Ambitious, four-star tasting menu restaurant Albena to close

One of the most unique dining experiences in the city, Albena restaurant inside the Siren Hotel will close next month.

Owners Tiffany and Garret Lipar made the announcement on Instagram Tuesday, thanking their team and customers for supporting their ambitious concept.

“We are incredibly proud of the food and service that came from this tiny kitchen. We have changed the minds of so many people including our own about fine dining,” the Lipars wrote in their statement. “Most importantly to the guests who came to support us menu after menu, being able to get to know each of you and cook for you has been the greatest joy we’ve ever known. Because of all of you we were able to live our dream.”

The Instagram post does hint at future plans for the Lipars, with the caption saying "more details to come" and the hashtag #GoodThingsToCome.

The micro-restaurant opened in 2017 after chef Garrett Lipar left Torino in Ferndale. Lipar, a two-time semifinalist for the James Beard Award Rising Star Chef of the Year, focused on a progressive and artful multi-course tasting menu at Albena, using ingredients from farms across the country and avoiding refined sugars and seed and vegetable oils. Aside from adhering to pescatarian or vegetarian diets, the menu is set and is largely a surprise to diners.

Last March, Albena, which is named after Lipar's grandmother, earned a rare, four-star review from The Detroit News. In the feature, chef Lipar discussed the challenges of their business model.

"It's been to our detriment because people can't find us … and we're in such a high-exposure world now, too, with social media and all this information you can access about a space, that people want to almost preview everything they're going to get before they get it to decide if it's worthy of their time and energy," he said.

Reservations for the eight-seat, $250-per-person experience can be made Wed.-Sat. through March 16 at albenadetroit.com. The Siren Hotel is at 1509 Broadway in Detroit.

mbaetens@detroitnews.com

Restaurant Review:Don't forget about Detroit's 8-seat marvel, Albena restaurant