From pop-up to brick-and-mortar, JP Makes and Bakes opened its new cafe in New Center last week. The menu features baked goods, drinks and savory foods made with traditional Filipino flavors and ingredients. 

Prior to opening, Jonathan Peregrino, who was professionally trained as a pastry chef in the Philippines, operated JP Makes and Bakes as a pop-up for several years. He would temporarily set up at various establishments to sell his baked goods and chocolates that stand out with a signature ingredient that gives them a purple color – ube, a sweet potato native to the Philippines. In 2023, Peregrino began doing savory food pop-ups. 

Now, with his own brick-and-mortar restaurant with a kitchen and four employees, Peregrino offers both. At the cafe, a variety of baked goods are available each day, savory lunch bowls on weekdays and brunch on Saturdays, filling a void for the thousands of Filipinos living in Detroit. The city hasn’t had a brick-and-mortar restaurant exclusively focused on Filipino food in several years since Filipino eatery Isla left Detroit for Sterling Heights. In 2022, Southwest Detroit’s PizzaPlex added Filipino foods to the menu like barbeque meat skewers alongside the main focus – certified Neopollitan-style pizza – but closed the restaurant in 2023, although it still hosts pop-ups. 

Located on Woodward Avenue in New Center, the cafe provides more lunch options for nearby office and hospital workers, as well. 

“Being right here on Woodward, on the Boulevard, it’s great,” said Peregrino, who had a steady flow of patrons on a Friday afternoon. 

Jasmine Jones, who works nearby, was one of the Friday visitors, stopping by for the second day in a row. he said she has been curious for months to see what it looked like. 

“I’m really satisfied with how it’s open, you can see everything, it’s transparent with the bakery,” Jones said, referring to the open kitchen behind the front counter. As someone who is gluten intolerant, she said it’s especially exciting to be able to pick up gluten-free foods like cassava cake and mango rice pudding. “And it’s another lunch option,” she added. 

On Fridays, Peregrino offers a rotating traditional Filipino dish for lunch, like adobo, a vinegar and garlic-based stew; sinigang, a tamarind-based soup; and arroz caldo, a rice porridge. On Saturdays, he’ll have brunch items like biscuits and gravy made with longganisa, a sausage that is a staple of Filipino breakfast.  

Stephen Caladiao, who is Filipino, stopped by Saturday to try the longganisa dish. 

“I’ve never had Filipino-inspired biscuits and gravy so this was super exciting to try,” he said. 

Typically, longganisa is served alongside a fried egg and fried rice. Caladiao said the biscuits and gravy were a “delicious” fusion of Southern comfort food and traditional Filipino food. 

“It was delicious and I’m looking forward to having more kinds of creations, as well as the traditional food that I’m kind of used to eating growing up,” he said. 

At JP Makes and Bakes, items like pan de sal (a bread roll) ube, and calamansi-ade (a drink similar to lemonade) were familiar to Caladiao. During summers as a kid, Caladiao said his mom would make calamansi-ade. 

“That was really nice to see at his shop as a regular item,” said Caladiao.  

Even the espresso drinks at JP Makes and Bakes are Filipino-inspired, with ube syrup as a flavor option. And, not-too-common in Detroit, coconut milk is offered as a milk alternative, to complement the cafe’s Filipino flavors. The coffee at the cafe is sourced locally from Craig’s Coffee in Cass Corridor and the tea is from Eli Tea in Birmingham. Loose-leaf tea options include English breakfast, mint, apple ginger, hazelnut rooibos, lemon lavender sage and genmaicha, a green tea mixed with roasted rice. 

Opening the shop is really just the start, Peregrino said, finally giving him space to experiment and come up with new things. 

“We’re testing what works and what we can do and trying to make some twists of some dishes people are used to, but then throwing my flavor into it,” he said. 

The cafe is located at 6529 Woodward Ave. and is open Thu.-Fri. 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sat. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with additional hours expected soon.