Metro Times: Restaurant Review: Mercury Coffee Bar (closed) in Detroit

11/12/2008

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Restaurant > Dining

Neighborhood perk
Mercury Coffee Bar brings panini and slow java to Michigan Avenue

MT Photo: Rob Widdis

A flat white coffee with rosemary cake from Detroit's Mercury Coffee Bar.

Mercury Coffee Bar (closed)
Phone:	313-496-4000
Address:	2163 Michigan Ave. Detroit, MI 48216
More on Mercury Coffee Bar (closed).

By Jane Slaughter

Opened Oct. 20, the Mercury Coffee Bar is quickly on its way to neighborhood institution status in Corktown, across from Slows Bar BQ and a stone's throw from what's left of Michigan Central Station. Specializing in "slow coffee," salads and sandwiches, the place has a backstory:

Majority owner Todd Wickstrom served on the Michigan Food Policy Council, on a task force assigned to find out why, as he tells it, "in cities like Detroit, it's easier to find a handgun than a head of lettuce." He decided he wanted to be "part of the solution ... to go into a community to make long-term change." (He lives in Ann Arbor and commutes daily.)

After looking at grocery stores and food-processing businesses, Wickstrom determined that "the best way to make change was through retail — partly to create good jobs, not necessarily to tell people they were eating the wrong foods."

On each of my four visits, the Mercury clientele was all-white, mostly young hipsters, thrilled to find a good cup of coffee but quite capable of finding their way to Eastern Market for a head of iceberg or romaine. The large staff is almost all-white as well.* I'd asked Wickstrom, before the opening, about a possible mismatch: his desire to bring good food to Detroit and the fact that most Detroiters aren't familiar or comfortable with the types of foods he'd be offering — black olive tapenade, sopressata, goat cheese, jasmine silver needle tea. "But as soon as they taste it, they'll like it," he said.

Yes, but first you have to get them in the door.

Wickstrom determined that, unfortunately, many Detroit neighborhoods are too sparsely populated to support such a restaurant. The southwest side — far browner and whiter than black — is one of the few growing areas of the city. If young white hipsters were an underserved population before the Mercury opened, no more.

If this sounds hypercritical, consider that when you assert admirable ideals, you've got to be open to evaluation of whether your hard work is going in the right direction. But let's assess the menu in light of the audience it's attracted thus far. They oughta love it.

On my first visit I fell in love with the Mercury's soups. If cabbage could go uptown, the Irish colcannon soup would be the result: rich and substantial and strong. Like the butternut, which is thick and velvety, nurturing, more interesting than sweet, it's the essence of fall.

Salads are also nicely conceived, and offering a small for $3 is an excellent idea. Two out of three are made with the oft-mocked arugula, which I'm partial to; here, it's not bitter but just tart, served with a light lemon vinaigrette. One salad uses exceptional bacon with Parmesan; another makes the traditional Michigan salad (cherries, apples) tastier by replacing walnuts with pine nuts. The spinach salad with beets and goat cheese is less successful (though that's nothing against beets — hail Dwight!).

One of the Mercury's prominent bragging points is its slow coffee, with each cup individually ground and brewed. (Espresso and "fast coffee" are also possible.) When my companion asked the counterman for a recommendation, the first question was whether he'd be drinking it black. For black coffee, "the Kenya" was suggested, as it is "bright, fruity, syrupy." The Mercury will have a liquor license soon, so perhaps the guy was anticipating explication of the wine list.

In the cup, the Kenya was indeed excellent, though neither fruity nor syrupy. As my friend said, "it has a lot of detail to it. You taste the whole coffee, the whole process." In other words, it's complex, which is a great thing for a coffee (or a wine) to be. Espresso was tart and sharp with a rich crema, the orange foam that floats on the surface. Every day, you can choose one of three single-source slow brews or have your espresso turned into cappuccino, etc.

Sandwiches and panini on Avalon bread are delicious and creative, although they could use more inside; the meats are a condiment rather than a main ingredient. Only cured meats are used, ham and several salamis. Spicy sopressata, for example, is teamed with sweet grilled onions and mild fontina for a good set of contrasts. Country ham and cheddar are topped with peach relish; I could have used more of all three. Both a pesto panino, made with a mellow, not-very-garlicky basil pesto, and a mole salami sandwich with fresh mozzarella are enhanced by sweet, sweet red peppers.

Salt and pepper are served in tiny glass bowls rather than shakers, leaving me to hope that folks aren't using their fingers to sprinkle.

All the extravagant desserts are made in-house, and there are some doozies. Peanut butter pie has a very soft filling, like whipped sweetened peanut butter, with a chocolate layer on the bottom, delicate pastry and chocolate squiggles on top. A pecan bar is so much better than the usual pecan pie, with a rich shortbread crust. Apple pumpkin muffins are autumnal and warm. Key lime pie is both tart and creamy, quite a feat, but the tres leches cake could have been moister (thus the name, tres leches).

Bottom line on the food: The sooner those lettuce-deprived Detroiters learn to love arugula, the better!

The fact that the kitchen is in your face is part of the Mercury's design. It takes up most of the ground floor, with the seating spread along the floor-to-ceiling windows. The idea, says Wickstrom, is to make you feel you've walked into the kitchen, which you have. But it's not a gingham-curtains, kitchen-table kind of kitchen — it's all slabs of stainless steel, and that doesn't feel welcoming. It feels industrial, and loud, despite the assertive friendliness of the staff. Alternative seating is in the basement, which, despite its red brick walls, is still a basement, with the lack of natural light that basements are known for.

One more jab, for a place whose food I love and that I plan to visit often — this is my neighborhood that just got enhanced, after all: The menu uses singular headings rather than plural — "Sandwich," "Salad," rather than Sandwiches, Salads, as if there were only one sandwich on offer (there are five). The only reason I can think of is that this lets the menu writer show that he or she knows that the singular of panini is panino. No harm done.

* Erratum: This sentence has since been disputed. See owner Phil Cooley's letter to the editor.

Jane Slaughter dines for Metro Times. Send comments to letters@metrotimes.com.

