You know that a restaurant will be stellar when they name themselves after a great wine, because they know that comparisons will be forthcoming.  Opus One, the restaurant, is a third generation of restaurateurs, so there is plenty of experience of fine dining and quality service.  The building itself was designed by the same man, who designed the Fisher Theater in Detroit, but through the years it had changed hands, and at one time ended up being a garage facility for the City of Detroit.  On one of our trips there I had taken my Father there for dinner, and he argued with me, that there was no restaurant at that particular location.  As he worked for the City of Detroit, he had spent many a time at the location when the City had the property.  I joked with him that he was like a farmer in the city for the first time, as he was trying to make the two buildings coincide in his mind’s eye.

The restaurant over the years had been the recipient of many awards and accolades, and rightfully so.  There was a dish called Shrimp Helene that was one of my favorites either as an appetizer or an entrée.  The dish was always properly prepared with shrimp wrapped in phyllo dough and topped with Sauce Béarnaise.  Another perennial dish that I had to have was the house salad with their house made Creamy Garlic dressing, that was homage to another era, and I would have to buy a jar or two of it, to take home, and I am not a fan of salads.  We have had Dover Sole, Filet Medallions, Lamb dishes and many others over the years, without a bad choice.  The dinner always ended with a three tiered cart that was wheeled over to the table with a presentation of all of the desserts made that day.  One of my favorites was the Banana Bread Pudding, there was a Chocolate Pizza and you always had to have some of the finest cookies ever made. Birthday recipients received a house made Chocolate Bar with the logo of the restaurant on it, and it was a very large bar, that a party of four would have trouble eating it all at one time.  Then there were some great after dinner drinks from the Spanish Coffees to the Classic Hummer and they always asked for your selection of liquors for the drinks.

The wine list was worth a few minutes of careful studying.  The basic list carried all of the basic wines that one would expect from California and Italy, plus there were specials of ours from St. Supery, Hess, Duckhorn and Cosentino.  They also had a nice selection of splits, magnums, ports and dessert wines.  Then there was the Reserve Wine List to tempt the wine lover.  There one could order “Private Reserves” from several top wineries and some of the best Meritage wines from Cain Five, Quintessa, Dominus, Insignia and of course Opus One.  That is the reason for repeated trips to this fine restaurant, as there was too much to appreciate and try in a single trip.