James Rigato

Schoolcraft College is part of Rigato’s foundation, but so is the plain sequence of jobs that followed: dishwasher at a local 24-hour diner, pizza cook at a pizzeria, then cook at an Italian American restaurant. Chef at The Root in White Lake, Michigan, was the next step that pushed Rigato into a higher level of responsibility. In 2014, Top Chef Boston (Top Chef season 12) (2014) put James Rigato in front of a wider audience, while the Young Guns dinners in Metro Detroit kept the work tied to the local scene.

Later, the chef role at Madcap in San Anselmo, California, extended that record beyond Michigan. Since 2015, Mabel Gray has been the place where James Rigato’s background, pace, and point of view have been most fully expressed.

At Mabel Gray in Hazel Park, the chef and owner title is matched by a cuisine that stays close to Michigan and resists fuss. The cooking reads as direct and controlled, with flavor combinations that are meant to land clearly rather than decorate the plate. Chicken and Duck Wings, along with Orange-Habenero Jam and Shishitos, show that range in plain terms: familiar ingredients, handled with enough precision to make the details count.

Mabel Gray also shows what happens when a kitchen career runs from the most basic tasks to ownership. That progression is built into the restaurant’s confidence; the food does not announce the résumé, but the decisions carry it.

James's signature dishes include Chicken and Duck Wings and Orange-Habenero Jam and Shishitos.