Ask Michiganites where they're from, and they're likely to hold up their right hand and point to a spot on their palm. Once the confused out-of-stater realizes that they are reconstructing the mitten-shaped state, it becomes clear that they are pointing to their hometown. Ask Michiganites where to go for sophisticated cuisine, and they're just as likely to hold up their right hand and point to the same spot near the base of the thumb: Northville, where Rick Halberg of Emily's continues to impress diners with his Mediterranean-inspired French fare.

There is nothing provincial about Halberg's cuisine, which incorporates elements of Spain, Morocco, Italy, and France. GQ's Alan Richman raved that the mussel and shrimp stew was "the purest, simplest, and most likable Mediterranean food I tasted all year." Jane Rayburn of the Detroit News could hardly contain her enthusiasm for the sautéed veal chop layered with prosciutto and Fontina cheese and served with porcini mushrooms. "Not to talk in absolutes, but this is absolutely, erotically unforgettable," she raved. Just who is taking the food world in the Wolverine State by storm?

Rick Halberg graduated from the CIA in 1977 and then worked with John Novi at The Depuy Canal House in upstate New York. He moved to the Detroit area and became one of the head chefs at Tweeny's in Birmingham with Yvonne Gill, moving on to the top toque spot at the Holly Hotel. Halberg is best known as the co-owner of the former R.I.K.'s in Southfield, a local favorite that always made it on Detroit Monthly's "honor roll" of Michigan restaurants. In 1989 The Detroit News awarded R.I.K.'s its Blue Ribbon Award as one of the best restaurants of the year. When the restaurant closed its doors in 1994, "you could feel the shudder, the sighs, across our foodie landscape," recalled Rayburn. "But now, send up a flare. Rick Halberg is back, another four-star luminary returned to the galaxy."