GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Any day best begins, inside the Cherie Inn.
A white brick building nestled into Cherry Street, Cherie Inn is a breakfast spot where customers drink their coffee and read the morning news — all within the same four walls where Michael Kulczyk is making his own.
"I am the owner, operator, busboy, dishwasher, whatever it takes," said Michael.
He's taking a hole in the wall to a new time frame, entirely.
“This is one of the oldest restaurants in Grand Rapids. It turned 100 years old this year," he smiled.
Michael, the owner of 27 years of those 100 years, says it's the perfect mix of visible and invisible.
“It's kind of hidden because a lot of people will say they've driven by, you know, for 20 years and they never even knew we were a restaurant," he said.
After all these years, he still can't get enough of their locally-famous eggs benedict.
“The menu has always been fresh and local ingredients, we make things from scratch. We're famous for our eggs benedict. It's the best eggs benedict in the world," he said. "We take the time to make true hollandaise sauce that really is our secret.”
If the walls that surround Michael every day could talk, they wouldn't. They'd write history books.
“Jay Van Andel was born upstairs," said Michael. “Gerald R. Ford met his biological father here. He didn't meet his biological father till he was 13. And in his biography, it says his dad asked him, 'Where would you like to meet Jerry?' And he said, 'at the Cherie Inn.'”
Politicians, celebrities and future presidents have all rolled through the Cherie Inn at one time or another.
“They want to go to a Grand Rapids original and there's no other Cherie Inn anywhere," he said.
But one thing stays the same — they're all treated the same as their regulars. Tom Rohrer, who has known Cherie Inn since before even Michael's time, can attest.
"From the time you walk in the door, the welcoming carpet comes from the owner, the servers, even the busboys. You feel like you're not a number. You feel like you're a person. The meals are exceptional," laughed Tom, “the only downside is you can't eat at all."
“When you come into Cherie Inn, you get fresh flowers on every table, you eat off the Fiestaware you get a professional server wearing black," said Michael. "I think that's what makes it special is the Cherie Inn is old school.”
Tom can’t put a number on how many times he’s been here. But time has made his visits count.
"Sixty years ago, when I was a student in college a few blocks from here, we would come here every so often," said Tom.
Memories aren’t the only reason he comes back. One huge draw is his waiter, Chris Howard, who also happens to be his grandson.
"My girlfriend and I just stopped in here saw it and decided to come for breakfast. And we loved it. One of the servers then said they needed some help. And I needed a job at the time," said Chris, "and here I am today."
When he told his family about the new gig, his grandpa said it sounded familiar.
"He stopped in one day and said that he had remembered that he had come here as a kid. He used to come here all the time,” said Chris.
"It was like going back down memory lane," smiled Tom.
One hundred years later, only time will tell how long their white brick walls will still hold a breakfast spot. But with a history like this one, Cherie Inn is putting all their eggs into one benedict.
“Everybody wants the Cherie Inn to stick around," said Michael. "If you keep coming, we'll keep cooking.”
►The Cherie Inn is located at 969 Cherry Street SE in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They're open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
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