FoodLab Detroit Plans to Open Permanent Dream Cafe by 2021 | Eater Detroit

"A planned ethical, neighborhood-rooted restaurant project launched as a week-long pop-up inside another local cafe that showcased more than a dozen restaurants and food businesses run by women, LGBTQ people, and people of color. Backed by a $35,000 Kresge planning grant, the team aims to open a permanent, replicable model by 2021 and is weighing formats from a sit-down restaurant to a coffee shop. The initiative emphasizes centering people of color, paying fair wages, creating equitable and welcoming spaces, clustering near member businesses to build local density, and completing a firm business plan within 9–12 months to become eligible for a larger implementation grant. Planning will include site selection, buy-versus-lease decisions, continued community engagement, and programming around ethical operations such as a nine-month panel series on industry issues; the original pop-up is also slated to return at the Allied Media Conference." - Brenna Houck