Longtime metro Detroit chef Matt Prentice dies at 62 - Detroit Free Press

Longtime metro Detroit chef Matt Prentice, who once ran more than a dozen restaurants, has died after a brief illness.

Prentice was best known for the former Unique Restaurant Corp., which was the driving force behind many metro Detroit restaurants, including the former Coach Insignia at the top of the Renaissance Center (now Highlands), Deli Unique, Duet, Shiraz, Morels, Northern Lakes Seafood and many more.

The restaurant group was later renamed the Matt Prentice Restaurant Group.

The restaurant opened in the fall of 2019 after a court-ordered, five-year, non-compete agreement Prentice had with a former restaurant group employer expired. .

All of us at Three Cats thank him and are proud to be a Matt Prentice restaurant.

While Prentice was well-known for his restaurant businesses and among chefs, it was his charitable work for which he had the highest regard

Prentice became a prominent figure in metro Detroit's dining scene when he started his restaurant group in the '80s.  His restaurants, which ranged from fine dining to multiple delis, often were lauded in the press, earning favorable reviews from food writers

Decades later, Prentice began to close some of the restaurants. In 2008-2009, Prentice and his restaurant group fell on hard times, Kler said

According to Free Press reports, there was a "messy series of business deals, lawsuits and personal fallout for the deli operator that had become one of the region's most prominent restaurateurs in the intervening years."

Three Cats kitchen will be run by Drew Cayuela and Alex Matoin. The chefs, Curtin said, share Prentice's "spirit, generosity and flavor profile that will keep us a Matt Prentice restaurant."

Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: 313-222-6872 or sselasky@freepress.com