Ann About Town: The People's Kitchen

The first time I went to The People’s Kitchen, I was grumpy. It was Friday, I was tired, it was incredibly hot, and there was construction on Michigan Avenue that changed an unremarkable left turn across Michigan Avenue into a gauntlet.

After I arrived and met my dining companion (sometime ELi reporter and my nephew, Andrew Graham), three things happened to change my mood.

First, I requested iced coffee and the waitperson smiled and said yes, of course she could do that for me. This is something of a test, because that request is usually met with a blank stare followed by a recitation of how they could do it, but they’d have to bring me a mug of hot coffee and a glass of ice and leave me to my own devices.

Second, the iced coffee arrived in the kind of glass with a face that’s usually associated with Tiki drinks at Trader Vic’s.

Third, another waitperson came across the room to tell me she “liked my style” which was delightful, considering I was wearing what I wear to work, which seems to me neither stylish nor worthy of compliments.

Much happier, I took in the scene. The space is like a warehouse or hangar, with art-covered walls, a vintage Quickie Lube sign hung above the pass-through to the open kitchen, and simple tables and chairs. Seated around us were people of every possible description, including lots of mothers with small children, some business types in suits and spendy loafers, senior citizens, and the coolest of cool people with multiple piercings, tattoos, and vividly purple hair.

The menu is varied, and includes a number of vegan and gluten-free offerings. These are not pallid imitations of “real” food, mind you; I eat meat but would more than willingly try vegan chilaquiles with green chili tofu scramble, black beans, mushroom-rice chorizo, almond yogurt, pickled onions, guacamole and crispy tortillas.

We started with breakfast poutine with sausage gravy and white cheddar. Poutine can go terribly wrong, the most usual issue being limp French fries buried under viscous gravy, but everything about this poutine was right. There were crisp fries covered in mild sausage gravy and small cubes of cheese. The cheese was mostly melted by the heat from the potatoes and gravy, but still held its shape and melted in the mouth rather than disappearing into the mix. Oh, and they also offer a vegan poutine with wheatland gravy and vegan cheddar.

Andrew ordered what was described as “fried chicken and a biscuit with raw carrot kimchi, gochujang aioli, fried chicken and a farm-fresh egg on a buttermilk biscuit.” Gochujang is a Korean hot chili paste, and the kimchi and chili paste added heat to a fluffy biscuit, crisp chicken, and a nicely done egg that was runny but firm.

I opted for the smoked chicken and sweet potato hash which included onion jam, cilantro pesto, sofrito, cheddar-chipotle béchamel, farm-fresh fried egg and sweet potato crisps. The hash was less finely diced than most, so there were good-sized chunks of smoky chicken and sweet potato, with some crisp from the hash and sweet potato crisps, creaminess from the béchamel and a mild but complex hit of flavor from the sweetness of the onion jam and the saltiness of pesto and sofrito.

Of course, I went back again quickly, this time with my son in tow. The People’s Kitchen is one of those places where, if you are a foodie, you are haunted by the dishes you didn’t choose last time. It’s also a place where you want to take all your friends and family, because the food is fresh and adventurous but not intimidating (I hear they make a great waffle), they can feed people who are vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free, and they have an extensive “lil squirrels” menu for kids with nary a warmed up mini pizza or chicken finger on offer.

On the second visit, we were greeted at the front by a young woman who told us the chef was out of town, and there would be a 45-minute wait. There was also a different menu with fewer offerings. We risked it, and were glad we did. We made friends with the grandparents at the next table, who were wrangling toddler boys high on waffles and syrup, we did not have to wait anything like 45 minutes, and there was no loss in quality because the usual chef was absent.

In fact, if I can get it past my editor who reminds us all, all the time, that we are a nonpartisan outfit, I will say that my lunch was sublime: crispy pork belly with geechie boy gritz, creamed collard greens, rhubarb chutney, and a farm-fresh fried egg. The pork belly was crispy outside, meltingly tender inside and not too fatty. The grits were creamy, the collards a little bitter, and the rhubarb jam created that salty-sweet thing that only works when the balance is just right.

The People’s Kitchen is located at 2722 E. Michigan Avenue, just over the border from East Lansing. There is lots of parking. They are only open from 8AM-3PM, and are closed on Mondays. I hear they do a good Sunday brunch, too.

Photos by Raymond Holt, who, when asked by ELi’s Publisher to please go shoot some photos of People’s Kitchen, replied, “I love that place!”