Framebar in Hazel Park Closes After Pop-Ups Object to Business Practices

Framebar has closed following an Eater Detroit report that revealed deep concerns over equity on the part of Detroit’s pop-up community. Two weeks after several local chefs called into question the Hazel Park establishment’s ability to operate without overcharging operators to use the space, Google lists the space as temporarily closed. Eater reached out Framebar on Thursday morning for comment and in an email response, the ownership confirmed that Frame is now closed and that “a new chef concept will be taking over the space.” On May 15, two popular ventures, Khana and Street Beet, announced on that they were pulling out of engagements at Framebar as part of a month-long collaboration with WDET’s Ryan Patrick Hooper over disagreements on how profits from the series would be split. In interviews with Street Beet founders Nina Paletta and Meghan Shaw and others who have operated pop-ups at Framebar, Eater Detroit learned that the venue’s terms often made it virtually impossible for pop-ups to profit. Since branding itself as Framebar in fall 2021, the Vaughns have characterized the space as a restaurant incubator, offering would-be restaurateurs a glimpse into what they should expect it to cost to operate a restaurant, without the significant financial risks involved with launching a full-scale restaurant from scratch. In addition to Framebar, the property also comprises the establishment’s larger, communal dining space, Frame, dedicated to hosting ticketed dining events. But some chefs who’ve held residencies at the bar say that after considering the costs already associated with operating a pop-up — including their own labor and food expenses — splitting profits 60-40 with the majority going to Framebar left them with little to show for their work. Cari Vaughn told Eater that the split was originally set at 80-20, but said that demand for more of a sit-down dining experience by bar’s mostly suburban customer base forced them to change Framebar’s formula. “We are a restaurant incubator, not a bar that hosts a food truck. That’s the difference between us and a bar that hosts pop-ups,” Joe Vaughn previously told Eater. “The people that understand and get what they need out of it really embrace what Frame and Framebar is.” In the days since Eater Detroit’s story published, numerous Detroit-area chefs have expressed outrage over Framebar’s business practices, saying they felt taken advantage of by owners Joe and Cari Vaughn. The day after the story published, on Friday, May 24, a fourth chef, Meiko Krishok of Pink Flamingo who was scheduled to participate in the series between May 29 and June 2, also announced that she would cancel her residency, citing concerns with the business’s profit share structure. “After internal discussions and conversations with [Frame], we realized that the math doesn’t work for us, especially considering the cost of food and labor right now — which we would have been responsible for covering (they cover overhead and more),” read the post, co-published on Instagram by Pink Flamingo and Framebar. Following the first two cancellations, the bar shared that Frame’s executive chef Michael Barrera would replace those pop-ups with a tapas menu. That menu had been extended through the end of June, according to the business’s website, which remains live. In an hour-and-a-half interview with Eater on May 20, and in response to questions raised about other issues shared by pop-up operators, the Vaughns expressed concern over the possibility of having to shut down and noted that they felt unfairly targeted. “This whole thing just feels like a witch hunt to me. The food environment right now is not good. It’s very hard because of food costs. I think people need people to point fingers at. Our job is to help them. If they don’t want our help, they don’t have to come. It’s not like [they’re] employees, and that we are underpaying them. They just can say no,” Joe Vaughn said at the time. “If Frame isn’t wanted in the marketplace, we have no problem shutting down,” he told Eater. “If it’s important that we don’t service this town, it’s okay.”