Most restaurants aim to make plates that will stick to the ribs of their faithful customers.
But a local chef has plans to open a new dining spot in Detroit’s Midtown that feeds the tortured souls of those battling drug and alcohol addiction.
Vigilante Kitchen is slated to open this summer in the confines of Smith & Co., a restaurant and brewpub at 644 Selden St. that’s slated to close for good early next month.
Vigilante Kitchen will assume the space and is expected to begin serving customers when the doors re-open in late June, Eater Detroit reported.
In addition to cooking up lip-smacking Asian-influenced comfort fare, one of the new tenant’s main goals will be to help food industry workers stem the tide of substance abuse, chef-owner Aaron Cozadd told the foodie website in a recent interview.
Cozadd plans to do that by offering his staff tools to maintain their sobriety and guide them to recovery and a balanced life.
“We’re excited to show Detroit a new restaurant that helps those in need of a new path whether they struggle with addiction or just want to work toward balance and contentment,” Cozadd wrote Friday on Instagram. “In addition to the mission, I’m also excited to get back to an elevated level of food and service more akin to fine dining especial since I was classically French trained and have been known more so for casual dining. Vigilante kitchen will focus as much on honing our craft as it will on balancing our lives.”
The Garden City native attended the Culinary Institute of American in an Upstate New York hamlet and graduated with a degree in culinary arts and restaurant management. He spent years earning his stripes in the world of fine dining, formerly serving as an executive chef for the Michigan-based Union Joints Restaurant Group.
Cozadd survived his own bout with addiction. He told Eater he dabbled in pills, alcohol and heroin while working navigating the upscale restaurant landscape in his early 20s.
Studies indicate hospitality is a profession with one of the highest rates of substance abuse and Cozadd leaned headlong into that laissez-faire party lifestyle early in his career, according to Eater. After years of heavy drug and alcohol use, he began incorporating a regimen of CrossFit training, addiction counseling and Japanese martial arts like Aikido, Ryukyu Kempo and Homonji Iaido into his life. Cozadd’s quest for recovery also led him to Buddhist teachings that he used to address his substance abuse issues. Today, Cozadd is an ordained dharma instructor who counsels others through the throes of addiction at the Dharma Gate Zen Center in Troy.
Vigilante Kitchen will be open for dinner five days a week, fusing Japanese recipes with the French cooking techniques Cozadd learned as a classically trained chef. The end goal is a unique Midwest twist on comfort foods like spiced hot chicken dry rubbed with brown sugar Sichuan peppercorn, or tomato soup cooked with a shiitake mushroom base and flavor notes of coconut cream, ginger, miso and black pepper, according to Eater Detroit.
Cozadd is hiring a team to staff the restaurant now. Employees will have two days off and won’t be asked to work long shifts or 80-hour work weeks. Cozadd said he hopes that gives them the chance to voluntarily participate in recovery meetings, meditation sessions, counseling, visit the gym or take advantage of other tools he intends to offer his crew.
“We invite anyone with a desire to develop a balanced way of living while doing what they love, to join us,” said a job post on Vigilante Kitchen’s social media platforms. “Our core mission is to help industry workers struggling with addiction by offering tangible tools and guidance down a balanced path of recovery, regardless of direct history with addiction or sobriety.”
