TRAVERSE CITY — Welcome to the next generation of the family cottage.
Brothers and co-owners Eric and Scott Drossart moved their restaurant business — the former Cottage Cafe — down the street, taking over vacant property near the intersection of Munson Avenue and Eighth Street to open The Cottage. The building housed the former Mabel's Restaurant before it closed in December.
"This is the next step of the Cottage Cafe, the evolution," Eric said.
The reason behind the move was simple.
"To create our own space, my brother and I," Eric said. "My parents retired last year ... It's a change into our generation. This was available through the bank, and it was a great opportunity to own some land in Traverse City, Mich. It was a no-brainer."
The Cottage officially opened for business Friday after renovating the space. There is a fireplace in the lobby, wood chairs built in the 1890s rescued from decades of storage, and a living wall made of plants.
"There was a problem with the seating being very uncomfortable, the windows being ice cold, just a lot of touch points," Eric said. "We've been next door for 19 years. There are things you hear, and we addressed them. All new booths, we separated things correctly, access for families in wheelchairs and tables."
The restaurant, which used to seat more than 200, has been trimmed to about 150.
"We made it less crowded, less congested," Scott added.
All but one of the 15 employees from the Cottage Cafe followed to the new restaurant. Scott said they have 15 to 20 new hires — some from Mabel's — and hope to increase the work force to near 50 by the summer.
Some of the menu items also made the trip down Munson Avenue. The Drossarts reworked food selections with Executive Chef Michael Henriet, a former sous chef at 310.
"They asked for a revamp on the menu, and we all came together on what direction we would take," Henriet said. "They knew their customers better than I did. The three of us came up with a pretty excellent menu. We have high-end stuff, like Parmesan crusted whitefish, right down to an herb ciabatta turkey sandwich."
The menu features comfort-food favorites, too, he said.
Eric said many Cottage Cafe regulars stopped by the first few days The Cottage has been open.
A Mabel's regular, Dennis Webster, of Hattiesburg, Miss., gave his approval after dining there this week with his father.
"We were sad to see it go, but what happened to it now is a fresh reinvention of the idea," said Webster, a Kingsley native. "This is a good plan, a good operation."
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The Cottage officially opened for business on Friday on the site of the former Mabel's Restaurant. Record-Eagle/Mark Urban
Cottage opens in former Mabel's space
Restaurant was named Cottage Cafe
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