Eating out has changed significantly during the pandemic. Right now your only options seem to be take-out, or eating in an igloo, or a spacious tent. But there is another option and it is happening at one of Detroit’s premier hotels downtown. The Foundation Hotel and its restaurant, the Apparatus Room, are offering private dining rooms where you can enjoy their amazing food.
“Basically what we’ve done is remove the beds from our hotel rooms and replaced them with dining room tables from The Apparatus Room downstairs,” explains Thomas Lents, the Executive Chef of the Apparatus Room.
These private dining suites seat up to 6 people and are available to rent out. You can order off the menu of the Apparatus Room and it will be delivered to your door. They like to refer to it as “top-end room service,” where you call-in your order much like room service, but there is a server designated to your area that will serve the food to you. They try to minimize contact, keeping the servers outside the room as much as possible, and requiring everyone to wear a mask if they do enter.
They are offering the same menu they had prior to the closure, which includes a miso-glazed salmon, green curry roasted cauliflower, house-smoked pork shank with braised red cabbage and mustard and so much more. They lean towards the finer dining side of things, and offer a variety of inventive globally-inspired and seasonally-inspired dishes. You can get appetizers, entrees, desserts, and drinks, as their bar will be open as well.
Now for the major question: How do they handle cleaning? Well, they treat it just like their hotel rooms. When you book the room, you get it for an entire day. After you leave, they will clean and sanitize everything so it will be ready for service the next day, after 18 hours of no one being in it.
As for price, there is a $50 service and cleaning fee, but other than that you just order off the menu. Entrees typically come in around $30 per plate, a slight decrease in their pre-pandemic prices to make things more approachable. They also have a 5-course tasting menu option for $65.
To book a room, or to learn more, check out the Apparatus Room or the Detroit Foundation Hotel website or call 313-800-5500.