Detroit's Freya named to New York Times 50 Favorite Restaurants of 2022

Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press
·3 min read
Wait staff tends to guests dining early at Freya on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit on January 14, 2022.
Wait staff tends to guests dining early at Freya on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit on January 14, 2022.

Another metro Detroit restaurant received national honors as a favorite spot on a popular list. The New York Times on Monday revealed its favorite restaurants across the U.S. and it included Freya, the only Michigan restaurant on the list.

Freya, known for its prix fixe tasting menus, is the lone Mitten restaurant on the New York Times 50 Favorite Restaurants of 2022. The Times' list of their most loved restaurants was compiled by its staff writers, editors and critics who traveled the U.S. to build the list.

Freya Chef de cuisine Phoebe Zimmerman, center, works on a dish while cooking in the open kitchen at the restaurant on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit on Jan. 14, 2022.
Freya Chef de cuisine Phoebe Zimmerman, center, works on a dish while cooking in the open kitchen at the restaurant on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit on Jan. 14, 2022.

Freya is located on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit's Milwaukee Junction neighborhood, which the Times called "a neighborhood where the bones of the city’s past economic might are still visible."

The restaurant is a tasting menu-only dinner spot that is "focused on catering to the 99%," according to its website. At Freya, you reserve and pay in advance for the five-course meal. The cost is $85, plus tax and 22% gratuity. Beverage pairings are separate. Freya's menu also has several options. Along with an omnivore menu, there's a pescatarian (fish and vegan) or vegan fare. And each course has several options.

"Douglas Hewitt, an owner, and the chef de cuisine Phoebe Zimmerman execute the four separate prix fixe menus — the vegan one is particularly impressive — with cool confidence, producing gorgeous, skillfully balanced dishes that deserve to be sources of hometown pride, " The New York Times wrote.

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Freya opened in 2021 and was named to the 2022 Detroit Free Press Best New Restaurant new list.

Behind Freya are owners Sandy Levine and executive chef-partner Douglas Hewitt. Attached to Freya is Dragonfly, a bodega-style southern Spain-inspired bar. The team also operates Chartreuse in Midtown, the 2016 Free Press' Restaurant of the Year. Levine also owns The Oakland in Ferndale.

Hewitt says he feels good about being on the list.

"It's been a lot of work, " he says. "We are a young restaurant. It's trying to figure out the right steps to service.

"These accolades, it's a reward for all the hard work. We are always trying to improve the experience for our guests. And we think we are on the right path. "

Phoebe Zimmerman, Freya's chef de cuisine says she is "truly grateful and humbled," about making the list.

"I think our team is a solid group and I know that none of the accolades that we've had would be possible without all the hands we have on deck."

Zimmerman felt honored that Freya's vegan food got a shout-out.

"Vegan food is my niche," she said. "That makes me feel really good to have that nod, it's a little pat on the back."

Freya, 2929 E. Grand Blvd., is open 5-9:30 p.m. Tue.-Sat. For information go to freyadetroit.com.

Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit's Freya cracks New York Times 50 Favorite Restaurants of 2022