People often ask how they “can get in Hour,” whether it’s their work as a creative or an article on their business. One of the best ways is knowing how to sell yourself. You can be the best in your field, but you’ve got to capture our attention. Less than 10 months ago, we received a perfect pitch from the author of this year’s Restaurant of the Year feature:
“Hello! My name is Danny Palumbo, and I’m a freelance food writer moving to Detroit in 2 weeks! I’ve had work published in the L.A. Times, Bon App, Thrillist, The Takeout, The Austin Chronicle, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and more!” His pitch was enthusiastic and succinct and addressed his skills. Timing also plays into it: We were looking for a writer to do a story on Roman Village’s 60th anniversary, and Palumbo — who had great clippings and said he liked to write about “everything, especially Italian food” — seemed like a great fit. And he was. He went on to write several more food and dining articles for us — not all Italian-based!
We loved Danny’s writing so much we decided to hand him one of the biggest writing assignments of the year, Restaurant of the Year. Our editorial team had already decided that this year’s honoree would be the long-overdue Mabel Gray, celebrating its 10th anniversary. And while Danny was relatively new to Detroit, James Rigato’s restaurant had been on his radar for a while.
“I heard tales about Mabel Gray before I moved here,” Danny says. “I knew it was this sort of ethereal, mythical restaurant — menu always changing, handwritten menus, a real focus on ingredients in season. I had no idea what the actual heart and soul of this place was, though. My first experience there was Sunday at Nonna’s, a once-in-a-while Italian American pop-up dinner, and it just blew me away. … Every experience I’ve had at Mabel Gray has been meaningful, which is as good as it gets as far as restaurants go. Rigato is just the best. Insightful, empathetic, talented. A real teacher. You can tell he’s made an impact on everyone he’s ever come across.” Read much more about our 2025 Restaurant of the Year in the feature.
In addition to our cover story, in this issue you’ll also find articles relating to February topics, including Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, warm-weather getaways, and, of course, the Lions — because we are firm believers, as we go to press just after they won the NFC North title, that they will be in the Super Bowl on Feb. 9. Enjoy!
To send us a pitch, please email the editorial team at editorial@hourdetroit.com.
This story originally appeared in the February 2025 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Our digital edition will be available on Feb. 10.
|
|
|
|
|
|
