Many businesses, especially small businesses, around the world have been forced to close up shop because of government-mandated quarantine regulations.
But James Vreeland decided to open a new restaurant in Oak Park, Michigan in the time of coronavirus.
His restaurant is called Maison De Noix and it’s the only restaurant in Michigan serving dine-in customers.
“Figured now was as good a time as any to get into the restaurant game,” he said on Instagram.
And even though it’s only been open a few weeks, the joint is hopping.
“Every morning we have a rush around 10:30 to 11,” Vreeland told Fox 12 Detroit. “With the shutdown, there’s not a lot of café options. We’re the only game in town.”
Their specialties: stale bread, pizza crust, and a nutritious trio of mixed seeds.
Oh yeah… we forgot to mention, it’s a restaurant for birds and squirrels.
Let us explain. As you either know from personal experience or have seen on the internet, people are getting weird.
People are getting really weird.
It’s a result of being forcibly held up in your home by the government and the invisible enemy known as Covid-19.
But this kind of weirdness, you know the kind that has you build restaurants for squirrels, isn’t all bad.
It has allowed people to use their creative prowess to bring some lightheartedness and joy to others in a time of fear and uncertainty.
That’s how Maison De Noix was born.
The silliness started when Vreeland and his wife Amanda started imagining the squirrels who frequently feed at their house as “regulars.”
From there, they came up with a fully functional restaurant for their “regulars.”
When you enter Maison De Noix, which means The Nut House in French, you’ll wait to be seated by the hostess stand.
You can also read the menu while you wait to be seated.
“We have a mixed seed trio starter, the bread course is stale pizza crust, the entree for the day that we have right is peanuts on the half shell, and we’re out, unfortunately, but our dessert was counter-softened apples,” Vreeland explains.
You will be seated at one of several tables and chairs.
Ask to sit near the squirrel statues for ambiance. And don’t worry, about your coat! You ask the restaurant staff to hang it on their coat rack.
The restaurant is regularly filled with a diverse crowd, such as squirrels, cardinals, and blue jays.
But not all of them are well behaved.
“The blue jays are terrible tippers and fairly messy diners but they’ll swoop right into the middle of the action, steal peanuts and make a run for it,” Vreeland said.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_DQhC0g93l/
People online and in Vreeland’s neighborhood have, obviously, fallen in love with the idea.
“The response from humans has been pretty great with people stopping all the time to take a photo or watch the frenzy,” Vreeland told My Modern Met.
You can watch time-lapse videos of the dining rush hour or watch a stream of daily meals via Facebook Live.
People from as far as Hong Kong have heard about Maison De Noix.
But Vreeland says he never intended to be a viral sensation.
He was just trying to have some fun.
“Surprisingly enough it’s not a very complex idea. It’s tiny tables and a cafe for squirrels, there’s no bigger purpose to it beyond it’s just something different and a little bit of a break from everything else,” Vreeland said.
Hear Vreeland talk about his new restaurant in the video below.
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