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A tart with swirls of pale cream and a scoop of plum ice cream sits on a plate in a pool of pink liquid.
A triple cream tart with pistachio, red plum, and white chocolate.

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Look Around Pernoi, a Luxe New Restaurant Addition to Birmingham

Take a tour of the new white tablecloth establishment from powerhouse chef duo Takashi Yagihashi and Luciano DelSignore

by Brenna Houck
Photography by Michelle Gerard
Brenna Houck is a Cities Manager for the Eater network. She previously edited Eater Detroit and reported for Eater. You can follow her on the internet at @brennahouck.

Pernoi, a highly anticipated restaurant collaboration between two of metro Detroit’s most renowned chefs, opened its doors in early September bringing a new white tablecloth establishment to Birmingham.

Partners Luciano DelSignore and Takashi Yagihashi each have individually earned acclaim for their work in the metro area. As the owner of Bacco Ristorante and Bigalora Wood-Fired Cucina, DelSignore has had a hand in training many of the best-known chefs in the Detroit restaurant industry. Meanwhile, Yagihashi earned acclaim during his time at Tribute before going on to found Slurping Turtle and Michelin-starred restaurant Takashi in Chicago. Together they make a formidable power couple.

Even so, the pair set expectations extremely high for a fine-dining restaurant in one of the area’s toniest cities with a large dining room sectioned off for a prix fixe menu service. Taking over the Cafe Via space, Del Signore and Yagihashi hired Kyle Evans Design to give the restaurant a “luxury yacht” aesthetic that fit its ambitions.

Now, a little more than two weeks into service Yagihashi and DelSignore’s team is still settling in. The restaurant is still focused on serving an a la carte menu and Pernoi is expected to begin serving its tasting menu in the next few weeks.

As for the interior, it’s received the final touches. Art was added to the walls following the opening, including some pieces by local Korean American painter Dominic Pangborn. Pernoi is divided into several different spaces ranging from more casual to high-end. Customers who abide by the jackets-only dress code can sit in the Maple Room, located in a dining room with white tablecloths and sheer white curtained windows overlooking Maple Road. Patrons that want to order a la carte in a more relaxed, jackets-not-required setting can take a seat in the bar area known as the Port Room or in the open-air courtyard known as the Terrace.

The exterior of Pernoi shown from the street is relatively unassuming with sheer fabric hanging from the windows. It almost looks like an office.

On the menu, find a selection of dishes ranging from heirloom tomatoes with radicchio, feta, and bread crumbs to foam-topped rabbit agnolotti. Prices start around $16 up to $75 with many of the meatier mains in the $30 range. Customers can also sip cocktails or choose from a selection of 400 wines.

Eater’s photographer Michelle Gerard visited the finished Pernoi restaurant space to scope out the interior and some of the dishes. Take a peek around the restaurant below.

A dark covered walkway with curved windows, potted fiddle leaf fig trees, and a stone carved entryway leads to the patio and off-street entrance to Pernoi.
Pernoi’s entrance is located in a courtyard area off East Maple Road.
Blue ocean paiting hangs on a bluish gray wall in the Maple Room surrounded by tables with white tablecloths and blue upholstered chairs.
The Maple Room is a full-service section of the restaurant and will eventually offer a tasting menu.
The bar is shown in a dark nook with mirrors, wine bottles, and glass decanters.
A wine bar in the hallway between the Maple Room and the Port Room.
The sunny room is filled with four-top tables covered in white tablecloths with white sheer curtains and rounded globe lights that look like their sliding apart at the meridian.
The Maple Room is located near the windows adjacent to East Maple Road in Birmingham.
A small, green, L-shaped bar with brass framed bar stools that are upholstered in gray fabric.
The bar at Pernoi is known as the Port Room.
Sliced grape-sized tomatoes sit on a yellow sauce surrounded by wings of radicchio purple flowers and white feta cheese with breadcrumbs.
Heirloom tomatoes with radicchio, ginger dressing, feta, and olive oil bread crumbs.
two halves of a round piece of foie gras sandwiched between apple and cherry jelly and an almond pastry.
Foie gras torchon with red cherry and green apple gelée and almond tuile calvados baba.
A plate with six agnolotti arranged in a circle surrounded by a thin brown sauce and topped with white foam and edible flowers.
Rabbit agnolotti at Pernoi.
Three long rainbow carrots on a white plate topped with sliced carrots and quartered baby carrots.
Roasted baby carrots with spiced lemon yogurt and nigella seeds.
A yellow colored cocktail with a large ice cube and a paper cone filled with dried yellow flowers next to a coupe filled with pink liquid and a red paper crane garnish.
The Slo Dance and the One Flew Over cocktail at Pernoi.

Pernoi is located at 10 E. Maple Rd.; opens at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday for dinner service only; website.

• One of Metro Detroit’s Biggest Restaurants of the Year Opens on Tuesday [ED]
• A Powerhouse Chef Duo Is Opening a New Restaurant in the Former Cafe Via Space [ED]
• Detroit’s Most Anticipated Restaurant and Bar Openings, Fall 2019 [ED]
• All Pernoi Coverage [ED]
• All Openings Coverage [ED]
• All Eater Inside Coverage [ED]

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Pernoi

310 East Maple Road, , MI 48009 (248) 940-0000 Visit Website
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