When Jill Vedaa and Jessica Parkison opened Salt+ in 2016, Vedaa told FreshWater the focus was on “creating amazing food inspired by dishes I love, with many different ethnic influences”.

Since opening the popular Lakewood establishment, Vedaa has been a James Beard award semifinalist three times, and the seasonal small plates and craft cocktail menus continue to draw diners to Salt+ from all over.

But Vedaa and Parkison have dreamed of more—almost from the beginning of their partnership. “We opened [Salt+] in 2016 and we always wanted a couple more,” Vedaa recalls. “After our third year, we started looking. Thankfully, we didn’t find anything at that time, because I’m sure the global epidemic would not have been so kind.”

Had they found another location in 2019, they would not have been able to secure the Detroit Shoreway space that housed the former Spice Kitchen + Bar, nor would the former Felice Urban Café in Larchmere have been available.

Vedaa and Parkinson grabbed both spaces—the 10,000-square-foot restaurant at 5800 Detroit Ave. last June, and the two-story house at 12502 Larchmere Blvd. in January.

“When Spice went on the market privately, we jumped on it,” says Vedaa. “And then Felice came up and we couldn’t pass up this opportunity.”

The two new restaurants will honor family. Evelyn, the Detroit Shoreway restaurant, is named after Vedaa’s mother and will serve elevated tapas and paella. The Larchmere space will be named after Parkison’s grandmother, Poppy.

The pair plan to do some remodeling in Evelyn, so its opening is planned for September. They plan to open Poppy, however, sometime next month.

Parkison and Vedaa met with an architect in January to talk about plans for Evelyn—which will not undergo major construction.

“We’re redoing the bathrooms and shrinking the kitchen a lot,” says Vedaa. “We’re moving the whole storefront to the back and putting in a chef’s table, and two six-top tables in top part of the restaurant. Once we get approval from the city, the contractor said [it will take] six months.”

Evelyn’s décor will be 1940s Art Deco feminine—fun and whimsical, says Vedaa. As for the elevated tapas and paella cuisine, she says people already mistake Salt’s small plates for tapas. “We have a cocktail on the Salt+ menu, Evelyn’s Spanish gin and tonic, so I said, ‘why don’t we just lean into it and do a traditional Spanish tapas and paella restaurant?’”

Meanwhile, Parkison and Vedaa are busy preparing for a March opening of Poppy, which was operating as Felice through the end of December, when the owners contacted them about acquiring the space.

Both women fell in love with the property. Parkison says the restaurant is aptly named after her grandmother, who raised Parkison and passed away eight years ago.

“It’s reminiscent of my grandmother’s house,” she says. “It’s an old house with a big, cozy front porch, a big fireplace, and intricate details in the main dining room.”  

The food will be influenced by California-style cuisine, says Vedaa, and they are returning some old favorites to the menu—the white bean puree and the calamari. “They started out at [the former] Rockefeller’s [in Cleveland Heights] and now we’re bringing them back east,” she quips.

Poppy will feature a California wine list with the house wine, of course, being Poppy (also the state flower of California).

While the restaurant is move-in ready, Vedaa says they will move the bar from the second floor and put banquette seating and tables in its place. The bar will be on the first floor, replacing a server station. “The focus of the space is the restaurant,” she says of the reconfiguration.

Outside Vedaa says they are putting in an outdoor kitchen and converting the current outdoor bar into a multi-season space with accordion doors, weatherproof plastic, and an awning. “We will have four high top tables, a window seat, and [seat] four at the bar if people are waiting for tables or having after dinner drinks.”

They say they plan to care for the nine fig trees and other fruit trees and bushes on the property, and plan to grow herbs, lettuce, tomatoes, peas—and “lots of poppies.”

As they prep for opening, Vedaa has been getting to know the Larchmere neighborhood—recently popping into an antique store to buy some antique stained glass.

She says it’s hectic opening two new restaurants at once, but the timing and the locations were just right. “We can do this,” she says. “The right stuff is in place. We will make sure everything is going correctly at Poppy, then we will roll right into Evelyn.”

The pair have been working together long enough to have the confidence that they will succeed.

“Jess and I make a good team because we give each other autonomy, and we both share the same ethos as far as what we have built and what we want to continue to build,” Vedaa says. “We balance each other out and know what each other’s strengths are.”