Friday, January 12, 2007

Molly Abraham: Restaurants

Northville NOMI is bright spot on street scene

Even though it's still in its infancy, Northville's sparkling new destination restaurant shows every sign of being a hit.

Open just since the week before Christmas, it manages to combine an energetic atmosphere with an interesting small-plates menu in a setting that is contemporary but not slick.

Sheer rusty-red floor-to-ceiling curtains shield deep upholstered banquettes along one side of the high-ceilinged room, and a glassed-in wine room anchors the wall on the other side. A spacious marble-topped, underlit bar centers the room and seats about 40 of the room's 155-seat capacity.

And yes, it does get noisy, especially on weekends, a combination of conversation and music from the high-tech sound system bouncing off hard surfaces, including a beautiful slate floor.

Tall front windows are left uncovered for a glimpse of the street scene. Northville is blessed with sidewalks, and people do stroll there, one of the elements of this pretty town known for its Victorian architecture and quaint storefronts.

NOMI (an acronym for Northville, Michigan) departs from the nostalgic scene, however, with its up-to-date approach. Put together by longtime friends Rachel Stern and Al Irish, who were involved in every step of the construction in a remodeled building, it aims at a broad audience, those interested primarily in food and others attracted by the list of fanciful martinis ($9) and champagne fusions ($12) dished up by British-accented Rico Miller, the head mixologist.

The menu, in the hands of executive chef Jason Jones, is creative and one-of-a-kind, a blend of American dishes from fried green tomatoes and Waldorf salad to Asian-style steak au poivre and sates of beef, chicken and pork.

Among several shareable starters are paper-thin slices of beef carpaccio accompanied by a round of goat cheese and pear poached in port, a lovely combination of flavors; flash-fried shrimp, lightly battered, presented on skewers with a vodka and tomato dipping sauce; and equally light and tender calamari rings and tentacles dusted in Parmesan and herbs with horseradish dipping sauce -- some of the best calamari in recent memory.

Entrees -- listed as small plates -- are meant for one, and none is higher than $15. Among them: Chianti-braised lamb shank with root vegetable ratatouille and a timbale of barley; seafood etouffee, a stew of crawfish, cherry tomatoes, peppers and onions; and salmon filet atop garlic mashed potatoes, with mango peach salsa and candied pecans.

Almost every dish brought to the tables by an attractive young staff in the requisite black is presented in an outsized white bowl that serves as a frame for the colorful ingredients.

Any restaurant this new is bound to have a few false notes, and here it's that overpowering sound system that sometimes makes conversation difficult. And the gimmicky menu -- a clipboard with the drink menu attached ring binder-style, just gets in the way. More wines by the glass are also needed.

As the restaurant settles in, the hands-on proprietors plan to add theme nights keyed to live music.

They already have a good thing going.

You can reach Molly Abraham at (313) 222-1475 or abraham67@ comcast.net.