food + drink / must-t y
MUST-TRY
Hidden gem in Creston Midwest cuisine with a French twist delights at Café Mamo BY PAT EVANS
// PHOTOS BY BRYAN ESLER
Michael Goessman loves the ingredients he can find in West Michigan. Sometimes, he’ll simply salt the meat he’s been provided from area suppliers, cooking it to temperature and watching a smile cross a customer’s face. People are blown away, wondering what he’s done to make it taste so good. “Respect a beautiful product,” Goessman said. Goessman and his wife, Summer, opened Café Mamo, 1601 Plainfield Ave. NE, last summer, and it is the perfect representation 56
of what they want. Summer is a sommelier by trade who has worked in restaurants in New York City and Nashville, as has Goessman. Goessman grew up in Montana, eating his mom’s food. He didn’t graduate high school, spent some time at a culinary school but ended up at Second Street Bistro in Livingston, Montana. That is where he said his whole philosophy about cooking was honed. It was in Montana where he met Summer, a West Michigan native. They made their way to New York City, where she worked at a restaurant in Greenwich Village and he worked in trendy “hipster, new wave” restaurants in Brooklyn. “It was appealing at the time. It was the golden age of tasting menus, where everyone had 12 seats and every plate had at least one ingredient no one had heard of,” he said. “It crashed and burned while I was
Café Mamo's interior is small, but that's by design (above left) Wedge Salad (above right)
GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022
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2/1/22 11:31 AM
