Caucus Club (Deadline Detroit photo)
The Caucus Club on Congress in downtown Detroit closed in 2012, dying a slow death. The place looked tired and ready for a long rest.
Now restaurateur George Sboukis has brought it back to life, opening this month. The dean of local restaurant critics, Molly Abraham has encouraging words in a Detroit News review:
When its new persona debuted two weeks ago, it was clear that Sboukis hadn’t tried to reprise the look. The new Caucus Club is more attractive now than it was in its original configuration, no longer dimly lit and clubby, but brighter and more welcoming, with the front windows uncovered and an upbeat feeling that extends from the rather formal but stylish front dining room with its linen-swathed tables to the lounge in the rear where the tables are topped with white marble Sboukis discovered stored in the basement of the building and illuminated with open-filiment bulbs. This is definitely the new Caucus Club...
The menu is being tweaked, of course, but it follows the traditional steak/seafood theme. Signature dishes include dry-rubbed baby back ribs prepared on the wood-fired grill, sauteed lake perch, prime rib in 12- to 14- and 16- to 18-inch cuts, and an array of prime steaks, culminating with the 32-ounce tomahawk rib-eye. And yes, they aren’t cheap.
After just two weeks, it would be premature to give the Caucus Club a star rating, but it certainly looks promising, under a proprietor who knows what it takes to run a successful restaurant and seems determined to do it on the bigger stage of downtown Detroit.
