Antihero makes the grade

“Fun” is a word Executive Chef Nick Erven used often while discussing Antihero, which finally opened in late November at 231 W. Nine Mile Road in Ferndale after four years of delays. “The menu was like, how do we make it approachable enough but still push things a little bit and make it fun,” Erven said. The latest restaurant from metro Detroit-based restaurant group Working Class Outlaws – which also own Public House and Imperial in Ferndale – has an izakaya-inspired menu (Erven described it as “elevated bar food seen through the eyes of an L.A. transplant”) and features raw selections, rice bowls, buns, dumplings, noodles, and veggie-driven dishes. In regard to pushing things a bit, two of Erven’s favorite menu items do just that. One is chicken-fried tofu and the other is a crispy ramen egg. Inside the 3,500-square-foot space is a bar showcasing Japanese-leaning handcrafted cocktails, as well as curated whiskey, soju, sake lists, and their Toki Suntory highball machine.