dining guide

The Apparatus Room

dining
around
the d

Fine Italian Dining in a Casual Atmosphere

SPOSITA’S

RISTORANTE

OUR PETITE FILET SPECIAL IS
HAPPENING EVERY WEEK IN AUGUST!

Sunday through Thursday only!

$ 22.95

Includes Petite Filet, antipasto plate, side of pasta,
salad, soup, potato and vegetable.
Dine-in only, not valid with any other offer.

15% Off

food bill

Offer Good Monday-Thursday, dine-in only and entrees only. Not
valid with any other offer. With coupon only. Not valid on holidays.
Expires 9/6/18

44

August 2 • 2018

jn

(248) 538-8954

33210 W. 14 Mile Rd., in Simsbury Plaza,
just east of Farmington Rd., West Bloomfield

Mon-Thurs: 4pm-10pmtFri: 11am-11pm
Sat: 4pm-11pmtSun: 4pm-9pm

10% Off food bill

Offer Good Friday-Sunday. Dine in and entrees only.
Not valid with other offers. With Coupon Only. Not valid on holidays.
Expires 9/6/18

D

uring a Detroit sum-
mer in the 1970s, I
remember walking
past firefighters at leisure
outside the Detroit Fire
Department Headquarters
on Larned Street, across
from Cobo Hall. The scene, of
course, was transformed in an
instant when the alarm went
off. Then, loaded trucks with
sirens wailing burst through
the wide red doors.
Decades later, with
Esther Allweiss
Ingber
Downtown Detroit making a
Contributing Writer
comeback, a group of inves-
tors took possession of the
historic former firehouse.
Chicago-based Aparium
Group, which specializes
in historic boutique hotels,
worked with local developer
Walter Cohen and other part-
ners to create the Foundation
Hotel. The independent five-
story hotel with 110 rooms
and suites has won industry
recognition since
opening last year.
A big asset is
the Apparatus
Room, a clev-
erly repurposed
contemporary
restaurant-
bar. Dining on
Executive Chef
Thomas Lents’
food in this sleek,
sophisticated set-
ting is like being
“on vacation in a
cool city,” said my
dining compan-
ion, Shari.
The décor
Th e Apparatus Room includes original
250 W. Larned, Detroit terrazzo floor
(313) 915-4422 tiles in blue, terra
detroitfoundationhotel.com/ cotta and gold
apparatus-room and off-white
$$$½ out of $$$$$ subway-style wall
tiles and three
firemen’s poles.
The buttery leather seating
throughout the dining room
is in earth tones, but green in
the bar/lounge area. Among
the custom light fixtures, I
admired one with uneven
white sails. Newspaper clip-
pings about famous Detroit

fires are beneath a glass-
topped coffee table in the
lounge. Also intriguing were
two shadow figures on a wall
by Detroit photographer Lisa
Spindler.
Chef Lents was lured
back to Michigan from his
previous post at Sixteen, a
2-star Michelin restaurant in
Chicago.
He creates separate menus
for breakfast, lunch and din-
ner in the dining area. His
all-day menu serves the bar/
lounge.
At breakfast, Shari recom-
mends buttermilk pancakes
with fruit compote. Among
the main courses on the din-
ner menu, I noticed Butter
Poached Salmon, French
Braised Veal and Smoked
Grass-fed Flat-Iron Steak.
We enjoyed lunch. My
chilled mint pea and aspara-
gus soup was very flavorful. It
had fava beans for thickening,
with pea tendrils and chili oil
drops on top. The chef may
have rotated this soup off the
menu by the time you arrive.
He’s big into seasonal fare.
Next was the Foundation
Club sandwich with roasted
turkey, bacon, house coleslaw,
fried sage aioli and cranberry
sauce. Large, hearty and sat-
isfying. Shari ordered Shrimp
Roll BLT: chilled poached
shrimp salad, smoked bacon,
lettuce and tomato on a “New
England” roll. I’d get that.
Salads include Black Garlic-
Kale Caesar and Recovery
Park (a local source) Carrot.
Lents offers intriguing com-
binations of ingredients and
preparations. No wonder his
Chef ’s Choice dining evenings
sell out quickly. Call restau-
rant manager Bob Lambert if
you’re interested.
Also worth mentioning are
the signature cocktails and
Michigan-made packaged and
draft beer.
Real whipped cream
accompanied my divine choc-
olate salted tart. You may not
get my exact meal, but you’ll
surely love what you get. •