Hudson Café Founder to Open Two New Restaurants in Detroit

By Jakita Criswell
Detroit native Maurice Wiggins, founder of the Hudson Café — a breakfast eatery along Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit that evokes the famous Hudson’s department store — will open two more restaurants downtown in the next six months, offering 55 jobs from chefs to wait staff.
“My team and I love to bring new concepts and an upscale environment to the restaurants we are opening here in Detroit,” says Wiggins, founder of International Hospitality Group. “These new projects are so exciting and I am happy to be in my hometown doing my part to help bring jobs and business to downtown Detroit.”
The Addison Eatery, at 3111 Woodward [[formerly Atlas Global Bistro), is expected to open in March and will feature American cuisine with a “touch of soul.” Restaurant 55 plans to open in June, a few blocks east of the Renaissance Center, and will feature an American “fun style” cuisine with live entertainment. Restaurant 55 will also host private events.
“I believe to have a good restaurant, you can’t just have good, quality food, you have to have good service and also leave people feeling good after they eat — that they didn’t just spend their kids college fund to dine,” Wiggins says.
Customers can expect some of the dishes, such as the popular Red Velvet Pancakes from the Hudson Café, on the menu at the new venues. Wiggins says there will be a lot more vegetarian items, glucose free, and organic dishes on the menu.
“So many people want to eat healthy and we want to fulfill that,” Wiggins says. “There will be food to help you stay on your diet, as well as foods to cheat with.”
Wiggins will also launch a foundation that will help give back to youth through culinary education and technology next year. He says the mission of the foundation is to help provide students with the best culinary education possible and help each individual achieve their goals and dreams.
Wiggins is a graduate of Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Detroit and earned a business degree from Northwood University in Midland.