DETROIT, Dec. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Out with the old and in with the new for 2013 at The Whitney, Detroit's Woodward Avenue restaurant in a mansion.

The Whitney announced today that it will temporarily discontinue lunch service as it prepares for a unique new food service entry into the Detroit dining scene.  Lunch service will end immediately following the holidays and will be resumed in the restaurant's garden in the summer and inside the mansion in the fall.

"The Whitney's quality of food and service combined with its flexibility of comfortable dining rooms makes it an ideal space for a number of different opportunities," said David Duey, operations manager at The Whitney.  "We expect to announce our new plans in late February.  In the meantime, we'll continue to focus on our award winning dinners, tea service, desserts and Sunday brunch."

Duey said that The Whitney, which recently began serving Sunday and Monday night dinners for the first time in several years, will be immediately adding other new dining experiences including exclusive new tableside dinner service in the restaurant's third floor Ghostbar.  This new, reservation-only service will feature entrees like Sautéed Veal Oscar and Steak Diane, along with traditional flaming desserts prepared and served tableside by the restaurant's popular matire d', Lou Wiedeman. The Whitney's long time pianist, Joel Seah, and jazz vocalist, Adia Dobbins entertain in the Ghostbar Thursday through Saturday nights.

The Whitney will continue to offer its signature "bottomless Mimosa" brunches on Sundays and will offer daily tea service, with reservations, at 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.  The restaurant will also be open for group lunches and tours.

"The Whitney is a unique Detroit venue and we're shaping our service to take advantage of our special attributes.  The food, service and ambience of the mansion make it an unmatchable Detroit experience," said Bud Liebler, owner of The Whitney.   "We think our soon-to-be-announced new service will be another unique and exciting concept that's just right for the dynamic growth of the downtown and Midtown areas.  We're thrilled to be part of the boom and we're planning to add to it."

The Whitney is just completing its most successful December in the past several years and is gearing up for 2013, which it expects will be its most successful full year since the new ownership took over six years ago.

SOURCE The Whitney