Detroit, MI

Detroit diner Rose’s Fine Food is back, and it feels like a homecoming

Published

4 months ago

October 31, 2025

Detroit diner Rose’s Fine Food is back, and it feels like a homecoming

Detroit basks in the glory of resiliency, welcoming praise for its triumph over a series of tribulations — bankruptcy, political corruption, deindustrialization. This resilience has earned Detroit the moniker of “America’s Comeback City,” reemerging not to her former glory perhaps, but, after weathering a few storms, into an even more beautiful patinaed version of herself.

Rose’s Fine Food on Detroit’s east side is a reflection of the city in which it resides.

When it returned after a two-year shutter, Rose’s, the Comeback Kid, didn’t come back with flash or the pizzazz that some restaurateurs see as a prerequisite for dining in the age of social media. I’d argue it did the opposite.

Sure, a fresh start seemed a ripe opportunity for owner Molly Mitchell to give the tiny East Jefferson building a fresh coat of paint in a custom green that nods to the shade of the Detroit River. A pair of charging stations for electric vehicles were also added to the parking lot, but inside, things feel much the same — delightfully lived-in.

Aptly so. For nine years, guests filed into the quintessential diner, ordering the egg sandwich specials scrawled on a chalkboard and griddled pancakes browned by the flat top, which followed a recipe from Mitchell’s grandfather. When the space transformed into a bottle shop during the COVID-19 pandemic, guests would collar sparkling wine or pét-nats well before the average diner became fluent in natural wines, understanding that skin contact means more than brushing up against your neighbor at the bar. Today, scuff marks from nearly a decade of foot traffic add to the restaurant’s wear, and therefore its charm.

Visiting the new Rose’s is as if you hit pause on a classic film in VHS and pressed play in 4K UHD. The place is slightly spruced up — photos on the walls have been rearranged, ornamental mirrors added and that pink-cushioned soda fountain barstool, once anchored off kilter at the end of the 12-seat bar, now splits the counter seating evenly at the center — but the premise is the same. Diners gather around wooden tables topped with dishes that wink at Mitchell’s Polish heritage and smile at in-season ingredients.

Whereas Rose’s was once a brunch destination, new evening-only hours mean you’ll slice into fork-tender kopytka, chubby potato dumplings seared and dressed in dill and garlicky butter. Paired with zucchini spears and pine nuts, your tongue tussles with pillowy soft textures and crunch. Creamy navy beans, once served with an egg at the former Rose’s Fine Food, are now a dinner snack, glossed in a pungent broth spiked with herbs, most notably dill, which you’ll see a dozen times over — in the tomatoes and the sourdough, on the Polish nachos, the plate of pickles and the cabbage slaw.

As the sun sets, the room bounces in the light of flickering tapers, dripping wax in shades of merlot and blush down to their vintage saucers. Servers drop citrusy, umami pickle martinis with dots of dill oil floating at the surface, as if you dropped a beaded bracelet into your glass.

Rose’s exists as a reset for a restaurant scene awash with bells and whistles. Here, cooks honor the thankless work of local farmers, not rendering Michigan produce unrecognizable, but enhancing its beauty by kissing baby radishes with just enough heat to make the dish juicy, and tossing sugared peaches in a simple syrup with vanilla bean and jalapenos until they’re slippery and just spicy enough to sting your lips. The peaches, plump and succulent, are the sort of ambrosial starter that fills you with so much joy you could cry.

Red and golden beets massaged with whey caramel and sprinkled with poppyseeds are so soft they melt. My heart eyes for the beets and the overall experience at Rose’s almost blinded me from noticing the dressing was hardly a caramel, but rather a congealed marinade with a grainy mouthfeel.

On one visit, a friend and I headed to the backyard garden where Mitchell grows many of the herbs incorporated throughout the menu, lanterns lighting up the space just enough for us to see the sunflowers, dahlias and cut flowers that decorate many of the dinner tables.

