Vecino, new Detroit restaurant inspired by Mexico City, set to open Friday
A new restaurant that was to open last fall is set to open Friday, bringing the essence and traditional flavors of Mexico City and Oaxaca to Midtown Detroit.
Called Vecino, which means neighbor in Spanish, the new Modern Mexican Midtown eatery will offer an "agave-forward bar" and open-hearth kitchen while also touting Michigan's first corn nixtamalization program, a traditional kernel-to-masa preparation process.
Owned by Adriana Jimenez, Lukasz Wietrzynski and Colin Tury, a Detroit-based designer, Vecino is the first project from Midwest Hospitality. Jimenez founded the Detroit-based hospitality company.
“We consciously look for ways to connect through shared experiences like unique foods, cultures, and traditions — all of which inspire the ways we eat, drink, and share stories with our friends and neighbors," Jimenez, who was born in Mexico City and raised in Southwest Detroit, said in a news release. "From community-style seating to shared plates, we’re bringing that sense of community found in Mexican culture.”
On Third and Alexandrine streets in Midtown, Vecino is in a restored 1926 corner building that's stood vacant for a half-century. The restaurant was originally slated to open in November 2023.
Executive chef Ricardo Mojica, a Michigan native and formerly of Sava's in Ann Arbor, leads Vecino's kitchen and menu. Mojica, at age 19, was the youngest head chef in the history of the nationwide chain P.F. Chang’s.
Joining Mojica is head chef Stephanie Duran, who hails from Texas and spent years cooking at several renowned Mexico City restaurants.
From Vecino's kitchen expect a merging of seasonal, local Michigan ingredients with flavors and traditions of Mexico.
“The mission of Vecino is to bring the essence of Mexico City to Detroit,” Jimenez told Free Press dining critic Lyndsay C. Green last fall. “We’ll have food that's inspired by Mexican flavors presented in a fun and unique way.”
Vecino's menu centers around foods cooked in the kitchen wood-fire hearth, including whole snapper, ribeye steak, chicken and fire-roasted cabbage. There's also a selection of shareable plates, including elevated street foods, seafood options, mesquite beets and maitake mushrooms in salsa verde.
Its offerings of corn from the restaurant's kernel-to-masa process using Mexican heirloom corn make their way into Vecino's handmade tortillas, tostadas, totopos, enchiladas, tlayudas and other dishes.
Vecino's dining area will seat 66 people along with a 16-person bar area. Look for an outdoor patio to open in late spring. From the bar is a curated collection of agave spirits, including small-batch, artisanal and additive-free tequilas and mezcales. Vecino's wine program will include wines sourced from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking areas.
At first, Vecino's hours will be 5-10 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday with brunch and late-night service to follow at a later date. Vecino is located at 4100 Third Ave., in Midtown. For information or reservations visit vecinodetroit.com.Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Vecino, new Detroit restaurant inspired by Mexico City, to open Friday
