Vigilante Kitchen + Bar opens in Midtown with a focus mission for addiction recovery

For six years, executive chef Aaron Cozadd set his sights on a restaurant concept with a core purpose of supporting its staff, who also face addiction recovery, and a focus on life balance.

On Friday, that concept came to fruition.

That's when Vigilante Kitchen + Bar opened its doors in the former Smith & Co. space on Selden Street in Midtown. While its menu focuses on Midwest flavors with Asian influences, what truly sets this new restaurant apart is its mission to provide its staff with assistance, support and resources needed for addiction recovery.

“For as long as I can recall, the restaurant industry has carried a dark negative stigma,” Cozadd, a veteran of the metro Detroit restaurant scene who studied at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, California, said in a news release. “At Vigilante Kitchen + Bar, we’re going to illuminate this issue by offering a supportive program for those struggling with addiction.”

A national survey on drug use found that employees of restaurants and hotels have the highest rate of any industry. According to the American Addiction Centers, nearly 1 in 5 hospitality workers reported using illicit drugs within the past month.

Vigilante — whose vibe is billed as "a little bit punk rock, a little bit Zen, and a lot delicious" — offers employee benefits including on-site recovery meetings, pre-shift meditation sessions, access to counseling, fitness programs and health insurance for all full-time staff.

Cozadd's own addiction battles, he told the Free Press, skewed more toward opiates, but also included alcohol while working in the industry.

"Pretty much what I realized is if I could put a substance in my body and within five minutes felt a change, I was addicted to that," he said.

The idea for the restaurant first came to Cozadd in 2012 while sitting in an Oakland County jail after his second arrest for driving under the influence, or DUI.

Cozadd — who previously worked for the Union Joints restaurant group that owns Clarkston Union, Honcho, Gran Castor, Union Assembly, Vinsetta Garage and others — brought the concept to and partnered with the Michigan-based Mission Restaurant Group, which operated Smith & Co. before it closed in early June to transform into Vigilante Kitchen + Bar.

“We were inspired by Aaron’s passion for supporting those in the industry who wanted to stay in hospitality but were struggling with addiction,”  David Ritchie, president of Mission Restaurant Group — which operates several restaurant concepts in Michigan, most notably the Jolly Pumpkin brand — said in a news release. “We're excited to support Aaron with the resources he needs to create a unique dining experience for guests and an environment to help our employees thrive.”

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Mind, body, soul

Jermaine Mills, 40, of Detroit, knows all too well that life in a busy restaurant kitchen can be hectic.

“I know what it's like firsthand to be in the midst of the kitchen life and feeling like it's a party,” Mills said.

Mills had been a part of Smith & Co. for more than a year before the rebranding to Vigilante, and in the restaurant industry for more than 15 years. He is continuing with the company as its chef de cuisine working closely with Cozadd.

“He’s teaching me a new style of cooking as well as enhancing the brand,” Mills said of Cozadd.

Mills is excited to be a part of this concept, one he said that’s dedicated to pushing the agenda of changing the environment of the kitchen and providing tools, such as therapists and gym memberships, to promote wellness among staff.

“To really be there for the employee, mind, body and soul completely and just not trying to get work out of them," Mills said. "But we really care about your whole well-being.”

In the past, Mills said, he has experienced alcoholism and drug abuse, and subsequently treatment and therapy. But during the pandemic, Mills said he was able to reset himself. He’s now on the road to recovery.

“A lot of people who use gravitate toward the kitchen, meaning using drugs and alcohol and abusing, trying to keep up with the life of the hectic kitchen,” Mills said.

But having colleagues in the kitchen who are experienced and recognize a potential issue is a strong point, he added.

“We have a lot of people within the kitchen that are leaders that are able to see things or if somebody comes to us or an employee has an issue we will be able to deal with it instead of them just crashing out on alcohol and drugs,” Mills said.

An all-encompassing vision

At Vigilante Kitchen + Bar, Cozadd aims to provide the tools and guidance to help industry workers struggling with addiction while at the same time "advancing their culinary skills."

Cozadd, whose own recovery has spanned more than a decade, hopes to "create a community of people all supporting each other, and all using the tools, whether they're the traditional definition of an addict or not."

"One of the best ways to stay in recovery is to help other people through recovery. And that's been a tenant of recovery groups forever," Cozadd said.

Through Cozadd’s recovery process, he started meditating. Ultimately, meditation led him to become a Dharma teacher, or spiritual teacher. From there he found recovery groups, and counseling, joined CrossFit and practiced martial arts. He learned the value of discipline and getting the mind, body and spirit to move together as one.

“It rounded out, sort of, my life balance in a way,” he said.  "That gave me a kind of recovery that I hadn't thought was possible before. And instead of needing to stay away from drugs and alcohol, they just no longer held anything of value.”

All that encompassed what he wanted to share with other people.

At first, he did it within the traditional restaurant setting, sharing some of those elements to find balance. But he also found that the traditional restaurant wasn't necessarily set up for that purpose.

“It's hard to tell someone to add all these things to your life, and I need you to work 70 hours next week," Cozadd said. "It's hard to say, 'Go to counseling every week.' But you got to afford that.”

It made Cozadd realize that if he really wanted to make a change, he knew he already had the skill set as a Dharma teacher and as a chef. He wanted to share what worked for him.

But in order to share that, Cozadd said he would need to “create a place that didn't demand that they work more hours than for a balanced life.”

“I realized that probably the only way to do that was to create a restaurant that that was the core purpose,” he said.

Cozadd also thinks the process can help those who don’t suffer from addiction live a balanced, happy life as well. “We're not just hiring people in recovery," he added, "but everyone who's hired has access to all the same tools.”

In addition, Cozadd said, the restaurant is paying a fair wage as well, starting staff at $17 to $25 per hour. And while he admits he’s not an addiction recovery expert, Cozadd said he finds joy in seeing others succeed.

“When I did see people grow and make changes it was an amazing feeling to have a hand in that. That’s the most rewarding thing,” Cozadd said.

And he calls the drive he has to do something meaningful with the time he has an “extra gift.”

“Because the way I was headed I didn't expect to live past, let's say 35,” he said. "With all this extra time. What am I going to do with that? And how does it best serve the whole?”

About Vigilante Kitchen + Bar

Cozadd described the food in a recent interview as "elevated Midwest with Asian influences and classical French culinary techniques and roots." His cooking style is to build a lot of depth and layers in dishes to delight and surprise the palate.

Vigilante Kitchen + Bar dishes, Cozadd said, will be influenced by a range of flavors from the rich and earthy umami flavors of the Japanese culture and the chili oils and spices used in Chinese and Korean cultures to the citrus and herb flavors of many Malaysian and Thai dishes.

Expect menu items such as Szechuan hot chicken bao, Szechuan spareribs, crab Rangoon, ahi Wellington, braised short rib and yuzu thyme chicken.

Vigilante Kitchen + Bar has a full bar including a selection of craft beers, along with nonalcoholic brews from nearby neighbor Nain Rouge Brewery, exclusive to the restaurant. The dining room seats 100 guests plus an additional 15 seats at the bar. The outdoor patio offers seating for 40.

Vigilante Kitchen+ Bar hours are 5-11 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 5 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. For reservations and information, go to vigilantekitchen.com.

Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Vigilante Kitchen + Bar in Midtown has mission for addiction recovery