Cityscape

Dinner With Anthony Bourdain: 6 Courses In An 'Urban Chic Setting'

July 10, 2013, 2:00 PM by  Alan Stamm

Detroit nightlife maven Kerry Doman has a solid reason to express hope that pop-up dinners served by chef Craig Lieckfelt "will become more of a permanent dining experience for Detroiters."


Chef Craig Lieckfelt poses with the VIP traveler he served downtown this week. [Photo from Facebook]

The top-tier chef, who returned to Detroit after studying and working in New York, on Tuesday night hosted Anthony Bourdain at a downtown art gallery meal to be featured on an episode of CNN's "Parts Unknown," Bourdain's new Sunday night show.

The occasion was part of a sold-out "Guns + Butter" series of $80 dinners at Library Street Collective that began Monday and end Wednesday night, Doman reports at After 5 Detroit, an entertainment site she founded in 2009.

Guests dined amid "the urban chic setting of a back-alley garage with graffiti art on the walls from famous artists like Revok and Reyes," writes Doman, who attended one dinner -- though apparently not the same sitting as Bourdain and his TV team.

Lieckfelt, a Culinary Institute of America grad (like Bourdain), talks about the experience at After 5 Detroit:

There’s certainly a level of nerves, just because it’s a pretty big moment, but I’m more excited to have cooked for someone who has had such an incredible impact and influence on the food culture. I truly respect and admire Anthony Bourdain and love that he doesn’t sugar-coat anything.

He never changes who he is – he’s always himself and that’s what makes him so great to watch on TV, to read his books and to have him sitting in front of you eating your food.

The Detroiter's nomadic pop-up dinners began last  September at a Michigan Avenue diner called Brooklyn Street Local and moved to another Corktown space, Ponyride, in May. Now they may become more substantial, according to Doman's post.

Craig's goal of making Guns + Butter permanent seems to be coming together, as he and local entrepreneur, Anthony Curis, are cooking up a potential partnership to open a restaurant in the city. 

Curis is co-founder of the popular El Guapo food truck. A prospective mash-up with a fancy chef certainly sounds tasty.

Earlier coverage: Tracking Anthony Bourdain Today In Detroit: Did He Eat Two Coneys?, July 8


Read more:  After 5 Detroit


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