Although she spent her childhood years in Paris, journalist Margot Guicheteau always felt pulled to Detroit, her Polish maternal family’s hometown. Ever since her first visit, she’s been deeply connected to the city. She currently calls the Core City neighborhood, near the I-94 and I-96 interchange, home.
“I still remember the first night I arrived (in Detroit, at age 24),” Guicheteau recalls. “I asked my cousin to take me to Poletown, where my mom grew up. It was 11 p.m., the air was freezing, and the atmosphere felt eerie, dramatic, and beautiful all at once. Although I had traveled to the U.S. every year and taken road trips since childhood, I had never seen a city like Detroit. Immediately, I felt at home. There was history here; there were stories that needed to be told.”
Her new book, titled “Soul of Detroit — A Guide to Exceptional Experiences,” is a 144-page paperback filled with vibrant photos. The guide highlights 30 of her most carefully curated gems, from hidden hotels to outstanding restaurants. Michigan Blue contributor Jamie Fabbri caught up with Guicheteau to dig into her experience as a Parisian in Detroit and find out how this book came to life.
Jamie Fabbri: What lured you to Detroit?
Margot Guicheteau: I began my career at 21 as a journalist for the French national newspaper Le Figaro, writing for the lifestyle section, mainly about design. After a few years, I realized I wanted to tell stories that required being out in the field. I was searching for something more adventurous, more exhilarating. That’s what led me to Detroit, where my mother was from. Growing up, I heard her tell stories about the places she used to go, places that had since disappeared. Detroit was a mystery to me, yet I felt connected to it.
JF: What led you to create this book?
MG: After my first experience in Detroit, I lived all over the United States — New York, Seattle, the middle of nowhere in North Carolina, and Nashville, yet I always found myself coming back to Detroit. No matter where I was, I was proud to talk about my time in this city, and eventually life brought me back here.
JF: Who is the book’s target audience?
MG: My collection highlights 30 hidden gems, so I hope the book appeals especially to people who want to discover the city in a more intimate way. But truly, it’s a book for everyone. I hope it encourages people who have never visited Detroit to come and experience this beautiful city for themselves. So far, I’ve met many people from the suburbs who are excited to return and rediscover places they had forgotten about, or never knew existed.
Photo Courtesy of Jarred Gild.
JF: From the 1,000 places you explored, how did you narrow all the possibilities down to 30 locations?
MG: They were chosen for how they have shaped — and continue to shape — Detroit’s unique identity. The city is full of magical places you won’t find anywhere else in America. The challenge is that in Detroit, everything is a little hidden. You have to push doors open, know someone who can take you there, make the effort to find them. What other city has a Hare Krishna temple inside a Ford mansion, a 1930s Russian sauna, the largest Masonic Temple in the world, chocolate made locally, farm-to-table food served straight from an Airstream on a vacant lot, or a bar where you can play feather bowling?
JF: Any personal favorites?
MG: Core City, the neighborhood where I live and built my house, is, I think, the most inspiring in terms of innovative structures. The inhabited Quonset huts, the Caterpillar, and the way the units interact with light while creating a feeling of warmth are deeply inspiring. The restaurant Barda is also unique, with its sunken 30-seat bar clad in vivid blue tiles. And, of course, the wildly imaginative Warren Gateway playground is a truly avant-garde structure.
JF: What’s your itinerary for an ideal day in metro Detroit?
MG: I’d start at Trinosophes in the Eastern Market with a chai, the best in town, and a hearty breakfast. Then I’d get lost in John K. King Books, searching for hidden literary treasures. After that, I’d take a walk through the Arboretum Detroit or wander the Belle Isle Conservatory and Oudolf Garden Detroit on the island, observing how the plants evolve through the seasons. I’d pause at Detroit’s Huckleberry Explorer’s Club, in my neighborhood, and have all sorts of conversations with Stefany Anne Golberg and Morgan Meis, two of the most inspiring people I’ve met here, whose home and cardboard shrine museum always make me feel at home.
A few hours at The Schvitz sauna near the New Center area would follow. For dinner, I’d head to Sharaku (in West Bloomfield), an authentic Japanese restaurant. On the way, I’d stop along Woodward Avenue for a few donuts at Dutch Girl Donuts. If I stayed in Detroit for dinner instead, I’d go to Rose’s on Jefferson Avenue, which reopened after my book was published, and remains one of my all-time favorite spots. I’d end the day at Spkrbox on Grand River (a coffee shop during the day and a techno club at night). I love going there during the week. No other club really has much happening then, but Spkrbox always does. 
MORE INFORMATION: Order the book at amazon.com, simonandschuster.com, or barnesandnoble.com.
