Restaurant and Butcher Shop, Marrow, Replaces Long-Delayed Geiger Eat Shop in West Village

It’s been quite a while since the last progress report on Geiger Eat Shop — the long-awaited West Village restaurant from Cafe Muse’s Greg Reyner. It would make sense that Reyner, also a partner in Atomic Chicken, would be taking his time with the larger east side eatery giving that his fast-casual chicken restaurant also faced plenty of delays before finally opening in New Center this month. Still, when Metropolis Cycles launched a pop-up in the seemingly buildout-ready Garland Building space on Kercheval Avenue, one started to wonder whether Geiger Eat Shop would ever come to fruition.

While Reyner hasn’t completely abandoned the West Village site, the restaurateur confirms to the Detroit Free Press today that he’s taking the project in a new direction in partnership with The Royce Detroit wine bar’s Ping Ho.

Enter Marrow, the butcher shop-restaurant replacement for Geiger Eat Shop. The pair have tapped former Republic and Parks & Rec chef Sarah Welch to run the restaurant, which seems like a good fit given Welch’s experience with whole-animal butchery. Marrow will focus on local and sustainable meats.

The restaurant will feature a daytime lunch counter and will offer a seasonal menu in the evenings with a mixture of snacks, small plates, and mains, according to the Free Press. Designs are still being finalized, but the restaurant is estimated to seat between 40 and 50 diners with additional seating on a large outdoor patio nestled between the Garland Building and the building housing Sister Pie.

Since her departure from Republic, Welch has been adamant about expressing her own voice beyond what she had offered as a the G.A.R. castle’s chef. She’s currently doing a six-month residency as executive chef at Revolver in Hamtramck coordinating events and also introducing that personal style through weekly ticketed “Chef’s Table” dinners. The restaurant is also looking to hire an in-house butcher. Marrow is estimated to open in late-2017.

This isn’t the only butcher shop-restaurant headed to Detroit. Later this spring, the owner of Townhouse is expected to open a modern steakhouse with an attached butcher shop, called Prime + Proper.

• Ex-Republic Chef to Head Butcher Shop and Restaurant in West Village [Freep]

• Chef Sarah Welch Finds New Home at Revolver in Hamtramck [ED]

• Primal Instinct: Meet Detroit’s Nose to Tail Butchers [ED]

• All Geiger Eat Shop Coverage [ED]