Photos by John Hardwick
arts & life
out to eat
Jordan Hoffman of the Fountain Detroit
Kitchen
Entrepreneurs
These chefs feed our Jewish souls.
Vivian Henoch | Special to the Jewish News
N
ow serving Detroit … from tuna
tacos to gravlax, from burger
bistros to falafel stands, from
farm-to-table pop-up meals at the market
to steak dinners at destination restaurants,
from everyday comfort kosher to wedding
day feasts . . . our Jewish culinary scene is
hot. It’s young, it’s gutsy, it’s innovative and
it’s growing.
Who are the people feeding our people,
our stories, our memories and our resur-
gence in the city? They are chefs, caterers
and bakers, property developers and manag-
ers, restaurateurs and entrepreneurs, shar-
ing their passion for good food and their
resources to bring people together.
There are far too many venues and menus
to cover in one gulp, so here are just eight of
the many rising stars in Detroit’s burgeoning
food industry. In brief, here are their stories.
MAKING A SPLASH
Wheels down, heads up. Restaurant devel-
opers Matthew Shiffman and Zaid Elia
couldn’t have landed a better deal in the D
50 September 1 • 2016
than the Fountain Detroit, located front
and center at Campus Martius Park. “Our
entire vision was to find the best piece of
real estate in Detroit,” Shiffman says.
Open since Memorial Day, the 40-foot
decommissioned steel shipping container
has been repurposed as a restaurant. Today
it boasts a full-service kitchen and bar offer-
ing guests a fresh-air dining experience in
one of the city’s most popular gathering
places.
“The concept of a container restaurant
is popping up around the country, but our
menu puts us way over the top,” says Jordan
Hoffman, executive chef.
“We’re doing incredible numbers here,
serving as many as 5,000 guests a week,”
adds Theo Oresky, manager. “But our sec-
ond venue in the park — on the former
Fountain Bistro site — is the prize.”
Wait for it, the new flagship restaurant
is on track to open later this year with a
knock-out concept for fine dining, serving a
blend between Italian and French-European
cuisine.
Aaron Eagan, Detroit Kitchen Connect,
Eastern Market
Jeremy Sasson of the Townhouse
INSIDE SHED 5
Born and raised in Lafayette Park, a graduate
of the Roeper School with a bachelor’s from
the University of Michigan and a culinary
arts degree from Oakland Community
College, Aaron Egan clearly has found his
calling: as a Jewish chef and now head chef
and Detroit Kitchen Connect manager at
the Detroit Eastern Market. Even the Yiddish
words tattooed on his arm speak from the
heart: Libe un hunger voinen nit in einem
(Love and hunger do not live together).
On a quiet morning at the market’s com-
munity kitchen in Shed 5, Egan is unpacking
groceries and set to whip up a classic Mornay
for mac and cheese. “Mac and cheese — my
way — is the ultimate comfort food,” he says.
When not cooking on his own, Egan
develops recipes for the market and manages
the weekly schedule of 20 food companies
that run their business out of the kitchen.
Additionally, he organizes cooking events for
the city and hosts pop-up meals showcasing
the work of young and emerging chefs in the
community.
THIS TOWN AIN’T FOR WEENIES
Another one-of-a-kind dining experience
in Detroit — with its whiskey lounge, sushi
bar, firepit and all-glass retractable roof that
opens the main dining room seating 340 to
an awesome urban skyscape — Townhouse
Downtown has got all the details right.
Developer and owner Jeremy Sasson, a
graduate of the University of Miami with
a degree in entrepreneurial management
and finance, got into the restaurant busi-
ness five years ago with his first property in
Birmingham.
“As a kid, I always was passionate about
food,” he says. “My parents were both busy
execs, and we went to restaurants or carried
out nearly every day. So I’ve always under-
stood what it means to be a guest. Everything
we do here is about the guest experience.
People come in with different needs. Some
are hungry. Some are thirsty. Some want
to entertain guests. Others just want to be
entertained. Our focus is creating a truly
unique experience that stimulates all senses.”