Daylig
Deli
t
Breakfast and lunchtime treats await
hungry diners in Birmingham.
HY BY ANGIE BAAN
The
297 E
Birmin
(248) 723-
Hours:
Monday-Friday, 8
Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.
Price Range:
Breakfasts: $5.50-$13.95
Lunch entrees: $9.50-$14.25
Sandwiches, burgers and salads: $7.25-$9.25
B8 •
FEBRUARY 2008 •
EN platin.um
It's an age-old lesson: Things are not always as they appear.
Glance through the window at the Maple Leaf Cafe, and
find a narrow restaurant with vinyl table coverings, vintage
photos lining the walls and the grill right up front, remi-
niscent of any greasy-spoon diner. Once inside, however,
you'll find this new restaurant is anything but ordinary.
Using fresh, high-quality ingredients — with an empha-
sis on organic and all-natural foods — chef-owner Jeorge
Swanson has created a menu bursting with inventive flavor
combinations.
Open since October, the Maple Leaf attracts a crowd
on weekends and during the weekday lunch hour, and with
just 10 or so tables and a handful of counter seats, it fills
up quickly. You'll likely wait for a table, but use the time
to ponder life's big questions: Breakfast or lunch? Sweet
or salty? Burger or salad? At the Maple Leaf, there are no
wrong answers.
Breakfast offerings include a number of egg dishes,
including a build-your-own omelet option and a host of
tempting egg scrambles (all made with organic eggs, natch).
Highlights include the Mediterranean scramble, which
tosses together eggs, fresh spinach, feta and Greek olives,
and the sweet-potato scramble, which combines sweet
potatoes with mushrooms, scallions, bacon and havarti
cheese. All are accompanied by toasted fresh breads and
homemade jams.
The Maple Leaf also presents several sinful pancake vari-
eties — from bananas Foster to sweet potato to coffee-malt
crunch, which folds almonds, oats and chocolate chunks
into malted mocha batter. You'll have trouble resisting the
Voodoo French toast, with hunks of challah dipped in a
yogurt, honey, vanilla and egg batter and topped with toast-
ed coconut. Feeling more virtuous? The breakfast banana
split consists of fresh fruit, yogurt and house-made granola.
The lunch menu includes traditional, hearty fare like
secret-recipe meatloaf and ultra-rich macaroni and cheese
as well as more innovative entrees like crab cakes drizzled
with raspberry honey mustard and fritters made with but-
ternut squash, cheese and arborio rice.
The sandwich list includes vegan and vegetarian fare
among standards like tuna, chicken salad and grilled cheese.
But even here, the usuals are enlivened by details like feta
cheese and lemon oregano aioli on the grilled cheese and a
slice of pineapple atop the tuna melt. The Maple Leaf also
ventures into burger territory, offering half-pound patties
with a variety of toppings, accompanied by large, beauti-
fully crispy french fries.
While the kids menu is limited, the Maple Leaf Cafe
is definitely family friendly, a detail that fits right in with
Swanson's worldview. After working long hours and late
nights as a chef at Lily's Seafood in Royal Oak and Sweet
Lorraine's in Southfield, Swanson longed to be his own
boss and create his own menu. He envisioned a restaurant
offering only breakfast and lunch, in part, he says, because
Birmingham needed a breakfast place. But more important,
the daytime hours allows him to be home in the evenings
with his young children. Running the Maple Leaf Cafe,
says Swanson, gives him "the freedom to do what I want
to do" — whether it's reading a bedtime story to his kids
or having a menu that includes a version of eggs Benedict
made with crab cakes. Fortunately for diners at the Maple
Leaf, Swanson's freedom translates into wonderful food. ❑