Come to think of it, your welcome to Rose’s is a preamble to the experience. A wooden console, something like an ofrenda, is topped with a whimsical floral arrangement, a few menus, a shiny silver water pitcher and produce as art. A crookneck squash wraps around two twinkling tea lights, and a massive bowl is filled with a rotation of seasonal ingredients — fresh garlic bulbs filled the summer bowl, while beautiful crimson apples were piled up for fall.

In the dimness of the room, you may miss the specials scribbled onto a mirror that hangs on a wall leading to the kitchen, but a server will bring it into focus. Food and drink specials are listed, like kompot, the refreshing Eastern European fruit juice — this one, tart and mildly flavored of cherry and plum.

There’s a delicate balance of fine food, as the diner’s name suggests, and homey meals. Duck confit veers toward the finer side, a delicate duck leg served on a silver platter with a sweet-savory creamy cherry glaze spilled beneath it. The meat is seductive in the way it’s tender and flavorful, and, tantalizingly, gone far too soon.

Dishes like smoked kielbasa and Rose’s burger are more comforting — the sausage link, split down the middle, has a thick, crisp skin and comes with sweet cabbage and corn doused in a rich, heavy cream sauce that delivers decadence without guilt. The burger feels as if it could very well have come out of your own kitchen, replacing fluffy buns with buttered slices of toasted sourdough. You’ll realize it’s a bacon burger in the playful way the cured meat is ground into a smoky-sweet jam and spread onto the bread.

In the same way that Mitchell celebrates Michigan farmers with the produce served at Rose’s, she links arms with other local purveyors. The kielbasa and beef for the burger are sourced from the women-owned butcher shop Marrow in Detroit’s West Village and sourdough from Black-owned home bakery Lillian’s Loaves.

Retro cakes by Venla’s Cakes are referential to the nostalgic time Rose’s aims to conjure. A time when diners had an identity and served affordable, handmade food, like fresh baked breads and signature sauces, to regulars who’d stop in several days a week. A time well before the ’90s, when Mitchell started working in diners. Buttercream frosting with intricate, drape-y piping covers tar, lemon poppyseed and floral raspberry rose slices. A chewy piece of candied carrot pierces the frosting on a spectacularly moist carrot cake. The potency of the carrot flavor on the candy is surprising and new, and the only drawback is that it sticks to my teeth so well, I’m concerned my tooth might go with it on the release.

The return of Rose’s feels like the homecoming of a lost love, like the return of the one that got away. Sometimes, you just want that old thing back

Rose’s Fine Food, 10551 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit. 313-822-2729; rosesdetroit.com

While Detroit Free Press restaurant critics are no longer anonymous at area restaurants, they do their best to avoid being pandered to by restaurant staff. They show up to most restaurants unannounced at least three times, and do not accept complimentary meals. The Free Press covers all meals reviewed by critics. Our journalists adhere to the USA TODAY NETWORK Principles of Ethical Conduct For Newsrooms.

Contact Detroit Free Press Dining and Restaurant Critic Lyndsay C. Green at: LCGreen@freepress.com. Follow @LadyLuff on Instagram and Twitter. Subscribe to the Eat Drink Freep newsletter for extras and insider scoops on Detroit-area dining.

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Detroit, MI

Michigan State Police sends message to drivers after trooper involved in hit and run:

Published

6 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Michigan State Police sends message to drivers after trooper involved in hit and run:

“Slow down and move over” is the message that Michigan State Police is sending to drivers after one of its troopers in a parked patrol car was struck while investigating a crash this weekend. The driver of that vehicle fled the scene.

Michigan State Police tells CBS News Detroit that we’re two months into the year, and it has had six incidents across the state where patrol cars were struck by oncoming vehicles. One of those incidents occurred on Sunday evening.

“Could have been much more tragic,” said MSP Lieutenant Rene Gonzalez, First District public information officer.

