June 21st, 2008 started off as a gorgeous day for a wedding at The Whitney. The garden was decorated to perfection with amazing centerpieces upon crisp white linens, champagne colored ribbons draped from the Peachtree, and the bride's signature drink was poured and waiting to be picked up by 125 guests as it sparkled in the sun. It was picture perfect... until 15 minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to start...
In a matter of moments, the sky darkened, the wind started howling, and then the rain and pea-sized hail came. We moved to Plan B as the staff immediately grabbed umbrellas, saved the 5 tiered cupcake wedding cake, and began moving the ceremony to the 2nd & 3rd floor staircase landing in front of the fabulous Tiffany stained glass windows. It was an epic Michigan storm out there.
We do many Whitney weddings inside where we serve hors d'oeuvres on the second floor and open our Winter Garden bar on the third. So this wasn't new to us. It turned out to be so wonderful, that many thought our Plan B should have been Plan A all along.
The Bride was absolutely thrilled with how everything turned out and the very next morning, she sent an amazing letter thanking the staff and praising the venue and the service.
So how does this fairytale wedding end... well they lived happily ever after (celebrating their new lives together in SUNNY Costa Rica)!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The Whitneys ready for PLAY
Sylvia Rector, a well respected Restaurant Critic/Editor at the Detroit Free Press, featured our restaurant and garden in the PLAY section of the Free Press today. If you have a moment, please check it out! Thank you Sylvia for joining us at The Whitney!
"Metro Alfresco: The Whitney"
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008806190330
"Metro Alfresco: The Whitney"
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008806190330
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Heating up the Kitchen
This week, The Whitney is putting the finishing touches on its brand new kitchen! We have purchased many new appliances, including an entire hot line. The equipment is state-of-the-art and allows our talented staff to create even more succulent dishes in a shorter period of time.
At The Whitney, we love when guests come in and enjoy a leisurely meal with us. However, we also know that many patrons are on a schedule. With our upgraded kitchen, we are better able to meet all of our customer time requests while still delivering the culinary experience that has made The Whitney a Detroit favorite for over 20 years!
At The Whitney, we love when guests come in and enjoy a leisurely meal with us. However, we also know that many patrons are on a schedule. With our upgraded kitchen, we are better able to meet all of our customer time requests while still delivering the culinary experience that has made The Whitney a Detroit favorite for over 20 years!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Whitney's first 89X Garden Party of the summer!
Tomorrow, Thursday June 12th is The Whitney's first 89X Garden Party of the summer! These events have been a staple on the Detroit music scene for twenty years and many renowned bands have played in our Gardens (like The White Stripes). This year the events are better than ever. The Gardens have been re-done and are more spacious, more colorful and offer more seating than ever before.
The events start at 9:00 PM and two bands will play "un-plugged"- some for the first time ever.
Cal Cagno and the 89X team have pulled together a schedule that includes:
June 12: Wurfull and The Delivery
There is no cover charge and valet parking is free.
Join us in The Whitney Garden for great food, refreshment and music in the heart of the "D"!
The events start at 9:00 PM and two bands will play "un-plugged"- some for the first time ever.
Cal Cagno and the 89X team have pulled together a schedule that includes:
June 12: Wurfull and The Delivery
June 19: Robin Horlock Band and Otto Vector
June 26: Silent Violet and The Wall Clocks
July 3: Prime Ministers and Spencer Michaud.
There is no cover charge and valet parking is free.
Join us in The Whitney Garden for great food, refreshment and music in the heart of the "D"!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Flavors of Michigan Charity Event
Last night The Whitney took part in the "Flavors of Michigan" Charity Event hosted by the American Liver Foundation at the Ritz Carlton in Dearborn. Follow the below link for a description of the event.
http://www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detroit/Events/Hour-Town-Events/?view=view_event&itm=685
The Whitney was auctioned off at the highest price of $1,000.00. Our chefs served a 5 course meal to the group that took part in the auction. It was a very successful event.
Here are some more events happening around The Whitney...
The Detroit Regional Chamber is hosting an event here tomorrow in the Garden with about 70 people. We also have The Detroit Wine Organization hosting an event on June 18th, they will be having close to 100 people in the Garden for a wine tasting. On June 20th we are out-catering an event at the Zoo for 2,000 people. We will keep you updated on these and more events coming up.
http://www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detroit/Events/Hour-Town-Events/?view=view_event&itm=685
The Whitney was auctioned off at the highest price of $1,000.00. Our chefs served a 5 course meal to the group that took part in the auction. It was a very successful event.
Here are some more events happening around The Whitney...
The Detroit Regional Chamber is hosting an event here tomorrow in the Garden with about 70 people. We also have The Detroit Wine Organization hosting an event on June 18th, they will be having close to 100 people in the Garden for a wine tasting. On June 20th we are out-catering an event at the Zoo for 2,000 people. We will keep you updated on these and more events coming up.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Tigers shuttle is a Success!
Friday, June 6th marked the first night for The Whitney's shuttle to Tigers games. 15 people used the shuttle on the first night and all agreed it was a good experience. That was a great turn out for our first ride! We offer this service for every Tiger night game and we hope Tiger fans take advantage of this in the future!
The Whitney's shuttle is free as is our valet parking. Instead of paying top dollar for inconvenient stadium parking, come by The Whitney and hop on our shuttle that drops you off right at the Comerica Park gate. Have a drink in our garden and save even more money during our Happy Hour (4 – 6 PM) where all garden menu food is half off! Then hangout after the game (The Whitney was voted Detroit’s Best Place for a Nightcap by HOUR Detroit).
Check our website for our live entertainment schedule.
We love our garden and we think you will too!
The Whitney's shuttle is free as is our valet parking. Instead of paying top dollar for inconvenient stadium parking, come by The Whitney and hop on our shuttle that drops you off right at the Comerica Park gate. Have a drink in our garden and save even more money during our Happy Hour (4 – 6 PM) where all garden menu food is half off! Then hangout after the game (The Whitney was voted Detroit’s Best Place for a Nightcap by HOUR Detroit).
Check our website for our live entertainment schedule.
We love our garden and we think you will too!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Celebrate the 2008 Red Wings Parade in The Whitney Gardens!
Like everybody in Detroit, we are celebrating the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup Championship and their phenomenal 2008 season!
The Red Wings are an incredible source of pride for our entire region. They are an Original 6 team, and we like to think of The Whitney as an original, authentic Detroit destination. I invite hockey fans to kick back in our garden for food and drink tomorrow after the Detroit Parade to celebrate the Cup’s return to Hockeytown.
The gardens are open at 11:30AM, but we also offer half off our garden menu from 4:00PM to 6:00PM. From 5:00PM to 7:00PM, morning radio personalities JAY TOWERS and BILL MCALLISTER from 97.1FM The Ticket will be on-hand to talk Red Wings and all other things Detroit.
We have free valet parking and is also pleased to provide a free shuttle to Comerica Park tomorrow evening for the Tigers game.
GO WINGS! GO TIGERS! And then go to the gardens!
The Red Wings are an incredible source of pride for our entire region. They are an Original 6 team, and we like to think of The Whitney as an original, authentic Detroit destination. I invite hockey fans to kick back in our garden for food and drink tomorrow after the Detroit Parade to celebrate the Cup’s return to Hockeytown.
The gardens are open at 11:30AM, but we also offer half off our garden menu from 4:00PM to 6:00PM. From 5:00PM to 7:00PM, morning radio personalities JAY TOWERS and BILL MCALLISTER from 97.1FM The Ticket will be on-hand to talk Red Wings and all other things Detroit.
We have free valet parking and is also pleased to provide a free shuttle to Comerica Park tomorrow evening for the Tigers game.
GO WINGS! GO TIGERS! And then go to the gardens!
Come One Come All! The Gardens are Offcially Open!
This week marks the official opening of our revamped and stunning new Whitney Gardens! So far the feedback has been extremely positive and we have been featured by Fox TV, The Detroit News, The Detroit Free Press and a whole slew of on-line publications.
Our first Tuesday with DJ PowdrBlu was this week. The rain caused us to move the party inside to our third floor WinterGarden - still it was great to get the event kicked-off. Tuesdays will be a blast this summer at The Whitney.
We Detroiters are always looking for outdoor dining and drinking experiences during our summer months -- we think our Gardens can become the place to be for lunch, happy hour, dinner and entertainment.
We hope you visit us and agree!
Our first Tuesday with DJ PowdrBlu was this week. The rain caused us to move the party inside to our third floor WinterGarden - still it was great to get the event kicked-off. Tuesdays will be a blast this summer at The Whitney.
We Detroiters are always looking for outdoor dining and drinking experiences during our summer months -- we think our Gardens can become the place to be for lunch, happy hour, dinner and entertainment.
We hope you visit us and agree!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Barbara Komen “Race for the Cure” passes The Whitney!!
Well, I don’t usually wear a pink chef’s jacket but in the case of the Barbara Komen “Race for the Cure” where pink is the color of choice, why not? It was absolutely inspirational to see some 50,000 men, women and children of all ages and races filing past The Whitney Saturday morning, May 31, helping to raise funds to find a cure for breast cancer.We wanted to be involved at The Whitney so we dressed our Tiger mascot “Whit” in a pink pashmina, tied pink ribbons and balloons to our front fence and Patrick Liebler, our Executive Director, Khalid Diab, our General manager, Michael Lutes, our Executive Chef and I donned pink chef’s garb as we handed out over 5,000 small chocolate Opera Cakes, The Whitney’s signature dessert, to help fuel the runners to the finish line.
It was a great way to throw open our garden gates and a great way to help a great cause. We’ll be there again next year, only bigger and better!
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