JULY 27 • 2023 | 33

G

arden City native 
Jared Gadbaw was an 
established Michelin 
two-star chef in New York City, 
piloting the popular restaurant 
Marea, but always had a yearn-
ing to come back to Detroit.
“He saw it as a good place 
to raise our family and open 
a business,
” says his wife 
and business partner, Abby 
Gadbaw, co-owner of Detroit’s 
Oak & Reel restaurant.
The Gadbaw family moved 
back to Metro Detroit in 2018 
and sought out a space where 
they could join a community 
and help build upon the Motor 
City’s thriving food culture. 
Their children currently 
attend EEC at the JCC in West 
Bloomfield.
For Jared, 44, who had a 
“sweet spot” in Italian food and 
seafood, it was an easy decision 
to make that the focus of Oak 
& Reel, a contemporary Italian 
restaurant with a primary 
focus on seafood, located in 
Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction 
neighborhood.
It’s a space that Abby, 41, of 
Farmington Hills, says can be 
used for just about anything. 
Inside is an expansive main 
dining room with 100 seats 
and another 14 seats at the 
bar. There’s also a large private 
dining room on the lower 

level that can accommodate 36 
guests, as well as a speakeasy 
cocktail lounge.
“We wanted to create a space 
where we can not only bring 
great food to our guests, but 
also a place where people can 
enjoy a special event,
” Abby 
says.
Diners can get exceptional 
food anywhere in Detroit, she 
explains, but multi-purpose 
spaces like Oak & Reel are a 
rare find. “It’s all-encompass-
ing,
” she says.

A NOD TO HISTORY
Inside, guests will find a 
wood-burning hearth, original 
brick and a soft glow of lights. 
Back in the 1920s, the area of 
Milwaukee Junction where 
Oak & Reel is located was 
essentially the Hollywood of 
Detroit. “
A lot of movies were 
made there,
” Abby says.
It’s how the name of the 
restaurant was born: Oak for 
the wood-burning hearth, and 
Reel for the area’s film history 
(in addition to the restaurant’s 
focus on seafood).
While the design is simple, 
Gadbaw says it lends itself 
well to a cozy atmosphere 
that’s spacious yet full at the 
same time. Jared, the head 
chef, creates food that “speaks 

Views of the lounge 
and dining room 
 
at Oak & Reel

continued on page 34

A fish dinner