Comments

On 11/12/2008 11:05:14 AM, paulhue said:

Jane: I really appreciate that you selected Mercury Bar to review, and spent so much thought on producing your article. But I think you're overly harsh on one of the most intelligent developments occurring in Detroit. I trust that the people running Mercury Bar will not heed any of your explicit or implied suggestions. I was especially disappointed that you picked on Mercury's owner for citing as his inspiration a desire to inspire better food choices among Detroiters, and then selecting a location not typified by a heavy black population, and not selecting a menu typifying of what black Detroiters are eating. The owner selected a spot in the literal heart of Detroit were a food and bottom-up Bohemia is sprouting, and selected for his menu staples of an international movement of food intelligence. What the heck else would you have him do? Before he arrived, where else in Detroit proper, or even in its surrounding burbs, could you find single bean coffee... and served by people attuned to those who know and appreciate enough about coffee to drink it black? I say: nowhere. Before Mercury Bar, Detroiter's with any food sense had to make their coffee at home. The fact that 99% of black, and perpahs 96% of white, Americans who drink coffee want it delivered in a milk shake or a slurpee must not hold the rest of us hostage. You seem unaware of the the coffee subculture included in the Slow Food movement, which cherishes and promotes the origins of coffee beans (as well as roasting date, location, temperature, and duration) as fervently as the much larger wine culture known even to food boobs who think it fine to drink blended coffee named after Kenny G elevator tunes ("Morning Glory Blend") or Kellog's candy breakfast cereals ("Blueberry Chocolate Chunk Blend"). It perplexed me that you would use Eastern Market as an example of where to get fresh produce in Detroit, when its hours of operation and location make it even less accessible to many Detroiters of any racial classification than is Mercury bar. Even more bizarre was your employment of "iceberg" lettuce as an example of such food, when instead iceberg lettuce is a totem of corporate, mass-produced, centralized, low-value food products against which the Slow food movement arose. The elevation of food food standards for Detroiters of any racial classification will require access, exposure, and education. Catering to the prevailing food philistinism that is, sadly, especially pronounced in black America (as evidenced in higher rates of various diseases) will not help one bit. I am a denizen of Slow's BBQ across the street, here to fore the sole foodie outpost in Corktown, and a singular foodie pioneer for the entire metroplex. Slows draws a sizable, regular crowd of black folks who have no trouble finding and appreciating a place that presents many food items, and ingredients especially, that are rare in the lives of average Americans, and especially black Americans. Why should Mercury Bar not take this process up a notch? I attended Mercury Bar's grand opening, and many black folks attended. At times during that night I estimate that the fraction of black folks broke the 50% mark. Finally I would like to address your comments about the design. I assume from your comments that you are not especially fond of modern design, as exemplified by Dwell Magazine. For those of us that are, the Mercury Bar exhilarates. Given the space that they had, what would you do different? I find their choices daring and innovative. Placing the kitchen in the first floor, and having it dominate, puts the staff and their food works on display, drawing in people from outside, and creating a vibrant, light-flooded work environment that certainly contributed to the enthusiasm that you describe. As for customers walking downstairs for the majority of tables: what is your alternative for the given facility? Given the basement, did you notice and appreciate the awesome, open stairs, which reduce the inherent drawbacks of basement seating? Some of the world's best food locales, such as Manhattan and Tokyo, feature many fabled basement bars and restaurants. I think that Mercury Bar can be proud of the comparison. I am an avid amateur food and architecture enthusiast, and the food and the design that I experienced, welled my eyes with tears the night of Mercury Bar's grand opening. I envy your residency nearby, and the upcoming experience you will surely have when it finally dawns on you what a marvelous resource the Mercury Bar has provided our community. Just wait until the liquor license arrives. Detroit will finally experience a coffeehouse as the good lord intended.

On 11/12/2008 12:02:05 PM, msquare said:

I nominate Paulhue as the new restaurant reviewer! thanks, Paulhue, for an intelligent, well-informed and thoughtful take on the food and coffee experience at the Mercury. Jane's review is unfair and makes several absolutely ridiculous points. In a city starving for new business, taking aim at Mr. Wickstrom's choice of location, based on racial demographics (and a perceived hipster contingent), seems particularly loaded, unnecessary and just plain silly [as in, definition: 1. weak-minded or lacking good sense; stupid or foolish. 2. absurd; ridiculous; irrational] Isn't it time we start applauding those who are creating positive change here, instead of searching (and I mean really searching) for things to disparage? Jane, for someone so passionate about "your" neighborhood, what is it that you're doing to improve the landscape? I am shocked this review made it past the copy desk.

On 11/12/2008 2:17:35 PM, RScovill said:

Rather than unload on Ms. Slaughter a third time lest readers begin to pity her in her over zealous cynicism, let us remember that those who cannot create, critique. Rather than comment on her article, I chose rather to quiver in anticipation of Paulhue's final promise: 'a coffee house as the good lord intended.' In addition to my gratitude that Mercury Bar opened it’s doors, I too nominate Paulhue as the resident foodie aficionado/reviewer on the same scale as Koltay for Mayor of Corktown! The reason I feel that Paul’s words and viewpoints are so important in comparison to Ms. Slaughter's is because on the surface they are about the love and appreciation of food and drink. Beneath the surface, his ideology speaks to the survival of Detroit and indeed of humanity. Those living in and caring about this great city have some serious questions to ponder about the future of Detroit. For example, why in a landmark election that could so profoundly shatter racial division, did no more Detroiters turn out to vote than they did in any previous election? In my opinion, Mercury Bar, Slows BBQ, Gadjo Dillo, Central Station Diner & Bar and whatever other joint that’s coming down the pike as a labor of passion and vision, represent hope. This city and indeed many others like it across the nation, hang in the balance. The battle between single bean Arabica and artificially flavored coffee slurpees is a metaphor for something far more important and enduring. Exactly what that is is for us to individually decide. Ms. Slaughter has made her choice. Pissing on a pioneering endeavor at such a critical juncture is unproductive, short sighted and in poor taste, at best. At worst, I fear it may be against life itself. ‘Ah Bartleby, ah humanity.” Long live the revolution. Long live Detroit!

