P
ast the deer and occasional
wild turkey on North Campus,
beyond the research complexes
and Environmental Protection Agency
field office, lies a stretch of strip malls
with grocery stores and gyms with vacant
parking lots. Along Plymouth Road, among
stores with yellowing signs and mounds
of snow taking up parking spaces, there’s a
place that is always full — the Songbird Cafe.
The first time I came here was a little less
than a year ago. I came with my roommates
to escape the back-to-school campus craze
on a Sunday morning. We sat among
families on their way back from church,
graduate students and other groups of
friends like ourselves.
Today, I’m here to enjoy the atmosphere
and let the coffee meddle with my thoughts.
I start with a spicy ginger tea and order a
dirty chai latte. The Songbird Cafe is one
of the cafes that has realized good coffee
needs good food with it. My green tea
muffin with candied ginger and walnuts
makes my latte taste even better.
The American eatery serves brunch,
lunch and baked goods with a full coffee
bar. The Songbird Cafe is creative, without
trying too hard — it feels like home, and
less like an Instagram showroom. Chestnut
brown tables and chairs are lined along
the window, comfy couches and stools
filling the inside. The pale wallpaper
balances the darkness of the wood. The
lamps are splattered in a rusty silver that
lights the artwork and dry flowers on the
back wall. Natural light floods the other
half. As it gets darker outside, the lamps
feel brighter.
Artisan sandwiches and lattes are written
on a chalkboard up front that makes you
want to read the entire menu because the
cursive handwriting is fun to follow with
your eyes. They have omelets with Gouda,
bacon, mushrooms and caramelized onions.
The grilled cheese comes with apple butter
on Italian bread. The tangerine-lavender
hot chocolate always catches my eye. Fresh
muffins, cookies and bundt cakes are lined
by the cashier. I want to try everything on
the menu.
The Songbird Cafe turns off Wi-Fi
on weekends during brunch and lunch
hours. I like that the cafe isn’t all clatter
from keyboards and sound leaking from
headphones,
but
conversation.
When
conversation stops, there’s music instead.
They are the only cafe I know of that does
this in Ann Arbor, and it works. People fill
the space, the way the smell of coffee and
baked goods do — they come to enjoy each
other’s company.
There are families and couples, people
that come alone with a good book. It feels
like a cafe, the way it’s always buzzing,
but mellow at the same time. The workers
are friendly and I always ask what their
favorite pastry is before I order. I don’t
know if it’s a uniform, but I like that they
dress in earth tone sweaters and lots of
grays. They seem happy here, unlike the
baristas I’ve encountered at some other
coffee shops.
The cafe makes you warm from the
inside, like it’s Christmas year-round.
Coming here, sitting in the corner and
watching families talk, couples play thumb
games with Louis Armstrong’s “What a
Wonderful World” playing in the back,
takes me home with my family.
It’s nostalgic. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe
it’s because my grandma’s mountain
house is different shades of brown with
dried lavender stems in white ceramic
vases. Maybe it’s because my mom used
to wash, cut and fry potatoes from scratch
like Songbird does. Maybe it’s because I
come from a family that never allowed
electronics at the dinner table. Maybe it’s
because my brother is in the hospital on
the other side of the planet and I can’t do
anything but sit here and write and drink
my latte. Seeing siblings trade bites of
their sandwich, old married couples share
coffee, people on the phone laughing at
jokes I can’t hear, makes me miss home. But
maybe that’s OK too.
Songbird Cafe is a people place. It’s
special in the way it values its customers
and gives them space to breathe — it’s
hard to find places like this. For students
and faculty on campus, it’s a getaway. It’s
further from the noise and competition,
but sure worth the hike. It’s a nook in a
strip mall I’m happy I found.
There are medical students talking
about their first rotation, old friends
reuniting, people talking about the future,
others journaling. It makes me appreciate
the company I’m with, the communities
I’m a part of. It’s calming, the way cafes
are in movies and books, the way I picture
them in my head.
2B
Managing Statement Editor:
Brian Kuang
Deputy Editors:
Colin Beresford
Jennifer Meer
Rebecca Tarnopol
Photo Editor:
Amelia Cacchione
Editor in Chief:
Alexa St. John
Managing Editor:
Dayton Hare
Copy Editors:
Elise Laarman
Finntan Storer
Wednesday, January 17, 2018// The Statement
Brews Through: Songbird Cafe
statement
THE MICHIGAN DAILY | JANUARY 17, 2018
BY YOSHIKO IWAI, COLUMNIST
Courtesy of Yoshiko Iwai
Courtesy of Yoshiko Iwai