Chicken dreams & love and fertility

Detroit’s Freya and Dragonfly are the latest ventures from business partners Sandy Levine and chef Doug Hewitt, who also own Detroit’s popular Chartreuse Kitchen & Cocktails. Freya is an intimate, upscale 12-table restaurant while the adjacent Dragonfly is a bar serving small bites with seating for 35. The two share a kitchen but have separate entrances. The prix fixe menu at Freya rotates monthly and includes six courses with three options for diners – one with no dietary restrictions, one that includes seafood and vegetarian dishes and a third that is strictly vegan. The price is $75 plus a 22 percent gratuity. “Doug and I are big fans of Eleven Madison Park in New York and Smyth in Chicago,” said Levine. “These restaurants inspired us to go with a fixed-price menu. Customers get to try different plates and it gives Doug and I the opportunity to run the restaurant in an intentional and deliberate way. It also provides great value for the customer.” If you’re wondering about Freya’s unique name, its inspiration came from a chicken, of all things. Freya is the goddess of love and fertility in Norse mythology and Levine says the Icelandic chickens, which are 100 percent lean and raised specifically for the restaurant, inspired not only the name of the restaurant but also the interior’s Nordic minimalist design aesthetic. 2929 E. Grand Boulevard, Detroit, Freyadetroit.com