New café aims to help Detroit food businesses grow and succeed

The Mission Café in New Center will be the daytime home to a handful of food and beverage entrepreneurs, giving them a chance to reach customers and access coaching and support as they strive to take their small businesses to the next level.

The new space is part of Wayne Metropolitan Community Action’s new 5,131-square-foot welcome center and is powered by TechTown Detroit. Wayne Metro is a nonprofit that helps Detroiters with tax assistance, residential water bills, food distribution and other support.

The cafe inside the newly construction welcome center at 7310 Woodward at E. Grand Boulevard is now open to the public for breakfast and lunch weekdays, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

The rotating lineup features businesses like Mexican and American cuisine concept J & T’s Kitchen, owned by chefs Juan and Tabatha Ramos, Black-owned coffee-roasters Faust Haus Roasting Co., GreenHouse Soups and Chili from Jane Bate, Monique Davis’ Heaulistic Juice Bar, gourmet cinnamon bun business Livy’s Sweet Rolls from Myra Thomas and Paradise Street Eats, which serves south Indian and Mediterranean cuisine from Srinath Kalmadi “Ziggy,” Ali Wazne and Alina Alam.

These fledgling local businesses can operate and sell their goods at the cafe at no cost to them. The customer base includes those coming to the Wayne Metropolitan Welcome Center for services, or anyone in the area who needs a healthy breakfast, lunch or pick-me-up.

"Mission Cafe provides physical capital, financial capital, not only to businesses, but also to the people who come into the social service agency," said Christianne Malone, chief program officer of TechTown Detroit and the assistant vice president for economic development and Wayne State University. "We're really excited because Mission Cafe actually exemplifies what it is investing in people, places and possibilities. This is also about scaling possibilities and the potential of these ventures."

Malone says the best way for a new or starting business to be considered for the Mission Cafe is to sign up with one of the TechTown Detroit programs like their pop-up lunches or retail boot camp; they can start by visiting techtowndetroit.org.

Derek English, CEO of Faust Haus Roasting Co., said his business will benefit from having a retail presence at Mission Cafe.

"Any time people get a chance to sample our coffee or taste our coffee it's a unique experience," he said. Being at Mission Cafe is another chance to expose their brand to new customers. Faust Haus Roasting Co. coffee is also sold in Eastern Market and at Rosa cafe in Detroit.

Customers can find the daily breakfast and lunch schedule of vendors at Mission Cafe by visiting waynemetro.org/missioncafe.

Melody Baetens is The Detroit News restaurant critic

mbaetens@detroitnews.com