Mercury Coffee Bar to open in Corktown with focus on healthy food from local sources

The
Mercury Coffee Bar will open in Corktown this spring, bringing coffee,
tea, pastries, salads and paninis to the corner of Michigan Ave. and 14th St.

The venture is being undertaken by Todd Wickstrom, who co-founded Heritage Foods USA
after spending four years as a managing partner of Zingerman’s Deli in
Ann Arbor. Wickstrom decided to open a restaurant in Detroit after
spending time on a Michigan Food Policy Council task force that
examined the food desert issue. “The focus
is to use food to drive economic development in the city,” he says. “We
want to really use business solutions in a lot of areas that are
typically the realm of non-profits and foundations.”

To
this end, Wickstrom is working with local urban gardens and Michigan
farmers to supply the restaurant and is dedicated to job creation and
employee training. “Part of what we’re trying to do is create as many
jobs as possible,” he says. “The thing with retail food is that you
have to have people to make it work.”

The
bulk of the first
floor of the restaurant will be occupied by the kitchen and bakery,
although there will be window seating — with views of the Michigan
Central Station included, natch. The basement level
will provide additional seating; Wickstrom estimates the Mercury will
seat 50 to 60 patrons when all is said and done.

Source: Todd Wickstrom, Mercury Coffee Bar
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh