Detroit, MI — The James Beard Foundation visited the Motor City last Tuesday night to host a marvelous dinner as part of its Taste America program. The annual event, presented by Capitol One, is part of a series featuring chefs in 20 cities highlighting culinary creativity nationwide!

Iconic chefs, known as the TasteTwenty, are hosting dinners at renowned establishments to celebrate food culture in America and its diverse communities. This series is part of the Foundation’s shared mission of Good Food for Good, which emphasizes the need and importance of local, independent restaurants at the heart of our communities.

The James Beard Foundation was wise to select Detroit to be among the 20 markets chosen, and appointed a truly wonderful chef to not only represent our city, but also one who knew the perfect place to set up shop for this special occasion to highlight a true community gem of Detroit.

Chef Sarah Welch was selected to be the TasteTwenty Chef representing Detroit and was tasked with creating a multi-course meal for the event. Chef Welch has many accolades, including being a James Beard Award Nominee and Semifinalist multiple times in different categories over the years as the Co-Founder/Executive Chef of Marrow in Detroit. Sarah also co-founded the seafood eatery Mink in Detroit. She recently announced her departure from Marrow earlier this year, with plans to open a new seafood-based restaurant in Traverse City with her husband, who also co-founded Mink. Sarah plans to stay on as a Managing Partner at both Marrow and Mink.

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For Tuesday’s Taste America series, Sarah reached out to one of her besties, fellow Chef Alison Heeres, to collaborate on the dinner and host the event at her restaurant, Coriander Kitchen and Farm. I was fortunate enough to attend the event at the delightful farm-to-table establishment at the southern bottom of the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood of Detroit, near the river and border of Grosse Pointe Park. I had never been to Coriander Kitchen, nor had the honor of enjoying the culinary creations of Chef Welch or Heeres, so needless to say, I was very excited for the event!

I was seated at a table along the canal with the legendary Food and Restaurant writer for the Detroit Free Press, Susan Selasky, whose work I’m a big fan of. I recalled seeing her as one of the judges for Iron Chef Detroit II back in June, which I covered for this blog. Susan and I discussed some of the latest restaurant developments and Detroit’s flourishing food scene as we waited for other arriving attendees to check in and be seated. We were eventually joined at our table by two wonderful ladies, Debra and Michele, who were fellow food enthusiasts and a real joy to talk to throughout the dining experience.

The dinner also included distinct wines to pair with each course, with most provided by the event’s featured beverage partner: Great Lakes Wines & Spirits. While I do enjoy the occasional glass of wine or fancy cocktail, my focus is and will always be on the food!

The Food

Chefs Welch and Heeres prepared a top-tier multi-course meal, which featured a lot of produce straight from Coriander Kitchen & Farm’s garden. The first course was a Hamachi Crudo with Fermented Tomato Water, Za’atar, and Sesame Cracker. The second course consisted of two plates, which were shareable amongst the table, the Farm Tomato Eetch and Grilled Eggplant with Walnuts and Plums. The entrée was a sort of deconstructed Grilled Lamb Shawarma with Mixed Charred Turkish Peppers, Farm Herbs, Spicy Ajvar, Nigella-Lemon Oil Labneh, and Pickled Turnips and Beets. To cap it all off for dessert, an Orange Blossom Persian Pudding Cake.

It’s been a few years since I last had Hamachi Crudo, but by even the second bite, I could tell this was probably the best rendition I’ve ever enjoyed. The Za’atar stood out, providing a nice, slight crunch and tangy kick, which was balanced out by the acidity in the tomato water. The fish was very flavorful as a result, enhanced even more via the tomato saturation and zest from the Middle Eastern herb blend.

The next two dishes were served in medium-sized bowls and were meant to be shared around the table. We took turns passing each bowl around, helping ourselves to a few scoops of each onto our plates. I tried the Farm Tomato Eetch first, which is a traditional Armenian dish similar to tabbouleh, except heartier and more tomato-heavy, hence the color. I could not only taste the freshness from the ingredients, but also noted how much more it made the dish pop with sharper flavors. It was relatively lighter, and had I not been saving room in my stomach, I would have gladly had more servings of this delicious vegetarian dish!

