Invasive Asian Carp May Land on the Menu at Lady of the House

Welcome to the Plywood Report, a roundup of all the latest intel on Detroit's and metro Detroit’s coming restaurant attractions.

CORKTOWN — Chef Kate Williams spoke with host Kerry Diamond of the podcast Radio Cherry Bombe this week about her long-anticipated restaurant project Lady of the House. The 60-seat restaurant located inside the former St. Cece’s building is aiming to launch in mid-July, according to Williams.

The chef says she’s currently in the process of putting together a front- and back-of-house team. “What’s surprising — and it happened organically — is it’s all females in the kitchen,” Williams tells Diamond.

She’s also in the process of menu testing. Diners can expect whole-animal butchery and maybe even Asian carp on the menu. Williams recently went out on a commercial fishing boat in Peoria, Illinois, and witnessed fishermen harvesting around 3,000 pounds of the invasive species. She’s experimenting with confiting the fish among other preparations. [Radio Cherry Bombe/EaterWire]

SHERWOOD FOREST — Could The Avenue of Fashion’s new Bucharest Grill outpost finally open in May? Owner Bogdan Tarasov tells Eater the restaurant is aiming to debut at the end of the month. The restaurant is currently sporting signage and the interior is nearly finished. [EaterWire]

EASTERN MARKET — After more delays, Eastern Market’s forthcoming restaurant Gather is slated to receive its final three inspections next week meaning with some luck the restaurant could be up and running this month. Gather is expected to offer a wood-fire grilled menu of meats and vegetables. [EaterWire]

NEW CENTER — Lucy Carnaghi (formerly of Rose’s Fine Foods) is aiming for a very ambitious August opening at Wilda’s, a hotly anticipated new neighborhood restaurant located in New Center. Her vision for the restaurant has changed slightly since the initial announcement last summer, and will now feature a full service format that’s still casual. Patrons will place orders by checking boxes on a menu and servers will deliver them to the kitchen. As previously reported, Carnaghi has also struck new partnerships with chefs Max and Eli Sussman and Sopheana Duch after parting ways with Rose’s Fine Foods co-founder and cousin Molly Mitchell in February. The Sussmans, who operate two restaurants in New York, declined to comment to Eater on their roles in the project. [Crain’s]

FERNDALE — Fermentation nerds rejoice. Ferndale’s soon-to-open Urbanrest Brewing Co. received approvals in mid-April to begin brewing and is currently in the process of testing its brewing system. The 65-seat taproom is expected to launch in late-spring or early summer with a mixture of Belgian style farmhouse ales and house-brewed kombucha tea on tap. [Instagram/Facebook]

FERNDALE — Located off Nine Mile on Ferndale’s east end, food truck park and bar Detroit Fleet is in construction mode and is already hiring. The exterior of the building has been stripped down to its bare bones and the patio is in the process of being built-out. [Facebook]

Facebook/Detroit Fleet