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Bee Mayhew, learned a lot about "simple, honest" food in the kitchen she grew up in, as well as while working at Zingerman’s Roadshow. A young and quirky entrepreneur, she opened beezy’s café in 2008 to showcase the types of comforting foods that have popped up only recently on other menus as part of recession trends. She gave me a few minutes of her time (along with some piping hot home fries) to give insight to what it means for beezy’s to become part of a recent movement that it stumbled into so naturally, years before.

Beezy’s café is filled with comforting “simple, honest food.” If you could take only one simple ingredient and one type of drink with you to a desert island, which would you choose?
Butter, it's so versatile. It's a base for caramel, it's a base for hollandaise, it's a lubricant, it's filling, it tastes so great on many things. Coffee--so I'd have the energy I need to forage on said island.

Perhaps you were sent by benevolent captors. If you could take two items from the beezy’s café menu to your desert island, what would you take?
Egg salad sandwich on rye. (It’s) kind of the epitome of well-executed simple, honest food and Faygo rock n' rye- it goes perfectly (together).

You’ve lived everywhere from Iowa to the West Coast. Is there anything that drives you crazy about standing still for the moment?
Not really, surprisingly. I love the Midwest mentality in general, the realness of it. You couldn't pay me to move back to California. The only thing that drives me crazy is that Michigan is viewed as a depressed underdog- to outsiders and insiders as well. But I love an underdog, and there is a hard-core faction of individuals who fiercely love this place, Ypsi in particular, and there's a lot of solidarity in that.

You have been really democratic in your use of the “locavore” movement. (Beezy’s uses ingredients from places down the street, such as Dos Hermanos chorizo, but also GFS, a Michigan-based company.) How have you been able to coordinate so many different vendors as a small business?
Democratic is a nice way to put it. Thanks to resources like the co-op, Dos Hermanos and Ypsi's farmers market, combined with the small size of beezy's, it's more manageable to buy things in small amounts at near retail prices and then make the most of it.
It wasn't my intention to open a locavore establishment, I could never wholly live up to that as I believe that our world is a better, richer and more diverse place because we have access to wonderful pepper, cinnamon, coffee and exotic fruits because of our ability to trade on an international level. Ultimately I guess I'm a "resource-avore."

Your menu is equally democratic: plenty of meat for the carnivore, plenty of green for the vegetarian. There is even a mention to how flexible you are with guest needs on your menu. What is the most unusual request you have had to change a menu item?
Yeah, people who love meat actually like vegetables too, who knew? [wink]
I can't think of really rare request. Since everything is prepared to order (except the soup, which gets started a day or two in advance) the menu is fairly easily to tailor to dietary restrictions.

Has your young daughter’s eating preferences ever influenced your menu?
Well, if I tell you her favorite foods are fruit, avocado, tuna fish and bacon, scrambled eggs and toast, you might notice a theme. She does not however, like red onions; but I love them and find them a refreshing enhancer to salads and sandwiches.

You have said you are not a trained chef, yet the food is delicious. Where is your inspiration and style coming from?
Part of it is my general disdain for things that are unapproachable to the average person. I grew up very poor and learned how to take simple, available foods and turn them into something yummy with little more than salt, pepper, and oil or butter. That's probably the cornerstone of it all really, I like food that tastes exactly like what it's supposed to taste like- where each ingredient has a clear flavor that rings true to what it is.
And (style) I've always kind of been a mom and I want to feed the most people the best food in a short period of time; so there's lots of advance work and not a lot of fancy preparation. Let the food do the talking. I think it's an underrated challenge to make really great scrambled eggs or home fries. I cook at beezy's like I cook when I have guests in my own home; I want to give them the best I've got however limited my resources are.

Who inspires you in this area, food-related or otherwise? Are there any trends that you hope to see grow (or disappear)?
I am absolutely inspired by Ari Weinzweig & Paul Saginaw of Zingerman's- when things are tough I remember that they started somewhere too, and it wasn't nearly as glamorous and well run as it is today. And then I'm charmed by the chicken shacks and drive-ins all around Ypsi. My mission this summer is to make it to Bill's Hot Dog Stand, Roy's Squeeze Inn, and a few others; I love the quirky and hard-won histories of these places.
As far as trends, I'm ever more out of the loop. Obviously I'm keyed into the "locavore" buzzword association and I want to see it grow and improve, (and) become more accessible and not some elitist luxury. It's ironic and beautiful at the same time. It seems like real, whole foods are relegated to the wealthier. While I'm happy that the locavore/slow food movement gets so much attention I think there's a lot of room to educate most people on just eating real food. And to make me sound even more curmudgeonly, the annoying part is that just because it's local, doesn't make it great. It's beautiful when they go together, and more of that is happening; but I see a lot of hoo-ha over "buy local" and then the goods aren't executed very well.

If you are out and about in the area, where do you like to eat? Who would be your most desired collaborator?
I like to eat stuff I don't make at beezy's; I love going out for burgers, steaks, bbq ... I kind of have the absolute worst luck when I go out to eat. (A collaborator) who'll chop the carrots and potatoes and stay out of my way. There's my curmudgeon showing again. I'm a loner and quite reclusive outside of work and my staff might tell you I'm that way at work. My staff are wonderful collaborators; I trust them, they trust me. They don't get enough opportunities to make fun new things, but everything we've come up with together has been wonderful.

You once said “Beezy’s ends up being whatever people want it to be.” Café, coffee shop, restaurant. What is it to you?
An extension of my life-it ain't always pretty, but it's real. There are vivid associations to each word-cafe, coffeeshop, restaurant- and I'm really just a place, a place that serves cared for food alongside strong, world-class coffee in a cozy space. Young kids call it "Beezy's House," which just makes me feel perfect about what I do. I don't want to be a coffeehouse hangout- there are other, better places for that I think and I don't want the trappings of a "serious restaurant" aside from the fact that I don't serve alcohol, or hot entrees after noon. So I feel like I want to be more like, "hey, stop by, we'll be around from 7 to 7 and we'll fix you some tasty stuff- but I'm sleepin' in on Sunday, so sorry you can't stop by that day." It's an invitation and an open door, for a clear period of time.

In your wildest dreams, what would beezy’s, the entire street look like in five years?
Mostly I want the parking lot to move underground and for the existing blacktop to be converted into a green space with a central plaza for prime people-watching and lounging. There's a big garden and a gorgeous swimming pool in the summer, and an ice skating rink in the winter.

Ten years?
The beezy's side of the street would be a succession of businesses run by me and present or future employees who want to take an entrepreneurial leap--renovating a neighboring structure to do all the baking and catering, book and record stores, a drive-through laundro-mat/coffee bar, galleries and open kitchen teaching/learning spaces as well as a network of well-maintained affordable living spaces that all overlook the amazing green space behind us.
No offense to my neighbors, I'm not getting a bulldozer or anything or a gajillion dollars to make it happen, but I think some elements of that are very real and approachable. But hey, I'm just getting started.

Magdalena Zenaida resides in Ann Arbor with her dog Dartie. She writes of their exploits on The Versed Gypsy, when she is not out pet-sitting for her business, The Joyful Dog. She would love for you to email her!