Best Synthesis

Antietam

1428 Gratiot Ave., Detroit 313-782-4378; antietamdetroit.com

A cheeseball hero once said, “I love it when a plan comes together.” There is no better summary of Antietam than that simple phrase. Sitting at the bar, you glance out the windows at Busy Bee Hardware across the street: They’re a Detroit institution, and you feel right at home among the art deco fixtures, the rescued-slash-salvaged backbar, the antique jeweler’s cabinet, the enigmatic “Ladies’ Lounge” sign. Then the food appears, by turns simple, then complex; artistic and intricate, then rustic and random; always, though, it is exacting and consistently superlative. Nothing on the menu disappoints, from the wildly popular oxtail terrine to the chicken to the pasta. The bar matches the food with a good selection of wines ably paired by the staff, and a skilled bar producing good house cocktails as well as the classics on demand. If it isn’t the best restaurant in Detroit, it certainly comes together like it.