Chef Omar Mitchell
Brings His True Blue Fine Dining to Detroit.
Chef Omar Mitchell wants to be the Walt Disney of fine dining in Detroit. In what he describes as “true blue” fine dining, his goal is to create a casual atmosphere meshed with a formal dining experience. And he’s on track to do that in the next year.
If you had the chance to visit Mitchell’s most recent venture, Table No. 2 on Livernois’ Avenue of Fashion, you would have gotten a taste of his “true blue” fare. Unfortunately, Table No. 2 closed this last summer due to the pandemic. But Chef Mitchell is still very much present in the Detroit food scene, with plans to continue his mantra of true blue dining in the Motor City.
Born and raised on Detroit’s East Side, Mitchell hasn’t been shy about making waves in the culinary world. Chef Mitchell grew up with his grandparents and shared a house with his aunts, uncles and with his four siblings.
“My grandma really focused on us kids eating three square meals a day, but it was tough a lot of the time,” said Chef Mitchell. “With so many people in the house, it was hard for all of us to actually get three square meals.” Mitchell explained that oftentimes he and his siblings relied on public lunches for breakfast and dinner. “Sometimes we just weren’t sure where our food was coming from.”
During this time in Chef Mitchell’s youth, he had enrolled in the Golightly Education Center while attending Finney High School. “I had signed up for computer drafting. But I was terrible at math. So my counselor put me in advanced cooking,” said Mitchell laughing, “I didn’t know how to cook anything, except maybe eggs. But I could grab a meal if I needed it. And I just fell in love with it.”
In the years that followed, Chef Mitchell began to hone his craft in cooking. When he was just a teenager, he began entering local and regional cooking competitions, and winning. “I was passionate about food and I was good at it,” said Chef Mitchell. “So I just said to myself, ‘Why not?’ I was a skinny Black kid from Detroit!”
Thus it was no mystery that his affable personality and his outstanding recipes landed him a culinary job as a prep cook at the highly acclaimed Golden Mushroom in Southfield under the direction of Master Chef Milos Cihelka. It also got the attention of the renowned Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, where he was awarded a scholarship into their rigorous culinary arts curriculum.
“I really learned everything that got me here today from Johnson & Wales and the chefs I worked under,” he said. “They all played a huge role in my journey that landed me here today. So many people get caught up trying to rush or learn things quickly. But cooking takes a lifetime to master.”
Upon graduating, Chef Mitchell returned to Detroit to continue his culinary career in his hometown, where he started working as the sous chef at the London Chop House—though his desire to open his own restaurant couldn’t remain corked.
He would go on to open a casual Italian eatery called I Luv Cheese and a burger bar aptly named Great Lakes Burger Bar. Recently he opened Craft Catering Services and Imaginate inside the Ramada by Wyndham Southfield. And most recently Table No. 2 on Livernois Avenue of Fashion, where Mitchell offered half-price food and free delivery during the height of the pandemic.
“Unfortunately, you just can’t re-create a fine-dining experience during the pandemic,” said Mitchell. “We did takeout for a long time, and we were met with a lot of encouragement. But when the landlord told me they were selling the building, I decided to officially pull the plug.” Mitchell, however, isn’t letting Table No. 2 closure hinder his passion to keep pressing onward. “I’m so proud to be a part of this legacy of Black business ownership and entrepreneurship, especially with Table No. 2,” he said.
While the plan to open a new brick-and-mortar is sidelined, Chef Mitchell is fully invested in Craft Catering Services. “It’s been doing great during the pandemic. And it allows me to explore what fine dining can be within a catering company,” he said.
Chef Mitchell isn’t stopping with his catering business, though. “We got big plans for 2021. I have a bunch of new projects in the works, including a fine-dining restaurant that will be in Downtown Detroit.”
Chef Mitchell told edibleWOW that, like Table No. 2, his new projects moving forward will have white linen tablecloths on every table. “Everything is garnished appropriately; the Bananas Foster is flambéd at your table,” he explained. “It’s what I know how to do so I’m going to do it.”
