When it was announced that the Core City coffee shop Cafe Prince would hold its last service Aug. 30, ownership teased that a “seasoned owner” and “true hospitality professional” would take over the space. On Monday, Sept. 7, the acclaimed pastry chef Marius Pop will open the doors to Nuvrei MC, an extension of the beloved bakery Nuvrei, which Pop established in Portland, Oregon in 2004.
Pop, who cut his teeth in New York City as a pastry chef at Payard Patisserie and Bistro, with stints at the Michelin-starred Bouley and Restaurant Daniel, brought to Portland a New York flair he’d become nostalgic for.
With Nuvrei, he sought to serve classic pastries and viennoiseries that emphasized quality dough and the French techniques he’d honed in those
esteemed kitchens, all from a humble basement counter. Over more than two decades, the bakery expanded, eventually becoming known for its assortment of flaky croissants with the airy interior the pattern of honeycomb, buttery pull-apart brioche and chewy cookies. The business grew, taking over an upstairs shoe store, and in 2014, Pop transformed the basement into Mac Bar, a shop within the bakers’ workspace where guests could purchase macaron varieties with the kitchen as the backdrop.
Nuvrei MC, Pop’s first expansion beyond Portland, intends to bring the same mission of its flagship location to Detroit: Serve the neighborhood sophisticated, meticulously crafted pastries and breads, with a priority on speed and consistency. Here, expect an opening menu that includes lemon poppyseed scones draped in a fresh-squeezed lemon glaze, canelés in creative flavors, such as matcha and vanilla rum, vegan banana bread and the classics − chocolate chip cookies and Parisian macarons.
“I don’t think anything that we do is out there,” Pop said from a booth in the deconstructed space that once housed Cafe Prince. He sees Nuvrei’s offerings as timeless and unfussy, while simultaneously creative and innovative. “We’re not trying to be trendy,” he said, noting that he has no ambitions to create the next Cronut or cruffin. Instead, he aims to build upon the staples that have stood the test of time. “If it’s survived for 50 years or 100 years, that means it must be good.”
The MC in Nuvrei MC stands for “Matcha” and “Coffee,” denoting the primary beverage offerings at the new café. On the coffee side of the program, Nuvrei MC will exclusively serve Roseline Coffee, the Portland roaster behind the coffee served at the Nuvrei flagship. The Roseline team visited Detroit to offer Nuvrei MC staffers hands-on training sessions to achieve the best brews of their beans. When it opens Monday, the café will serve specialty coffee lattes flavored with rose, white chocolate, cardamom and black sesame.
“Matcha is having a moment,” Pop said, copping to drinking a matcha day. Nuvrei MC, he said, will have more of a variety on the matcha menu than the Portland flagship, offering an opportunity for him and the team to explore the depths of the earthy ingredient. “One of the reasons that I think matcha is really cool is, it allows me to tap my pastry background,” he said, noting that matcha pairs well with a wide range of ingredients in both baked goods and beverages.
The café will serve a sea salt cream hojicha, brown sugar matcha latte and a citrusy mango/passionfruit matcha, all using Mizuba Tea Co. products.
To complement a minimalistic pastry program and the calming air associated with matcha, Nuvrei MC’s interiors will be washed in neutral colors. The electric blue walls that typified Cafe Prince will fade to eggshell, the woodwork against them blonde in color and boxy in design.
The Sept. 7 opening of Nuvrei MC is only the first phase for the Detroit expansion of the brand.
Born in Romania, Pop immigrated to Portland at age 3. In the late ’90s, one of his sisters relocated to Michigan, and in the years that followed, five of his eight siblings followed suit, as did his parents. With two businesses under his belt − Pop also founded the Detroit-style pizza shop Pop Pizza, which now has two locations in Portland − joining the pack was a challenge.
With more than 20 years visiting his family in Michigan (and a 10-month stint at Zingerman’s Bakehouse shortly before opening Nuvrei), Pop has had a deep-seated interest in growing roots in the region. Now, with three children of his own, he hopes to foster a relationship between his kids and their Michigan family. According to a press release, for Pop, the decision to launch Nuvrei’s second home in Detroit is deeply personal.
“I’ve always been a fan of Michigan,” Pop said. “It’s a beautiful state that has a lot to offer. There’s a lot of range and variety − the beaches are incredible here, the sports are off the hook. It’s America’s heart in many ways, too.”
Pop is playing the long game with Nuvrei’s Detroit outpost. In November, Nuvrei Bakery will open two doors down in the space where the former Lady of the House once served shrimp butter and carrot steaks. The bakery will serve as the artisans’ lair, where pastry chefs will prepare the menu items served at Nuvrei MC, as well as the breads and viennoiseries Nuvrei is best known for.
The bakery will function as both a baking facility, as well as a retail shop where guests will be able to purchase Nuvrei’s famous blushing croissants infused with rose, cream-filled brioche donuts on weekends and focaccia sandwiches. Much like at the Mac Bar in Portland, an open kitchen will create visual interest and offer an opportunity for guests to watch skilled bakers at work.
“Kitchens are fascinating places,” Pop said. “I’ve always liked the idea of opening the kitchen and letting that energy out for people to see.”
Pop sees bakers as unsung heroes who, being tucked away in a secluded kitchen, don’t have the same opportunities to hear praise from customers in the same way a barista might. An open kitchen brings the baker out of the shadows. That recognition, he said, is "food for the soul."
Early next year, Nuvrei Bakery will debut an evening pizza service, a wink at Pop Pizza. Detroit-style pizza here is the result of a pastry chef whose craft is the art of dough-making. A four-day, cold-ferment, sourdough pizza baked in a deck oven will show Pop’s pastry acumen knows no bounds.
“When the idea to do pizza came along, we really wanted to prioritize the dough,” he said of the journey to opening Pop Pizza in 2020. “We felt like, a lot of people that do pizza will focus on the toppings, and maybe not as much on the dough. For us, dough is our thing, so let’s make sure we nail that.”
When all concepts are in operation next year, the two Nuvrei outposts − along with Bev’s Bagels’ Core City location, which sits between them − will complete a trifecta of carb-laden indulgences. Breads and bagels, croissants and cookies, pizza and pastries.
Call it Dough Row. Carb City, if you will.
Nuvrei MC, Beginning Sept. 7, Monday–Saturday: 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; Sunday: 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. 4884 Grand River Ave. Unit 1A, Detroit.
Contact Detroit Free Press Dining and Restaurant Critic Lyndsay C. Green at: LCGreen@freepress.com. Follow @LadyLuff on Instagram and Twitter. Subscribe to the Eat Drink Freep newsletter for extras and insider scoops on Detroit-area dining.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Portland bakery takes over former Cafe Prince, Lady of the House
