By Eleanor Heald
Correspondent
When owner Jim Eggle opened Gravity Bar & Grill in Milford in late December 2003, he seized an opportunity.
As owner of Milford's Hector & Jimmy's, on North Milford Road (248) 685-8779, now in its 20th year, Eggle recognized the escalating popularity of downtown Milford as a dining destination.
"With Gravity," 53 year-old Eggle said, "my goal is a chef-oriented, white tablecloth restaurant in a small intimate setting and offering great value."
When choosing the restaurant name, Eggle rediscovered a slip of paper he placed in a recipe book in the early 1980s. On it, he had written "Gravity." He called it "a neat name that speaks to down to earth and drawing you in."
Eggle has experienced the restaurant business from coast to coast and Canada. Armed with a degree in food and beverage management from Miami (Ohio) University, he worked for several prominent restaurant chains.
GETTING DRAWN IN
Gravity draws diners inside through a low-lit entry bar with six barstools and three high-top tables, seating four each.
The main dining room, seating 50, carries out a dark wood theme set by the bar. Enlivening the atmosphere are two seafoam-colored walls, balanced by one painted deep apricot with attractive tulip wall art. White tablecloths also brighten an otherwise dimly-lit room.
Servers are truly "down to earth," explaining core menu items and specials simply, as though they really understand them and are not reciting coached phrases Executive Chef Reva Bell used in a preshift meeting.
DOWN TO EARTH CHEF
From the day Gravity opened, the 26-year-old Bell has directed the kitchen and menu.
"At age 10," Reva, a native Detroiter said, "I started cooking with my mom (Charlotte Bell). By the time I was 13, I made dinner for our family of six."
During high school, Reva took culinary classes in a vocational program, then after high school graduation, she entered the culinary degree program at Schoolcraft College in Livonia and earned her degree in 2000.
Reva apprenticed at the Ritz-Carlton in Dearborn and worked there for a few months after graduation from Schoolcraft. She was executive chef at Villa Maria in West Bloomfield before taking her toque to Gravity.
"As the concept of Gravity evolved," Reva said, "comfort food was always the goal. Small plates are not our aim. Bistro-style size and generous is more like it."
To be seasonal, Reva will change the Gravity menu in mid-April, but the following popular items will remain. Thai steamed mussels with lemongrass, cilantro, Thai chiles and coconut; portabella Napoleon with roasted peppers, goat cheese, crispy phyllo and balsamic reduction; bruschetta tasting with seasonal toppings; and wild mushroom soup with white truffle oil and fresh herbs.
If you prefer small plates, choices from the appetizer portion of the menu are a great idea.
For main dishes, pan seared jumbo lump crab and shrimp cakes, Tuscan steak or Asian steamed sea bass are popular choices. Fish lovers have come to enjoy the daily seafood specials. Two are offered each week night and four each night on weekends.
A short but well-edited wine list, where Eggle prices at 2 1_2 times wholesale, and less than that for higher-priced wines, has some flavorful choices.
Flavors conclude with a separate dessert menu. Double chocolate cheesecake with Kahlua ganache and chantilly cream will send you home well-satisfied.
Eleanor Heald is a nationally-published writer and Troy resident who writes about restaurants, food, wine and spirits for the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers. Contact her by e-mail at focusonwine@aol.com.
Source:http://www.hometownlife.com/HomeTownLife/NewsSearch.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=95500 | 
