Since the first part of the year on Friday mornings Lisa Gottlieb and Jeff McCabe open their home and with a host of volunteers offer breakfast diners a steady stream of guest chefs and a few beautifully select breakfast options. They refer to it as a Breakfast Salon. I love the ‘Salon’ part. It makes skipping work seem like a higher calling. As we became a part of the 60 or 70+ people they fed that morning, I began to wonder if Lisa and Jeff were a little crazy, good crazy, but crazy nonetheless.
Welcome to FridayMornings@Selma’s.
Selma’s (an acronym for the surrounding streets) brings guests locally grown food, created by an honest to goodness foodie and our server happened to be a cute, tall drink of water! Work, what? In exchange Selma’s asks for a donation of $10-15 person which is given back to the farms that supplied the food and the small farms – small farmers initiative. So while behind the scenes (and through our stomachs) Jeff and Lisa were aiming to raise awareness and strengthen the community we were enjoying our best breakfast of the week. Kudos on the pitch. In the words of their website “Repasts, Present and Future celebrates the bounty our region has produced while working to foster the next generation of farmers and consumers.”
So back to the food… thanks to chef Dan Vernia of Mind, Body & Spirits, a Rochester restaurant specializing in locally grown and organic fare, and a lot of helping hands our breakfast offered a Chef Dan special and a few house favorites. Chef’s special - Autumn Eggs Benedict served in gougere and choice of Chicken Confit or Onion Ragout with a Wild Mushroom sauce and fall mixed greens. House favorites – Seasonal Bread Pudding (pear the day we went) with Bacon or Waffles with gingered apples and bacon. We ordered the Pear Bread Pudding with a side of Jeff-cured bacon and the chef’s preparation of Eggs Benedict. The Bread Pudding was surprisingly light while having a natural sweetness. The serving was just enough to leave you satisfied while making you wish there was just one more bite. The Eggs Benny was perfectly poached. The streaming yolk was soaked up by the gougere(puff pastry) and added to the savory richness of the chicken confit. Coffee also flowed aplenty as did the conversation. We met Jeremy Lopatin who, along with his wife, owns Arbor Teas. Turns out Jeremy lives in the neighborhood, lucky guy. Seated to my left I had the pleasure of “Boo” a blond, curly headed, young breakfast-goer who was unveiling her new fall attire of blue velour. Boo’s dad happened to mention that his wife, Nancy Melet, was presenting her jewelry in Dexter that Sunday at Art on the Farm. By the time I left I was wondering what I do with all my time. My martini habit came to mind.
During our repast we learned of Selma’s fund raising efforts for Growing Hope in Ypsilanti and the film maker Chris Bathgate who’s work covers the need for a humane, sustainable, local food economy. Selma also provides funds to the Hoop-house project which builds greenhouse style structures so produce may be grown year round. The first Hoop-house went to Greg Willerer of Brother Nature Produce on Rosa Parks in Detroit just this past August and Selma was there to help build it. As I left, I felt happy. Cliche, I know, but it was a damn good start to the day. I still think Lisa and Jeff are a little crazy to have so many people through their house every week, but they are my kind’a crazy.
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