From Pantry to Plate: The Story of Berkley’s Mongers’ Provisions & The Rind
Whenever I secure a reservation at The Rind in Berkley, I make sure to build in enough time to shop at Mongers’ Provisions first. Mongers’ is the specialty food store that inspired the restaurant, and once around is never enough to take it all in.
Stepping into the store is like walking into the greatest pantry ever built. The shelves are lined with local and international specialty foods which include wines, bitters, elixirs, olive oils, dried beans, tinned fishes, pastas, chutneys, vinegars, mustards, teas and chocolates, among other temptations.
Deli cases spotlight cured Italian meats like a 30-month aged prosciutto, nostrano, coppa and bresaola. The equally impressive cheese counter features unique varieties like l’amuse gouda, ubriaco pinot rose, Emmentaler, and smoked goat cheese. It’s a wonderful place to get lost for anyone who loves to cook, eat great food or hear stories about artisan producers from around the world.
Mongers’ Provisions was founded by childhood summer camp pals Zach Berg and Will Werner in 2017. It started with pop-ups inside the Ferndale butcher shop Farm Field Table before getting their own counter. Their first solo store opened in Midtown in 2018, before moving into the Berkley location in 2021.
“We’ve built a modern pantry for chefs and home cooks alike to work from,” said Berg. “It’s what gave birth to the restaurant.”
The 1,200-square-foot, 50-seat restaurant, the Rind Wine Bar, debuted in 2023. It’s located inside the store, expanding Mongers’ total footprint to 4,000 feet. The ambiance is low-lit, cozy and meant to feel like a comfortable extension of a living room where guests feel taken care of.
Initially offering meats, cheese, snacks and wine, it has since grown into a farm-to-table dining destination with a menu playing up the products next door. The team credits the menu expansion to listening to what customers said they wanted.
“We wanted this to be a space for the community and let them decide what they need,” said Berg. “So, we listened, and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve done.”
The Rind’s lunch menu headlines house made soups, salads and irresistible specialty sandwiches like a rosemary ham with French butter ($8), Waygu pastrami Ruben ($24) and specialty grilled cheese of the day ($12).
The dinner menu offers salads ($12 to $14), and snacks and small plates ($4 to $16). They offer two main dishes with specials, like a shio koji marinated hanger steak with salsa verde ($38) and white fish served with a beurre blanc and capers ($36). Desserts include Zingerman’s gelato, and house made cakes, brownies and cookies ($4 to $9).
Berg grew up in restaurant kitchens and fell in love with food. He started as a dishwasher at age 12 then turned to cooking. He later trained at Zingerman’s before going to culinary school in Napa, California. It was afterwards, while working for award-winning restauranteur and cookbook author Michael Mina, that he discovered a general lack of cheese knowledge in fine dining. He saw it as an opportunity to return to cheese, storytelling and connecting producers with consumers.
Werner joined the food industry after working seven years as a geologist in California. Returning to Detroit to get married, he took a job managing the former Gayle’s Chocolates in Royal Oak. During that time, he visited chocolate manufacturers around the world to learn about their products firsthand. The experience led to the extensive chocolate collection at Mongers’ with over 100 varieties, the largest in the state. Werner manages the business operations when not interacting with customers.
Berg and Werner say the success of their location is due to their remarkable team. They’ve been instrumental in evolving the store into what it is today.
“We’ve hired such great people, and we feel like we’ve built a platform for them to express themselves,” said Berg. “It’s become apparent that some of my job is to get out of the way.”
The team includes retail and wine buyer and retail manager of over three years Isaac Helsen, Sara Stein, the wholesale and catering manager, Chloe Tooson, who oversees merchandising, head buyer Dagny Bates who has been working with them since 2018, and Kalyani Graff, who manages The Rind.
Graff found Mongers’ after moving to Michigan from California. A chef herself, Graff began as a bartender then quickly grew into creating events and shaping the restaurants atmosphere. Her creativity reaches into the store and kitchen, with playful experiments such as a savory parmesan foam martini.
“Cooking and cocktails are the same creative process,” said Graff. “There’s so much available here that I can pull items off any shelf and make something delicious.”
That cheese foam concept translated into the Rind’s kitchen, resulting in their now famous Pretty Potatoes; multiple layers of thinly sliced potatoes baked and smothered with a Chällerhocker cheese foam. It’s a signature dish that’s beautiful and a perfect example of collaboration between the front and back of house.
Behind the food is head chef Andrew O’Callahan, formerly of Detroit’s Chartreuse and Freya, and the now closed Couer in Ferndale, with chef Jordan Smith advising in a consultative role. Smith and Berg crossed paths 15 years ago working together at the now closed RN74 in San Francisco. Fate brought them back together in Michigan, only this time surrounded by cheese instead of white linens. Today their collaboration revolves around the love of great food, cooking and the artisanal goods available in the store.
In the end, the things that make Mongers’ Provisions and the Rind so special isn’t only what’s on the shelves or the menu, but also the neighborhood that surrounds them. The community has embraced them from the beginning by showing up, checking in and rooting for their success. The Mongers’ team refers to them as “the best damn customers ever,” and they mean it.
Mongers’ Provisions may have started as a pantry, but has grown into a space built on listening, creating connections and telling the stories that give context to the foods we eat. Showcasing small artisan farms from Europe to the Midwest, Mongers’ Provisions is a neighborhood gathering place, retail shop, restaurant and classroom. And the reason why only one lap around Mongers’ before settling into the Rind is never enough.
Mongers Provisions and The Rind are located at 3127 12 Mile Road in Berkley. Parking is available behind the building.
Hours for Mongers Provisions are Sunday 11 am - 5 pm., closed Monday, Tuesday through Wednesday 11 am - 6 pm, Thursday 11 am - 9 pm, Friday and Saturday 11 am - 10 pm.
The Rind is open for lunch Tuesday through Sunday 11 am - 4 pm, Dinner is served Wednesday and Thursday 5 - 9 pm and Friday and Saturday 5 - 10pm.