The team behind ABC Tavern and XYZ Tavern is expanding once again. This Friday, Linda Syrek, Randy Kelly and Alan Glazen take possession of Ponte Vecchio, the seven-year-old Italian restaurant with million-dollar views. The restaurant is located on the Superior Viaduct, around the corner from the Detroit-Superior Bridge.
“The building owners came to us to see if we were interested in taking it over,” explains Kelly. “It’s a great opportunity. It’s a beautiful restaurant so we don’t have to lay out a lot of money. It’s diamond in the rough, no different from the Parkview, ABC… There was nothing wrong with these places — except they didn’t have us.”
Kelly blames Ponte Vecchio’s ills on a rough start and a rocky reputation.
“It’s been a dog from Day One,” he says. “They tried to come off as ultra-fine Italian — and it wasn’t ever very good. They stuck to the Italian theme, which was just beating a dead horse.”
Heading up the kitchens will be Nate Williams, who for years worked with Karen Small at Flying Fig.
“Nate’s been holding down the Fig for years,” adds Kelly. “We’re giving him the chance to shine, which he deserves.”
When the restaurant — likely to be called Viaduct Lounge — opens in September, diners can expect an eatery with a much more laid-back vibe. The sunken portion of the dining room will be transformed into a lounge. While the menu is far from established, Kelly says affordable champagne and a raw bar will be part of the action.
“We’re not fine dining,” he says. “We’re fun dining.”
This article appears in Jul 6-12, 2011.
i always wanted to go there- glad i didn’t waste my money. you can’t beat the location!
It’s sad to see Ponte vecchio go. It was just starting to take off. They had live jazz on friday nights and if u didn’t like the food there you’re probably the type to eat a poop sandwich and washing it down with a glass of hot pig vomit. The food is great, the staff is awesome and the wine is from heaven. Chef Brown deserves a medal for what she did with the place and the mess she cleaned up from the previous staff. She’s a great chef and human being and it’s sad that she’s being splashed with the slander of false propaganda experts. But as always in life, the truth is blind and the decks of reality are stacked and dealt to cheaters who in the end are not happy.
This is one of the most unprofessional & vicious articles I have ever read. To think for a minute that the team, food, attitude, of the ABC, XYZ, team sets the standard for the restaurant scene is a joke. This only goes to show how vapid & insecure they are about their own concepts that they would attack and put down any other business owner.
I will never step foot in any of their establishments again now that I know how hateful they are.
Shame on you Doug Trattner for entertaining and giving air time to bullys in this industry.