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LANSING —  A passion for food and a dream of starting their own business have prompted two local men to open a restaurant that pairs an odd combination of dishes.

Dishes from the West Coast  and the South.

Fidler's on the Grand — one "d," not two — opened over the summer in a small gray-and-burgundy building on Grand River Avenue near the airport.

The space is cozy, homey, neighborly, just the type of feel the owners were going for.

The restaurant has been a dream of co-owners Mark Taylor and Devin Fidler, who met two years ago at Capital City Vineyard Church in East Lansing.

"Where we really hit it off was our passion for food, for different types of meals," Mark Taylor said. "During the service, we'd be chit chatting at the coffee bar. Devin and I would stand around and talk about food and our love for it.

"Eventually that evolved into more serious conversations. But we'd still keep it relaxed. We would send each other pictures of the food we were creating and trying to get the other to ooh and ah. And Devin won."

Taylor describes the menu as having "about a two-thirds West Coast influence and a one-third Southern influence."

Fidler used to live in California. Taylor lived in several different parts of the South: Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia.

Fidler does the majority of the cooking, but Taylor has a hand in it as well.

"We use both of our palates to complement each other and make the food what it is," Fidler said.

The restaurant already has a good following of regulars.The most popular dish is probably the Jamestown Loaded, a biscuits and gravy dish.

"But it's not your standard biscuits and gravy," Taylor said. "We take our buttermilk biscuits, layered with grated cheddar cheese, then use our house redskin potatoes that Devin grills.

"We lay it over eggs, cooked however you want, normally it's over easy. Then we allow it to swim in our house sausage-made gravy. Both of us love biscuits and gravy, so we came up with that."

After that, Fidler says, it's a toss-up between the burrito and the Texas tacos.

Fidler comes from the restaurant business. He ran a few restaurants in California, starting as a cook and working his way up. He also had his own catering company there.

"I just love food," Fidler said.

This is Taylor's first venture into the restaurant world. He's had a number of different businesses and still owns businesses in Lansing. Born and raised in Lansing, he moved down South in the early 1980s.

The building they're in was once home to Heart and Soul D&L Café and before that, Pat's Pantry.

When the opportunity arose for them to purchase it, Taylor says, they just moved on it. It had been shuttered for at least a couple years.

"When you see a diamond, you pick it up and polish it, see what happens," Fidler said. "And it's definitely a diamond in the rough."

License plates Connecticut, Washington, New Jersey, Louisiana and other states now hang on a wall, which is painted "Smiley Yellow." A picture of Rosie the Riveter hangs on one wall. Abraham Lincoln graces another.

"This is my second time here," said customer Fred Baer. "The first time I got the Philly steak and cheese with brisket. It was very good.

"I love that it was on the grilled bread instead of just a piece of bread. I'm getting the Santa Fe breakfast burrito this time."

The menu is broad and unique, from the G.W. Carver burger with peanut butter on it, to the house-smoked brisket and pulled pork to what Taylor calls "crazy good sandwiches Devin came up with" called melts.

For the "melt," they take a handful of Parmesan cheese and you grill it into sourdough bread, which creates a crunchy texture on the outside and leaves it soft and chewy on the inside.

"Then he stuffs it with regional favorites like a Philly Cheesesteak or three cheeses out of Wisconsin," Taylor said. "Or an L.A. French dip. To add to that goodness...he uses our house smoked brisket and then he makes the au jus from the smoked brisket drippings."

"It's very popular. we bring out different flavor profiles, that add a dimension that's not normal to these types of sandwiches or meals."

The restaurant offers gluten-free options.

"We have a fryer specifically for gluten free only," Fidler said. "When they order it, they need to let us know that they have celiac, let us know it's an allergy, not a preference. If someone prefers gluten free we have a bread for it, but as soon as we hear the allergy, like celiac, then we go ahead and step it up a notch."

The restaurant also offers what it calls "Grab N Go."

"In this corridor, there's a heavy industrial influence," Taylor said. "What Devin and I have attempted to do is to tweak the cooking times to accommodate these individuals who have 30 minutes, that's it, from the time they clock off or walk off until the time they have to be back on the line or back in a truck."

If someone calls a few minutes before close at 3 p.m., they can place an order, any meal, and pick it up. To make it worth your while, they'll give you a discount. But this is for Grab N Go only, not for dining in.

"My wife, Lisa, likes to call this the neighborhood kitchen," Taylor said. "Where people come in, get their own coffee, sit down and talk to the neighbor next to them.

"They feel at home and welcome and get home-style cooking at the same time."

Fidler's on the Grand

4805 N. Grand River Ave., Lansing; (517) 580-7202

Hours: 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; closed Monday

fidlersonthegrand@gmail.com; www.facebook.com/FidlersontheGrand/

Contact Vickki Dozier 517) 267-1342 or vdozier@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @vickkiD

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Source: https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2018/10/29/fidlers-grand-brings-west-coast-southern-cuisine-lansing/1762373002/

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