Craft Work
Price: $$
Address: 8047 Agnes St, Detroit, MI 48214
Phone: (313) 469-0976
Hours: Mon-Tue 4pm-11pm & Wed - Sat 4pm-12am
Valentine's Day 2018 was one to remember! I hope you checked out my Valentines Day date night suggestions but in case you didn't, don't fret you can always take bae on these dates any time.
This year for Valentine's Day COO (Chief Outing Officer A.K.A my boyfriend) took me to Craft Work for a nice evening dinner. Craft Work is in the cut next door to the East location of Detroit Vegan Soul. There was a cute little area outside of the back of the restaurant with lights strung above. Adding Christmas lights truly wins me over as you can tell from my Tallulah review. We were seated right away despite not having a reservation. The restaurant was about 50% full when we arrived at about 8:30pm.
We decided to order a couple of the featured cocktails because they sounded delectable! We decided on the Tea Thyme and the Moto. Both of the cocktails were well-balanced and simple, yet flavorful. The Tea Thyme contained black tea infused Ciroc, thyme syrup and lemon. Tea infused vodka is one of the best things ever and it's so easy to make. All you have to do is let a couple of black tea bags steep in vodka for a couple of hours and boom, greatness! Add some simple syrup and now you have spiked sweet tea. Add in a splash of lemonade to accentuate the flavor and now you have a spiked Arnold Palmer, a perfect summer time cocktail. How wonderful does that sound!
I love fresh herbs in cocktails. Well, I love fresh herbs in general so the Moto which garnished with fresh sage excited my taste buds. The Moto's base was bourbon too and y'all know I prefer dark liquor. The liqueur and the sage syrup cut through the bourbon perfectly and made it a smooth sip.
Craft Work featured a Valentine's Day 3-course menu for $35. The two options for entrees on the special holiday menu were a beef dish and a vegetarian dish and I wasn't interested in either so we ordered off the regular menu. The current menu was very limited on options for non beef and pork eaters. It was literally bacon in everything. We were like "okay scallops, oh they have beef sausage. Okay fried chicken, oh it has bacon greens." We ended up ordering the Pot Pie and the Curry Lamb. The waitress was very helpful in going over options that fit our dietary restrictions.
I wasn't too excited for the pot pie because I grew up eating those $1 frozen pot pies and I vowed that I would never eat that struggle food as an adult. My mom's favorite line after I informed her I was hungry was "there are pot pies in the freezer". I'd hit her with the straightest of straight faces and say "I don't want that" and she always responded with a "hungry people eat anything" and moved on from the topic. I am forever scarred.
Obviously this was not a Banquet pot pie, this was a bougie one. It was very hot when it arrived and was pleasing to the eye. The top crust was golden and super flaky which added texture to dish. Inside of the pot pie filling was fingerling potatoes. It kind of felt like a filler and I would have prefered if they werent included and that it was more chicken instead. Pot pies are already a dense meal and then potatoes made it even denser. The salad on the side was a nice touch because it added a fresh element to the plate.
The curry lamb was plated beautifully. The bed of yellow couscous and the orange carrots added wonderful pops of color. I've yet to taste couscous that I enjoy and this dish included Israeli couscous which is larger than normal. There was a dollop of aioli which really didn't serve any purpose to me. It was just a blob of mayo which wasn't very appetizing. The lamb itself was very succulent. That could've been the only things on the plate and I would've been more than satisfied. It was super tender and juicy. The lamb tasted like it had been braising all day just waiting to hit my plate.
As we were finishing up dinner, the waitress offered to bring out fudge on the house. That was a nice touch that added to the Valentine's Day experience at Craft Work.
I love the atmosphere of Craft Work and I love how its not in New Detroit. The vibes were perfect for an evening on the holiday. The music was soft enough to hear and not overpower our conversation and the lights were just dim enough for us to stare into each others eyes. I know that was so cakey but I love him and he's extraordinary so go ahead and read this with heart eyed emojis. Although my food was good, I don't crave the menu options at Craft Work. The menu changes seasonally though so maybe I'll come back in the summer and see what it has to offer. Id check the menu first to make sure that its something that I can eat!