Bistro license sought for Marrow Birmingham
By Grace Lovins
A bistro application for Marrow, proposed during the Monday, November 18, Birmingham City Commission meeting, got the green light from commissioners to move forward, opening the door for the owner to pursue a liquor license.
Soon to be open at 283 Hamilton Row, Marrow Birmingham will be a butcher shop and full-service deli-style restaurant, incorporating a variation of the existing Marrow restaurant in Detroit’s West Village.
Founder and CEO of Backbone Hospitality Ping Ho said that since opening in 2018, Marrow Detroit has been nominated four times for the James Beard Award. Ho is also the owner of the highly regarded Detroit wine bar, The Royce, and co-owner of Detroit seafood restaurant\ Mink.
While owning several businesses in Detroit, this would be Ho’s first venture into Birmingham. She said the restaurant will focus on breakfast and lunch and will sell wine retail and sundries to go. Obtaining a bistro license with Birmingham will allow the restaurant to pursue a liquor license with the state to serve alcohol inside the restaurant.
With the bistro license also comes the city’s requirement for outdoor dining. Ho noted that the restaurant plans to have a patio, if approved, in the street. The commission’s approval for Marrow to move forward with their bistro application means it will head to the city’s planning board for review, during which the patio and other items will be reviewed and discussed.
Construction of the restaurant is nearly complete, according to Ho who said it is undergoing inspections this week. The target is to open by December before the holidays, she said.
Commissioners expressed their support for the concept and bringing the restaurant to the city. Briefly broadening the discussion, commissioner Andrew Haig and mayor pro tem Clinton Baller both recommended seeing a map of bistros currently in operation now that the bistro scene has ‘matured.’
Baller also recommended city staff communicate the kind of applications the city would like to see and that they would encourage, saying there’s agreement that more family-friendly places that appeal to residents are wanted.
Before diving into Marrow’s application, planning director Nick Dupuis acknowledged that Amalfi Coast representatives were not informed of Monday’s meeting to review their application for a bistro license. Mayor Therese Longe noted that the establishment did not have a permanent location yet, so the city would not move forward with their application anyways.
Commissioners voted 6-0 to move forward with Marrow’s bistro application and took no action on Amalfi Coast’s application due to noncompliance with the city’s current code.
