FOOD
A breakfast sandwich from Detroit’s Promenade Artisan Foods.
TOM PERKINS
A grand cafe By Jane Slaughter
The Fisher Building, where
Promenade Artisan is housed, is reason enough to visit. Be sure to wander the halls of Albert Kahn’s Art Deco masterpiece before and after. Why don’t we mak e buildings lik e this anymore? It seems no one wants intricate mosaics with thousands of colored tiles and 40 k inds of marble. Or maybe we’ve lost the craftspeople who could devote their sk ills, or the rich people ( in this case the Fisher family) who would lavish such cash and attention. Of course we still have plenty of rich people living in luxury, but would they mak e a public building this special today? I saw a building named for Bill Gates at Cornell U niversity that look ed lik e an open mouth with unattractive teeth. “It is grand,” says Promenade coowner ( with husband Jono) Chelsie Brymer, referring to the Fisher. “We all get giddy about it.” In any case, break fast and lunch at Promenade ( open 8 a.m.-2 p.m. week days) are not as opulent as their urrounding ut till might ne. Everything is made from scratch in the building’s basement k itchen. Most customers are tenants of the Fisher, so service is q uick . Break fast items are made ahead and then warmed as needed; you’re not ordering a custommade over-easy but rather grabbing
and, mostly, going, though there are tables for eating in. I particularly lik ed a big break fast sandwich, two crisp halves, grilled and buttery, cheesy and spicy. It’s a better buy than the bacon-tomato-feta q uiche, which is also delicious but maller with lot of fla cru t oft innards, and prominent tomato. The large Promenade cinnamon roll is called the Rolls Royce ( ignoring the building’s A merican auto heritage) and it’s good warmed, though not out of the ordinary. I preferred the blueberrylemon scone with some icing drizzle; dry, as scones are meant to be, but full of tart fla or. nother cone i acon and cheddar o ering ar . n apple cinnamon mu n hit the right spice notes and sports a thick crumble topping. Another break fast possibility is vegan, gluten-free overnight oats, which are made by soak ing buck wheat groats, orghum fla e pepita and oat in coconut milk , then adding maple syrup and a generous topping of pecans and blueberries. It’s a large amount, and den e a lot to con ume r t thing in the morning, but tasty. Many more pastries populate a rotating list, not all of them traditionally for break fast: Dutch chocolate brownies, chocolate zucchini bread, lemon bars, rosemary shortbread, a
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vegan lemon cupcak e ( $ 4) , to name a sample. It may be odd to compliment a restaurant on the q uality of its toasting, but Promenade merits it. For the “Z eb” sandwich, corned beef was stack ed high on buttery rye, with lots of purple pick led cabbage slaw. A vegan “Cass Avenue” put some spicy sweet potato, spinach leaves, and red cabbage between crunchy slices. Other options are turk ey-cucumber-basil, grilled cheese, or a classic jambon beurre, ham and butter in a baguette. Diners can pick ingredients from the salad bar, including pasta salad and fruit, or ask for the top seller, a k ale Caesar. Espresso drink s abound; the house co ee come topped with chilled cream, for a temperature sensation that Brymer swears by. My companion wasn’t thrilled with his cold brew au lait ecau e it wa fla ored with maple syrup; a matter of taste. On Thursdays patrons can order ahead and tak e home prepared dinners for four — salad, entrée, dessert — for $ 40-$ 45 . ( That service is on a summer break right now, however.) Past menu themes have included Mexican and Korean bulgogi. The Fisher Promenade is a 2021 o hoot of the original romenade at . e er on e. in renton
Promenade Artisan Foods 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Suite 115, Detroit 313-462-8166 promenadeartisanfoods. square.site Salads $3.75-$11.25, sandwiches $7.75-$12.50, pastries $2.25-$4
( 7 34-307 -7 06 1) , which serves a similar menu. My single complaint about Promenade, a moan that readers have heard me mak e about so many restaurants, is the vast amount of plastic and paper waste created when everything is triple-pack ed for carry-out, even when you’re eating in. ( To be fair, most of Promenade’s business is carry-out.) I don’t need a bag to tak e my items a few feet to a nearby table. I don’t need to have my utensils wrapped in plastic, only to be thrown away. It feels lik e disrespect to the food to insist that it be eaten from a clamshell. Oh to dine from a real plate, with a fork that rests heavy in the hand! Are there no dishwashers in today’s restaurants? And are there no billionaires who will hire artisans to create mosaics of eagles in peacock hues? At least at Promenade, you get the mosaics.
