Joe Giacomino and John Vermiglio | Photo courtesy of Grey Ghost
Chefs and restaurateurs Joe Giacomino and John Vermiglio have seen a lot of change in Detroit since they opened their first restaurant Grey Ghost in 2016.
Back then they were just the second destination chef-driven restaurant in the city — the other was Andy Hollyday’s Selden Standard, which opened two years earlier.Â
They were on a rather dangerous street — one of their early guests was held up at gunpoint half a block from the restaurant — but now Brush Park, where the mugging occurred, is safe and well-patrolled, and the neighborhood is a walkable, vibrant area near Little Caesars Arena, Comerica Park, and Ford Field.
The business partners, who met while earning their chef chops in Chicago, have since opened a beer-and-shots bar across the street, an Izakaya called Basan a few blocks away, and Little Ghost in the suburb of Ferndale, a burger joint inspired by the success of Grey Ghost’s burger.
In this episode of Menu Talk, the chefs discuss their career paths and the successful ongoing transformation of Detroit.
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Menu Talk is a collaboration between Restaurant Business Senior Menu Editor Pat Cobe and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News. You can subscribe to it wherever you listen to podcasts.
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