James Beard Award-Winner Shawn McClain Brings High-Rise Restaurant to the RenCen

James Beard Award-winning chef Shawn McClain is returning to the Midwest with a new high-rise restaurant perched atop of the GM Renaissance Center, according to a release. The 20,000-square-foot restaurant will fill the iconic space on the 71 and 72 floors of the building, formerly home to Coach Insignia.

McClain splits his time between metro Detroit and Las Vegas where he operates three restaurants including Libertine Social, Sage, and Five50Pizza Bar. Prior to that, he co-owned a successful restaurant in Chicago called Spring. He received the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest for his work at Spring in 2006.

Riverfront Holdings, Inc. is partnering with McClain’s restaurant group McClain Camarota Hospitality in the project. Greg Keffer of architecture and design firm Rockwell Group has been tapped to develop the project. The restaurant is expected to feature “multiple concepts,” Claudia Killeen, GM manager of Renaissance Center Development says in the release.

McClain tells Crain’s that the unnamed-restaurant project is on track to begin a buildout in March. Diners can expect a “much larger” bar than Coach Insignia offered with plenty of events space.

Coach Insignia shut its doors on Valentine’s Day 2017 with operators of the Epicurean Group stating that they were unable to negotiate a new lease. The name and specifics of McClain’s restaurant are expected to be announced at a later date.

• All Shawn McClain Coverage [Eater Vegas]
• New Restaurant Planned for Top of RenCen [Crain’s]
• RenCen Eatery Coach Insignia Will Shut Its Doors [ED]
• All Coming Attractions Coverage [ED]