Vertical Detroit, the wine-centric restaurant tucked beneath the Ashley apartment building in downtown Detroit, is on its way out. Owners James and Remy Lutfy say the Centre Street dining room will close on or before March 28, 2026, as they sell the restaurant and shift their energy into growing their Fine Wine Source retail business, including a planned Plymouth location.
The move was announced in a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page and covered by the Detroit Free Press. Remy Lutfy told the Free Press that “the restaurant is being sold and a new concept is forthcoming,” with the downtown spot’s last day expected on or before March 28, 2026. Details about the buyer and the next concept have not yet been made public.
Owners Shift Focus To Retail
James and Remy Lutfy are also the team behind The Fine Wine Source, a family-run wine shop in Livonia, and they say the future is in expanding that side of the business. The Fine Wine Source’s website lists the Livonia shop at 16721 Middlebelt Road and promotes tastings and wine-club events, offerings the owners plan to extend into Plymouth and other suburbs.
In practical terms, it is a pivot away from full-service dining and toward retail shelves and off-site wine programming, with the Lutfys looking to pour their time into tastings, clubs and events instead of nightly table service.
A Decade In Downtown Dining
Vertical Detroit opened in 2015 as one of Detroit’s early wine-focused restaurants and grew into a downtown fixture. The restaurant’s site lays out the Lutfy family’s long wine background and lists the Centre Street address and reservation details, underscoring how tightly the space has been tied to their hospitality brand…