On 11/13/2008 12:16:04 AM, LC said:

I visited the Mercury Bar on Halloween and there were more black employees working there and more black customers in the shop than there were people of other ethnicities. Plus, the coffee was amazing, all the people were super nice, the space was clean and bright, and you can't beat the cool view. Go there and see for yourself! This Jane lady has an axe to grind...

On 11/13/2008 7:42:51 AM, putnam said:

Oh you young white hipsters! We are jealous of your youth and other advantages. No go away and give us coffee the way God intended it: free refills of burned watery robusta.

On 11/13/2008 9:04:16 AM, Jane said:

Cynicism? Actually, to suggest that ideals are important is the opposite of cynicism. It's ...idealistic, you might say. Cynicism would be to say that Todd Wickstrom's ideals don't matter--who cares that a big chunk of the population can't easily find decent food? A careful reading would show that, far from “pissing on” what the Mercury is, I praised it highly. My criticism was not about what the Mercury does well; it was about a mismatch between stated goals and what I've seen thus far. If it turns out that the Mercury does indeed provide both good jobs and good food for a Detroit population that's starving for both, that will be fantastic. I continue to hold the view that people like myself--those already educated about healthy, local, delicious food-- are not the most effective target audience for making long-term change in our city. Enjoy the joe. Jane Slaughter

On 11/13/2008 10:35:10 AM, putnam said:

Who says we can't have guns AND lettuce? (Forgive me for channeling and updating LBJ.) Jane, you're such a good writer. But the skin color thing - why flog that SO heavily? ("all-white ... all-white ... far browner and whiter than black ... white hipsters" not to mention the illuminating code phrase "most Detroiters.") It's limiting, immaterial and bound to raise defenses. I recognize that a descriptive word about this is of interest, but racial mix is bound to evolve. Class mix on the other hand, that could be defined by the prices. Since you brought it up, what color are you? Is it remotely relevant? I like your jabby style, and I hope your target takes it in the spirit of good faith and fun it is no doubt intended. I think you're on to something about the invasive feel of mixing Ann Arborite attitude with Michigan and 14th. I welcome it in doses. (I think we choose not to live in A2 for a reason after all!) As for the food, friendliness and drinks, I agree, they are superb! My favorite line: "The sooner those lettuce-deprived Detroiters learn to love arugula, the better!"

On 11/13/2008 11:26:27 AM, paulhue said:

Jane: I don't detect "a mismatch between stated goals and what [you]'ve seen thus far." By my considered assessment, the Mercury Bar has, in your words, "indeed provide[d] both good jobs and good food for a Detroit population that's starving for both." Unless you can show that Mercury's owner is denying qualified black job applicants, or banning black patrons, I think you have to credit him with presenting these opportunities to all interested parties. On opening night, downstairs I saw what appeared to be the owner interacting with a young black man that seemed to be a manager. I tuned into the exchange: the owner was asking for advice about how to arrange the waiter station, and the manager was essentially dictating a plan. The owner was very calm, and was very actively listening. I remember thinking what a cool head chef / owner to work for, after having been watching too much Gordon Ramsey myself on TV, and recalling my own many years working as a waiter. I am very curious to know what sort of menu and location you would expect for this owner to have produced in his stated quest to provide job and dining opportunities Detroiters. I believe that fresh, natural ("Slow") food holds universal appeal, and would philosophically oppose accounting for "race" in designing a menu that I hoped would appeal to black folks. I also believe that Corktown itself holds a universal appeal that transcends racial categorization. Anybody resistant to a "slow" menu located in Detroit's Corktown suffers from an internal condition that can only be resolved by... trying some slow food and spending some time in magnificent shadow of Central Station. Meanwhile, I found most of your negative criticisms to be valid, such as the open salt and pepper, and your desire for more sandwich filler. By "valid" I don't necessarily mean that I agree with those points, but as criticisms per se from a cultural arbiter, I found them valid. What disappointed me was encountering a food writer who: (1) Believes that a quest to provide topnotch food and dining jobs to blacks would preclude Mercury's menu and location; (2) Gets taken aback by a barista for treating coffee with the same respect as wine; (3) Considers access to iceberg lettuce an acceptable condition in Detroit life; (4) Fails to be dazzles and energized by Mercury's physical deisgn, including the stainless steel and basement utilization. I do agree with you that your review was overall positive, and that it did not warrant the harshest, blanket dismissals you received.

On 11/13/2008 11:36:26 AM, paulhue said:

I will be spending the weekend in corktown, bouncing between Slows and Mercury. If anybody (especially Jane) would like to meet up for microbrews (slows) or single bean (mercury), just email my google address: paulhue86. I'll be the guy catching up on my buildup of Dwell, New Yorker, and Vanity Fair issues (my Wallpaper subscription lapsed).

On 11/13/2008 2:44:56 PM, Seaswell said:

This is a dumb, elitist discussion. As a blk Detroiter who right now has both arugula and hamhocks in her refrigerator, I find it offensive and patronizing. How can you seriously apply racial politics to food? No doubt you all be rushing off to buy Heritage turkeys for Thanksgiving.

On 11/13/2008 3:31:15 PM, putnam said:

I agree. For example, I thought it was helpful and insightful for Jane to demarcate Latin American restaurants that serve chimichangas (implicitly catering to "gringos") vs. those that serve menudo (implicitly catering to Spanish speakers). But calling out a coffee bar because it hosts young white hipsters? Please. That's the neighborhood and the genre. And if Mercury succeeds there, maybe they can take what they learn to Livernois and 6 Mile, right? Or Chene and Jefferson, or midtown, or Gratiot and Dequindre. Go nuts folks. Make lots of money and reinvest it. Educate the masses. I do think there is an interesting point to make about an attitude - prevalent in certain affluent spheres - that consumer spending should be morally cleansed with appeals to idealism. I understand this (all too well) from the perspective of the struggling foodie hero, but it can appear self-serving even when it isn't intended to be, not to mention dismissive of ordinary economic investments, which by logical extension ... would be less than righteous, more greedy and more harmful. Hey. It's the taste that matters. The best tasting coffee is always picked by the most fairly treated workers. But it takes time and money to educate palates, so why not forgive a little sloganeering?

On 11/13/2008 9:59:15 PM, msquare said:

Dear MT: I see a notation has been added to the bottom of the article, regarding the sentence: "The large staff is almost all-white as well." I can't help but wonder why you didn't run a proper "correction"? It seems like a fact easy enough to verify. Instead, your notation--"Owner Phil Cooley claims that only 45 percent of his staff is Caucasian"--implies that the owner's assertion (or "claim") is debatable. Was the writer inaccurate in her reporting or not? If so, I think a proper correction and/or apology is most certainly in order. In print and online. Details/facts like this matter (clearly, just reference the reaction in this heated thread), especially when they can affect someone's business and reputation.

On 11/14/2008 1:51:16 PM, paulhue said:

I arrived at Slows last night just after Mercury closed. The Slows clientele was around half black, and the wait/bar staff was about a third or so. This is very typical of my dozens of experiences at Slows since its opening. These observations indicate to me that natural "slow" foods in a modern design environment located in Detroit's Corktown will attract black customers and staff.

On 11/15/2008 1:36:29 PM, courtney said:

When I heard a new grocery store was opening in my neighborhood, I was thrilled. After visiting Zaccaro's on Woodward however, I walked out empty handed. I very much enjoy good food and high quality ingredients. I am too practical and too thrifty though, to shop at Zaccaro's. I needed some half and half and found that my only option was Calder's. Now Calder's Dairy products are of high quality, and like to purchase Calder's on special occasions, but I simply cannot purchase it regularly. It is relatively expensive, carries a one dollar bottle deposit and usually spoils before I can finish it. I found it bothersome that Calder's was my ONLY option. I also needed pasta, and I really wanted to buy something, but a box a Barilla was about 70 cents more than it was at my regular store. I left feeling a bit disappointed and have not returned since. Perhaps if I had more disposable income, Zaccaro's would thrill me, but how many people can really enjoy what Zaccaro's has to offer in this economic climate? I was thinking about Zaccaro's as I read this article and wondered if Ms. Slaughter had written anything about them. Indeed she has. She wrote a overwhelmingly favorable review, without once introducing the topic of race into the discussion. If I go to a grocery store, I have different expectations than I would have going into a specialty coffee shop. I think if she really wanted to politicize an issue, a grocery store without moderate or low cost options would be a more interesting issue. With that being said, I am still glad Zaccaro's is around, and I hope more retailers follow their lead. It seems that Ms. Slaughter has some sort of bias here. Maybe because it's "HER" neighborhood or maybe she isn't too terribly fond of "white hipsters". That's her issue. The rest of us can rejoice in the fact that we have an option other than Starbuck's for a decent cuppa coffee.

On 11/15/2008 1:47:05 PM, courtney said:

"If young white hipsters were an underserved population before the Mercury opened, no more."....Do I detect some sarcasm here? You know what Jane? All of us who live in Detroit are underserved when it comes to food options in Detroit, no matter what our race. Do you think there are some special, magical food retailers only available to young white hipsters? These "hipsters" are your neighbors and members of your community, too. Honestly, what kind of journalism is this?

On 11/18/2008 2:05:28 PM, moonshine said:

Cheers to Jane. Yes, we are happy to have the merc. Here's the critique: They have spent a year talking a whole lot of talk. Talk is cheap. How does a group of Ann Arborites, who don't even know the community they mean to help, land in the middle of my neighborhood with a slew of noble and snobbish good intentions and not draw a sharp eye? There is a quiet, strong food underground in Detroit. We have more community gardens than cities with three times our population. We have a stronger urban beekeeping movement than Chicago. We have been making our own cheese, growing our own foods, brewing our own beer, keeping our own harvests, for a long time. Are you a Detroiter? Chances are you know someone who fits this description. So in what way do they intend to connect to the community? What community are they talking about? Do they even know? Are they intending to develop a new community? Are they aware that people have been living and eating happily in the city for a long, long time? Point Two: The MCB has a goal and vision to create jobs, yet they over-hired initially. The result is that people who were offered jobs there have not received any work hours. One wonders over the brain behind the hiring. It seems to be a case of "they don't know what they don't know" because, they are not from around here. Props to good food, and to their ideals. I wish them all the best. Time will tell which ideals crumple and which community is strengthened. Let critique be the best flattery.

On 11/19/2008 9:05:57 AM, paulhue said:

Saturday and Sunday mornings I had transcendental coffee experiences at MCB. I don't care where the owner lives: he's brought his money, intelligence, and time to Detroit. I also don't care if he over-hired: I saw a bunch of people at MCB with worthwhile jobs. We food underground dwellers may have ate well before MCB, but we had very little in the way of a true coffee house, and certainly not a transcendental one that can hang with the best of LA, Brooklyn, Austin, and SF. MCB bustled Friday eve and all day Saturday and Sunday, upstairs and down. I hope more cheap-talking Ann Arbor snobs come come perform some more over-hiring at more new outstanding independent, local, slow food joints.

On 11/20/2008 10:23:06 AM, MaxieMaeC said:

Well goody for you palhue. You must not be one of the people who QUIT THEIR JOB TO WORK AT MCB! Even a novice who knows nothing about opening a business or "transcendental" coffee shop would know that it doesn't take 50 employees to run a place of that size. I'm certainly not saying it's not a fine place or fine people, BUT, it is unacceptable the way things turned out for many. Then they had the balls to charge these out of work people for their uniform t-shirts on their final paycheck, even when they had no intention of calling them back to work. Good intentions don't put food on the table. Thanscendental my ass.

On 11/21/2008 6:08:30 PM, davem59 said:

Wow Maxie! That's pretty harsh. Maybe all of us who don't live in Detroit shouldn't bother to open business there and thus offer Detroiters NO local jobs at all? It's really awful that the jobs didn't work out for some, but do you really think that someone who is obviously trying to make a difference doesn't deserve being cut a little slack for some possible mistakes? Have you ever tried to start a new venture? I'm sure if you thought about it you would realize that its not an exact science. It sounds a little bit like you believe a business owner, one who is going to spend LOTS of money and gamble on opening a restaurant, a risky proposition even in more economically stable areas and times, is going to purposefully hire too many employees just to screw people over? That would be a pretty absurd supposition indeed. It sounds like maybe they could have handled it better if what you say is indeed correct. But if other's, with similar attitudes to yours, are unwilling to cut some slack to someone who's making that kind of gamble in Detroit, well then perhaps it's time for us suburbanites to be just as unwilling to come into the city and spend our money. IF you really think that Detroit's economic and other problems are going to be solved by Detroiters alone you are, in my opinion, mistaken. Detroiters should be literally BEGGING new businesses to open up, whether owned by Detroiters or not. I've always believed that this type of misguided, civic provincialism is precisely the reason many of us have not moved back into the city. But don't you worry, the courage of some business owners like Mr. Wickstrom will, if not thwarted by short-sighted locals, help draw us back in. I, for one, have visited the Mercury once and will do so again, not to help Detroit, but because I reawlly enjoyed the place. Another few hundred business like it and you may just get to live in a vibrant, thriving, diverse, fun city again.....As to the whole tenor of the review, I found it troubling that race even made it into it. I don't care who, of what race, religion or ethnicity you are, food is one of the few things which can actually bring us together. Some sort of racial axe to grind has absolutely no place whatsoever in a review of this type of establishment. I don't care if it is in YOUR neighborhood. Please do me a favor and stay out of mine with that type of attitude. I, for one, am fed up with EVERYTHING Detroit being race, race, race. Its a damn shame.... Mr. Wichstrom, get the coffee ready, me and my suburbanite friends will be back - and the color of our money is GREEN should anyone care.

On 11/23/2008 5:01:03 PM, r2g said:

The very first time I came here I thought it was going to be cool but it was just average at that. So I decided to give it a chance, it takes sometime for new places to get the kinks out right. But each time I come to the Mercury Bar it bums me out more and more. I always wait at least 15 minutes for an Americano because the dude making the coffee is to busy talking to his co-workers, or other people coming in. The espresso always tastes burnt, which sucks. I love Americano's and a bad one is the worst. I wanted to give this a try really. But each time I come here, it just makes me wish Avalon was open. Oh and another thing, every 5 minutes the Internet kept going in and out. My overall opinion about this place is thumbs down. Can someone please open a good coffee bar… PLEASE!!!!!!

On 11/23/2008 8:10:13 PM, dmuma said:

You owe it to yourself to try this place. The slow coffee is really teriffic. The panini was done perfectly and really fresh. The bread was really nice, great crumb and perfect texture. The staff has been friendly each time I've been there. Highly recommend.

On 11/23/2008 8:19:33 PM, paulhue said:

r2g: I spent about 4 hours there today, with my laptop. This was about my fifth time. As always, the espresso drink I ordered was the best I've every had. My first two visits I had cappicinos, but the past three times I've had a "flat white." And the "slow coffee", which I've had each time as well, was the best cup of coffee I've ever had. And I'm an insufferable coffee snob. The service has always been fully attentive. In my hours sitting at a table upstairs I never noticed any employee chattering that distracted from service. The entire time my internet service worked fine, another common experience for me there. Of the few flaws I can find, the biggest is lack of any alcohol, which I consider the one factor keeping it from rating with the nation's best coffee houses; and that hole is getting plugged soon with microbrews and wine downstairs. My only other suggestions (removing cocacola and the few other non-slow factors, such as regular industrial sugar used in their lemonade and hot chocolate, and chemical preservatives in their coconut milk) are minor considering that Detroit metro lacks any other true coffeehouse (of which I'm unaware). I reside 45 mins away in the burbs, and I'm eager for my next trip down there.

On 11/23/2008 8:37:10 PM, paulhue said:

r2g: I'm wondering how the espresso could be burned, if indeed it comes (as I understand) from Chicago's Intellencia, which coffee nerds rate as an unsurpassed roaster. Though I've not tried their espresso plain, I've had two cappicinos and several flat whites, including two today, and they were the smoothest espresso drinks I've ever had. The flat whites I had last weekend left me craving another all this weekend. I was not disappointed today... indeed I had a second one. In addition, I paid attention today to the preparation of my drinks, coffee dork that I am. I have never seen more care taken in an espresso preparation. Your reported experience makes me wonder if we're talking about the same place. Another note: I keep ordering the jamacian stew, and I keep liking it.

On 11/23/2008 9:46:32 PM, r2g said:

As a barista in the past at mom & pop cafe's, both in Chicago & Detroit, my understanding of espresso machines are that when espresso has a burnt taste, that it usually means that the water in the machine is too hot. This happens to machines. They usually need to be serviced. You can defend this place all you want, but your experience is not mine. If you love coming here from the suburbs cool. I live minutes away and I would appreciate if my city could have a cafe that is worth going to. You are truly a repeat customer.

On 11/24/2008 8:42:40 AM, fooddood said:

"My only other suggestions (removing cocacola and the few other non-slow factors, such as regular industrial sugar used in their lemonade and hot chocolate, and chemical preservatives in their coconut milk)" . . . Why can’t they process their own sugar from local beets? And they’re using canned coconut milk instead of house made? I’m not convinced Mercury is a serious coffee bar.

On 11/24/2008 10:16:27 AM, paulhue said:

Good one, fooddood! Yes, I do get carried away with my food obsession. r2g: Thanks for the info. Didn't realize that burning can occur after roasting. My various experiences with their espresso has so far been super smooth. And the machine that they employ is topnotch, so if it's burning the espresso that would be implicate the operator, I reckon. I'm curious for your recommendation of any coffeehouse in the metro area. The one on woodward on the corner by Majestic has a sad selection of cloyingly named blends, a disgraceful show of 75 various artificial coffee syrups, and the staff has no knowledge or interest in coffee, as best I can tell. The one on Cass that burned down made a fine run, but it was tiny, lacked any serious food options, and never planned on serving alcohol. Aside from my enthusiasm for MCB, I can't imagine an alternative. Please advise.

