New Restaurant Olin Opens in Downtown Detroit

The American brasserie features a menu with Mediterranean and Spanish influences
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The House-made Bacon small plate is served with medjool dates, baby carrots, and dukkah// Photograph by Anthony Morrow / Bureau Detroit

Olin, a restaurant based in downtown Detroit that serves up American food with Spanish and Mediterranean influences, wants to be your new neighborhood brasserie.

 

Open for business today, Olin’s menu features a lineup of small plates, salads and soups, oysters, large plates, desserts, and daily features. The restaurant focuses on seasonality, and a late summer dinner menu includes Wild Mushroom Pate, House-Made Bacon, a Walnut Ceasar, Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder, Bucatini, Short Rib Burger, and Olive Oil Cake and a Spiked Rootbeer Float.

 

The restaurant’s cheese program also contributes rotating dishes to the menu, with current selections including a Burrata with golden beet agrodolce and peppercress and a Seared Haloumi with pancetta, pine nuts, and golden raisins. And the beverage program has curated a lineup of cocktails, a craft beer selection with four Michigan taps, a rotating wine menu, mocktails, and sherries.

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Bucatini with smoked trout roe, garlic, lemon, and calabrian chili // Photograph by Anthony Morrow / Bureau Detroit

Olin is run by Holly McClain, a restaurateur who grew up downriver and eventually went on to develop and operate eateries in Chicago. Her husband, Shawn McClain, the James Beard award-winning chef she opened Highlands in the GM Renaissance Center with last year, will mentor chef Andrew Shedden in the kitchen.

 

The restaurant is located at 25 E. Grand River Ave. in the former PuppetArt Theatre space. McClain began scouting locations for a restaurant when she returned to her hometown and quickly “fell in love” with the space and location of the PuppetArt Theatre building — which is near the Shinola hotel, Parker’s Alley, and the new Hudson Site development.

 

“As soon as I was introduced to the space, I knew immediately that this was the location that I had been looking for — it just felt right,” McClain says. “I am very excited to introduce Olin to Detroit, as a vibrant neighborhood brasserie that is fun, energetic, and approachable.”

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Olin’s Leo & Claire cocktail // Photograph by Anthony Morrow / Bureau Detroit

McClain worked with Birmingham architecture and design firm McIntosh Poris Associates to design the space. The restaurant features a 13-seat bar, 20-seat lounge, and 100-seat dining room that includes a chef’s table. The decor mixes modern and traditional elements, like the building’s original black-and-white tile floors and exposed brick. McClain also commissioned local artist Lisa Spindler to create two large photography murals for Olin.

 

The restaurant is open for dinner service from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. On Saturday, the restaurant offers brunch from 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. And on Sunday, Olin is open for brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The restaurant accepts reservations and walk-ins.

 

Olin plans to eventually introduce a daily lunch service as well as take-out food. And McClain is in the process of launching a walk-up window in Parker’s Alley called Twist. The spot — which will open at a later date — will serve house-made soft pretzels with sauces like warm cheese, spicy mustard, and French onion. The window will also offer to-go cocktails and ice-cream floats.

 

For more information, visit olindetroit.com.