Corktown Brunch Favorite Gold Cash Gold Will Close Its Doors in February #DetroitFood

Gold Cash Gold opened in December 2014. | Stock Detroit

The neighborhood New American restaurant trailblazer is biddinger farewell on February 2

One of Detroit’s New American restaurant trailblazers is preparing to close. Chef Brendon Edwards notified local media on Saturday that that five-year-old Corktown restaurant Gold Cash Gold will serve its final meal during its well-regarded brunch service on Sunday, February 2.

Edwards could not be immediately reached for comment. However, in statements to the Detroit Free Press and Crain’s the chef acknowledged that 2019 was a challenging year for the restaurant financially. Despite the looming promise of Ford’s developments inside Michigan Central Station and a brunch continued to attract crowds, Gold Cash Gold struggled to make ends meet. Edwards and partner Phil Cooley say competition from a growing number of Detroit restaurants, a lack of weeknight foot traffic, and the end of the winter North American International Auto Show all took a toll on the business’s bottom line.

Cooley tells Crain’s that he and the restaurant’s owners including Ryan Cooley, Ron Cooley, Toby Barlow, and Brian Boyle plan to sell the business. A listing price was not immediately released.

Gold Cash Gold opened inside a former pawn shop on Michigan Avenue in December 2014. Under opening chef Josh Stockton, it flourished as critically well-received Southern restaurant with a farm-to-table ethos and pickle brined fried chicken. Gold Cash Gold came in at number seven on the late Free Press critic Sylvia Rector’s list of best new restaurants for 2015 in a crop that included Selden Standard and soon-to-shutter Bistro 82. It was the runner up for Restaurant of the Year in the 2015 Eater Awards, with Stockton as a contender for Chef of the Year. In June 2015, one of the founding partners Eli Boyer had left the business, going on to open Voyager and Lovers Only.

Stock Detroit

Gold Cash Gold features floors reclaimed from a Detroit school gymnasium.

However, Gold Cash Gold seemed to falter in 2016, canceling its underperforming lunch service and briefly introducing retail items. That fall, Stockton announced his departure for Las Vegas. Chef Brendon Edwards, formerly of Standby, took his place at the helm. Under Edwards the restaurant transitioned towards a more New American menu and in the past year refocused on Spanish and Latin American flavors.

Eater has reached out for more details regarding this closure and will update the story soon.

• Gold Cash Gold Restaurant in Corktown to Close [Crain’s]
• Gold Cash Gold in Detroit’s Corktown to Close Feb. 2 [Freep]
• All Gold Cash Gold Coverage [ED]
• All Closings Coverage [ED]

from Eater Detroit - All