Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways

Common Grill

The Common Grill in downtown Chelsea.

Profiles: The Common Grill

In recent years, the combination of chef Craig Common and actor Jeff Daniels has created a significant cultural imprint on Chelsea. The idea was to open a restaurant in town where people could go to enjoy a great meal before or after taking in a play at the Purple Rose Theater, started by Jeff Daniels. On July 26, 1991, The Common Grill opened its doors and has been hailed ever since.

Chef Craig Common is self-taught and has worked in the restaurant business since washing dishes at age 14. He became corporate chef of 16 C.A. Muer restaurants in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida before his current venture.

Everything at The Common Grill is homemade, including the light, yeasty, poppy seed-topped bread he developed at the Muer restaurant group. His menu is innovative, eclectic, and includes a fresh fish "catch of the day" etched on a blackboard with other daily specials including salads, steaks, pasta, and desserts.

Craig Common has a pair of cookbooks, The Common Grill Cookbook and Return to the Common Grill Cookbook.

References:

The Common Grill. (2006). The story of the Common Grill. [online resource].

Cook, C. (2006). Common sense. Hour Detroit Magazine [online resource].

Rector, S. (2001). Uncommonly good grill offers big-time taste in small-town. Detroit Free Press. August 24, 2001.

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