A new Black women-owned spot is coming to Detroit, as TeQuion Brookins and Nina Love are putting together their talents to create an “elevated community center” and brunch space.
Motor City Mimosa, set to open in Eastern Market in late summer, will serve up mimosas, of course, as well as a range of breakfast and lunch cuisine. But it will also offer way more than brunch, with plans to host entertainment and other events.
“The vision is for it to be a destination where culture, cuisine, and community come together,” Love tells Metro Times. “Our vision is to create a space that elevates the meeting experience in Detroit.”
She adds, “Our community deserves luxury. We want to provide our leaders working to improve our neighborhoods with elevated, upscale experiences that are Black-owned and -led. We want to create that and we know that it’s possible because we already do this all the time at our own events. We are very much so two amazing, talented Black women that are about Black excellence, so we definitely want the energy of Black excellence to be present and are adding lots of intentionality in every aspect of the physical building and business model to reflect that.”
Love is a chef who recently moved to Detroit from Brooklyn, New York, while co-founder Brookins is a Detroit native who runs an event production company. The two met when Love catered an event at Metro Detroit Black Business Alliance.
“She had my food and saw my presentation and was like, ‘You, me, we’re together now,’” Love says.
As an event planner, a big challenge for Brookins was having consistent, good food to accompany events. When she met Love, that problem was solved. “I was that reliable food and beverage provider for her,” Love says. “So, between my clients needing spaces to meet and create and collaborate and her clients needing spaces to meet and collaborate, we were like, why not just create a space that reflects what we’re doing?”
Now, the pair hope to provide a spot where business owners in Detroit can connect with one another and learn from each other as they did.
“We wanted to create a unique space that allows our clients and our partners and our colleagues in the nonprofit and in the for-profit business space here in the city of Detroit to have a place to call home,” Love says.
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Will Daniels
TeQuion Brookins.
Once opened, Motor City Mimosa will host a wide range of social, cultural, and educational events such as classes for business owners, live music and poetry performances, and holiday celebrations. People will also be able to become a member at the space, which will give them access to exclusive benefits such as additional programming, high-tech meeting rooms, a banquet facility, bottomless mimosas, and more.
On the food and beverage side of things, the owners say the eatery’s menu will not fall short. Love says she put her heart into create an intentional and unique mimosa selection that includes local ingredients, botanicals, oils, and herbs. The spot will also offer pastries and desserts infused with champagne, such as rosé-glazed doughnuts and Prosecco cake.
“We both love champagne, and it kind of symbolizes elegance and excellence and celebration, so a lot of our sweets and our pastries are going to be infused with champagne, which is going to be really nice,” Love says. “The culture is going to be celebration, it’s not just mimosas to be trendy. We know people do love brunch and love mimosas as we do, but it also is kind of emphasizing just how amazing champagne is and how beautiful it can be used in sauces and desserts and dressings and all that, so I’ll be infusing champagne in a lot of the menu items as well.”
For the food, Love says her mission is to introduce people to different flavors from around the world. “My culinary style is exploration, it’s discovery, it’s playful, it’s fun, it’s innovative, and so while we’ll be focusing on the champagne piece at Motor City Mimosa, we will also highlight some global cuisine,” Love says.
The diverse community aspect that Brookins and Love hope to achieve with the space makes Eastern Market the perfect place.
“It’s a cultural hub, which is what we want to be. We want to be a destination when people come to the city of Detroit and for people that already are here,” Love says. “It’s in alignment in a number of ways, easily accessible, it’s beautiful, it’s historic. I love just being in a space that is already artistic and creative, anywhere you look up in Eastern Market you can see a mural, a piece of art somewhere, so we’re just excited to join other businesses that are there as a part of Detroit culture and share in our commitment to health.”
As one of many ways that the business will pour back into the community, a portion of Motor City Mimosa’s revenue will go to different local nonprofits each month.
“We understand the needs of the amazing Detroit based nonprofits that are doing the work here in the city to support the community,” Love says. “I think that’s one of the most important things to understand is that when you support Motor City Mimosa, you are actually giving back directly to the city of Detroit and what leaders of the city of Detroit in the business world are doing.”
The owners say they will announce Motor City Mimosa’s address later this month.
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