Coach Insignia to close in February
Those celebrating Valentine’s Day this year may be among the last guests at Detroit fine-dining stalwart Coach Insignia.
The restaurant, located on the 71st and 72nd floor of the GM Renaissance Center, will hold its final service to the public on Feb. 18, the RenCen confirms.
“Home to General Motors’ global headquarters, the GMRENCEN is one of Detroit’s top tourist destinations,” said Claudia Killeen, GM manager of Renaissance Center Development, in a statement released Tuesday. “We are currently exploring options to offer our visitors an unrivaled experience in this premiere Detroit space.”
Coach Insignia’s lease expires at the end of February.
Opened in the summer of 2004, the wine-centric restaurant was named one of the state’s four “most scenic” restaurants by users of the restaurant reservation app and website Open Table in July.
Former Detroit News restaurant critic Jane Rayburn wrote in 2004 that the price tag of the upscale steak house would exceed $7 million, and the restaurant took two years of planning.
“Detroit has not seen a restaurant opening of this magnitude since Coach Insignia’s predecessor, the Summit,” she wrote. That restaurant opened in the late 1970s and was known for slowly revolving to give each diner a 360-degree view of Detroit, the Detroit River and the Windsor skyline.
Restaurateur Matt Prentice opened Coach Insignia under his Unique Restaurant Corp., which at the time managed several other restaurants including Morels in Bingham Farms and Northern Lakes Seafood in Bloomfield Hills. In 2012 Prentice left Unique Restaurant Corp., and it was rebranded as Epicurean Group, which still manages Coach Insignia as well as Novi Chophouse, Plaza Deli in Southfield and Epic Cafe by Design in Troy.
There are no details yet on what will replace Coach Insignia atop Michigan’s tallest building. Diners wishing to get a table before it closes should book through the Open Table app, or call (313) 567-2622.
mbaetens@detroitnews.com
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Twitter: @melodybaetens