Freya

Freya opened in Detroit's New Center neighborhood at 2929 E. Grand Boulevard, from the team behind Chartreuse Kitchen and Cocktails. Chef Doug Hewitt runs a tasting-menu-only kitchen, changing roughly monthly, that "draws on the seasons and nods to Scandinavia," with parallel omnivorous, pescatarian, and vegan versions of the same multi-course format. The restaurant has been named one of the New York Times' "50 Most Exciting Restaurants in America" (2022) and Hour Detroit's Restaurant of the Year (2024), and Hewitt was a 2024 James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Great Lakes.

Every tasting menu is sold with a choice of three beverage pairings — wine, cocktail, or non-alcoholic — assembled by certified sommelier and beverage director Catherine Kurth. In Hour Detroit, Kurth said the non-alcoholic pairing "offers an opportunity for creativity, drawing upon a wide range of juices, teas, and nonalcoholic aperitifs for combinations that match the dishes," treating it as a full parallel program rather than a single substitute drink. Documented pairings have included Rayula — castor and mango juices, turmeric honey, and lemon juice, built to run alongside a roasted squab course — and a closing Black Raspberry Krydda Snaps made exclusively for Freya by Norden Aquavit, a Michigan-based producer.

New Center sits between Midtown and Boston-Edison, near the old Fisher and Cadillac Place buildings, and Freya operates as a reservations-first destination restaurant rather than a walk-in bar. Because the non-alcoholic pairing is built into the same tasting-menu structure as the wine and cocktail tracks, non-drinking guests get a full course-by-course beverage experience rather than a single mocktail added to the check.