For the past and the present, Detroit is a Great American City. While time will tell if it ever becomes a city for truly everyone, a corner has undoubtedly been turned: Detroit has gone through the wringer and come out gladly shocked and proud to have something to show for it.
Berliners are coming to see it firsthand. Brooklynites are relocating, annoying Detroiters. You can see two of the nation's finest museums, the Detroit Institute of Arts (dia.org; 1-313-833-7900) and the Henry Ford (thehenryford.org; 1-313-982-6001), then watch F-150 pickups being made at the River Rouge plant. See the Guardian and Fisher buildings, Art Deco icons, outsider art and the Motown Museum (motownmuseum.org; 1-313-875-2264). Shop at stores on a line between industrial hardness and artisanal warmth. Dance well past last call at Marble Bar (1-313-338-3674), then head to an outdoor after-party. Eat spectacularly all the while.
Breakfast and lunch
With locations in trendy Midtown and downtown, linked via the new tram line suburbanites can't quite figure out, the Avalon Cafe and Bakery is Pure Michigan, all wholesome and cherries and a touch of whimsy. The whoopie pies are available in seasonal varieties, but the best was the banana-tahini tea cake, perfumy and sumptuous with a sesame buzz, good with black coffee (avalonbreads.net).
Mike's Famous Ham Place has all the whimsy of a brick, but there's something winsome about the jolly pink roast at the window, sliced thick to order. Mike Muftari bought the restaurant in 1974 after emigrating from Albania, and serves nothing but ham, eggs, toast and pea or bean soup (flavored with ham bones). For breakfast or with pickles, mustard and a poppyseed kaiser roll, all served on a Formica countertop, Mike's has one note and hits it like a bell (1-313-894-6922, ext. 8).
Detroit-style pizza is rectangular, with a deep, deep crust, crunchy on the bottom, and rimmed by a thin line of scorched cheese. Buddy's is the chain of note, but mostly in the suburbs. Amar Pizza (amarpizza.com; 1-313-366-0980) may be in the Hamtramck enclave with a spartan interior, but it's halal, allowing you to sample the offerings of Metro Detroit's huge Muslim community. Get a chicken tandoori pizza or, if you can handle it, one with the ghost pepper sauce.
Hamtramck's Eastern European heritage endures with the New Palace Bakery (newpalacebakery.com; 1-313-875-1334), which sells paczki doughnuts year-round. Near a GM plant in Detroit, the Ivanhoe Cafe is open Tuesdays through Fridays for lunch (1-313-925-5335). Lining the wall are portraits of yesteryear celebrities and grinning men wearing dark suits and captain's hats — it's the Polish Yacht Club's home port. The lake perch, served with fries, coleslaw, pickles, peppers and a mug of soup, is no joke.
Three stellar black-owned restaurants are in the city's northwestern corner. "Detroit is appealing to people because they can try things they've always wanted to do, and the barrier to entry is less than in other cities," said Espy Thomas, the second-generation co-owner of Sweet Potato Sensations. She and her sister use their grandmother's recipes, incorporating the orange tubers into cake with cream cheese icing, walnuts, raisins and pineapple, lattice-topped cobblers and so much more (1-313-532-7996).
Named by Allee Willis for her Earth, Wind and Fire song "Boogie Wonderland," the Boogaloo Wonderland sandwich can be found only at Chef Greg's Soul "N" the Wall (1-313-861-0331). It's a miracle you can find it at all. Greg Emilis Beard did not invent the sandwich akin to a funky sloppy joe: He re-created it long after its original restaurant closed. Ground beef, caramelized onions and melted American cheese meld on a toasted 8-inch bun with the special sauce, made from fresh tomatoes and 14 herbs and spices. Its original maker was of Caribbean heritage, and there's a warm spice sizzle to it. "The food is simple, but it's the flavor you get out of it," said Beard.
