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New
Restaurant
Opens at
Rosa
Parks
Transit
Center
By Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT
(Tell Us
Det) -
The
restaurant
that
first
introduced
metro
Detroit
to
Cajun/Creole
style
cooking
40 years
ago is
now the
first
tenant
to open
for
business
inside
the Rosa
Parks
Transit
Center
located
on
Michigan
Ave. at
Cass in
downtown
Detroit.
Louisiana
Creole
Gumbo
celebrated
the
grand
opening
of its
second
restaurant
Tuesday
with a
ribbon
cutting
ceremony,
a
tasting
of Cajun
cooking,
and
remarks
by
restaurant
owner
Joe
Spencer
and City
of
Detroit
officials.
Deputy
Mayor
Kirk
Lewis,
told the
gathering
the city
is
excited
to see a
new
venue
opening,
an
important
development
for the
city and
the
Transit
Center.
He said
the
pictorial
tributes
to Rosa
Parks on
display,
“set the
tone for
what
it’s all
about”.
CEO of
the
Detroit
Department
of
Transportation
Ronald
Freeland
said
10,000
bus
riders
pass
through
the
Center
every
day and
he hopes
to see
ridership
increase
with the
restaurant
opening.
Pictured
from
left,
Detroit
Department
of
Transportation
CEO Ron
Freeland,
Louisiana
Creole
Gumbo
owner
Joe
Spencer
and
Detroit
Deputy
Mayor
Kirk
Lewis
cut a
ribbon
this
afternoon
to
celebrate
the
opening
of the
new
restaurant
on the
second
floor of
the Rosa
Parks
Transit
Center
downtown.
(Photo
by
Thomas
Richardson/Tell
Us
Detroit)
A
win-win
partnership
between
the City
of
Detroit,
the
Detroit
Department
of
Transportation
(DDOT)
and LCG
is
behind
the
successful
restaurant
opening,
which
has
created
18 new
job and
generated
revenue
for DDOT.
The
restaurant
is
located
on the
second
floor of
the
Transit
Center
in an
open air
balcony
space
with
images
and
history
of Rosa
Parks.
Spencer,
President
of LCG
Foods,
said
Parks
was his
hero.
“It is
an honor
for LCG
Foods to
be able
to
conduct
business
at the
Rosa
Parks
Transit
Center,
a
monumental
structure
designed
to
commemorate
her
life.
Joe
Spencer,
owner of
the
restaurant,
said he
chose
the
space
because
it’s a
stylish
building
in a
downtown
that’s
showing
new
signs of
revitalization.
“If you
walk
around
you’ll
see all
the
traffic
– it’s
like a
new
downtown,”
Spencer
said.
(Photo
by
Thomas
Richardson/Tell
Us
Detroit)
In
thanking
all his
partners
for
their
support,
Spencer
said
opening
the
second
LCG was
a long
journey,
one that
began 30
years
ago with
the flip
of a
coin:
real
estate
or the
restaurant
business.
“I was
wanted
to get
into the
real
estate
business”
as an
investment
he said,
but good
friend
Doug
Morison
suggested
looking
at
a little
restaurant
as an
investment.
Losing
that
coin
toss
Spencer
said was
the good
fortune
that led
to the
purchase
of
Louisiana
Creole
Gumbo
from
Joseph
Strafford,
including
recipes,
secret
sauces
and a
special
blend of
spices.
Louisiana
Creole
Gumbo
pays
special
tribute
to the
Transit
Center’s
namesake,
Rosa
Parks
with a
series
of
framed
posters
on
permanent
display
throughout
the
restaurant.
This
poster
is a
rare
image of
Miss
Parks
with the
theme of
“Grace”
. Sydnee
Turner
of
Sydagrafix,
Inc.
designed
the
pictorial
displays,
working
with is
restaurant
owner
Joe
Spencer
to
create
the
signature
themes
and text
that
accompany
each
poster.
Today
Spencer
says the
jambalaya,
gumbo
and
other
dishes
still
use the
original
recipes.
The
unique
marriage
of Cajun
and
Creole
cuisines
defines
Louisiana
cooking.
The LCG
Transit
location
is well
situated
to
attract
hundreds
of
workers
from
office
buildings
across
the
street
and
within
walking
distance,
including
DTE
Energy
and the
Federal
Building.
On a
personal
note,
during
his
remarks,
Deputy
Mayor
Lewis
said the
LCG on
Gratiot
has been
a
favorite
and now
he looks
forward
to
taking
the
People
Mover
over to
the new
location.
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