Setting the scene
Walking up the porch stairs toward the Yellow Door, you are greeted by a friendly volunteer who has the American flag hanging behind her as a backdrop. Step through the hallway lined with family pictures, the dining room decorated with antiques, and follow the smell of warm maple syrup and transcend into another time. Sit and enjoy the clatter of dishes and chatter of friends and neighbors catching up before they start their day. 

Who knows you could be sitting next to a local politician or shaking hands with a “celebrity chef.” “It gives people a chance to see friends and meet people in the community they wouldn’t have normally met,” said Jane Pacheco, owner of LUNASA, LLC, who helps gather local food for the event. 

Background
It all started with a visit to Ann Arbor’s Selma Café. After seeing how Selma Café cooks up a delicious breakfast made from local ingredients each week, while also bringing the community together and raising funds to help local farmers, Janice Ortbring was inspired to bring a taste of Selma Café to her town of Chelsea. Together with her husband, Todd Ortbring, they volunteered their house, gathered a team of volunteers, rustled up dishes from garage sales and painted old doors yellow for additional tables. 

Their in-home, occasional café opened in October 2009.  Just like Selma Café, they recruit the best local chefs to create a gourmet breakfast made from locally-grown ingredients—now that’s Pure Michigan! Originally, all breakfast proceeds were donated to the Chelsea Community Kitchen, but now they also raise funds for other community events, businesses and organizations.  That’s not the only difference; they no longer host a breakfast every Thursday morning, but on a more occasional basis. However, it remains just as popular welcoming crowds of 40 to 50 people.

Look for the Yellow Door
Katelynd, MOVE intern, and I must confess that we didn’t know its background before we went to the Yellow Door breakfast.  In fact, we just recently learned that Yellow Door often cooks with Tantre produce, which is the farm that Carol and Don’s, MOVE CEO and President, son, Greg, works on. However, we did know that MOVE* sees local farming as an essential ingredient to our area's future. Staying true to MOVE’s ideals, we drove to Harrison Street last Thursday to support the local economy.

Plus, it didn’t hurt that Chef Craig Common, of The Common Grill, served up:

• Back Forty Acres egg frittata with poached Michigan shrimp, Grassfield Creamery goat milk cheddar, fresh Michigan asparagus and home fries

• Calder Creamery buttermilk apple praline pancakes served with warmed Michigan maple syrup and Calder Creamery butter

• Homemade granola with Calder Creamery milk

It didn’t just taste good, but felt good too. Our $15 per plate donation raised money for the Chelsea Sounds and Sights summer Festival, a weekly free summer entertainment event. 

  *MOVE is affiliated with Think Local First and the Food System Economic Partnership.