Marcus Ware

Marcus Ware has defied the odds on many levels. We originally met through his cousin DJ Drummer B (Leonard Ware) when Marcus was released from serving 4 years in prison. Finding Marcus, Leonard, Leland Stein Jr, and a host of other younger guys always saw me as someone finding my way through artistic entrepreneurship so pre-Detroit is Different they heard my takes on success, vision, and cool Detroiters. Ware has come to embody all of that and now is one of the stories I often share. From his WCCCD Associates degree to certification at Dorsey as a chef he used school as a platform of opportunity. Starting as a dishwasher he now is the head chef of the Menagerie Lounge in Pontiac MI. His time at Katoi running their kitchen, corporate pop-ups, and detail to making desserts all have welcomed this grand opportunity. The doors of the Menagerie Lounge opened a week ago and have been standing room waits since. In this interview we talk his family’s Mississippi roots, making vegetable stock (shout out to my Grandma Vel), and how cooking’s a family tradition.