Parc! This gorgeous restaurant featured in today’s post is the 2018 Hour Detroit Restaurant of the Year and is located in the heart of Campus Martius in downtown Detroit – muy impressive creds in my book. Its enchanting ambiance, extremely delicious food, and stellar service made it an absolute pleasure to visit.
Speaking of ambiance: local readers, have you been to Campus Martius lately? That place is kicking! At least, it was on the blue-skied, gorgeous summer night I visited Parc two weeks ago. I’ve passed that area regularly in the last six months, and man, I didn’t realize until this visit that there was that much going on down there. There was a pop-up biergarten and a giant sandbox area for the kids and outdoor seating spilling out from surrounding restaurants, such as Parc, and people climbing into the fountain (a.k.a. one seemingly inebriated man unexplainably lounging in the fountain).
In short, Campus Martius was bustling on that summer’s night in mid-June, and it was exciting to see people of all ages – families with kids, young professionals, folks of the 60-and-over demographic – out and about in the city on an otherwise average Thursday night. It felt like a meeting hub in a major metropolitan city – as it should feel – and made me think, wow, this is a great part of town that I need to spend more time in!
The interior of Parc literally opened up onto this idyllic community-park scene during the time of my visit: portions of the front of the restaurant were sans walls, fitted for the open-air concept. While the interior of the restaurant was gorgeous with its sleek bar and many-windowed walls, I was thrilled for my friends and I to nab the one open table at the time on Parc’s patio, so we could dine alfresco on that perfect summer’s night.
Speaking of dining, let’s get down to discussing the important stuff: the food. Parc’s dinner menu boasts a selection of refined appetizers (Duck Confit Croustillant and Wood-Roasted Oysters with “seaweed butter, bacon, crispy kale and pickled shallots,” for instance – I won’t even pretend to like oysters, but wow, do those ingredient paired with them sound fabulous!), side salads, pastas, and protein-centric dishes featuring such meat and seafood standouts as sea bass and veal loin.
From the pasta section, I chose the Lamb Rigatoni, which was absolutely amazing with its perfectly al dente noodles, ground lamb ragout with diced zucchini, onion, and tomato, and ample chunks of feta. It was meaty, creamy, savory, perfectly memorable deliciousness that I catch myself thinking about every time I picture Parc.
If you are a wine aficionado, you will love Parc’s menu stocked with sophisticated selections from all over the world. I stuck to a glass of the humble rosé that cost $19 for a nine-ounce pour. When it comes to wine, one of my dear loves in life, my palate may have graduated beyond cheap swill, but my wallet still has catching up to do ($10-a-bottle grocery-store wine is kind of my jam here in my early thirties).
This was a special-occasion kind of meal for me at Parc, made even more special by the friendly and sophisticated level of service my friends and I received. Dining here was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. No wonder Parc was named the 2018 Restaurant of the Year by Hour Detroit, that venerable publication whose consistently stand-out recommendations are the reason I decided to take up this whole 100 Places in the D enterprise in the first place.
800 Woodward Ave.
Detroit, MI 48226
100 Places in the D 
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