Michigan State Police

Gonzalez says on Sunday, an MSP trooper was near M-10 and Schaefer Highway in Detroit, simply doing his job, when his patrol car was hit from behind.

“Trooper was out there, and he was investigating a crash when, at the time, a Jeep SUV drove into the rear of the parked vehicle,” Gonzalez said.

The impact slid the trooper’s car into a concrete wall. The 29-year-old Detroit woman driving the Jeep SUV struck the center median, got out of the vehicle, and ran away.

“Not sure why they did it. Maybe not paying attention if they were distracted. They’re attempting to locate her at this time,” said Lt. Gonzalez.

The trooper walked away with minor injuries. Gonzalez says this incident is an example of why Michigan’s Move Over Law was put in place many years ago. The law, which went into effect in 2019, requires drivers to move over into the next lane and reduce their speed by at least 10 mph when emergency or service vehicles — police, fire, rescue, ambulance and road service — have their lights activated.

Drivers who are not able to move over are still required to reduce their speed.

“Trying to do our jobs, however, people are not paying attention. The law is easy. It’s simple. You see us, you see our lights activated, you have to slow down ten miles below the posted speed limit, and then if able, move over to the next occupied available lane,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez says crashes like this can be deadly and often avoided.

“One life lost over something that was a totally preventable crash, it’s way too much. We’re asking that you slow down and move over when you see our lights. It’s a simple message that we’ve been pushing out for years,” he said.

Sunday’s crash remains under investigation. Michigan State Police detectives are still working to track down the 29-year-old suspect.

In the meantime, police are out enforcing the Move Over Law.

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Detroit, MI

Rex Satterfield’s 1956 Bel Air takes 2026 Ridler Award in Detroit

Published

18 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Rex Satterfield’s 1956 Bel Air takes 2026 Ridler Award in Detroit

Rex Satterfield hoped to see his 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible snag one of the BASF Great 8 finalist spots at this year’s Detroit Autorama. But winning the Ridler Award — one of the highest honors in the custom car business — was something he didn’t foresee.

“It’s just overwhelming right now,” said the man from Russellville, Tennessee, as he left a ballroom at downtown’s Huntington Place and made his way back to the show floor on Sunday, March 1. “We weren’t expecting this.”

Getting a car recognized as one of the BASF Great 8 vehicles is a win in and of itself as they are considered the “absolute pinnacle of custom automotive craftsmanship worldwide,” according to the show. The cars undergo an intensive judging process.

And this effort had an unexpected and emotional complication with the passing in December 2024 of the original builder, Jeff Wolfenbarger, who was battling cancer even as he continued working on the car named “Elegant Lady.”

Kevin Riffey of Kevin Riffey’s Hot Rods and Restorations in Knoxville stepped in to finish the work Wolfenbarger started. He’d had two other cars in the past make the Great 8. He said the goal with this vehicle was straightforward, calling it a “purpose-built show car.”

From its prominent spot at the front of the show floor, “Elegant Lady” sported a creamy exterior, dubbed Light Coffee. The car carries a 1,000 horsepower Don Hardy race engine. The gauges, wheels and gas tank are custom, and the dash is from a 1956 Pontiac.

Satterfield plans to show the car around some and enjoy the moment with it. He said he’s been a car guy since he was a little kid.

The Ridler Award, named in honor of Detroit Autorama’s first publicist, Don Ridler, comes with a $10,000 prize. It was awarded on the final day of this year’s Detroit Autorama, which ran Friday, Feb. 27-Sunday, March 1. This was the event’s 73rd year.

Eric D. Lawrence is the senior car culture reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Send your tips and suggestions about cool automotive stuff to elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.

