New eatery adds to Franklin Village charm

Source: Waterford Eccentric
Around noon about six years ago, while on duty as a Franklin village volunteer firefighter, Lori Grundy wished there was someplace close she could go for lunch.

She made her wish come true.

When the business owner of The Village Barn gift shop in Franklin wanted to retire, Grundy, and 10-year Franklin resident, bought it.

“Exactly one year, 18 days and 16 hours after taking occupancy of the building, I opened for business as the Franklin Grill in late February,” she said.

Grundy had never been in the restaurant business.

“I had a vision,” she explained. “I knew what I wanted and I launched it with gut instincts.”

At the outset, there were many challenging hurdles. The village of Franklin had not had a restaurant in a quarter of a century. The preserve uniqueness, historic downtowns have building restrictions and ordinances.

“It was all new to me,” Grundy continued. “I learned as I went along, but that was the business side. What I learned personally was that if you don’t have guts, you’ll never make it. You can’t let anything stop you from fulfilling a vision.”

People Element
A Franklin Grill patron can’t miss that this eatery is all about people.

Its roots created it as such.

While the restaurant vision was just that, Grundy had the good fortune of hiring Chef Keith Dysarczyk of It’s Ready catering in Troy for a party in her home. She shared her vision with Keith, who literally waited two years for its fulfillment.

“I knew in an instant that Lori was a different kind of person,” Chef Keith maintained. “When you know it’s right - it’s right.”

Amid the frustration of finding a contractor, Mike Hyde, owner of MJT Contracting in Plymouth, re-entered Grundy’s life. Twenty years earlier they were high school classmates. With his experience in contracting work for other small eateries, Hyde guided Grundy through all the permits and licensing paperwork in addition to remodeling the gift shop into a classic old-fashioned diner gone modern.

Doing breakfast and lunch
Choose one of the 14 counter service seats or a blond wood table. Look around at the tasteful renovation of an old building, now a charming historic fit with bared timbers and barnwood walls. What’s the OPEN sign doing behind the bar? By village ordinance, it can’t be placed in a front window, but it’s reflection to passersby is OK.

Menu offerings at breakfast and lunch are the joint inspiration of Grundy and Chef Keith who learned to cook from his grandmother and mother.

“At five, I knew how to make the Chicken Noodle soup that’s on our menu,” he said.

After apprenticing in a number of area restaurants and at a country club, Chef Keith began his private catering business.

Now his catering and Franklin Grill are a single enterprise. Because the restaurant is closed in the evening and on Sunday, it is available for private parties. Catered events outside the restaurant can also be arranged.

Every menu item is also available for take-out.

No. 1 at breakfast is Chef’s Ultimate Omelette. Portabella mushrooms, onions, spinach, roasted red peppers and Canadian bacon are stuffed into a three-egg omelet filled with goat cheese and served with hash browns and toast. At $6.95, this is a tummy filler for the day.

Delight young family members by having them order a Chocolate Chip Mickey Mouse Pancake served with sausage or bacon.

If you want to be creative you can also build your own omelet with six or more fillings from a list of suggested meats, vegetables and cheeses. All omelets can also be made with your choice of egg whites or egg beaters.

Make an entire lunch from the appetizer section. Most favored to date is the Grilled Portabella Mushroom, marinated and served over spinach leaves and topped with roasted red peppers and goat cheese.

Soup of the day may include Canadian cheese or Creamy Portabella Mushroom. A Crock of Homestyle French Onion Soup and a salad will be more than a satisfying lunch. Actually, lunch salads are so large, they can be shared.

In addition to a variety of deli-style sandwiches, two lunch entrees have risen to most-popular status. Sesame Chicken is a boneless breast half-dipped in a sesame batter, served with vegetables and choice of potato. Chicken Piccata is a sauteed boneless breast with mushrooms, capers, artichoke hearts, lemon and white wine, served with rice and vegetables.

Because Chef Keith is into healthy eating, he will as the menu indicates, prepare your favorite entree heart smart or fat free.

Chef Keith is also into plate presentation. His able apprentice crew of Chef Chris Bury, from Macomb Community College culinary department, and Chef Vic Reyes, from Oakland Community College, have been taught to garnish plates with attractive fruits, colorfully arranged along with an artful presentation of every dish.

Want to make a kitchen crew happy? If you liked your meal, stop by the open kitchen at the rear of Franklin Grill and let them know.
Source: Waterford Eccentrice