The Eastern Market neighborhood will soon welcome a new addition to its unique food scene. Gather, a restaurant conceptualized by friends Nate Vogeli and Kyle Hunt, along with Kyle’s wife, Lea, is expecting to make its debut in late Summer or early Fall, thanks to its success on Kickstarter.
So far, the trio has raised $23,885, surpassing their goal of $20,000. If you still want to help support Gather, you can. Funding for the project will close on Saturday, April 16. Click here to check out how you can help Nate, Kyle, and Lea make Gather amazing.
They’ve moved one step closer to their dream, and they can’t believe it. When asked how they felt about being fully funded on Kickstarter, they answered, “Amazed, humbled, blessed are a few of the things that come to mind. The support from family, friends, and the community is not only wildly helpful financially but gives us so much confidence moving forward. The response to Gather has been so positive, and we can’t wait to open our doors to be able to repay all the kindness of the community with a neighborhood restaurant they can be proud of.”
Nate, Kyle, and Lea are Detroiters through and through. Their decision to move back to Detroit and start a restaurant was influenced by “the fact that it is home to all three of us. Growing up in Michigan, Detroit is our city. We were drawn to and inspired by the hope in the city and the do-it-yourself attitude, we knew this is where we wanted to live and start our business.”
Nate heads up the cooking at Gather, drawing on his varied culinary experience. Kyle oversees the restaurant’s sustainability and business projects. Lea, who heads operations and organization for the restaurant, is the glue that holds Gather together. They plan to create a restaurant that encourages people to gather around the table and eat great food with those they love.
What type of food can you expect when you eat at Gather? The delicious, community-friendly kind. “We will serve seasonal, whole foods, all cooked over the wood fire grill. We will have some large format menu items to share with a group, but will also always have a great burger on the menu. We will be taking advantage of our Eastern Market location to work with local farmers to have the freshest produce available.”
The team behind Gather “wants you to walk in the door feeling welcomed and comfortable and leave feeling happy and full.”
You may have seen Gather around town before. The trio have hosted pop-up dinners and events across Detroit, but they’re ready to settle down in their new home at 1454 Gratiot.
The Eastern Market location is a great fit for Gather, but it wasn’t easy to find. “After the long process of searching for the perfect building in the perfect location, this building in the Eastern Market Neighborhood was beyond our expectations. We love the history, art culture, not to mention the liveliness of the Saturday Market. Business owners in the neighborhood have been extremely welcoming and helpful; we are excited to be a part of the well-established and growing community that is Eastern Market.”
Gather places an emphasis on using whole products and cooking over a wood fire grill to bring patrons a more relaxed dining experience. The restaurant will be modeled after a mead hall and will feature community seating with three or four long tables that seat 10 people.
Now that they’re fully funded, the Gather team expects to have a fully functioning restaurant by late summer or early fall 2016. Once open, the restaurant will serve dinner on weekday evenings and all day Saturday, providing box lunches to businesses in the city on weekday afternoons.
