Motor City Cocktails: Q&A with Wright and Co.

Located on the second floor of one of Detroit’s most iconic buildings, Wright and Co. stood as a shining example of what was possible in downtown when they opened three years ago, back when the city was largely a ghost town. The cocktail bar/restaurant is known for its cocktail program, which hinges on Detroit’s quintessential cocktail, The Last Word, a mix of gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur, and freshly-pressed lime juice. We talked with Wright and Co.’s general manager Kat Hawkins about the joy of being a cocktail pioneer in Motor City.

Paste: Given that Wright and Co opened three years ago, your place feels very much like a pioneer in downtown Detroit, in operation back when there were few businesses and the street lights didn’t come on. Could you give us a sense of what it was like in those early days?

Kat Hawkins: It was really interesting to see how successful a restaurant with no sign, no parking lot, and constant construction around it was going to be in a very empty downtown, but it worked! We were busy. SO busy. I think people had really been wanting somewhere that wasn’t a sports bar to open up in this neighborhood. The Opera House, Music Hall, and Gem Theaters are all very close by and their patrons have been good to us since the start. It was odd being the only one. However, now that we have neighbors and the surrounding blocks are being developed it has only gotten better for us overall. 

Paste: And now you’ve got chain stores lining the streets and waiting lists to get into downtown condos. What else has changed as it relates to the beverage scene in Detroit?

KH: First of all, BRING. IT. ON. Fill these buildings! Bring the people into the city! We are loving it. As far as beverage goes, we were a little scary to some people at first…we don’t have Bud Light, and our wine list is Old World focused, and gosh what the heck is Becherovka? However, we were ready to answer all of those questions and be able to provide quality products that many just simply hadn’t heard of yet. Now we have soccer Moms ordering Single Barrel Bourbon Old Fashioneds and people asking me for a gin list. It is so wonderful to see people becoming interested in things they had never heard of three years ago. 

Paste: Given its long history, Detroit very much feels like it’s a working-class town developing some very refined tastes. Does that create any sort of paradox in terms of what residents want to experience?

KH: Not really. It’s a “work hard/play hard” kind of mentality. I think that Wright and Company straddles that line of refinement without being stuffy about it, much like the people of Detroit. Our owners set out to make this into a gathering place for people who are grabbing a bite before the baseball game, or to come in here dressed in your best for the opera. We are happy as long as you are happy, no matter what outfit you are wearing.