Smith & Williams is a new restaurant opening soon near Detroit’s Eastern Market serving soulful and sumptuous sounding dishes like shrimp and grits, house-made buttermilk biscuits and oxtail lasagna.
The owner is Starex Smith, also known as the Hungry Black Man on social media. Smith has a following of hundreds of thousands, and is known for reviewing and highlighting Black-owned restaurants in Detroit, Toledo, Miami and elsewhere.
Smith & Williams is having a preview this weekend at 1428 Gratiot in Detroit. The art deco gem was once critically acclaimed restaurant Antietam, and since then has been several other concepts, including Le Culture Cafe, Oishi Soul Cafe and Bite Bar and Grill.
Permanent hours for Smith & Williams going forward have not yet been announced, but it will be open for service April 3-5. The menu will have Easter holiday specials like whole roasted turkey wings, charbroiled oysters, Maryland crabcakes and the aforementioned oxtail lasagna.
“I’m excited to bring our Smith & Williams brunch and dinner to the incredible people of Detroit. I’ll be in the kitchen personally alongside my chef, no shortcuts, no excuses,” said Smith in a statement on social media this week. “If you want to skip the hassle of cooking this Easter weekend, and enjoy a great meal with family, come see us.”
This is not Smith’s first foray into the Detroit market. Last summer, he hosted the Hungry Black Man Detroit Food & Music Festival, which brought around 100 food vendors to Riverside Marina in Detroit.
He also opened a Smith & Williams restaurant in Toledo, which he says is moving away from a traditional restaurant to partnering with local pop-ups and doing a more experimental business model. He’s hoping to have success in Detroit.
“Detroit is my heart, but also it’s a really great market. It’s a really great market if your food is good,” Smith said in a video posted Monday. “If your food is good, you’re going to do well in Detroit. It’s a dining culture.”
This weekend’s hours at Detroit’s Smith & Williams are 5-10 p.m. Fri., noon-4 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Sat. and noon-4 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Sun. Make reservations by calling or texting (567) 970-9059.
mbaetens@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Influencer and food critic opens Detroit restaurant in Eastern Market
Reporting by Melody Baetens, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
