Besides tasting imaginative and sophisticated dishes, another treat for diners attending sold-outFree Press Top 10 Takeover restaurantshas been experiencing the transformation of Detroit buildings with stories to tell.
So it was Monday night at the Corktown restaurant Gold Cash Gold, the hot spot that got its name from the pawnshop pitch thatdistinctively decorated the former Sam's Loans on a familiarstretch of Michigan Avenue.
Gold Cash Gold was the fifth Top 10Takeover destination and an exclusive chance to dine at one of the Best New Restaurants, selected in February by Free Press Restaurant Critic Sylvia Rector.
For several decades beginning in the 1960s, the building was a pawnshop. It was started by Sam Rubin, the grandfather of Les Gold, the star of Tru TV's "Hardcore Pawn,"a reality show based at the family's American Jewelry and Loan, on Greenfield near 8 Mile Road in Detroit.
Even since the restaurant opened Dec. 6. and became a dining destination, folks looking to hock jewelry and family heirlooms still come through the front doors, said general manager Kevin Burrows. There's still a faded Sam's Loans sign out front, promising "Money in 1 min."But on Monday night, Gold Cash Gold promised, and delivered, culinary gems,created by Chef Josh Stockton.
The evening's four-course menu,included:
• A composition of heirloom tomatoes, including pickled green cherry tomatoes,with whole basil leaves serving as the salad greens and herbed ricotta cream.
• A pasta dish of garganelli, hand rolled ridged tubes sauced withan eggplant puree and topped with slow-roasted pheasant, roasted eggplant and Parmesan.
• Roasted, bronzedscallops atop a succotash mix, fermented corn salsa anda corn pudding.
• A fromage blanc tart for dessert, gilded by summer berries and crumbled vanilla.
Stockton, who grew up in Warren, bills his menu as "farmstead fine food," reflective of his locallygrown, from-scratch, farm-to-table dishes. There's a spare but stylish rustic feel to the restaurant's painted brickinteriors. Some of the seating includeshandmade, polished wood beambenches which were reclaimed from a local factory.The ceiling is wooden lath strips re-used from the pawnshop walls. The floor, including its painted image of an eagle, was recycled from a Detroit school.
Stockton's distinguished himself with food flourishes and twists that often involve pickling.Jars of pickled produce also contribute to the decor.Stockton's go-to source for all things pork is the family's hog farm in Tennessee. As a child, Stockton was a regular visitor to the family farm, first owned by his grandfather and now operated by Stockton's dad.
Stockton told Takeover diners that his goal is to use as much locally produced food as possible. The heirloom tomatoes came from a nearby urban farm, and the basil leaves were picked Monday morning.
"We don't want anything to go to waste," he said."We use everything they give us in the best way we can."
Restaurant critic Rector said Gold Cash Gold is "one of my favorite places" and hailed Stockton for returning from out-of-state Michelin-starred restaurants "to get in the dining revolution happening in Detroit."
"Thank goodness," said Rector. "We need more of him."
Jennifer Tank, a sales specialist from Allen Park, celebratedher 44th birthday with statistician Mike Lederle by attending the fifthTakeover dinner.
"Everything has been quite delicious," said Tank."My favorite has been the scallops —the flavor of how they've been browned on top and with the delicious corn relish and the surprise of the corn pudding underneath."
Lederle said he never eats tomatoes, until he feasted on the evening's salad.
"I would never have eaten a raw tomato on my own," said Lederle, saying the heirloom ones in the salad were a revelation. Although he doesn't know whether he'll eat tomatoes again, quipping their selection may need "to be strongly curated" by a pro.
Monday night's Takeover was No. 2for Pearse Johnson and Lori Manoogian, both retirees from Canton. The couple had been to the first one at Wright & Co.in May, in a historic Woodward Avenuebuilding that once was a jewelry store.
"Since I've retired, food has become my passion," said Manoogian. "I've told Sylvia (Rector) that in my next life, I want to come back as a food critic."
The Free Press Top 10 Takeover dinners, sponsored by the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers association, will continue into fall. Tickets to the Aug. 10 Takeover at Bistro 82 in Royal are sold out. But there's a chance to win two complimentary tickets to Bistro 82 by entering the random drawing contest sponsored by the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers at http://chevydetroit.com/top10takeover/. Bistro 82 was the Free Press Readers' Choice award
Tickets to the seventh Takeover dinner on Aug. 27 atThe Bird & The Bread restaurant in Birmingham will go on sale at a later date, to be announced in theFree Press and on www.freep.com.
Go tofreep.com/top10takeover for more information
Partial proceeds from the Top 10 Takeover dining series benefit Forgotten Harvest of metro Detroit. Thus far, the Free Press' Takeover events have raised enough money to provide a meal for more than 5,000 people in need.
For more information about Gold Cash Gold, call 313-242-0770 or go towww.goldcashgolddetroit.com.
