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Imaginate: Stunning Fine Dining Restaurant

April 11, 2022

Omar Mitchell is going for the “wow” factor with his newest fine-dining restaurant, Imaginate, which recently opened up in Royal Oak. Sure, he impressed enough Detroiters to stay booked from the time he opened Table No. 2, a white-tablecloth fine dining restaurant on Detroit’s Avenue of Fashion. But when a friend offered him a space below a nightclub in Royal Oak for his new restaurant home, Mitchell decided that establishment should match that neighborhood. Imaginate, a “fun” but sleek, cutting-edge restaurant,

The space is “beautiful and breathtaking,” Mitchell says, but one of the things that sets Imaginate apart is the theatrical 3-D projection mapping at the 14-seat chef’s table. The result: Diners will see a thumb-size chef rustle up virtual steaks right on their plates. Traditionally, visual mappings are seen as large video projections onto buildings, and at events with large crowds. The Chefs TABLE Seating will be available at the chef’s table show three times a night, with a five-course menu going for $150 and a seven-course meal offered at $175 per person. The creativity doesn’t stop at the chef’s table. Food in the main dining area comes out with props: A ribeye steak is served on a butcher’s block with a protruding knife or fork; a plate of grouper or branzino is accompanied by a canoe; and small shrimp are served in an old-school popcorn machine. The decor is white: the tablecloths in the 165-seat space, the LED lights, chandeliers, marble fixtures, and linen drapes that close to allow for privacy in the lounge areas.

The menu, however, is “unique yet identifiable,” Mitchell says, Appetizers and entrees include steaks, filet mignon, lobster, wagyu beef steak, and shaved truffles with prices from $17 to $55. Because it’s a Miami-influenced restaurant, there’s also fish, served as jazz and Latin music play in the background.

I’m trying to become a Michelin-quality restaurant and to be booked solid 60 to 90 days out,” says Mitchell. “In order to do that, the service must be impeccable, and the atmosphere stellar.”

It’s an ambitious goal but Mitchell’s 70-seat Table No. 2 was packed as soon as it opened in 2019.