Leña
2720 Brush Street
Detroit
June 8, 2026
There’s not enough written about losing yourself inside of a meal.
Losing a sense of time. Truly taking your time with every dish. Not worrying about what’s next. Not worrying about rushing off to the next part of your date.
Just stay in the moment of right here right now; of the dish in front of you and what you’re going to wash it down with, as the conversation flows at your table and among those around you.
That's a biome built by the service at Leña (firewood in Spanish) and by the chef Mike Conrad, who oversees the kitchen that you can’t miss. You’re basically sitting at it if you’re at the bar, and it’s the first thing you’ll see when you walk in. It’s filled with natural light (dining at golden hour makes this place sparkle with its rounded lines and clean, simplistic design), with massive windows letting it pour in like wine in your glass. Just steps from Comerica Park and yet still tucked away in Brush Park just north of downtown, it’s a deceptive spot; upscale but unassuming.
And the food sets that sense of escapism, working in tandem with the service.
That’s because the food definitely comes first here. It’s easy to get lost inside of a dish like salt cod croquetta (Spanish inspired, round croquette) that absolutely dissolves in your mouth, served with a bright homemade tartar sauce with a bit of heat and bite to it. If I was left alone in a room with these, I’d eat 25 in a sitting and feel no shame.
I loved the Detroit touch with the Jamón dish, using locally made Better Made potato chips as a vessel for the dry cured Spanish pork. This dish is actually served with the pork surrounding a bag of Better Made. When you lift the bag, a mound of chips perfectly plate themselves in the middle. I’ll call this “Detroit rustic finger foods.”
We were eating from a generously modified version of one of the chef's prefix menus that offers five courses at a set price. This is the absolute way to get lost at Leña instead of stressing out if you’re “ordering right," a common ailment that strikes patrons at a nicer restaurant. Maybe it’s not everything you want, but trusting the chef here is the way to go.
There were two absolute stand-outs on this version of the menu. The first was the octopus a la plancha, which turned the typical chewiness of octopus into the texture of a perfectly cooked scallop. It’s all in the method by pre-cooking the octopus and flash cooking it at extreme heat to create a charred, crispy texture on the outside and a smooth, melts-in-your-mouth sensation inside. I’ve simply never tasted anything like it, and have been thinking about it ever since.
The second stand-out is the steak and potatoes. A dish so annoyingly common at restaurants that I often don’t even bother to order it, much like any chicken entree I see.
To not order the steak and potatoes at Leña, however, would be a tragedy. This is, without a doubt, the best steak in the city right now. It’s served damn near medium rare with curly, crispy fried onions on top and a rich beef jus. The potatoes were a perfect sidekick, positioned atop a mushroom and spinach gremolata and a spicy, smoky espelette garlic sauce. It was a heap of a portion, so I ended up taking it home. It tasted just as good being eaten cold out of my refrigerator later that night.
A lot of things have to go right for the perfect dining experience. Your mood factors in. The vibe of the night. The service of course. And yes, ultimately, the food itself.
At Leña, let me assure you that the service and the food will be impeccable. By letting go and trusting the process here, your mood and vibe will follow right along.
