BESA

Throughout October at BESA – 600 Woodward Avenue, in downtown Detroit – diners probably noticed some changes to the dinner menu. Actually, all of the dinner menu has been transformed. The lunch menu is also changing, just at a slightly slower pace.“What we wanted to do was pick a few dishes here and there that we were going to start chipping away at and putting new food in place,” said Nicholas Geftos, BESA’s new executive chef. “There was already great food here and we’re going to continue to try to keep that.” New menu items include Hamachi “Hot Pot” soup, beef carpaccio with homemade pimento cheese, and a kale salad with roasted sweet potatoes and cranberries, a dish that co-owner Mario Camaj really enjoys. The raw bar will now include daily east and west coast oysters, beef carpaccio, and stone crab, when in season. “What we’re trying to do...(is) keep in mind the fine dining aspect of things and creativity but make it a little more familiar and more approachable for our guests,” Camaj said. The duo have worked together before, at Birmingham’s Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro, with co-owner Gerti Begaj. Speaking of Tallulah, their popular lamb belly ragu is now on BESA’s menu for Detroit diners to enjoy, as well.