Finding Comfort At Coeur

On Monday mornings, you can usually find me at Hunter House Hamburgers on Woodward, posted up at the counter with three single-patty sliders and a side of French fries.

Growing up in this area, Hunter House has always been a breakfast staple for me. I had a weird school schedule because I played lacrosse and hockey — early morning practices and late starts to class — so I usually wound up at this white hut burger joint some time between 8 and 10 a.m. (They used to open much earlier.)

Today, as a fully grown adult, I can be found at Hunter House on Mondays between 10 and 10:30 a.m. eating sliders for breakfast. Why? Because Hunter House gets busy. Pro tip: Get there early. A few weeks ago I went there at 11 a.m., and they already had a $500 order to assemble. Hunter House is my little getaway for nostalgia and comfort; a place for me to sit in the corner quietly and feel twelve years old again. It’s also why I’m obsessed with burgers.

If a burger in the morning doesn’t do it for you, I don’t know if we have all that much in common. But, if you do love a breakfast burg, stop by Coeur on Sundays for brunch — we just added a new fried-egg brunch burger that’s an ode to my weekly tradition at Hunter House. The Coeur Brunch Burger is headlined by a Stonefall Farms’ wagyu beef patty, creamy Pleasant Ridge gruyere, bacon jam, lettuce, and an over-medium egg that’s perfectly yolky. Oh, and it comes with a side of our house-made frites. 

I really love our brunch menu right now. It’s just dialed in. People have really been going for the lox plate and the fried chicken sandwich, but don’t sleep on this new burger. Burgers are for breakfast — don’t let a doctor tell you otherwise. Note: Brunch is Sunday from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

While Sundays have been steady, on Saturdays the dining room has been full of people trying our monthly tasting menu, and this April we're going full-on spring for five courses. Hell yeah.

Spring tasting menus are always a hit. They just flow. Ingredients follow each other naturally. And as a chef, the best thing you can do is get out of the way and let the produce sing. I love spring because all you have to do is cook what comes out of the ground. It’s a reminder to re-embrace food in its simplest form, and to celebrate earth's bounty.

For this month’s tasting menu, produce takes center stage for the first course, which is all of the baby spring vegetables we can get our hands on — blanched, quick-pickled, or served raw. Sourcing can still be a little tricky, but that hopefully means baby fennel, peas, golden beets, and thumbelina carrots, all drizzled with a little smoked chili oil for some mellow heat and richness.

Scallops aren’t necessarily a seasonal item, but they go well with fresh, light, and sweet flavors, of which the spring harvest provides bountifully. For the second course, we’re serving seared scallops with a zhug walnut cream, citrus, and charred peas.

I’m gearing up to serve more pasta at Coeur, so this menu will also include agnolotti, and friends, our dumpling filling is just incredible. It starts with the holy trinity of Italian meat — ground pork, lamb, and veal — cooked with garlic, shallot, white wine, and nutmeg. Once cooked, the mixture is cooled and blended until rich and smooth. Then, sautéed spinach and ricotta are added. The egg-enriched agnolotti are formed and fortified with a sauce of stock, butter, and pasta water, then topped with a mild-but-pungent garlic scape pesto. Just typing all of that out made me fist pump and shout, “Let’s gooooo!”

You can also expect a rack of lamb with roasted carrots. This is a classic but supremely comforting menu. Food is best when it’s prepared well but isn’t flashy. You shouldn’t have to do a zillion things to a dish to make it taste good. That’s not what this restaurant is about. 

Coeur is for everyone. I’ve always said this — it's neighborhood-style food that punches above its weight. There’s coziness to be had here. Accessible, simple luxuries enrich the human experience and make life worth living. At least that’s what the lady working the counter at Hunter House always says.

As I sit here finishing my morning burger, I realize this is the experience that I’m most after: comfort. Sometimes it’s a slider from a nostalgic burger joint, or a decadent brunch burger with an over-medium egg, or sometimes it’s just a plate of simply prepared spring vegetables. 

There’s many ways to achieve comfort. I hope you find it in your own life, and I hope you find it here, with us, at Coeur.

With 💜,
Jordan Smith