My family and I had lunch at a new restaurant the other day. It’s called
Pekoe & Joe, and I think you’ll like it for a lot of reasons.
First, it used to be a KFC. The KFC failed, and the fellow who bought the place gutted it, and used recycled materials to turn it into a place that serves organic food. That fact alone got me through the door. It gets better.
The folks who work there are friendly and accommodating. The plates and utensils are all made from vegetable fiber and compostable*. The menu ingredients come from certified organic sources. Pekoe & Joe is certified by the
Green Restaurant Association. The coffee is roasted on-site. The décor is retro, and you can sit on a stool at the counter, on a chair at a table, or in a couch or easy chair in a wee living-room-like setup. There are magazines and free wi-fi. The food’s pretty good, too. Here’s the
menu.
I had the egg noodles with pesto and a cup of tomato basil soup, with Mexican hot chocolate to drink. Really, I should’ve picked a different beverage, because while the hot chocolate was delicious, it didn’t go well with the food I ordered. My fault. But the noodles were perfectly cooked, firm and not at all sticky. The pesto was flavorful, with bigger bits of basil than average. The tomato soup was substantial and hearty. The kids enjoyed their meals as well. Alex wasn’t quite able to finish his grilled cheese sandwich, which came with carrot sticks and cucumber slices instead of fries.
So is there anything wrong with the place? Well, it’s a bit pricey (lunch for four cost around $30, or about $10 more than at our favorite Coney Island place), but as locavores know, you get what you pay for. Quality ingredients are more expensive, and Pekoe & Joe charges accordingly. Fair enough, I say. There was also no place to hang up our coats, but I pointed this out to one of the crew and she said, “Hey, that’s a good point. We should fix that.” I fully expect to see a coat rack or two next time I visit. We didn’t see any high chairs or boosters for little ones, though they may have been available. Zack is big enough now that he doesn’t really need one, so we didn’t ask. Oh, and tomato soup in December? It may be organic, but it probably isn't local.
I think Pekoe & Joe can be forgiven for not buying local ingredients in the dead of a Michigan Winter. Face it, there isn’t much local produce to be had right now, and the place just opened. It’s not like they could go back in time, get a bunch of local produce, and preserve it for January use. Maybe next Summer, though. Plus, the Green Restaurant Association gives a ton of points for buying whole food ingredients from within 100 miles of your place. This may be the beginning of some beautiful friendships...
Drop in to Pekoe & Joe. It’s on M-59 at Voorhies, a couple blocks west of Telegraph. The food is good, and so is the karma. Maybe I'll see you there?
*I don’t really know if compostable disposable plates and utensils are better than the kind that get reused, but I imagine that when you take into account the energy, water, and chemicals used to clean reusable eating ware, it’s (forgive me) a wash.
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