Fruit Pies, Flowers and a Philosophy | Reasons to Love The D

As if we need to list more reasons to love our city … but why not? Here are a few places, faces, items and events that make Detroiters all happy and tingly inside.

Hatch Detroit

What do you get when you mix savvy entrepreneurs with a redeveloping city and a community hungry to move forward? You get a contest hatched on a philosophy focused on crowd entrepreneurship. Since 2011, Hatch Detroit has been asking startup innovators to submit ideas for what their brick-and-mortar Detroit stores could be. Then the org puts it up to a vote, asking area residents who would actually be frequenting these places to speak up for their favorites. Possible funding, education and mentorship soon follow. Guess what? Past Hatch contest winners and finalists are now some of Detroit’s most-praised and -patronized retail and restaurant destinations: Batch Brewing Co., Orleans + Winder, Sister Pie, La Feria Spanish Tapas and Detroit Institute of Bagels are just a few.

Flower Farms

Tree farms, sculpture parks and raised-bed veggie gardens in alleyways aren’t the only ways Detroiters are utilizing the city’s underused open spaces. Flower farms are “blossoming” all over Detroit in unlikely places. And these endeavors are more than beautification projects. They are legit businesses providing fresh-cut flora to neighboring restaurants, retailers and random buyers planning special occasions. Michigan Flower Farm, Fresh Cut Detroit, Detroit Abloom (look around town for their ice-cream-truck-turned-pop-up-flowershop)

Lemon Butta Pie

Butter. Fresh-squeezed lemons. Warm cinnamon and sugar. These basic ingredients are making a pie that is basically out of bounds, no matter how you cut it. Jennifer Lyle is the mastermind behind the Lemon Butta Pie sold by Lush Yummies Pie Co., and her story and pie are all about getting back to her roots. After experimenting with different fancy desserts, from wedding cakes to granola candy bars, she scrapped all that, took a long pause and went with what reminded her of home — her grandfather’s favorite lemon pie recipe. With or without the meringue, this pie proves that going back to the basics and keeping it simple are what satisfy. Sold at Eastern Market.

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