Hazel Park, a Detroit suburb, is home to a wrestling supply shop, several family dentistry practices, and numerous Greek-American diners, but until last September, it had never seen a restaurant quite like Mabel Gray. With its artfully exposed plaster walls, perfectly mismatched vintage tableware, and a seasonal menu showcasing local ingredients and whole-animal butchery, the restaurant initially appears to have been airlifted from Brooklyn. But never mind appearances: Mabel Gray is thoroughly of, by and for Michigan.

“Michigan has a very distinct approach to food,” said James Rigato, the restaurant’s chef and co-owner. “We’re the second-most agriculturally diverse state behind California, and the auto industry has created its own cultural influence. But because most people don’t travel here, most people don’t know.”

Visit Mabel Gray, named for the local folklore legend Alice Mabel Gray who lived in solitude on the shores of Lake Michigan and earned the nickname Diana of the Dunes, and you’ll be served a healthy helping of local pride. This is a place where Faygo, a Detroit-made soda pop, is on the menu, and where affable waiters will inform you that Michigan grows sugar beets 50 out of 52 weeks of the year. But Mr. Rigato lets his cooking deliver the most compelling lessons about his home state’s culinary riches.

The influence of metro Detroit’s Korean population is apparent in the kimchi vinaigrette that heats up a plate of Michigan honeycrisp apples, celery and yogurt, while the black and white garlic sauces drizzled on an order of hopelessly addictive crispy fried potatoes were a nod to the area’s Korean and Middle Eastern communities, respectively.