MARCH 7 • 2024 | 29

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V

isitors to Will Werner and Zachary 
Berg’s Mongers’ Provisions, a specialty 
appetizer store on 12 Mile Road in 
Berkley, have only to walk through an archway 
(or use front and back entrances) to reach the 
partners’ relaxing storefront addition. The 
Rind, opened last summer, initially offered 
only a sampling of well-curated 
cheese and wine.
“We are a neighborhood wine 
bar evolving into an increased 
emphasis on food,” Werner said. 
Since the addition of a full menu 
in late September, “we’re getting 
more restaurant-y.”
The Rind — a reference 
to the outside layer 
formed during the aging of cheese — 
is focused on cheese but offers lots 
more, including the aforementioned 
wine, plus charcuterie, crackers, 
pickles, olives and other products sold 
at Mongers’ Provisions. 
There’s a thoughtful, clever 
synergy between the two spaces. As 
a generality, one could eat or drink 
something tasty in the Rind and 
then buy it in Mongers to take home. Or, if 
intrigued by a particular cheese, cured meat 
or wine recommendation from a monger 
(knowledgeable store staff), the Rind menu 
just might have the item available to try.
Wine by the glass is available at the Rind 
from a selection of 150 bottles. Delightfully, 
taste comparison tests are sometimes 
offered. Additional beverage choices include 
traditional and modern cocktails, beer, cider, 
seltzer, soda, sparkling water, coffee and 
drinking chocolate. 
I took an opportunity to try a cocktail with 
a twist. Gin & Co., developed by bartender-
private chef Kalyani Graff, is topped with a 
burned sprig of fresh rosemary that lent a brief 
smokiness to the air. The pretty concoction — 
red on top, white below — went down oh, so 
easily! It consisted of gin from Clawson-based 
Weiss Distilling Company, Lambrusco wine, 
lemon and rosemary simple syrup.
The owners and Rind staff are friendly 
and very helpful if a guest seeks guidance on 
what to order. Menu categories are Cheese & 
Charcuterie, Snacks, Vegetables (including 
Caesar and Radicchio salads), Meat & Fish 
and Dessert. The shining star in the kitchen 

Esther 
Allweiss 
Ingber 
Contributing 
Writer

The Rind
3125 W. 12 Mile Road, 
Berkley
(248) 468-4487
Social media: Facebook 
page, rindbar.com and 
@therindmi on Instagram
$$$ out of $$$$

TOP: Michigan Rainbow Trout. 
ABOVE: Zachary Berg and Will Werner, 
co-owners of Mongers’ Provisions, sitting at 
a table in their attached wine bar, The Rind.

PHOTOS BY ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER

