Lincoln paid for workers at Detroit's Marrow restaurant to take the week off
Susan Selasky
After all the uncertainty, shutdowns and overall miserable past 13 months that Michigan's restaurant industry faced, one wouldn’t think closing for a week would be an option.
But one Detroit restaurant was recently able to do just that.
The owner and staff at Marrow in Detroit's West Village was recently on the receiving end of some restful pay-it-forward.
The idea was to give staff a chance to rest, recharge and revitalize.
But there was another feel-good component. While the entire restaurant staff was off, they were paid as were some of the restaurant's weekly business expenses. Even dinner was included.
It was a different take on restaurant week, with the emphasis is on "rest" for the restaurant's staff.
But it wasn't Marrow founder and proprietor Ping Ho's idea.
It was luxury brand Lincoln's playful take on the idea to give back to an industry that's suffered so much during the pandemic.
A two-minute-plus video featuring Marrow and the idea to reward the restaurant with "rest" began airing Wednesday morning on Lincoln's YouTube channel.
Ho, who is also the owner and proprietor of Mink restaurant in Corktown and The Royce wine bar in Detroit, was traveling by car back to Detroit from Woodstock, New York, when she heard the news.
It was Marrow's executive chef, Sarah Welch, and general manager Amanda Franke telling Ho about Lincoln's plans.
"The entire staff was excited and thrilled to be selected by Lincoln and their agency," Ho said. "It was a novel concept to start with, and the notion of getting a paid vacation after hustling through months of necessary work felt like the silver lining that everyone needed at that point."
Lincoln covered payroll for Marrow’s 16 employees for the week. Also covered were business expenses normally covered by Marrow’s weekly sales, Ho said.
For Lincoln, it was about “creating a sanctuary for our community and celebrating the hard work of some of frontline workers," Eric Peterson, Lincoln Motor Co. marketing communications manager, said.
“So many people and so many different entities have stepped forward this past year and one of them was restaurants,” he said. “What if we give them a break with the same type of thing that they are doing by helping others out, trying to stay open, trying to go forward. How about a restaurant week where you (the restaurant) take a break and focus on yourself and your well-being?”
Marrow’s staff used the time, Ho said, to enjoy the week and take little trips out of Detroit. Ho said she spent her time on administrative work and time at The Royce.
“But it was great to know that my team members were having a break and that we didn't have to worry about hitting our sales targets that week,” she said.
Marrow’s "rest" week kicked off with a celebratory meal at the Detroit Foundation Hotel, adjacent to the TCF Center.
Marrow's staff enjoyed the culinary creations of the Apparatus Room, led by two-star Michelin chef Thomas Lents. The meal included smoked whitefish Caesar salad, roasted carrot, and chili hummus followed by wild mushroom, spinach, and ricotta cannelloni, roasted chicken coq au vin-style, and more. For desserts, it was cheesecake and the signature chocolate chip cookies of Lent’s wife, Rebecca.
Marrow on Kercheval is two culinary halves that meld together nicely. This small neighborhood restaurant focuses on nose-to-tail butchery and farm-to-table with an emphasis on minimizing waste. One side is the restaurant, where many cuts of meat broken down from whole cuts show up on the menu. The other cuts go to the butcher shop retail side.
The video airing is heartfelt, with both Ho and Welch revealing emotions most likely echoed by so many restaurants of the past year.
“Marrow is "passion, good food and community," Ho said on the video.
Marrow opened in 2018 with high praises as one of Detroit's best new restaurants.
"People felt like we were open for years," Welch added.
And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, stopping Michigan’s entire restaurant industry in its tracks.
"Failure was not an option," Ho said. "Keep the butcher shop open. Retain as many of the core team as possible."
As a neighborhood butcher shop, people turned to Marrow for meats as well as groceries at a time when people were not comfortable going into larger stores. Marrow also made home meal kits.
"There's a reason why 'pivot' was one of the most used words in 2020."
Pre-pandemic, Marrow's staff was 40.
With COVID-19, that staff dwindled to 16.
"Hands down, the hardest that happened during COVID was cutting our team," Welch said in the video. "Making those phone calls was one of the hardest days of my life. "
Lincoln lauded Marrow for giving back to the community. The brand looked at restaurants and how they approach their communities and staff.
“It's the discovery of local gems," Peterson said. "Who may be a staple in our backyard. Here's the back story on a local gem in Detroit. The idea was to bring them together and celebrate as a family.”
Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: 313-222-6872 or sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.
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