Chefs and restaurateurs Joe Giacomino and John Vermiglio have seen a lot of change in Detroit since they opened their first restaurant, Grey Ghost, in 2016.
Back then, they were just the second destination chef-driven restaurant in the city — the other was Andy Hollyday’s Selden Standard, which opened two years earlier.
They were on a rather dangerous street — one of their early guests was held up at gunpoint half a block from the restaurant — but now Brush Park, where the mugging occurred, is safe and well-patrolled, and the neighborhood is a walkable, vibrant area near Little Caesars Arena, Comerica Park, and Ford Field.
The business partners, who met while earning their chef chops in Chicago, have since opened a beer-and-shots bar across the street, an Izakaya called Basan a few blocks away, and Little Ghost in the suburb of Ferndale, a burger joint inspired by the success of Grey Ghost’s burger.
In this episode of Menu Talk, the chefs discuss their career paths and the successful ongoing transformation of Detroit.
Menu Talk is a collaboration between Restaurant Business Senior Menu Editor Pat Cobe and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News. You can subscribe to it wherever you listen to podcasts.
