Connecting Family and Culture through Food

Bushell’s Kitchen + Cocktails brings Southern and Nigerian dishes to TC

By Greg Tasker | Dec. 7, 2024

Traverse City enjoys a well-deserved reputation as a foodie destination. No wonder—restaurants embraced the farm-to-table movement long ago, and the dining scene is expansive, embracing everything from Asian to Italian.

Still, there’s always room at the table for another restaurant, another style of food. The recently opened Bushell’s Kitchen + Cocktails is the newest guest at Traverse City’s dining table, offering a diverse selection of comfort food staples and southern-inspired dishes, along with classic and specialty cocktails.

The carefully curated menu reflects the African and Southern heritage of proprietor Andre Bushell, who has opened the restaurant and lounge along with his wife and partner, Kelci. It’s the third enterprise for Bushell, who grew up in Flint and began his culinary career at a young age, learning the business from the likes of the late Constantine “Gus” Chinonis, one of the founders of YaYa’s Flame Broiled Chicken, a chain of restaurants in Michigan and Florida.

“It’s where I spent most of my time as a teenager,” Bushell recalls. “I saw him build that legacy for his family. It showed me what restaurants could do for your family and the people you employ.”

Bushell’s Kitchen + Cocktails is the latest partnership for Bushell. His other enterprises include the Foundry Craft Grillery in East Jordan and Elk Rapids and Dreloco Taco on East Front Street in Traverse City.

Realizing there was a “missing piece” in the Traverse City food scene, Bushell went back to his roots—his grandfather was Nigerian and his grandmother from the South—to create a menu for the 56-seat restaurant on Union Street.

“It’s all about connecting this food to the North,” says Bushell, who moved to the region eight years ago. “This food is connected to my past, my family, my culture. I wanted to bring something to northern Michigan to remind me of my early childhood memories, the love of my family and the love of the traditional foods we ate back then.”

Returning to Family Recipes

That past and the connection to food are reflected in offerings such as southern cornbread, grits, and pork rinds, and the various soul plates, which include fried chicken, pork belly, and shrimp.

“We pretty much do everything in house. Everything is made from our recipes, right down to our bread. We bake the bread in house as a little starter. It’s called Bianca. We make cornbread fresh every day. We try to do it right. We believe we are achieving that with our commitments.” 

For Bushell, the collard greens, offered as a side, are a highlight. “I love collard greens. They’re done very well. I taste my grandma’s when I’m making them,” he says.

Another standout is the pork belly, which Bushell sees as an elevated version of pulled pork, a staple of his childhood. The pork belly is braised for six hours, with a depth of flavor because of various spices. The dish, served with cabbage and butternut squash, includes micro greens as a garnish, offering a bit of freshness. 

“We use 80 percent local farming when it comes to our menu,” Bushell says, noting the other commodities come from a big box vendor. “The nuts and bolts of our menu are based on what farmers in the Leelanau area, Kingsley, and Kalkaska provide. We use those farmers to support our menu. It’s very special to do our job with these fresh ingredients and help support these people and hard working farmers.”

Along with an emphasis on farm to table, Bushell’s Kitchen + Cocktails is showcasing a slice of African-American culture, a cuisine as rare in northern Michigan as fare from South America or Portugal. 

“A lot of our dishes resonate well within the African-American culture and the history of that,” Bushell says. “These dishes are curated with local farming ingredients. The menu highlights a lot of food enjoyed in African-American homes. We’ve created some diversity in the local restaurant environment.”

Recreating a Happy Place

Including a cocktail lounge in the mix was inspired by the couple’s trips to Florida.

“One of our happy places is Florida,” he says. “We go to a lot of cocktail lounges there, where you’re immersed in the energy and there is no reason to be anything but happy. We wanted to bring this here. We wanted to create that same vibe in our own space. We wanted to elevate the dining experience by creating an atmosphere that completely changes the feel, the vibe, and connects to the space. “

Bushell’s attention to cocktails matches the intentness of food.  

Syrup infusions are made in house. There is a full list of classic cocktails, including Sazerc, Old Fashioned, and Negroni. The specialty cocktails reflect the “connection to the South and some of the things I grew up with,” Bushell says. They include Back Porch, a blend of whiskey, peach, honey, lemon, topped with tea, and a Key Lime Pie Martini. The Key Lime Martini stems from his love of key lime pie as a child. 

“I love Key Lime Pie. It was always next to pumpkin pie at our Thanksgiving table. Our martini tastes just like Key Lime Pie,” Bushell says. 

Reinforcing Hospitality

Situated in space on Union Street formerly used by other restaurants, Bushell’s Kitchen + Cocktails exudes a casual dining vibe, one that is open and welcoming. Exposed brick walls, simple tables, and purple lounge chairs create a contemporary feel. A neon sign embedded in an array of green lights up a wall with “Kiss My Grits.”

The attention to cuisine and cocktails at Bushell’s is evident, but emphasis on another theme runs through the tidy establishment: hospitality. 

“We preach hospitality every single day,” says Bushell. “We are creating an environment northern Michigan deserves. We have been blessed with a chef and a team crew that cares about what they’re doing and they care about the food. And really caring about hospitality is a big piece of that.”

Whether it’s the menu or the hospitality that brings people in (and brings them back), Bushell tells us business has been brisk and growing steadily in the four months of operation. 

“We’re seeing a growing response and have been turning people away on Fridays and Saturdays. People are loving it,” he says. “They can feel the love and the quality we’re putting into our food.”

Find Bushell’s Kitchen + Cocktails at 127 South Union St. in Traverse City. (231) 753-1200; bushellskitchenandcocktails.com