A Grosse Pointe Park restaurant group is cooking up a new oyster bar in an emergent cluster of the upscale suburb that’s blossoming with good food.
The Brine Oyster House is set to open in August at 15033 Kercheval Ave., according to an announcement the developers issued Monday.
“We really love the Park, and this is where we plan to spend our time and our efforts,” said chef-owner Trenton Chamberlain, the director of operations for the Chamberlain Hospitality Group.
“We’re looking at really tying everything into the community with all my restaurants,” he told What Now Detroit.
Brine Oyster House is the fourth creation of the Chamberlain Hospitality Group, which owns three other restaurants along Kercheval Avenue in the heart of Grosse Pointe Park.
Red Crown sits in the Standard Oil building, a gas station converted into an American restaurant less than half-mile away. LeRouge Boulangerie is a French bakery one block east and Brick’s Pizzeria also dots the corridor.
“We believe that Brine will fill a gap in our community for sustainably sourced seafood in an upscale environment and can’t wait to see the energy it brings to this corner of Kercheval,” Chamberlain said.
The Michigan-bred chef moved out of state to hone his skills at the New England Culinary Institute. After years of building his career in Vermont and Florida, Chamberlain returned to his home state and teamed up with the Cotton family to form their ownership group.
Chamberlain and his business partners always dreamed of having an oyster bar and collaborated to fill the void of a popular one in Grosse Pointe that operated for years before closing in 2008.
“Tom’s Oyster Bar started here in the Park a couple decades ago and we feel like it’s kind of been missing ever since. So we’re trying to do that,” Chamberlain said.
Brine is a “tide to table” oyster bar that will occupy a 3,800 square-foot building at the corner of Kercheval Avenue and Maryland Street. It’s designed as a New Orleans-themed double-decker with a wraparound patio.
The restaurant will serve dinner five days a week and also offer a weekend brunch. It will feature a sprawling raw oyster bar with customizable “sea-cuterie” boards. The focus will be on fresh oysters and seasonal catches of the day.
Fare will include oyster chowder, steak and frites along with a fried chicken sandwich and the Brine burger.
Coconut cream pie will be a highlight of the dessert platter and the drink menu should boast curated cocktails, beer and champagne along with a list of wines designed to pair with the seafood dishes.
Live musical acts are slated to perform on a rotating basis. Brine plans to host “fish and chip Friday” as well as a prix-fixe, wine pairings and other special events.
The dining room on the second floor will be large enough to accommodate large groups for private gatherings, weddings and rehearsals.
Chamberlain hopes Brine will be a charming place that can help build on the synergy of Grosse Point Park’s dining landscape.
“We’re really trying to make it a destination city for everyone. We really love the fact that we have this momentum that’s growing more and more in the neighborhood,” he said. “Everyone loves really good food. It’s getting more and more expensive to eat out and about. So we’re going to give it all of our go and be really picky about everything so that we fully deliver.”
