By: Deborah Johnson Wood
The business boom in the Wealthy Street historic district caught the eye of a budding restaurateur who will bring his own brand of homegrown eclecticism to a new building planned for 1015 Wealthy. The Electric Cheetah opens this fall, offering a menu of specials and specialties with a side of live piano music.
Friday night neighborhood perch fries, pies made by mom, specialty soups every day (the beginning of the Wealthy Street Soup Movement), and even, get this, milk and cookies—warm cookies fresh from the oven.
“I’m going to open the place with a very simple soup, salad and sandwich menu,” says Cory DeMint, owner and executive chef. “Two different homemade soups every day, 15 salads, 15 sandwiches and hand-cut French fries. I want to bring food back to what it’s supposed to be—simple, natural and delicious.”
DeMint’s mom will help out by making pies from her family recipe, and everything will be homemade, including the slow-roasted corned beef for the Reubens.
The new LEED building, a partnership between developers Bear Manor Properties and architects DTS + Winkelmann, features the restaurant space on the main level, two apartments above and will be finished by early fall.
DeMint prepares for the eatery’s opening by buying and reselling used restaurant equipment, putting the profits back into the business. The best pieces of equipment he kept for the restaurant.
He’ll furnish the space with tables and chairs purchased from defunct hotels, recovering the chairs with $2,000 fabric he bought from a former Grand Rapids upholstery shop for $25.
Between his prudent shopping and help from family, (brother Todd created the CAD drawings for the restaurant’s interior) DeMint expects a total outlay of just $15,000 cash.
Source: Cory DeMint, The Electric Cheetah
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Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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