Upscale Soul Food Opens on Detroit’s Avenue of Fashion

The newest Soul food destination just opened its doors last Thursday. Petty Cash promises to offer a “moody, elevated and soulful” experience to everyone sitting at their tables. It’s a claim that you’ll want to confirm for yourself. The brilliant hands and discerning palate behind this new restaurant is Executive Chef Dominic McCord. He curated an exquisite menu that the restaurant says brings a subtle “upscale yet approachable swag to Detroit’s north side.”

Upscale is indeed one word to describe Petty Cash’s space at the Livernois fashion avenue. Petty Cash said they wanted to pay “homage to Black excellence.” And what would be a perfect fit for that homage than to commission, Urban Alterscape, owned by two brilliant Black designers and native Detroiters George and Erika Baker, to design their spacious 2,800 square feet real estate. The restaurant is painted in luxurious black and accented by golden brass. The warm lighting exquisitely echoes the copper accents, and the green plants pops “life” and organic shapes into what otherwise would have been “too polished” interiors.

And if the interiors are already making you excited, wait until you see their menu. Petty Cash offers upscale Soul food, and “seasonal and eclectic menu with locally sourced ingredients, vegan and vegetarian options, smoked meats, unique seafood and pasture plates, as well as one-of-a-kind craft cocktails.” Perhaps the most mouthwatering of their offerings are the tender lamb ribs peppered with Baharat spice, coated in pomegranate molasses, and stacked on top of cilantro-mint yogurt sauce. For vegetarians, Petty Cash offers the same upscale treatment for you. Their curried carrots are cooked to a soft bite in basil oil and are rested on top of a bed of honey citrus yogurt and pistachio. And for seafood lovers, their mussels bouillabaisse are beautifully cooked in a flavorful saffron tomato broth, and the mussel flavors as delicately accented by confit leeks, and fennel seeds.

Reservations can be done through the restaurant’s website: https://www.pettycashdetroit.com. They are open 5 to 11 p.m. from Wednesdays until Thursday, and 5 p.m. until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.