The Basics

Dish is a tiny (800 square feet) carryout restaurant located on Detroit’s East Side. A wide variety of food is made on site every day. With cuisine dubbed “New American”, the menu at Dish offers every day selections of salads, sandwiches, quesadillas, pastas, quiches and desserts. In addition there is a daily specials board which on any given day includes entrees of beef, pork, poultry, fresh fish, casseroles, vegetarian fares and salads. Award winning soups are made from scratch daily. With the exceptions of Breadsmith’s bread and Boarshead deli meats (turkey, ham and salami) all of the food is prepared at Dish from raw ingredients. Emphasis is placed on freshness, nutrition and appeal. Attention and planning results in a diverse menu which offers something for nearly every taste and budget. The average price is $8.50, with items ranging in price from $4 for a bowl of soup with bread to $18.50 for a Beef Wellington special. Dish also offers an extensive catering menu with food which can be tailored for any sort of event. Desserts are sold every day at the store in portions meant for one, but whole cakes, pies and more can be prepared for special orders with 48 hours advance notice. All menus are available for your viewing by clicking on the links to the right, or you can stop in at Dish to pick up a paper copy. Dish is located in Detroit proper at 18441 Mack Avenue next to Flagstar Bank at the corner of Mack and Canyon/Moran. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 11am until 9pm, Saturdays from noon until 9pm and closed on Sundays (catering, however, is available on Sundays).

The People

Chef Paul Sulek is a 1989 graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. As a young chef, he worked at The Mansion On Turtle Creek in Dallas, TX. Back in Detroit, MI he worked at The Whitney: first as a cook in the main kitchen and then as Pastry Chef for a number of years. From The Whitney, he went on to the Country Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI and then Meadowbrook Country Club in Northville, MI before coming on board at Dish full time. Paul is an incredibly skilled chef with roots in French traditional cuisine which are evident in the flavors and preparations of Dish’s food.

Peg Sulek worked for many years as a waitress at Sparky Herbert’s in Grosse Pointe Park, MI and The Traffic Jam And Snug in Detroit, MI. In 1992 she took a job as General Manager at Sparky Herbert’s. In 1995 she and friend Heather O’Hare started a business called Bon Oeuf (Good Egg) which supplied pastries to area restaurants which continued until Dish opened in 1998.

Paul and Peg met in 1985 at The Mallard Pub in Detroit where Peg was a 16 year old busgirl and Paul was a 20 year old line cook. They immediately began dating and have been together ever since, marrying in 1991. At Dish, Paul and Peg brainstorm together to create the menus. Often, Peg will have an inspiration or an idea for a dish and then she'll pass it on to Paul to develop. Invariably, Paul exceeds her wildest expectations every time.

Sous Chef Alex McKissick is an important part of Dish. It is a near certainty that the food you eat from Dish will have been prepared to order by Alex. He is known to many of our regular customers for his friendly service. Behind the scenes, Alex is the glue holding it all together. Not only does he work the line during dinner service, he also makes Dish’s wonderful salad dressings and prepares many of Dish’s specials and side dishes. He is a skilled cook with speed and organization that are a rare and precious combination in a restaurant cook.

Tara Knapp, Lavelle Easley and Reggie Bernard are three more people likely to be seen at Dish. Dish’s renown for friendly, capable service is due in no small part to Tara’s charm, Reggie is an inveterate caterer who has worked a great many events since Dish first opened and Lavelle keeps order behind the scenes. There is also a small cast of characters who tend to gravitate back to Dish whether it’s to help out behind the counter or to work for catering event.

Lisa Debs’ mark is still evident all over Dish. The large tile art wall that greets you as you enter Dish was done by her (she has previously done tilework for Twingo’s in Detroit and Motor in Hamtramck). Additionally, many of the recipes that are still use today at Dish were created by her: Corn and Seafood Chowder, Maurice Salad, Motor Martini Salad, Pasta Putanesca, Linguine Picatta, Chicken Pot Pie, Eggplant Parmesan and Triple Nut Chocolate Flan are all still made in homage to her. She is now committing extraordinary feats of real estate in and around Detroit, but luckily for Dish she still makes an occasional guest appearance!

Over the years Dish has been fortunate to have many talented chefs at hand. Peg's brother, Chef Matthew Greenia, entrusted Dish with his Black Bean Salad recipe which is the main component for the perennially popular Black Bean and Spanish Rice Burrito. He also left Dish with his recipes for Ancho Chicken Quesadilla and the all-important Gazpacho. Matthew now cooks at Motor City Brewing Works in Detroit. The Granny Smith Apple Cake, Carrot Cake and Sugar Pie Dough recipes were handed down from Peg’s mother, Betty Greenia. The uber-popular Cowboy Cookies are a recipe from D.C. Watt, Detroit’s vegetarian bistro from the 1980’s. Going way back to the beginning, Dish still to this day makes chef Nick Lundberg's Pistachio Encrusted Chicken with Cilantro Lime Cream. The above items, along with Lisa’s recipes comprise many of the most popular dishes sold at Dish and we are forever grateful for the chef's contributions.

The History

Dish was opened in 1998 by friends Peg Sulek and Lisa Debs. Since the early 1990’s the pair had developed a couple of business plans for restaurants: one for a diner-cafe in the Cass Corridor and one for a bistro on Detroit’s East Side. Alas, being in their twenties with no solid restaurant ownership history behind them, no one was willing to fund their venture. After years of frustrated vision, one day in 1997 they noticed a small bakery on Mack Avenue with a “for sale” sign in the window. When the two went to look at it they found an itty bitty reception area with a slightly bigger kitchen. It was difficult for them to imagine what could be done with the space. Clearly it would never become the sit-down restaurant they longed for. It was, however, the right price. The friends realized that they could actually afford to do something there without the need for outside investors. They each went home and began to brainstorm. By the time of their next meeting it was clear that they were on the same page regarding the concept: “bistro in a box”. After many months of menu planning and redesigning the space, they opened Dish in February of 1998 to rave reviews.

In 1999 Dish opened a second location: a sit down restaurant in the lobby of The Park Avenue Hotel adjacent to The Town Pump. Unfortunately, the venture was short-lived as it was a bit too early to enjoy the benefits of the not then completed Comerica Park. They closed the downtown location after one year and devoted their time solely to Dish on Mack Avenue. In 2000, Dish was secure and well-established. Peg’s husband, Paul Sulek, left his job as sous chef at Meadowbrook Country Club and came to work at Dish full time. In 2003, Lisa Debs left Dish to pursue a career in real estate. She has her broker’s license and now runs her own company, Suite Properties, in Detroit. Since 2003, Dish is the official, proverbial “Mom and Pop shop”, run by husband and wife team Paul and Peg Sulek. The pair plans to continue running Dish until it’s time to retire.

The Future

In 2009, Paul and Peg began renovations on their little place. The reception area was given a cosmetic overhaul and the kitchen underwent a redesign to utilize the space more efficiently. With extra workspace comes the ability to increase the amount of pastries and catering Dish can supply. In the near future, the facade of the building will undergo it’s own cosmetic lift.

The big picture is this: Dish will be around for as long as the community will support it. History dictates that it will then be here for a long, long time. Paul and Peg look forward to many years of cooking and baking for those who appreciate what they do!