JULY 21 • 2022 | 43

restaurant skills at Soul 
Café, or the bakery trade at 
Dakota Bread-Friendship 
Circle on Orchard Lake 
Road in West Bloomfield. 
Friendship Circle purchased 
the popular gourmet Jewish 
bakery in October 2020 
from its retiring owners. Job 
training is currently offered 
to “15 Soul Center clients, 
with another 21 on a waiting 
list,” Shomer said.
Bassie Shemtov is 
executive director of 
Friendship Circle, founded 
in 1994 with her husband, 
Rabbi Levi Shemtov, and 
eight volunteers. She 
oversees Soul Center and 
with Shomer, Soul Café.
“We offer healthy, fresh 
kosher food for everyone 
in a warm, nonjudgmental 
environment,” Bassie said.

NEW ON THE MENU 
New breakfast-type items on 
the Soul Café menu include 
Smoked Fish Plate; Crepe 
filled with lox, scrambled 
egg, spinach, mushrooms 
and feta; and a colorful 
Breakfast Bowl. I went with 
everything offered in the 
bowl but the poached egg (a 
personal dislike). Otherwise, 
I enjoyed the assortment of 
crumbly coconut “bacon,” 
red cabbage, avocado slices, 
spinach, house potato cubes 
and rainbow carrot ribbons, 
plus savory kale-walnut 
pesto. Sweet choices newly 

introduced are Lemon 
Ricotta Pancakes and 
Cinnamon Sugar French 
Toast Sticks.
The “Lunch Starters” list 
includes a new Cheeseboard 
and my next choice: General 
Tso’s Cauliflower Bites. The 
lightly battered and slightly 
spicy chunks were served 
with an Asian-style dipping 
sauce. New salads to try 
include Ginger Garden, 
Greek and Power Bowl, 
including barbecued tofu.
Under “Sandwiches,” 
diners can now choose Mahi 
Taco — two corn tortillas 
filled with nice-sized pieces 
of the tasty fish and flavorful 
lime cilantro slaw, pico 
de gallo and salsa verde. 
I really liked these. 
Pesto and Cajun Salmon 
Alfredo are new pastas 
this season.
Dessert eaters may 
fancy the addition of 
soft-serve ice cream in 
flavors of chocolate, 
vanilla and both in a 
swirl.
Accompanying meals, 
or to enjoy separately, are 
non-alcoholic beverages 
that include Chazzano 
Coffee Roasters, Starbucks 
Coffee, espresso drinks and 
smoothies.
Note that Soul Café retains 
the most popular items on its 
changing menus. My favorite, 
Ancient Grain Salad, has 
dates, apples, caramelized 

onion, sweet potato, quinoa, 
seeds and greens, with a silan 
(sweet syrup made from 
dates) vinaigrette. For more 
complexity, add optional 
avocado, salmon and/or tuna 
salad. 
The appealing, beautiful 
lineup of items at Soul Café 
makes deciding difficult. 
After ordering, food and 
beverages can be enjoyed 
in the white main dining 

room. The rotating artwork 
of Soul Studio artists gives 
the airy space the feeling of a 
gallery. In addition to regular 
tables, as many as 12 diners 
may gather at a high-top 
communal table toward the 
back wall. A separate carpeted 
room handles overflow dining, 
usually on busy Sundays, and 
may be rented for business 
meetings, bridal showers and 
other events. 
For anyone wanting a little 
fresh air this summer, Soul 
Café also offers seating on its 
large covered patio. 

Soul Café 
at Friendship Circle’s 
Farber Soul Center 
5586 Drake Road 
West Bloomfield, MI 48322 
(248) 788-7400 
friendshipcircle.org/soul/cafe/ 
$$$½ out of $$$$$

Executive Chef Tim Maraj, left, 
and Director Shalom Shomer

PHOTOS BY ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER

General Tso’s Cauliflower 
with Asian-style dipping 
sauce