Planthropie

They say having a child changes everything about your life. But, they don't tell you that those changes might lead you to finding your passion and your place in the world. When Rua Francis Oshana found out that her son had a dairy allergy, she made a commitment to finding new ways to make healthy, nutritious, and delicious dairy-free foods for her family. This necessary life change sparked a passion for Rua that lead her to create her own artful approach to plant-based eating. In 2017 she launched Planthropie (“plant-thruh-pea") a vegan/plant-based, gluten-free, soy-free, refined sugar-free, organic, fair trade company that specializes in wholesome desserts and artisanal cheeses. By 2018 she held her first pop-up and in February of 2020, she opened her own brick and motor space at 135 Pierce Street, Birmingham, MI 48009.

Planthropie's cheese and dessert shop features a seasonal variety of cakes, mini cakes, cheeses, bliss balls, and truffles. They also have a small selection of nitro cold brews, kombuchas and teas.  Everything they make is 100% vegan and is as pleasing to the eye as it is to the mouth. Their menu offers cake selections, like Pistachio Delight- a delicious lightly toasted pistachio crust all garnished with extra toasted pistachio crumble, and Blueberry Lemon Cake- organic blueberry lemon cream puree, hints of white cacao with the subtle sweetness of toasted almond crust. Their cheese selection also changes seasonally. They currently have a yummy white truffle-cultured cashew cheese handcrafted in small batches with pure organic activated cashews and the aged dill-cultured cashew cheese handcrafted in small batches with pure organic activated cashews and organic fresh dill. You can see their full menu here.

Rua's goal is to make plant-based eating easy, approachable and delicious. She also wants to make vegan desserts and cheeses a little more luxurious, so she puts as much into the presentation of the food as she does into the taste. On top of that, her small dessert shop is one of the most well decorated spaces that we have ever visited. It is the PERFECT place to meet a friend for a coffee and a treat. You can choose to eat inside the cafe (10 person limit ) or you can take your food outside and enjoy it on the street because Birmingham has pop-up seating all over the city.

Planthropie is currently open 12 p.m. - 9 p.m. Wed through Friday, 12 p.m. - 8 p.m. Saturday and 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. on Sunday. They are closed on Monday and Tuesday. You can preorder on their website or call them if you need a custom order, just make sure you give Rua a few days to get it together for you. Vegans and non-vegans NEED to stop by and give Planthropie a try, there is no other space like it in Metro Detroit.

~S