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Detroit, MI

Detroit’s Sloppy Chops restaurateur Mike Brown fatally shot, 2 injured

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Detroit’s Sloppy Chops restaurateur Mike Brown fatally shot, 2 injured

Detroit restaurateur Michael “Mike B.” Brown was fatally shot early Saturday morning in a triple shooting.
The incident occurred outside a cocktail bar on the city’s west side, and police are seeking information.
Brown was a prominent figure in Detroit’s hospitality scene, known for his “Sloppy” brand restaurants.
His establishments were seen as significant in the rise of new Black-owned businesses in the city.

Detroit restaurateur and nightlife mainstay Michael “Mike B.” Brown was fatally shot early Saturday morning on the city’s west side, a violent incident that also left two other people injured and sent shockwaves through Detroit’s hospitality and entertainment communities.

According to Detroit police, the shooting occurred outside Suite 100, a cocktail bar on Schaefer Highway near Puritan Avenue. Investigators are urging anyone with information to come forward. As of Sunday afternoon, authorities had not announced any suspects or arrests.

“At approximately 4:30 a.m., Saturday, there was a triple shooting that occurred at 15789 Schaefer,” Detroit Police Department (DPD) media relations manager Jasmin Barmore wrote in an official statement Sunday afternoon. “Two of the vicims were found in front of the location and the third across the street from the location. Unfortunately, the victim found across the street from the location, Mikey Brown, succumbed to his injuries.

“The Detroit Police Department extends their condolences to the family and is asking the community for assistance with this incident. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to please contact DPD’s homicide unit or, they can submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers or Detroit Rewards TV.”

Brown, 52, had spent decades building a name for himself across Detroit’s club and restaurant circuits, evolving from party promoter to business owner and, in recent years, a culinary entrepreneur with expanding ambitions. His death comes at a moment when he had been working to grow his “Sloppy” restaurant brand – a move that aligned with the rise of new Black-owned establishments reshaping the city’s dining landscape.

His first major restaurant venture, Sloppy Chops, opened in 2020 on West McNichols just off the Lodge Freeway. The steakhouse featured high-end cuts like ribeyes and tomahawks, but it quickly drew wide attention for its low-cost lamb chop specials – a dish with a fervent local following and long-standing ties to the city’s food culture.

A year later, Brown launched Sloppy Crab, later renamed the Crab Sports Bar, on East Jefferson Avenue near the Renaissance Center. The seafood spot mixed Detroiters’ love for crab dishes with the energetic, nightlife-forward atmosphere Brown had refined during his years in the entertainment scene. Occasional cover charges, signature strong cocktails and celebrity drop-ins helped make the venue one of downtown’s most animated destinations, placing it alongside longstanding nightlife pillars such as Floods Bar & Grille and Sweetwater Tavern.

Both restaurants emerged during a period when Detroiters were increasingly vocal about who new development served. Sloppy Crab’s proximity to the riverfront offered an answer to residents who wondered where Black diners fit into the city’s transforming downtown, while Sloppy Chops demonstrated that restaurants with the energy and polish of downtown destinations could thrive in the neighborhoods as well.

As of Sunday afternoon, more than 1,000 comments expressing sadness and shock had flooded a pinned post on Brown’s Instagram page, along with a number of posts on his Facebook profile.

On her own page, Darralynn Hutson, an award-winning journalist, author, documentarian and media strategist who has provided content to a host of media outlets including the Detroit Free Press, shared photos of herself with Brown.

“I had the opportunity to interview Mike a few years ago for a feature in Food & Wine and I remember how reluctant he was about sitting down to talk,” Hutson recalled. “Interviews weren’t his thing – he was much more comfortable building than explaining. I had to call him more than 20 times to set up the interview. He didn’t care about Food & Wine. But once we ate and got into conversation, what came out was his commitment to creating something for his Detroit.”

Brown’s influence stretched far beyond his menus. His establishments became recognizable gathering places, and his presence – familiar from downtown corridors to Dexter Avenue – made him a significant cultural figure in Detroit’s nightlife and, later, its dining renaissance.

His death leaves both industries mourning a personality whose ambitions were still growing, and whose imprint on the city’s social fabric remains unmistakable.

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