Wright & Company — Restaurant in Detroit

We went to Wright & Company to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary and was impressed with the decor and the atmosphere of the building. Located on the 2nd floor of 1500 Woodward, we found the entrance on John R and Woodward. The entrance is tucked away on John R just north of Parker’s Alley and opens to a small entranceway with the restaurant host and an elevator. The almost hidden entrance added to the allure of an enticing menu.

The 2nd floor opens to a long marble bar, Edison light bulbs, and an expansive oil painting. The bicycle chain fans and the metal ceiling with leather couches created a great vibe for dinner and provided a great view of downtown Detroit.

Wright & Company offers 6 different versions of an Executive Old Fashioned and has an excellent mixology menu. I went with the Russell’s Reserve Old Fashioned and Dawn got the Violet Crush. The Violet Crush was very impressive with drops of Blueberry tea painted into leaves on the egg white foam.

The GOOD

For starters, we selected the Fresh Potato Chips, Roasted Pineapple Salad the Grilled Mushroom Ceviche. The appetizers were fantastic! You’d think fresh potato chips wouldn’t be anything special but they were plated in a perfectly stacked mound with fine crumbles of bacon, scallions, and tomato relish. The cheddar cheese sauce was perfect and not too overpowering.

The pineapple salad was fresh and vibrant with the cojita cheese blending in with the vinaigrette and sweet roasted pineapple. The grilled mushroom ceviche was also a great addition to the meal. The starter and salads were definitely the best part of the meal.

For dessert, we went with the highly recommended butterscotch pudding and the dark chocolate tart. I could have sworn Dawn guarded the pudding with her spoon - it was so good!

The NOT SO GOOD

For dinner, we opted for the New York steak and Wild striped bass. Both dishes looked promising however, I was unfortunately disappointed. The lyonnaise potatoes arrived lukewarm and nearly cold. The steak also arrived lukewarm. I asked for the potatoes to be reheated which they brought back quickly. I’m assuming both the steak and potatoes sat on the window before expediting to the table.

The wild striped sea bass arrived and was properly cooked however, it had a pronounced fishy taste which was the second disappointment. We muddled through it but were disappointed as sea bass is usually an excellent dish.

The wait staff was very friendly and addressed the potato concern quickly. Given the COVID situation, I empathize with restaurants trying to staff and service tables while meeting health guidelines. The drinks, appetizers, and dessert were excellent. The actual main course just had too many misses and I’m just a regular guy taking his wife out to the rare high-end dinner.

Overall, I’d be willing to give Wright & Company another attempt, but I’d want to speak with the manager first regarding our anniversary...

Service was great and very attentive. However some of the suggestions seemed a little off about portion sizes. They said they don't really do entrees and the way they described them was almost like topas where you order multiple plates and share amongst each other.

For two people they said most people ordered 4 or so plates with a full dinner being 6 plates. This seemed a little overzealous as my wife and I ordered three plates and were'nt able to finish everything. I cant imagine getting 6 plates unless you didn't eat anything all day.

As far as the food goes, we got the house made chips/nachos, the Green Circle Half Chicken and a Walu curry dish.

The chips were good. Hard to go wrong with homemade chips with cheddar sauce and bacon. They also give you, what I would consider, an entire bag of chips.

The Green Circle Half Chicken was kind of a Vietnamese fusion dish, but it seemed like the flavor of the dish overall was just overly sweet. We like Vietnamese food so we were hopefully, but maybe this was just not to our tastes. However the cook on the chicken was done very well.

The Walu curry dish was much better and had a good balance to it, but I wouldn't rush over just to get this. It just happened to be better than the chicken in contrast.

The cocktails on the otherhand were fantastic. I had the Kohaku river which was a very refreshing Japanese whisky and cucumber drink and my wife had the Eye of the Storm a cinnamon-y, fruity, rum drink. Both were very good and we would almost consider coming back just for drinks.

We didn't end up having dessert after being so full, so I can't speak to the menu there. However, other reviews have said they're pretty good.

The atmosphere of the restaurant itself is really nice. Especially if you're looking for a more quiet date night. The entrance is kind of unique as well since you enter the building and immediately get on an elevator to the second floor where the restaurant is located. The dining room itself feels inviting and modern and it's not loud, so you can actually have conversations without yelling at each other.

Overall I'd say if you're looking for a place for a cocktail on a date, this would be a great spot. However if you're more into it for the food, it's more so-so. Not bad by any means, but nothing life changing either. It does look like they change up their menu once in awhile though, so maybe next time it'll be a...

Very good. But, Detroit has become a VERY competitive foodie market.

In many, nay, most other cities and the more bland Northern burbs of Detroit this would be a 5 star review. But in Detroit, it is not.

Decour is outstanding, location great, a hint for folks, try to come early and get a table with a view or to get lucky and get one.

Also, a quick FYI, this is in the "tapas" style, which is a clever way of disguising the cost of the meal and raising the check average (if I were in the game again, I would own a restaurant with this sort of menu, though I'd be a touch more clear about it than Wright & co are), two people can EASILY drop $150-200 for dinner: in other words, the $24 NY strip isn't a meal, but a shared small plate.

Delicious, truly delicious, and our service was excellent, nearly flawless.

The Burrata is damn smart and nearly perfect, as are the Scallops, the Calamari was a touch on the overdone rubbery side, just a touch, but more than a hint and so I must mention it. But it was otherwise delicious, and the poblano pepper sauce is clever. Gnocchi was very good and the Cauliflower, was also quite good also (although, towards the end of the meal I was starting to grow sick of fried food), the massive pile of potato chips looked good and was extremely popular, especially so on game days I expect, but not for us.

All in all, the food was very, VERY good. At one point, not THAT long ago, this might have been one of the better, even one of the best restaurants in Detroit.

Drinks were outstanding, the few that we had. But a titch of a complaint about the Last Word: if you are a cocktail place, co-owned by Dave Kwiatkowski, the Last Word should be NAILED. While this drink wasn't rediscovered or popularized in Detroit, it was invented at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club almost a century ago and therefore MUST BE OWNED here! The drink shouldn't become tiresome at about the 50% mark, but it started to. Still a VERY good drink, one of the best Last Word's in the city (behind Sugar Loaf), but our palate (more than just me) found it ever so slightly off. Too much sour, thus too much sugar or sweet, it is just a hint off, but Kwiatkowski is a co-owner (so I mention it)!

All in all, a fantastic experience, highly recommend, enjoyed, and of course, will be back, it is a unique treat in the growing pantheon of Detroit's culinary...