World-class blues: posh jazz restaurant gives Detroit a taste of the good life
Black Enterprise, Oct, 2005 by Curtrise Garner

Frank Taylor walks into his restaurant, Seldom Blues, with his cell phone glued to his ear. With a panoramic view of the Detroit River, the fine dining and jazz restaurant is bustling with an eclectic mix of professionals. The supper club's decor is blue and gold with splashes of green. Even the plates are decorated, emblazoned with the words "Seldom Blues play here."

Business is good for Taylor, a longtime restaurateur who gained notoriety as co-owner and managing partner of Sweet Georgia Brown, another upscale restaurant in Detroit's Greektown district. This recognition helped pave the way for Seldom Blues.

Chuck Watters, vice president of Hines Real Estate, a development company, was dining at Sweet Georgia Brown and was impressed with the ambiance, food, and service. He and Taylor started conversing about future projects in the downtown area, and that eventually led to meetings with decision makers at General Motors. The automaker wanted a restaurant in its new headquarters. Taylor was ready to answer the call.

"At Sweet Georgia Brown, we saw the type of entertainment he brought, and the diverse crowd really appealed to us," says Matthew Cullen, general manager of economic development and enterprise services for GM. "We had a lot of confidence in the visions he put forward. He was consistent with the type of inclusive, world-class environment we were looking for. Frank was in the right place, with the right idea, at the right time."