This Detroit restaurant was named one of the best in US. Everything to know before you go
Lyndsay C. GreenIn 2015, Selden Standard was named the Detroit Free Press Restaurant of the Year. This week, the New American restaurant has made national news, cementing its decade-long reputation as one of the most impressive establishments on Detroit’s culinary scene. Along with 46 other restaurants, Selden Standard was included in the 2024 USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year list.
“While the very best recognition always comes in the form of smiles or emails from happy guests, we’d be lying if we didn’t say that receiving national acknowledgment in our corner of Detroit isn’t gratifying,” Selden Standard Partner Evan Hansen and Partner and Executive Chef Andy Hollyday wrote via email last month. “There are thousands of restaurants out there trying to do what they do well. So especially after more than nine years in business, it’s great that our team can continue to earn this type of honor.”
What's the best restaurant near you?Check out USA TODAY's 2024 Restaurants of the Year.
USA TODAY's Restaurants of the Year 2024How the list of best restaurants was decided
What makes Selden Standard stand out
There are three key pillars of the Selden Standard way: Cook with the seasons, support local purveyors and make nearly everything from scratch.
Over the past decade, Hollyday and his team have forged symbiotic relationships with local farmers and producers to honor the bounty of Michigan’s rich terrain.
Hollyday accentuates the beauty of locally sourced ingredients with primal cooking techniques like charring root vegetables in a wood-fired oven and punching up the flavor of wild-caught fish with torched lemon and tears of fresh herbs.
Selden cooks are artisans who craft pastas by hand and bake sourdough bread in-house.
Though too humble to admit it, in many ways, Hollyday, Hansen and the entire restaurant team are setting the standard for restaurants seeking longevity with this three-prong approach and a commitment to attentive service.
“To be doing this for nine, 10 years is a privilege and honor itself considering how many new places open every year. But we don’t feel that there’s any secret to longevity,” Hansen and Hollyday wrote. “Our most important job is hiring good people and supporting them — that’s hardly a secret. We’re far from perfect, of course, but we just want to hire good folks and give them a good place to hone their craft. If we’re earning awards as we approach 10 years, it’s mostly because we’re committed to that basic idea.”
What to order at Selden Standard
Bread and butter. Though the bread and butter is optional here, ordering a basket is a non-negotiable. Chewy, tangy sourdough bread is baked in house and served with creamy, salted butter.
Veggies. If you visit the restaurant quarterly, you’ll have the opportunity to eat your way through Michigan’s seasonal produce offerings. A spring menu may feature griddled ramps or heirloom beans, late summer might deliver a dessert topped with a Michigan cherry compote, velvety honeynut squash will surely turn up in fall and a celery root puree may make an appearance in a winter dish.
Pasta. Selden’s handmade pastas range from a light agnolotti in a slippery broth of brown butter and filled with creamy sweet potatoes to a hearty tagliatelle Bolognese to a comforting cacio e pepe made with chewy bucatini noodles.
Did you know?
Bonus! As Selden Standard celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2024, the Detroit Free Press is honoring a decade of 10 Best New Restaurants in the Detroit area. In March, the paper will release its own 10th annual list of the top newly opened dining establishments and culinarians powering metro Detroit. Check back at freep.com/entertainment/restaurant-of-the-year for the full list the week of March 3.
Details: Selden Standard, 3921 Second Ave., Detroit; 313-438-5055, seldenstandard.com.