Mission Proper Café is Ready: An Unpredictably Memorable Food Experience

Mission Proper Café is ready for discovery.  A completely unique community café and mercantile with hyper-local, seasonal features, worldwide flavors, small-batch Panther Coffee and exclusive retail products located at 13795 Seven Hills Rd., Traverse City. 

Nestled among the wooded hills of Old Mission with fragrances of enticing foods most are never fortunate enough to explore.

The menu is constantly pivoting to cater to the availability of the freshest ingredients, and on given day may have ‘To Go’ sandwiches with ingredients like ricotta caprese with ramp pesto or Jerk Pork with Adobo and Pickled Papaya; ‘Packed Feast’ items such as Jamaican Beef Patty with Cherry Garlic Preserves; and Mission Proper Menu inventions like Whitefish Poached in Rare Tea Co. Herbal Blend with Coconut Potato Terrine, Curry Butter and Spring Radish.

The experience at Jennifer and Brent Kuhar’s inspiring establishment is exceptionally delectable. Fresh-from-the-garden ingredients punctuated by a world of flavors, refreshed with an adult beverage or two from the companion business, Old Mission Distilling. 

Trevor Smith, the Executive Chef, has a keen vision for the kitchen to function as an incubator of creativity and to delve into an exciting world of bold flavors influenced by his years living in South Africa, Tobago and Barbados.  In South Africa, with its diverse and rich cultures, he was both drawn to and educated about Indian, Greek, Dutch and British cuisines while not missing out on South African classics, such as the Chelsea Bun.

“There’s something addictive about unpredictable experiences, especially those involving food and our palates,” said Jennifer Kuhar. “Mission Proper is a place for people to dive into flavors, fragrances, and fresh ingredients, influenced by the four corners of our world. We want it to be a fun, memory-making experience.”

A passion for food was the dot connector between Brent and Jen. Brent brought his corporate advertising, marketing and management experiences to Jen’s gifts for the creative side through art and photography, while seeing that the well-being of people was attended to through medical device sales and then crafting health insurance plans. Then and always, the fervor of food and all the senses they touch was the steady drumbeat of their dreams and discussions about their future together.

The two of them had dreamt over an exquisite meal in Paris, that one day they would open a restaurant together, allowing them to cultivate their creative connection with each other in a tactile way. 

After moving back to Traverse City, with three children in tow, they realized that it was “now or never” after first seeing the space with Seven Hills property owner, Jay Milliken, in the fall of 2022. 

Combined, Jen, Brent and Trevor are three talented folks who enjoy flavors, design, composition, and making everything beautiful for customers seeking an evening dining experience, a to-go meal or picnic to compliment breathtaking vista-gasps that permeate along our Great Lakes.

Over the course of their development of Mission Proper, they added new portfolios of relationships that shaped their business as well as their lives. Farmers provide fresh ingredients, including those for vegan dishes. Business neighbors like those at Old Mission Distilling which now shares facilities and products with Mission Proper. And Venture North Funding and Development, which provided much of the capital to jump-start the business.

“Working with Jen and Brent is a bit like their dining experiences,” said Venture North president Laura Galbraith. “They blend treasures of experiences and passions that are platforms for their restaurant. Even as they focus on things like presentation and memorable experiences, so do they tend to the necessities of managing cash flows and sound internal procedures that support business growth. We can’t wait to see them sizzle with the return of seasonal homeowners and visitors and, of course, to sampling their unrivaled and varied creations.”

 “We’ve been fortunate,” says Brent. “We discovered one another and united around shared passions. We met folks like Laura and Venture North and will be forever indebted. There simply is no end to the good things we can discover together.”