Lobster bake goes local

Now through August 11, the menu and decor at Hazel, Ravines and Downtown – 1 Peabody Street, Birmingham – will have an East Coast vibe. HRD’s Lobster Pound will bring a taste of Maine summers to Michigan with an almost entirely new menu. “Since we don’t get to go on vacation we thought we’d bring the vacation to us,” laughed Beth Hussey, co-owner along with executive chef Emmele Herrold. “It’s sort of like our menu is taking a vacation.” The new menu will have hot and cold lobster rolls, whole lobster dinners, fried clams, fish and chips, and clam chowder. Hussey said they are working with a lobsterman in Maine who will be flying in fresh seafood daily. HRD’S interior will no longer have linen napkins but paper towel rolls, and tables covered with red-and-white checkerboard tablecloths. For those not interested in fresh seafood, there will be a few HRD staples still on the menu, like their Token Burger and Georgian Cheese Bread. Hussey said they hope to do this every summer going forward.

Metro Intelligencer is a monthly column devoted to news stories, tidbits and gossip items about what's happening on the restaurant scene in the metro Detroit area. Metro Intelligencer is reported/created each month by Dana Casadei who can be reached at DanaCasadei@DowntownPublications.com with news items or tips, on or off the record.