Sylvia Rector|Detroit Free Press Restaurant Critic
The best word to describe the reinvention of the richly traditional Brookshire restaurant at Rochester's Royal Park Hotel is "Wow!" The change is that dramatic.
If you remember the Brookshire's dark upholstery, patterned carpeting, deep booths and formal tableside service, youwon't believe its transformation to the Park 600 Bar + Restaurant, now in a soft opening phase before its official Sept. 15 unveiling.
The room looks airy, smart and casually sophisticated with its modern finishes, clean lines, and soft, predominantly neutral color palette. A vast rectangular marble-topped bar with cushy seats for 20 anchors the center of the open room, while a stone-hearth pizza oven and 12-seat chef's bar stand in the back.
But every bit as dramatic as the restaurant's physical changes are its culinary ones. And those, you must try.
Executive chef Colin Brown's eclectic new menus are filled with dishes that are approachable but not predictable; loaded with bold, diverse flavors; and made with excellent Michigan-sourced ingredients.
The Scottish-born chef with a distinguished career in Europe has been at the Royal Park for the past 10 years, serving a Brookshire-appropriate menu of classic dishes such as Steak Diane, Dover sole and lobster bisque.
But now he has the chance to present an entirely new culinary personality — one more appealing to today's diverse, adventurous tastes. And he couldn't be happier.
"I have been asking for this for years. It's like a dream come true," he says. His goal with the menu was to "keep it fun. Let people have an experience and maybe something they haven't tried before." He has kept the focus on local ingredients and seasonality. "I want it to be different every time people come, so it will be an ever-evolving menu."
The director of restaurants, Matthew Prost, has developed a cocktail list designed to pair with entrées, changing seasonally and incorporating flavors and ingredients from the food menu.
The bar's signature bourbon drink — simply named Bourbon — includes a grilled peach-and-pecan infusion made with skins from the peaches used in a crème brûlée dessert. The signature Whiskey cocktail includes reduced cider from Rochester Hills' own Yates cider mill.
Both the lunch and dinner menus are filled with interesting ingredients, international flavors and little touches that elevate familiar dishes to something more notable.
At the same time, prices are gentler, making the Park 600 squarely competitive with other upscale Rochester-area restaurants, rather than being a special occasion venue. At dinner, most entrées are in the low to mid $20s, while lunch entrées are mostly $8 to the mid-teens. Pizzas, sized for at least two, are $14-$16.
Most of the dishes I've tried are starters or small plates — but there's nothing small about their flavors, quality or originality.
Don't miss the hot, crispy (and gluten-free) shrimp ($9) drizzled with wasabi and soy sauces and served atop house-blended Asian greens with refreshing orange vinaigrette. The contrasting temperatures, textures and flavors are terrific. Also not to be missed are the bahn mi — crispy confit duck, Korean barbecue sauce and homemade kimchi stuffed in white, cloud-like bao buns. An order of two is $13.
Other recommended choices include luscious triple-cream baked brie ($11) with bacon-onion jam and grilled bread; the assertively flavored warm Brussels sprouts salad ($8) with kale, Stilton blue cheese, salty-smoky bacon and crunchy roasted walnuts; and the light, pretty plate of pistachio-coated mozzarella ($8), sliced and served with sweet red-pepper coulis and emerald green basil pesto.
The pizzas have puffy crusts piled with flavor-laden ingredients. One called the Oink holds five kinds of pork and smoked Gouda cheese; the Cluck comes with hickory-smoked chicken, pepper jack cheese, pesto and more.
Dinner entrées, which I haven't sampled yet, include prime beef Osso Bucco ($25) with local roasted squash and foiegras butter; Bouillabaisse ($29) with clams, mussels, halibut, salmon and prawns in saffron broth with aioli; 7-hour roasted duck confit ($21) with sweet corn and Traverse City brandy cherry demi-glaze; and house-ground lamb meatballs ($19) — a house favorite — with goat cheese potatoes, basil and puttanesca sauce. Pizzas and the luxuriously topped signature Park 600 Burger are also offered at dinner.
Other changes are still to come. The casual tavern across the hall from the restaurant, now called Elliott's, will become The Table, a space for private events for 12-40 guests. And the long hall-like space called the Gallery, located between the dining room and the patio, will become the restaurant's permanent breakfast room. Both will be redecorated to coordinate with the Park 600.
The Park 600's name, incidentally, comes from the Royal Park's address at 600 E. University Drive. The restaurant is open daily; it does not accept reservations except for larger parties. (248-453-8700 and www.royalparkhotel.net)