Bites

FOOD

Black Coffee Cafe is the North End’s newest coffee shop. Well, sort of.

By Randiah Camille Green

BLACK COFFEE IS a simple pleasure. It’s also a clever name for a Black-owned coffee shop in Detroit s orth End neighborhood. lack Coffee Cafe is a co y new-ish spot for coffee and coworking with Afrocentric sweets and decor. We say new-ish because it opened at the corner of John R and Kenilworth St. around a year ago, was open for six months, then closed for a few months when one of the partners got sick and they couldn t keep the place staffed. ack then it was called Kenilworth Cafe, though owner Steven arris always wanted to use the lack Coffee name.

“I partnered with someone who thought it may have been offensive,” he says about the name. “So I said OK, let s just call it Kenilworth Cafe since it s on the corner of Kenilworth. ut then I teamed up with some other people they were like no, that s perfect — people like their coffee black and it s good for marketing, so that s when I went back to lack Coffee.” arris describes lack Coffee Cafe as a “hardcore coffee shop with very high-end coffee” sourced from Africa. While the main offering is a pour-over with beans from Kenya, Ethiopia, and ganda, the shop has all the typical lattes yes, even pumpkin spice in the fall and is working with local businesses aobab Fare and Konjo Me to sell their coffee as well.

African art, masks, and mud cloths decorate the quaint shop, making the seating area feel like a warm living room, and the display case is filled with pastries, vegan samosas, and Kanya, a gluten-free West African cookie made from rice flour and nuts. The cafe also serves breakfast croissants and deli sandwiches. arris partnered with Godwin Ihentuge of um illage fame to reopen the shop under its original moniker.

“We ve had some Afro-Caribbean style frittatas and teff muffins. We re just kinda experimenting and trying stuff out,” Ihentuge says. “Our focus is to be a coffee shop with elements like Rose s Fine Food where you can come and get a deli-style sandwich or salad with an AfroCaribbean lens. In the spring we re gonna start to do more brunch.” ehind the shop is a large green space the pair hope to activate with live concerts, poetry nights, and other community events in the warmer months. arris, who is an architect, plans to outfit the space with around 35 shipping containers arranged in a horseshoe around a stage.

Along the edges of the grassy area is a row of co-working cubbies fashioned inside storm drains that arris designed with murals from Detroit artist Demien De onte. Their open-air design doesn t allow for winter use, but WiFi is available if you wanna get some work done in the summer sunshine. lack Coffee Cafe adds to the community feel of the surrounding neighborhood where several Detroiters are working toward independence, food sovereignty, and equity.

Oakland Avenue rban Farm, which runs Detroit s first community land trust and co-facilitates the Detroit lack Farmer Land Fund is down the street. arris owns the whole block of restaurant and retail space where lack Coffee Cafe is located, some of which he runs himself and others he rents out to local tenants. The block is wired with free community internet via the orth End Woodward Community Coalition s Equitable Internet Initiative. arris s other businesses on the corridor include yrd Social Lounge and Rosemary s Kitchen, which he s opening with the help of Chef Max ardy from Coop Detroit. yrd s is a members-only hangout, but arris plans to open it to the public as a cigar lounge by next year.

Rosemary was slated to open this year but also had difficulty keeping staff like most restaurants post-pandemic. arris plans for the elevated soul joint with steaks, hot honey fried chicken, turkey chops, and burgers to be fully operating by January 2023.

RANDIAH CAMILLE GREEN

New Order Coffee reopens with new location and owner

AFTER CLOSING DURING the pandemic, ew Order Coffee Cafe has made its return to metro Detroit by way of St. Clair Shores. ew Order Coffee s “cereal milk lattes,” cold brews, and electricroasted coffee are being served at a new location at 25107 Jefferson St. The company originally opened stores in Detroit in 2017 and in Royal Oak in 2019 before shuttering in 2020.

The cafe s original owner, Li Rose, has passed the ownership baton to Patrick Seeney, who has been part of the company since its inception. Seeney has continued to sell the cafe s roasted beans at local farmer’s markets and online after the physical shops closed.

“Since ew Order first came to fruition, it has built such a fiercely loyal customer base. I m so thankful we ve been able to keep the business going by selling our custom roasted coffee beans,” Seeney said in a press release. “I m even more thrilled to bring back the in-person ew Order experience back to Metro Detroit this winter.”

The new St. Clair Shores location features walk-up coffee service and patio seating, in partnership with its neighbor affin rewing. In addition to lattes, espresso, and fresh-roasted coffee, the cafe features pastries by local baker Kristen erger Martine and Detroit Cookie Co. ew Order Coffee is open from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. from Tuesday-Sunday and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. More info is available at newordercoffee.com.

—Randiah Camille Green

lac offee a e is located at ohn etroit. ore in o is available at blac coffee.ca e.

The Red Hook to officially move into Midtown

OUR DREAMS CAME true! After teasing a oel ight pop-up in Midtown s former Great Lakes Coffee Company space, local chain The Red ook says it plans to permanently move into the building in 2023. It will be the company s fourth location in metro Detroit.

In an email, owner Sandi easelgrave says the location at 3965 Woodward Ave. will partner with Parlor Coffee Roasters, and also feature a rotating selection of guest roasters and offer retail whole coffee beans for sale. aked goods made at the company s flagship store in downtown Ferndale will also be sold at the Midtown store, delivered fresh daily.

Like Great Lakes Coffee Company, the Red ook Midtown also plans to get a liquor license and will offer wine and beer.

Aside from Midtown and Ferndale, The Red ook also has locations in the West illage and downtown Detroit, though that location has been closed after a car crashed into it. The company says it plans to reopen it in December.

The Great Lakes Coffee Company permanently closed this year amid a labor dispute. It also closed two outposts in Meijer stores in Detroit and Royal Oak.

The Red ook says each of its four locations are managed by long-time employees and pays sustainable wages with benefits to full-time workers.

—Lee DeVito