The team behind Selden Standard, a beloved new American restaurant in Midtown, has shared plans for a new restaurant in Detroit’s West Village.
For now, details about the forthcoming restaurant are minimal. Moving into the space previously occupied by Metropolitan Pizza Kitchen is Agnes. The name of the bar and kitchen is an ode to the establishment’s street name — the official address is 8047 Agnes Street. It’s also a nod to partner Alex Jull’s mother, Agnes.
Jull, currently the chef de cuisine at the modern Thai-inspired restaurant Takoi, will manage Agnes alongside Selden Standard General Manager Paul Fradeneck once the space opens. In the meantime, the duo will collaborate with Selden partners Evan Hansen and Executive Chef Andy Hollyday to conceptualize the full vision of the project.
In an email to the Free Press, Hansen said the team signed a lease for the location last winter.
The space has experienced significant turnover in recent years. Prior to Metropolitan Pizza Kitchen, Metropolitan Bar and Kitchen was helmed by chef Brendon Edwards and offered a Latin American-inspired menu. An adjacent variety store sold specialty goods, wine, beer and a small offering of produce and dairy products. In 2022, the project landed a spot on the Detroit Free Press Top 10 New Restaurants list.
Prior to that, Craft Work occupied the space as a neighborhood bar and restaurant offering new American fare and craft cocktails, and even further back, in the 1950s, the place was home to an apothecary.
The space has maintained its vintage charm for decades. The dining room still has the cherry wood cabinetry from the old apothecary. Hansen said the team has tapped Colin Tury of the Detroit-based interior design firm Tury Design to reimagine the space for Agnes, though it is too soon to share details on the design direction.
Selden Standard has become a Detroit mainstay since opening in 2014. The restaurant, known for its highly seasonal, farm-to-table, from-scratch approach, has earned local and national acclaim.
In 2015, it was named the Detroit Free Press Restaurant of the Year and over the years, the restaurant and its chef have earned seven recognitions by the James Beard Foundation Awards as either a semifinalist or finalist. More than a decade in, Selden Standard has maintained its excellence. Last year, the restaurant was included in the 2024 USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year list.
News about Agnes is developing. Visit agnesdetroit.com and follow @agnesdetroit on Instagram for more details in the coming months.
Contact Detroit Free Press Dining and Restaurant Critic Lyndsay C. Green at: LCGreen@freepress.com. Follow @LadyLuff on Instagram and Twitter. Subscribe to the Eat Drink Freep newsletter for extras and insider scoops on Detroit-area dining.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: New restaurant from Selden Standard team heads to West Village
Reporting by Lyndsay C. Green, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Lyndsay C. Green, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
