Detroit French-Inspired Restaurants With Special Bastille Day Menus

On Sunday, France celebrates Bastille Day, a national holiday. Bastille Day, also known as Independence Day, commemorates the fall of the Bastille in Paris in 1789.

In homage to Bastille Day and Detroit’s French roots, several French-inspired restaurants are offering special menus.

The Statler

This downtown French-American bistro, affiliated with the Joe Vicari Restaurant Group, is celebrating Bastille Day with a five-course prix fixe dinner. The dinner is also part of Statler’s monthly Passport to Wine series. The menu, curated by Statler chef Vince Brady, includes vichyssoise, fig and goat cheese salad, salmon ratatouille, beef steak (filet mignon with mushroom demi-glace) and fresh fruit mille-feuille. Dinner is $125 and includes a 6:30 p.m. reception with hors d’oeuvres and a signature drink followed by a seated dinner at 7 p.m. Taxes, gratuities and other charges not included. The restaurant is located on the corner of Washington Boulevard and West Grand River, on the ground floor of the City Club Apartments central business district. It is named for the historic Statler Hotel that once occupied the site.

The Statler, 313 Park Avenue, Detroit; 313-463-7111 or statlerdetroit.com.

Oak and reel

Recently back from France, Oak & Reel chef and owner Jared Gadbaw has created a six-course tasting menu for Bastille Day.

Gadbaw’s menu, which highlights his visits to several regions of France, debuts Sunday and is available through July 28 at the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood restaurant. The French-inspired menu features dishes such as raw tuna “Niçois,” duck à la cerise and ravioli du Dauphine. It costs $109 per person and is available alongside his regular menu.

Oak & Reel, 2921 E. Grand Blvd., Detroit; 313-270-9600 or oakandreel.com.

Pigalle Bar

In the Brush Park neighborhood once known as “Little Paris,” Bar Pigalle celebrates Detroit’s French heritage. For Bastille Day, Bar Pigalle pairs caviar service with a bottle of Lallier Champagne. Its regular menu includes escargots de Bourgogne, hand-cut fries, and seared duck breast and American wagyu steak frites. A five-course tasting menu costs $75 per person with an optional wine pairing at $55 per person. Bar Pigalle is also known for its Sunday brunch menu, which features croque madame, quiche du jour, and omelette française. While the restaurant is known for its Pigalle Burger, it is “not a burger joint,” as Lyndsay C. Green, who named it the No. 1 restaurant on the Best New Restaurants of 2023 list and beyond, wrote, and is a “destination for fine French cuisine.”

Bar Pigalle, 2915 John R St., Detroit; 313-497-9200 or barpigalle.com.

Other French-Inspired Restaurants in Detroit

If you’re craving more French-inspired menus, here are some notable restaurants in the Detroit metro area.

Kitchen

Detroit

This longtime classic European-inspired restaurant in the New Center neighborhood was named the 2024 Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Restaurant of the Year. Owner and executive chef Paul Grosz also won the Sylvia Rector Lifetime Achievement Award for hospitality. Cuisine opened in Detroit’s New Center neighborhood across from the Fisher Building in 2001. In addition to an a la carte menu, it offers a theater menu and a six-course progressive menu with a vegetarian option. Cuisine, 670 Lothroop, Detroit; 313-872-5110 or cuisinerestaurant.com.

Underground Cafe

Detroit

The website for this Midtown cafe says, “Serious coffee, serious cocktails, delicious French cuisine and fresh bagels.” Its savory menu features classics like croque monsieur, quiche Lorraine, quiche Provence and gougères, a puff pastry with Gruyere and Parmesan. Desserts include ecreme brûlée and clafoutis. There’s a coffee menu as well as extensive beer, wine and cocktail lists. Café Sous Terre, 445 W. Forest Ave., Detroit; 313-228-2880, cafesousterre.com.

The Supreme

Detroit

This Parisian-inspired restaurant is located on the ground floor of the recently renovated Book Tower building on Washington Boulevard. The French restaurant ranked No. 4 in the 2024 Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Top 10 New Restaurants & Dining Experiences. Its menu features classics like its delicious French onion soup with hearty broth and steak frites with hanger steak and pommes frites. The interior, which includes a café, bar, dining room and private dining area, is inspired by early 20th-century Paris.

The Supreme, 1265 Washington Blvd., Detroit; 313-597-7734, lesupremedetroit.com.

Contact Detroit Free Press food reporter Susan Selasky and send her your food and dining news at [email protected]. Follow @SusanMariecooks on X (formerly Twitter). Support local journalism and become a digital subscriber to the free press.