Appetizer: Morning Glory Coffee Shop

An Eye-Opener: Morning Glory is a coffee shop with some added perks
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Photograph by David Lewinski

Gretchen Valade couldn’t get her favorite coffee — a non-fat caramel latte — anywhere on The Hill, the block of Kercheval in Grosse Pointe Farms where her Dirty Dog Jazz Café occupies No. 97.

So, when the building at No. 85, a former gift shop, became available, the entrepreneur did what entrepreneurs do. She bought the building and began planning what originally was going to be called Morning Coffee. But that quickly segued into Morning Glory, a more appropriate title for what will be a chic Montreal-style coffee, panini, and pastry shop, with a resident pastry chef, Amy Gallagher. It will also serve wine, as many Montreal coffee shops do.

“I hope I won’t be responsible for Grosse Pointers staggering down Kercheval,” Valade jokes about the decision to include adult beverages on the coffee menu.

At press time, Morning Glory was scheduled to open March 1, not soon enough for the energetic Valade, who originally hoped to have it up and running before last Christmas.

But, as such things often go, it wasn’t just a simple remodeling. Major construction on the two-story building was required, including all-new wiring, plumbing, and heating. The premises are pretty much a whole new place.

The French-tiled kitchen is on the second floor — meaning that the floor had to be reinforced — and there’s a completely new facade, with stonework and diamond-paned windows. At the entrance is a covered patio with a fireplace and a heated floor that make it possible for year-round use.

Inside, a cozy section called “the library” has wide-board floors, couches, bookshelves, and a spiral staircase.

Hours will probably be 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., says Dirty Dog Jazz Café executive chef André Neimanis, who will do double duty as manager of Morning Glory.

This time, the logo includes a dove instead of a dog. Why a dove? “I don’t know,” Valade says. “I just liked it.”