NOVEMBER 28 • 2024 | 9
J
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OUR COMMUNITY
ON THE COVER

 

W

hen Detroiters want someone else to do the cooking, the restau-
rant options in the Metro area can seem almost overwhelming. 
The dining scene in cities like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles 
and Miami have nothing on Detroit, “one of the most diverse and 
well-rounded culinary cities in the nation,” according to chef-turned-filmmaker 
Keith Famie. “Think about it. There is nothing you can’t find here.” 
He treats every opportunity to dine in one of Metropolitan Detroit’s many eat-
eries “like an adventure of epicurean exploration.”
When it comes to cuisine, “I’m talking about the real deal from someone’s 
homeland, just like there is a Mama making it right in her own kitchen,” Famie 
said. “From Indian, Vietnamese, Italian, Polish, Mexican to Middle Eastern — 
Metro Detroit has it all.” 

DETROIT: THE CITY OF CHEFS
Visionalist Entertainment Productions (VEP), Famie’s production company, will 
premiere its newest documentary, Detroit: The City of Chefs, on the evening of Dec. 
9, at Emagine Novi (see information at the bottom of page 14). Famie added the 
words “Dedicated, Daring, Defiant” as the film’s tagline, “because I feel they truly 
define our chef community.” The event will benefit five Michigan charities.
The film delves into Detroit’s historical food traditions since 1900 and notes the 
influence of immigrant European chefs who helped mold a generation of top culi-
nary performers, including Famie. The film also includes a shout-out to legendary 
Detroit Jewish News columnist and food aficionado, the late Danny Raskin. Famie 
considered Danny a dear friend. “We went way back to my earliest days as a chef 
at the Benchmark Restaurant in the Michigan Inn in the early 1980s,” Famie said. 
Certified Master Chef Brian Polcyn, friends with Famie since high school, said, 
“In the late 1980s and ’90s, we were prominent in the contemporary American 
food scene — me at Pike Street Restaurant in Pontiac and him at Les Auteurs in 
Royal Oak. He went on to filmmaking while I continued to build restaurants.” 
During his career, Polcyn has won five Restaurant of the Year honors.
Famie is well known in the Jewish community for his 2021 acclaimed 
documentary film Shoah Ambassadors, a film that featured Holocaust 
survivors educating non-Jewish teens about the Shoah. The film was 
shot locally, but Famie’s original plan, before COVID interceded, 
was to film teens and survivors visiting concentration camps and 
the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland
After choosing various topics for his company’s 30 docu-
mentaries to date, Famie finally is focusing on his former 
profession. “Keith (Famie) is a very talented filmmaker 
in telling peoples’ stories,” said Chef Jimmy Schmidt, 
perhaps best known for his Rattlesnake Club near 
today’s Detroit River Walk (1988-2024). “He is 
an accomplished chef and knows the ins and 
outs of the restaurant business.” 

 Danny Raskin knew it all along, 
Detroit is “The City of Chefs.”

 ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER 
PHOTOGRAPHY BY VISIONALIST ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTIONS

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