Albena, one of Detroit’s most anxiously awaited restaurants, has just opened its reservation books. The small, eight-seat tasting menu restaurant from chef Garrett Lipar is tucked away on the ground floor of the Siren Hotel and has been in the works for more than two years.
The books were opened for the first two months of service via online reservation platform Tock on Monday morning. The first reservations appear to be available on the weekend of August 24 through August 26 with seatings beginning at 4 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for one to four people at $130 per person. The tasting menu is simply described as: “A ninety minute progressive expression of dinner.” A representative from the Siren told Eater no additional details were available, but expect more updates soon.
Lipar was a 2014 Eater Young Gun who helmed one of metro Detroit’s most critically acclaimed restaurants of the last five years, Torino, up until its closure in 2015. The chef was named a semifinalist twice for the James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star of the Year award for his work at Torino and then at Marais in Grosse Pointe.
Lipar first teased his plans for Albena during a series of preview dinners in August 2016 with real estate pop-up series Place Invaders. The restaurant is named after his grandmother. Lipar told Eater at the time that the tasting menu would focus on between eight and 12 plates per meal with a brisk pace. “We’re looking to define Great Lakes cuisine and really push the boundaries here,” he said in an interview with Eater National’s Hillary Dixler Canavan last fall.
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Albena will be joining numerous exciting food and beverage projects at the Siren including Kate Williams’ Candy Bar and Populace Coffee. Williams’ diner project, Karl’s, and a piano karaoke bar called Sid Gold’s Request Room are also expected to open inside the boutique hotel this fall.
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