On 11/24/2008 2:32:46 PM, lounovak said:

I am not familiar with the 'slow-food' movement, though I have waited an inordinate amount of time for my meal at Slows. I am familiar with the 'gentrification' movement and its affect on resident populations and its unfortunate disproportionate effect on minority populations. In any case, I am much happier that I can get a head of iceberg lettuce in the city than if I can get a single bean cup of arabica.

On 11/25/2008 9:51:55 AM, paulhue said:

lounovak: If iceberg lettuce and randomly blended industrially harvested & processed coffee meet your food standards, then Detroit's innumerable "coney islands" and HoneyBee grocery store should spare you any of the anxiety suffered by us "slow" food weirdos. Why put yourself through the long waits at Slows when so many nearby restaurants can quickly construct your order out of their Sysco and Gordon Foods Services packages? I see many "minority" people working at Slows and MCB. Where would they be working in corktown without Slows and MCB? Serving PBR at LJs? If Slows and MCB confirmed to your standards of iceberg lettuce and indistinguishable coffee blends, who would provide the customer base at Michigan and 14th street for these minority employees, when the city already has an uncountable number of outlets for coffee from Sysco pre-ground shrink-wrapped cartons and burgers sitting on Archer-Daniels iceberg lettuce sandwiched between white flour hamburger buns from Gordon Foods Services cases. If you revisit your studies of successful examples of urban renewal, you will notice that the obligate food component involves artisan food nerds who take the time to create very special venues that inspire people to make special trips to previously avoided areas. It is impossible to expect that real estate prices will not increase when streets become cleaner, crime drops, abandoned buildings reanimate as desirable living quarters or fascinating retail spaces offering exciting and unique services (such as artisan food made on-site from scratch with fresh, seasonal, and interesting ingredients), and people with high-paying and dependable jobs move in. Would you prefer that the abandoned buildings remain derelict, that the streets remain trashy, that residents must travel for jobs and services? All residents, including "minorities" who are prepared and able to work benefit more by the opportunities provided by the elimination of urban blight than they are harmed by the necessary attending elevation of property values. Or would you prefer maintaining low rents caused by lack of retail services, empty buildings, crime, and litter?

On 11/25/2008 1:25:50 PM, Casey Coston said:

wow! Didn't realize they also sold Kool-Aid at the Mercury Coffee Bar.

On 11/25/2008 10:38:04 PM, putnam said:

I meet them all the time: people, insulated to the point of delusion, desperate to be somehow relevant to familiar regimes of oppression and community solidarity. THERE IS NO GENTRIFICATION on an arterial road, a commercial zone, with 50% vacancy. There is only blight and its occasional reversal. Have more blight if you wish. There is an unlimited supply. Great coffee is very hard to come by, in Detroit as well as Ferndale and Royal Oak, or wherever. The flat whites, delicious for sure, but post-ironic too?

On 11/26/2008 8:38:41 AM, shinealight said:

Kool-aid indeed. Methinks you "foodies" and sundry slow food and young white hipsterazzi take yourselves way too seriously. Where will all you A2-to-corktown refugees be in say 5-10 years? What happens to all you when you actually have to grow up and raise a family and act like adults? Will it be there? Doubt it. You'll make your hasty retreat to the safety and comfort of whatever suburb you came from, perhaps starting a coffee shop or something similar there and talk about your days when you were slumming it in Detroit.

On 11/26/2008 10:31:19 AM, paulhue said:

I have two kids and a house and a professional job in the subburbs. As an adult responsible for two children, I take very seriously what they eat and where they eat it. I drive past dozens of corporate chain restaurants with their iceberg salads and Sysco dressing jugs to take my money and my family to your neighborhood to relish and support signs of intelligence, grace, and culture. In five years I hope I'm living in a hitherto abandoned ball bearing factory or industrial lubricant processing facility in Detroit with my kids attending Friends or Waldorf. When they come home from school they'll be eating real food, and existing in real architecture, just like they experience at slows and mcb. Don't you guys know how urban revitalization occurs? Are you aware of Brooklyn, SF, Chicago, Philly, even Cleveland? People like me move our families right into neighborhoods like corktown. Rather than get scared off by crime, crime drops as more people like us move in. Some of you seem content to wallow in a crime-ridden world of Detroit eating iceberg lettuce, drinking generic coffee from open-air, glass pots getting burned by a hot plate, complaining about the few people who give enough of a damn to do anything other than gripe. Nobody's trying to take away your beloved coney island chicken wings from the frozen Gordon's freezer bag; please give as much as your money as you like to the ginormous globo-corps that produce the characterless food products that you so adore. Brooklyn, Austin, SF, Portland, Chicago, and many other places, though, are full of adult, responsible, bill-paying, children-raising people who choose real food, real beer, real architecture, real literature -- in short, an authentic culture, one for which various people take upon themselves to lead and push different aspects. That guy from AA who opened MCB? He's a grown family man who's friends I'm sure all told him to keep his money, his credit rating, and his time in AA, or take it to Austin or Portland, where instead of building the first artisan coffee house he could build the 47th. And now some of you guys, whose neighborhood he improved, sneer at him. What do you want? You hate Starbucks, and cheers to that. So do you want another coney island for Mich & 14th? That would certainly keep my detestable money and personality away from your sacred corktown, as well as all the other hideous honkey suburbanites that pack slows and mcb. What were you guys complaining about and sneering at before slows and mcb? And how is it that corktown has not drastically improved thanks to their arrival? What would you guys prefer instead (provided by other people, of course)?

