The Grand Rapids Downtown Market, West Michigan’s delicious destination that brings together small businesses, food entrepreneurship, award-winning venue spaces, and public events, today announced the addition of two new merchants to the Market Hall, Her Daily Bread and Myanmar Meals.
Her Daily Bread, opening this September, was previously part of the Market’s Incubator Kitchen program. They started their business out of the 5,000 square foot commercial kitchen on-site, where they could rent production space and receive valuable support and guidance, helping them build a strong foundation and great local reputation. Their success was evident last year as they operated a booth at the Christkindl Markt, where their holiday-themed cookies were extremely popular. This September, they’ll be moving into the available space in the Southeast corner of the Market Hall.
“We have always felt that our end goal was a studio space, where we could create and connect with our community, and not just exist as an online shop,” owners Sean and Meg Hamilton said. “We are so thankful to the Market for helping us make our dreams bigger than we thought they could be!”
Her Daily Bread plans to offer a variety of handmade sugar cookies artfully-decorated with royal icing available for purchase daily, catering services, and on-site cookie decorating classes. The duo aims to not only provide an experience, but serve as an accessible outlet to anyone who wants to participate. “We plan for our cookie decorating classes to be small and intimate, but also intentional in creating that community and one-on-one relational aspect during the creative process. In addition to small classes, we will have a walk-in Cookie DIY Bar for anyone to come in and decorate a single cookie during open hours, with instruction and support for varying levels of experience,” they added.
Also opening early this fall is Myanmar Meals, the second restaurant from husband-and-wife duo Aye Soe and Min Tun, who will move into the available space in the Southwest corner of the Market Hall.
After immigrating to the U.S. in 2008, the couple was inspired to share their culinary traditions with West Michigan. Their first venture, Amazing Myanmar on 28th Street, introduced authentic Burmese cuisine. Now, with Myanmar Meals, they aim to bring even more bold and diverse flavors to the community.
Myanmar Meals will feature Burmese-inspired dishes like Laphet Thoke (tea leaf salad) and Htain Thoke (banana stem salad). In addition to their Burmese offerings, the menu will also include traditional Cantonese dishes such as Wat Tan Hor, Ying Yong Noodles, Char Kway Teow, and Yunnan Noodle Soup.
“We have always longed to share a piece of our culture and dishes we enjoyed at home with our new home of West Michigan,” said owner Min Tun. “We have been avid fans of everyone's food and love at the Downtown Market for years. It feels surreal to now be operating among other merchants and we hope to achieve as much as they have so far!!”
With these additions, the Downtown Market Hall will be at 100% capacity and solidifies its position as a hub for culinary excellence and local entrepreneurship. “It’s been a focus of ours to not only support local entrepreneurs, but to bring a variety of diverse foods to our Grand Rapids community,” Market President and CEO Mimi Fritz said. “We are thrilled to have a complete Market Hall and see the growth and expansion of these incredible businesses.”
