A New Ann Arbor Restaurant Features an Eclectic Chef’s Counter and Hyperlocal Ingredients #DetroitFood

The “All of the Chicken” — a whole bird prepared four ways. | Ben Robison

Explore Echelon Kitchen & Bar where open-fire cooking reigns

Joseph VanWagner noticed a common theme while working at powerhouse restaurants like Alinea and Blackbird in Chicago and Daniel in New York: Much of the produce came from farms in his home state.

Upon returning to Michigan, VanWagner began to realize he had an opportunity to combine his culinary talents with the Mitten’s the bounty of local agriculture. That’s the basis for the menu at Echelon Kitchen & Bar, an upcoming restaurant in Ann Arbor. Armed with local produce from Michigan farms, many of which are situated within 50 miles or less of the restaurant — like Goetz Farm, Prochaska Farms, and Tantré Farm — VanWagner hopes to change the menu near-daily and cooking will take place using a wood-fired oven.

Echelon is among a growing number of restaurants like the James Beard Award-nominated wine bar Spencer to open in Tree Town over the past several years that are turning to local sourcing as much as possible and offering touches like a tasting menu, thus helping to shed the local dining scene’s reputation for college town greasy spoons and pizza slices.

Bob Foran Photography

Bob Foran Photography

Bob Foran Photography

Managing partner Doug Zeif of Next Hospitality Advisors based in Coconut Creek, Florida brought on VanWagner to lead the restaurant, which plans to open on Thursday, February 6 at 200 S. Main Street in Ann Arbor. Set in a 7,000-square-foot space in a century-old building, Echelon Kitchen & Bar was designed by Anne Faherty of Chicago-based Faherty Interiors and includes seating for 150.

Dishes designed with seasonality in mind include a salad featuring shaved winter vegetables topped with chive oil, lemon, fresh herbs, and horseradish creme fraiche; house-made bucatini pasta with lobster, butternut squash, preserved oranges, chili, and toasted milk solid pancito; and an entree called “All of the Chicken,” a whole bird prepared four ways: crispy fried legs, duck fat- confit thighs, Beijing-style cured, and roasted breast, and a stuffed chicken wing – served with a Mandarin pancake. In addition to regular menu offerings, Echelon also features a chef’s counter experience, an off-the-menu six-course meal s of the chef’s choosing is served at an eight-seat counter alongside the kitchen for $110 with an optional beverage pairing.

Ben Robison

Some of the vegetable-forward offerings available at Echelon Kitchen & Bar

VanWagner is joined by pastry chef Ben Robison, who previously led the pastry programs at Le Suprême, Freya, and Chartreuse. The two first met at the now-closed Bacco Ristorante in Southfield and worked together at Local in Ferndale and Bistro 82 in Royal Oak, and have collaborating on several of pop-ups. Robison hopes to offer diners a broader view of what a dessert can be by finding ways to bridge the gap between savory and sweet. Robison’s desserts also use seasonal ingredients, such as a vegan chocolate cake made with an almond-based milk chocolate ganache, topped with a sweet potato puree, miso-infused caramel, and pepita granola.

Managing director Emily Habib will head operations, while sommelier Taylor Schmidt Johnson, who’s also worked at the Royce Detroit and the defunct Michael Symon’s Roast, is heading the beverage program. Johnson’s cocktails complement the food, with offerings like the Mace, composed of Detroit City Distillery’s Butcher’s Cut Bourbon, Dr. Bird Jamaican Rum, vermouth, bitters, and mace. Echelon also offers low-ABV and spirit-free drinks like the Garden, made with non-alcoholic spirit Seedlip Garden, a vegetal pea garden syrup, and lime.

Habib tells Eater that she wants to redefine the culture of working in a restaurant, from offering benefits, including team members in decisions, and implementing a “Well-being Fund” in which 3 percent of all food and drink sales is collected to provide additional monthly support to non-tipped workers. She is also helping to launch the Women in Hospitality Leadership Ann Arbor group, with the goal being to bring women in the industry together to provide a support system in a traditionally male-driven industry.

Echelon Kitchen & Bar, 200 S. Main Street in Ann Arbor, planned for a Thursday, February 6 opening

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