On 12/1/2008 11:37:32 AM, shinealight said:

Palehue: Sorry I couldn't respond last week to your "retort", but was out doing some "real" things. Man you pack a lot to pick at in one post. Let me get this straight, you drive over 30 min from the burbs to eat/drink in someplace that's "real", and "...to relish and support signs of intelligence, grace, and culture." Must be nice to have that kind of money to waste on gas (but then again you probably drive a prius, right?). I don't like wasting my time w/fast food joints either and would rather sit down at a nice mom and pop restaurant, but what is it w/you and your obsessive hatred of Sysco? You can't seem to go a sentence or two w/o mentioning them. We get it-you don't like them. I bet you use their product everyday though. Do you also hate people who work there too? You know, the same type of people you probably step over trying to get into your precious coffee shop for a "transcendental" experience. What's annoying about attitudes like yours is that I wonder what you did before the "slow" or organic food movement came along? How do you retain your gastronomical "purity" 24 hours a day, unlike the rest of us? Believe it or not there are people out there who raise kids, pay bills and who don't eat as you do that are not evil people. I had to laugh at this one: "In five years I hope I'm living in a hitherto abandoned ball bearing factory or industrial lubricant processing facility in Detroit with my kids attending Friends or Waldorf. When they come home from school they'll be eating real food, and existing in real architecture, just like they experience at slows and mcb." Looks like you have all the rich, white, upper-class snobbery checklist down pat. Must suck being the rest of us not being able to afford real estate tastes or tuition rates like yours. Nice work if you can get it, but the rest of us just can't see (nor probably will never see) that type of reality in our lifetimes. Hope life is nice in your bubble. You got the hating coporations bit down too I see. Guess its ok to hate coporations unless they make stuff you like, like Apple, Target, Ikea, Volvo/Toyota/Subaru, Whole Foods. The "Stuff White People Like" website has got people like you pegged. Here's what they say about gentrification and architecture: If you ask white people what they love about cities they don’t live in, they will say “restaurants,” “culture,” and “architecture.” The reason white people love architecture so much is that deep down they believe that they could have been a great architect. They feel the same way about other professions including: professor, writer, and politician. In general, white people love situations where they can’t lose. While this does account for the majority of their situations, perhaps the safest bet a white person can make is to buy a house in an up-and-coming neighborhood. White people like to live in these neighborhoods because they get credibility and respect from other white people for living in a more “authentic” neighborhood where they are exposed to “true culture” every day. So whenever their friends mention their home in the suburbs or richer urban area, these people can say “oh, it’s so boring out there, so fake. In our neighborhood, things are just more real.” This superiority is important as white people jockey for position in their circle of friends. In a few years, if more white people start moving in, these initial trailblazers will sell their property for triple what they paid and move into an ultramodern home. What troubles me most about your post is your you/we, us/them mentality. You talk about what a great area Corktown/Detroit is and then in almost the same breath sarcastically call it "your sacred corktown". You also seem to have a self-hatred for "hideous honkey suburbabnites" you encounter at slows and MCB. Ever occur to you that you are just another one of them? What were we complaining about before they came along? People just like you and you urban gentrifying attitudes. What would we want? Well I don't speak for Corktown since I don't live there, but not another coney island/chicken place, but "real" restaurants run by real people, not pretentious rich white food snobs who think they can just swoop in and declare themselves gods because they opened a resturant. (Can't put in writing the picture of one finger making a circular motion, a la whoop-de-doo) "And how is it that corktown has not drastically improved thanks to their arrival?" Well there's still crime, bums, and general undevelopment, especially that big bulky train station that has sat for over 20 years. Kinda like the same situation when the Fox, Comerica, and Ford Field opened. Just ask the people who live around there. Life continues and problems remain. So let's not toot our horn so loudly that a couple of eateries opened that serve coffee and food we like. I like to eat healthy when I can and do my best to give my family good fresh "real" food. For the vast majority of us we just try to put food on the table, period. Try and remember that. In the end its just food and all comes out pretty much the same. Get over yourself.

On 12/1/2008 5:40:01 PM, paulhue said:

Shinelight: So in other words, whatever the facts of my life are (young without kids without kids, or a professional adult raising kids; a person who would never dare live in corktown, or an aspiring resident), they prove your point. I suppose if you learn that your assumption about my family's "race" is wrong, you'll just go lift some clever commentary from the "stuff that black people (or Asian immigrants) like" website. I would love for you to explain how you arrived at your conclusion about my racial categorization, by the way. Are you white? How white it is indeed to rail against those who would gentrify an area, and who would come to the rhetorical rescue of black folks, who surely lack any interest in organic, locally produced arugula or modern design. It is clear to me that just as you think I fetishize and worship a particular lifestyle, it appears just as clear to me that you have done exactly that yourself. Who are you, Harvey Picard? Ignatius J. Riley? You just seem to hate everything new or different, or especially improved upon or outside the mundane. You hate affluent people like me driving down to support vintage architecture and local food. You hate even richer people than me taking two buildings in corktown and raising them from the dead, and deploying them in such a way as to attract jerks like me to pay for people to work there. How sad to imagine the world that you advocate: everything in places like corktown remain exactly the same as they have for the past 20 years. Yes, right down to the Sysco jugs, tubs, and crates providing at least 90% of available food options. How wonderful. Surely black folks are relieved to have you protecting their access to MSG and food coloring, and to keep corktown rents as low as vacant buildings and homogeneous, non-special food venues will allow. I wasn't born into my current economic status, by the way. I started raising my eldest daughter while in college... and using natural foods exclusively for all 14 of her years. I paid for our organic yogurt, free range eggs, and whole bread with food stamps and WIC cards, by the way. Ooops, I violated another of your assumptions about me. Now rail about pretentious poor people like I used to be using food stamps to subsidize small organic farmers rather than Bordon or Kraft, and the nerve to do that years before the Slow Food movement. Worse, I was far from the only student-parent using food stamps to feed my kids natural foods... at the nation's largest black university, FAMU. Yes, black folks going to the health food store, reading labels and everything. Some even subscribe to Dwell magazine and love modern design, and are VEGETARIANS! Oh, my. And what's up with those two Asian coffee nerds who run the counter at MCB? They're doing Stuff That White People Like! What is your snarky putdown of their self-satisfied enthusiasm for bringing single bean coffee to the foot of Michigan Central Station (which they fawn over just as much as I do). Your own family may be happy for you to learn that it no longer costs more to feed your kids natural foods, by the way. Have you compared the prices at Slows to those at TGI Fridays (or even a coney island, or any restaurant of your choice)? Or compared the grocery prices at Trader Joes and Easter Market to those at Mejer (which, by the way, has lots and lots natural food options at prices often below those of your favorite national brand, though I am sad to report that nobody has found a way to create all-natural Cheeze Wiz for your Nabisco saltines). But of course, why would you need real mayonnaise when you have Miracle Whip! I am very amused that you tsk, tsk me for thinking highly of myself for stocking my family's kitchen with natural catchup made by an artisan enterprise of a dozen people in New England when you seem to take just as much pride in providing your kids Heinz Ketchup, with its corn syrup (without even costing less!) Please explain how your post is any more you/me vs them than your post. I'm also curious to know what you could possibly mean by a "real" restaurant run by "real" people that is neither a coney island nor would do anything to attract snobs like me. What would such a place serve? Industrial white eggs and white bread from Sysco? What on earth is "real" about that? How is it that you could gain excitement from such a place? Please provide me an example of such a place, while you're at it. And don't worry about people like me taking away your access to run-down areas of town that lack artisan food options. There will always be somewhere for you to enjoy the mass market Sysco / Gordon Foods Service lifestyle. But some of us are glad for a Slow Foods outpost in the marvelous corttown area (I know it's not marvelous to you, what with that rundown hulk that irritatingly draws those gawking white people who aren't as truly hip as you). Perhaps you are better suited yourself for one of the low rent areas of the suburbs. Vast expanses of Detroit's suburbs lack any food, architectural, or artistic imagination what so ever, have no affluent people congregating anywhere, and many have low housing prices.

