Chez Alex
Open the pale gray doors. You’ve entered a sleek hallway. Turn left, and you’ll see a long, gleaming bar backed by a mirrored wall of liquors, with classics rounded out by artisan pours from Michigan and way beyond. Opposite the bar, clubby chairs flank low tables if you’re in the mood for a tête-a-tête.
Or turn right from the entrance. Now you’re passing a pristine display case: the Larder, filled with charcuterie, French breads, sandwiches, salads. Everything you see is made on the premises, and it’s ready for you to assemble into a spectacular picnic—even if the setting will be your cubicle at work.
Beyond the bar and the Larder, during lunch or brunch, light flows into the main dining area—the Bistro proper—from large windows, onto elegant gray walls and pea green banquettes. Day and night, classic jazz and Cubist paintings evoke early 20th-century Paris, the design inspired by legendary Montparnasse cafés haunted by Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Henry MIller.
Can you really be in the same space that used to house the Creekside, a beer and burger joint with big-screen TVs bellowing football scores?
“Basically, we got here and had a big empty box to work with,” says the Standard Bistro and Larder’s creator, owner, and chef de cuisine Alex Young, of the transformation. Foodies from around the world know Young from his long stint as co-founder and executive chef at Zingerman’s Roadhouse. But he’s long been dreaming in French, and when the Standard’s space became available in late 2017—an earlier renovation plan by the previous restaurant’s owner had fallen through—he knew he’d found the perfect spot to realize his vision. In May, 2018, he launched the Standard, a bistro with a take-out kitchen, space for private events, and—currently in the works—French flower gardens that visitors will be able to stroll through with a craft cocktail, or a glass of what Young likes to refer to as “terribly French wine.”
Why France? Young’s family moved to the U.S. from England in 1966, when he was a child. “I basically grew up in a British household,” he says. Naturally, one of the best British cooks of all time introduced him to what has become the culinary passion of his life.
“I loved Julia Child,” says Young. “The show ‘The French Chef’ on PBS would be on TV. And here was this English woman, and my family was English, and she was cooking this amazing food.” His parents presented him with cookbooks by Child and master French chef Jacques Pepin when he was still an adolescent. He’s been mastering the cuisine himself ever since, for over four decades, enough to be designated the 2011 Best Chef in the Great Lakes by the foundation named for another great Francophile, James Beard
But he’s never been blind to the joy of cooking in multiple languages.”My mom’s spaghetti Bolognese inspired the one I currently have on the menu,” he notes. (That’s not the only family touch. The paintings on the wall were all created by his father, Alfred Young.)
Featuring a classic Italian dish in a French bistro doesn’t strike him as the least bit incongruous. Indeed, the Standard’s menu makes it clear that you’re not confined to fancy, hard-to-pronounce dishes. Take the superb steaks, butchered in house and prepared simply. Market pizza and Cobb Salad feature right alongside the classic, very Gallic Salad Niçoise. If you’re not up for a Croque Monsiuer, the best ham sandwich you’ll ever eat, get a classic Club or Bistro Burger.
But try not to be intimidated by those French names. Young easily admits that they can be daunting. “But I kind of look at it like, when a French person says, ‘go get a ladder,’ it sounds incredibly sexy. But it’s still a ladder.” The friendly, decidedly unsnobby staff are happy to translate.
Part of what fascinates Young about French cuisine is its diversity.
“The first thing I did when I started to plan the menu was get out a big map.” So in addition to the lush stews, Beef Bourgouignon and Pot-au-Feu (which translates to “pot of fire”), or fish ranging from delicate Lemon Sole Meuniere to a robust Bouillabaisse, you can take a culinary tour of the entire country via the Standard’s menu. Try crepes modeled on those from Normandy, on the country’s north Atlantic coast, either savory, featuring melt-in-your-mouth duck confit, or sweet Crepes Suzette delightfully inebriated in Grand Marnier. France’s eastern border with Germany offers Alsatian Choucroute Garni, a selection of sausages and sauerkraut that you can down with a frothy beer; the bar has a hearty selection of brews from Michigan, Quebec, and Belgium.
Young even goes beyond the country’s borders, crossing oceans to include former French colonies like Vietnam, North Africa, and Louisiana. He’s begun deep dives into a particular area’s cuisine—for instance, Tunisia—with monthly multi-course dinners, served in the Bistro’s lower level dining space. And no matter how far away the inspiration may be, all dishes are made with the freshest ingredients, locally sourced as much as possible.
It all adds up to a glorious feast—whether you decide to make it moveable via the Larder, or to stay put at the Bistro—but most importantly, prepared with tremendous care and love. The Standard is, after all, Young’s home away from home, where guests are greeted with equal warmth for lunch, dinner, cocktails, or the decadent weekend brunch. It’s enough to make you want to learn at least one new word—formidable. That’s French for “wow.”
