Walking into Host, you might not know exactly what’s going to come out of the kitchen. But one thing always stays the same at its core: hospitality.
The chefs come and go, the menus change and the environment remains the place where it all comes together. And for owner Michael Ivkov, hospitality began long before the first sought-after restaurant opened its doors in Utica in December 2022.
Growing up in Metro Detroit, Ivkov was surrounded by the restaurant business through his grandfather. He learned early on what it meant to host people around a table. After college, Ivkov and a friend started a food truck and began hosting pop-up dinners in Downtown Detroit. What started as a way to bring people together through food eventually became the inspiration for Host.
After moving to Utica with his family, Ivkov saw an opportunity to bring that same energy while creating a new kind of restaurant experience.
“I wanted to bring the hospitality experience closer to the suburbs,” Ivkov says.
Host has grown into a restaurant concept that rotates in a different chef every couple of months — a place where chefs can make their mark on the community and cuisine. It is a team effort to find the chef who fits their restaurant's definition of “hosting.”
“We choose organically,” Ivkov says. “People who are based on the passion they bring to the table and hosting.”
They’ve created a space where community is built through food, giving chefs the opportunity to bring their own cultures and communities into it. From all over the world, each chef brings a piece of their heritage.
Their success came with the opportunity to open another location in Romeo. Through Host’s process of bringing chefs into the space, they found someone special with a connection to the community: Jessica Phillips, whose family owns a farm stand in Romeo.
Phillips took over as head chef at Host Romeo, specializing in French cuisine and Southern hospitality, incorporating more of an intimate dining experience to the Romeo location.
“We are reaching a whole new customer base in the Romeo location,” Ivkov says.
While Romeo is still growing, Host Utica continues to rotate chefs and cuisines throughout the year. This October and November, Ryan Matley will bring Japanese street food to the table, intertwining the flavors of fall. Host Utica will also transform for Halloween with its pop-up Ghost Bar, featuring its own highly skilled bar team and a menu of Halloween-inspired cocktails and mocktails.
Not knowing what might be coming out of the kitchen is part of the experience at Host. The chefs change, the menus evolve, but the heart of Host remains the same: bringing people together around the table.