Dining returns to the top of Renaissance Center with Detroit's skyline view

Susan Selasky | Detroit Free Press

It’s a dining experience that’s meant to suit a variety of taste buds with a heaping helping of a spectacular, top-of-the-world view of downtown Detroit and beyond.

Dining high atop the General Motors Renaissance Center’s 73-story-tall central tower — which houses the Detroit Marriott Hotel — is back after a nearly three-year hiatus.

Highlands — the overall brand of an operation that includes two restaurants, a Scotch bar and a special events space — opens Monday on the 71st and 72nd floors of Michigan's tallest building.

Highlands Steakhouse is the main restaurant with curved booths and table seating, and a stunning view of the city and down the Detroit River.

Hearth 71 is a smaller area with seating for about 50 and it leans more to the casual side. It has a view upriver of Belle Isle and Lake St. Clair, as well as Canada.

The High Bar is what is what you first see when you exit the elevators on the 71st floor. A full menu is available at the High Bar, but chef/owner Shawn McClain said it’s meant to be a spot for cocktails before or after dinner. A highlight is its Scotch and whiskey program complete with Scotch lockers.

Interested in Detroit-area restaurants, bars, craft beer and nightlife? Join our "Eat Drink Freep" Facebook Group to get news, recommendations and more!

The 72nd floor, which is actually two stories tall, is for private events, like weddings and corporate functions. It can seat 225 guests, McClain said, as well as up to 300 people for standing at high tops with food station.

The restaurant group is led by McClain, a James Beard award winning chef, who is also founder of McClain Camarota Hospitality group with his wife, Holly, and partners Sarah and Richard Camarota. McClain is also best known for the group’s Las Vegas restaurants and his previous work in Chicago.

“We are playing a part in the city’s history and being part of its storied past in a new iteration,” Shawn McClain said.

That new iteration — which will not revolve like The Summit, the original restaurant at the top of the center tower — has been nearly two years in the making and included extensive renovations to the 20,000-square-foot space.

More: New restaurants, bar coming to RenCen's old Coach Insignia space: Details revealed

“It’s super exciting and has been a long time coming,” Holly McClain said. “We are thrilled to see it come to life.”

Highlands was slated for a mid-November opening, but faced with several construction and furniture delays. As one can imagine, equipping the space and outfitting the two open kitchen is a herculean task, coming from the bottom and up 71 floors.

"Furniture, some piece-by-piece came up a modest size, behind-the-scenes, elevator, Shawn McClain said. "It was physically taken apart (brought up) and reassembled."

Come as you are

Whether you’re in the mood for a casual burger before a game or concert at one of the Detroit sports venues or a special occasion dinner of wood-fired steaks, Highlands mantra is come as you are, McClain said.

Here, you won't find white tablecloths. Instead, McClain said, the focus is on the dining experience.

After nearly a minute-and-a-half ride up the glass elevators (watch out, your ears might pop) guests are rewarded with stunning views of the downtown Detroit, Windsor and miles up and down the Detroit River and beyond.

Highlands Steakhouse features an open concept kitchen with a wood burning grill.

"The wood-fired grill was one of our first wishes," McClain said. "It was fully customized to our specs and where we wanted them to make this kitchen function the way we wanted it to.

McClain and executive chef Scott Garthwaite's meat program features chops, cuts and racks. Alongside the kitchen is a temperature-controlled showcase of dry-aged whole meat cuts.

On the steakhouse menu are small plates, salads, wood-fired steaks and seafood. Signature shareables include warm wood roasted shellfish ($75) and Japanese Kobe beef ($125). Wood-fired steak highlights include a 28-ounce bone-in Ribeye ($105) and an 8-ounce center-cut filet ($52).

There's a focus on wine selections that, McClain said, is heavy on the reds. The wines are housed along the steakhouse dining area wall in temperature-assisted lockers. McClain pointed out its wine program will lean toward larger format bottles such as magnums (1.5 liters) and double (3 liters) magnums.

In announcing the restaurant and bar concepts in August, McClain described Hearth 71 as "... rustic, rock 'n' roll approach ... " There's a soon to be operational turntable for two shelves of vinyl albums.

The menu has a shared plates concept with dips, a selection of cheeses and charcuterie. There’s a smashed beef burger ($14) made with braised short rib; bacon-wrapped Medjool Dates ($9) with a slightly spicy Spanish-style sauce; and Spanish baked eggs ($11).

'Iconic spot'

McClain said he's happy to have a restaurant in his hometown.

"I am hugely impressed with Detroit’s restaurant scene not only as a fan and consumer but getting to know guys like Doug (Hewitt) of Chartreuse and John (Vermiglio) at Grey Ghost,” he said. “It’s great to be part of the community. I hope I get to be in the band. “

But for the McClains, the couple said, the view of the restaurant is especially cool because on clear days they can see it from the city where they live — more than 20 miles away.

“It’s awesome to look at it through the perspective of my daughters, who say, ‘Look there’s daddy’s restaurant,'" McClain said. "It’s such an iconic spot.”

While Holly McClain is a Michigan native who grew up in Gibraltar, the couple have made Grosse Ile their home for nearly nine years.

Highlands is the third restaurant to occupy the space atop the center tower at the Renaissance Center, a group of seven inter-connected skyscrapers owned by General Motors, which makes its headquarters there. The first was The Summit, a restaurant that revolved for a 360-degree view of Detroit, Windsor and surrounding areas. It closed in 2000. Coach Insignia by then Matt Prentices’ Unique Restaurant group followed, opening in late summer 2004. The restaurant didn’t revolve. It closed in late February 2017.

“We know it’s a journey up here, and we want it to be rewarding and compelling place to come back to,” McClain said.

Highlands hours will be 5-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 5-10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Plans are to be open on Sundays starting December 29.

Contact Susan Selasky at 313-222-6872 or sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.