The blended up shredded eggplant with walnuts and plums essentially said ‘hold my beer’ and surprisingly topped its second course colleague in flavor. The grilled eggplant was just exploding in flavor, paired beautifully with the sweet and juicy plums. These two soft-textured ingredients were mixed with walnuts that were not only a delight on their own, but again ingeniously complemented the sweetness of the plums with their own sweet, savory, and nutty profile. This one ended up being everyone’s favorite at the table, and in this instance, I did help myself to two more modest scoops before the entrée arrived.

The Grilled Lamb Shawarma came served on two separate platters, with the meat, veggies, and labneh (strained yogurt cheese) on one platter and freshly made pita on another. Everyone sort of took their own approach to selecting and assembling the ingredients onto their plates. I employed the ‘little bit of everything’ tactic, loading up my pita with a thick, juicy slice of tomato, topped with two thick slices of medium-rare grilled lamb, the yogurt sauce, pickled turnips, Turkish pepper, and fresh herbs.

I realized once picking up the pita that this was going to be difficult to eat with all of the ingredients amassed on top, once completely folded up, but I persevered in the name of food! My new friend next to me, Michele, had the same idea, so thankfully, I wasn’t alone in going for gold here with trying to consume everything all at once. The Turkish peppers were Sivri Biber, which are long, pointed peppers that were grilled and rather captivating with a slight sweetness and mild spice. Their softness from being grilled paired with the exceptionally soft, fresh tomato and stood in contrast to the briny and more dense pickled turnips. These all were excellent contributions to accompany expertly grilled lamb, which was a perfect medium-rare and seemingly reverse-seared for a crispy and succulent crust.

I was definitely nearing capacity, but saved a bit of room for a few bites of the dessert course. Thankfully, the dessert was served in a small glass cup, a perfect light (and unexpectedly healthy) dish to round out the all-around sensational meal. The raspberry was very prominent while the orange/citrus was more of a secondary background flavor, but the two combined absolutely worked for the overall fruity and sweet profile. I really enjoyed the occasional bits of cake scattered throughout the mixture, or in this case, Persian pudding, and applaud the ingenuity and execution of this delectable creation.

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On my way out, I was introduced to Sarah Welch and paid my respects for the sensational meal, as well as to Sarah’s exemplary caliber as a chef. After taking a few photos for some avid foodie fans with Chef Welch, I was able to ask her a couple of quick questions. I asked what her reaction was when the James Beard Foundation reached out to her to curate the event as a TasteTwenty chef, and how she chose such an exceptional establishment to represent Detroit for the series.

“Immediately, what hit me was that my best friend represents this community as well. So, I knew I wanted to collaborate with Alison and do a dinner featuring her farm’s beautiful food. My favorite place to dine in the city is right here. So, I wanted to celebrate what they’re doing here in this community, which is also the community I live in,” Sarah explained.

This dinner took place at Coriander Kitchen & Farm, a woman-owned restaurant and bar inside a former marina in Detroit’s canal district. The restaurant aims for “drunk grandma” vibes and is one of the city’s only spots with its own farm. Co-owner and Chef Alison uses a lot of that produce and herbs to create lavish meals, from vegetable-forward dishes to seaside classics like Fish and Chips, Burgers, and Grilled Fish.

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Both chefs spoke to the crowd earlier in the night, highlighting the importance of not only supporting local and sustainable means of growing and consuming food, but also the importance of taking care of the ones who handle your food.

“I think when you support people that have that mentality surrounding local food, you can trust that your food is not going as far to get to you, and the people that are growing and harvesting that food are from the community. I think those are good things to support, and that’s why I support Alison. That’s why I love to be at her restaurant. And it’s something that I hope to emulate when I open my next restaurant,” Sarah said.

I thanked Sarah again for all that she does, and I’m excited to see what she and her husband create with Umbo in Traverse City. I have to give a huge shout-out as well to Chef Alison and her team, as well as all the staff who worked like clockwork to ensure a smooth and fun evening. Alison has really created some remarkable and special at Coriander Kitchen & Farm, and I’m very motivated for a return visit to check out the restaurant on a regular night. It’s nice to see the James Beard Foundation spending more time around Detroit; as our relentless food scene continues to grow in both diversity and creativity, hopefully we’ll see more local chefs and restaurants recognized on the national level!

For more information about the James Beard Foundation’s Taste America series, click here.

To stay up to date on Chef Welch’s latest endeavor, Umbo in Traverse City, click here.