food & grocery: New chef brings small-plate-focused menu to The Ravens Club in Ann Arbor

The Ravens Club, at 207 S. Main St. in Ann Arbor, debuted a new menu under chef Seth Bateman last week.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

According to managing partner Jeff Paquin, the new menu circles back to the restaurant's original concept: "rogue mixology" and small plates that feature locally-sourced ingredients.

"For me, I always like to walk into a place and have two to three different tastes in a sitting, and a drink or two, and not have to shell out a ton of money," said Paquin. "We wanted this menu to reflect things we'd like to eat ourselves. We'll have pork. Lots of pork, bone marrow, sweet breads. We'll have rustic, locally-sourced food American foods with a bit of an Italian and French focus. It's aggressive and fun."

Ravens Club chef Seth Bateman.

Photo courtesy of The Ravens Club

Don't look for a huge change in philosophy from Bateman, whose background and passions mirror those of original Ravens Club chef Dan Vernia. Vernia recently stepped away from day-to-day operations at the restaurants to focus on the Washtenaw Food Hub.

"Seth is totally immersed in the urban farm to table movement," said Paquin. "You will find him at the farmers markets two to three times a week. We're sourcing cider from J Trees. Sparrow Meat Market was just here dropping off pork belly."

You can find the new menu on the Ravens Club website. Small plate prices range from $3 for marinated olives, to $15 for a farmhouse board of meats and cheeses.