On 12/1/2008 6:22:52 PM, paulhue said:

Shinelight: Why don't you just meet me Sunday for coffee (on me) at MCB, then join me for 30 mins of picking up trash at Roosevelt park, then saunter over to Slows for some beer.

On 12/1/2008 6:35:32 PM, MaxieMaeC said:

PAULHUE! You are a shining example of someone who needs anger management therapy if ever there was one. For an affluent professional, you sure do have oodles of free time to write this dribble EVERY DAY. EVERYBODY IS SICK OF YOUR RANTING AND NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU THINK! JUST GO AWAY!

On 12/2/2008 5:25:41 AM, paulhue said:

MaxieMaeC: Where do you find the oodles of time to read my dribble? I must say that with your high percentage of ALL CAPS and explanation points, I must take your accusation of anger as constituting an expert opinion. But seeing how it comes directly after I have invited a detractor for coffee, beer, and a constructive activity, it defies logic. I am curious if you are able to distinguish my postings as "angry" and "rants", but not yours or Shinelight's. And it appears that all of us in this discussion care what the others think.

On 12/2/2008 1:01:06 PM, shinealight said:

Paulhue: Guess I was wrong assuming you were white. oops. Well you had all the symptoms anyway. Amazing, I never knew Corktown was black as you claim. As for me hating "everything new or different, or especially improved upon or outside the mundane." I don't get it. I'm not for status quo and welcome fresh ideas and development. My point was that a new dawn has not arrived simply because a couple of restaurants opened. A good start, but miles and miles to go before we can declare anything close to a turnaround. You are correct in that you rant prbably more than you need to. I get your point. My view is this. I hope the city, not just Corktown, succeeds. I'm amused at all the suburban types who just now are "discovering" this area simply because there's a place where other white hipsters like them now go to because its the thing for the moment. Even those who are moving in seem less concerned with their perceived ideals and actually improving the city than simply follwoing other hipster sheep into the next big thing. Let's see some white hipster try doing this in another area of the city a little less, um white? I doubt it. People like this like diversity as long as they don't have to get their hands dirty and actually have to deal with black people or people who don't shop at the Gap or use Apple procducts. In short, Corktown is an easy play because its a win-win for them-they get instant cred and diffuses criticism about urban living. I guess if you really did all the things you say in raising your kids on natural foods from birth, good for you. At least your consistent. As for restaurants, why does it have to be one or the other? To you it seems like an eaterie is either a sysco/gordon deep-fried nightmare or a whole food/organic orgasm. Believe it or not there are restaurants out there that don't use organic/slow food ingredients/principles and are good to great places to eat. As I say, you probably use more Sysco/Gordon products than you even realize. I shop there and they actually have some good products, even equipment for restaurants and food service. Does that make me evil. I also shop for the best food options I can get when I can swing it. The thing is, I think that a lot of what is called organic is actually owned by coporations anyway and they take advantage of the situation in pricing. Even the smaller farms and companies price themselves way too high for anyone but rich people to afford them. Where's the "progress" in that? Ugh. I'm tired of typing. I think I'd rather just sit down and have drink/meal with you someday. I bet deep down we probably have more in common than we care to admit here. Don't know if I'll make it sunday, but will someday. How will I know its you? Apple laptop?(oops probaly a dozen around there anyway). Hope to see you sometime.

On 12/3/2008 2:10:20 PM, Casey Coston said:

Good stuff! Might I suggest the decaf kool-aid whenever this supposed "sitdown" takes place?

On 12/3/2008 4:33:37 PM, paulhue said:

shinielight: I've been at MCB the past two sundays. I keep my small dog in the car, then get him out for trash pickup. I usually get there around 11am, and then finish with a couple of pints at Slows! I realize everything can't be non-sysco. I just applaud and make a point of supporting any enterprise making a strong move to fresh, natural, local, seasonal, etc. My google mail address is paulhue86. Yes, we probably agree on most things. And even where we disagree, that's no reason why we wouldn't be friends. And Casey can join us!

On 12/4/2008 7:53:54 AM, paulhue said:

You guys are all invited to my Festivus, in Easter Market this Saturday. We'll have artisan beer from Black Lotus and live music from Detroit's soul/funk scene, including Black Bottom Collective & Nadir's Distorted Soul: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=37563652910#/event.php?eid=37563652910