesday and weekend
evenings for live world music. Crave
also hosts sunset parties (829 for
all-you-can-eat sushi and discount
drinks), usually the third Sunday of
the month. Call for dates. ❑
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