The Detroit Free Press reports that locally-born and recently returned chef Maxcel Hardy (sometimes known as Max) is set to open a whopping three restaurants within the next 12 months.
One of the three — a rotisserie chicken spot, Coop, in upcoming shipping container food hall Detroit Shipping Co. has been slated for a while now. But as per the Free Press, another one is coming even sooner.
River Bistro will be in a former Good Taste Louisiana Fried Chicken on the edge of North Rosedale Park and Rosedale Park, and courtesy of quite a small space, will focus on take-out and delivery (although with limited seating), and a private room. Hardy’s experience with Lowcountry and Caribbean cuisine will come into play — expect jerk, honey-spiced fried chicken, ackee and saltfish, and plantains, all at very budget-friendly prices. It’s set to open August — in the meanwhile, Coop will likely arrive in the fall, dependent on when food hall construction finishes.
While River Bistro and Coop are squarely on the casual side, Hardy’s third opening, named Honey, is to be much grander (the Free Press call it his “flagship”) — a 120-seat African-inspired restaurant in entertainment hub the District Detroit.
These are huge plans for Hardy, who only moved back to Detroit at the start of this year. Based on what he tells the Free Press, a major motivator is for Hardy to establish chef driven establishments — he laments the fact that Detroit is short on such restaurants led by black chefs, and says he also wants to open more doors for black chefs in the city. And opening up three restaurants seems like a big opportunity for that.
