Amici’s: Sometimes A Whim Becomes A Restaurant

By Lisa Howard

LONGTIME BERKLEY RESIDENTS FONDLY REMEMBER AMICI’S PIZZA & LIVING ROOM…and they might not even know that the restaurant ever closed. That’s because the restaurant only shut its doors for one day: January 1, 2020.

On January 2, 2020, they reopened under new ownership as Amici’s Kitchen & Living Room. Tim and Laura Kenrick had been regulars at Amici’s for years – their favorite was the artichoke pizza – and when Tim decided to rethink his career in corporate restaurants, serendipity and googling “restaurants for sale in Berkley” led to buying Amici’s. “It was pretty much a love connection right from the start,” Tim says. “After over 20 years of working in corporate restaurants in this market, I wanted to get back into authentic hospitality. Owning this business allows me to do what got me into this industry in the first place.”

Of course, opening a restaurant in January of 2020 turned out to be an even bigger challenge than the couple had ever anticipated, when they had to revert to curbside-only service after just ten weeks. Tim, Laura and their staff spent the first six months in a hold-steady mode or, what Tim refers to as “no hard-lefts and no hard-rights.”

Gradually, they started making changes here and there, like scrapping paper plates in favor of standard plates and silverware, and renovating the sound system, interior lighting and bar. They also added heaters to the patio before winter hit, which led to parkaclad guests enjoying their dinners amidst a snowy landscape.

IN 2021, MENU CHANGES ARRIVED in the form of appetizers, Michigan beers on draft and new “Tim’s favorites” pizzas. (Don’t worry – the classic pizzas are still on the menu, plus you can still build your own pie.) Laura now makes Amici’s sole dessert: double-chocolate chip cookies. Not surprisingly, they sell out nearly every night. Tim and Laura have added more cocktails to the roster, too, including seasonal drinks like the wintery Brown Sugar Cinn made with house-cinnamon infused reposado tequila, Grand Marnier and lemon juice. While diners will still find plenty of martinis on the menu, the martinis now share the spotlight with margaritas, especially in the summer months when everyone wants fruity and spicy flavors like mango-habanero and strawberry-mint.

One key to the continued success of Amici’s, Tim says, is the staff. Due to the ownership transfer only taking a single day, he and Laura didn’t have to lay anybody off. Also, having worked in the corporate restaurant industry for so long, Tim already had established relationships with hospitality professionals. “Our success is 100 percent due to the staff we’ve been able to keep and cultivate,” he says. “Not being short-staffed right now is an absolute anomaly.” That said, they’ll be closed on Sundays during the winter months to avoid putting too much pressure on their loyal staff. Martini Sundays will become $7 Martini Mondays, followed by $4 Michigan craft beers on Tuesdays, half-off bottles of wine and sangrias on Wednesdays and Thirsty Thursdays with specialty cocktails on offer.

THROUGHOUT THE RESTAURANT’S EVOLUTION, Tim says he’s loved finally owning his own restaurant. And for her part, Laura is just as much a part of the action – Tim calls her the “morale booster and restaurant mom,” roles that she fulfills along with baking the sought-after cookies and being in charge of dough production for both the sourdough-fermented dough and the gluten-free dough.

“She’s the brakes and I’m the gas,” is how Tim describes their relationship. “We’ve been married for 28 years she knows me better than I know myself. It’s a great partnership.” All of the pizza lovers in Berkley would raise a slice to that!

Amici’s Kitchen & Living Room
3249 Twelve Mile Rd, Berkley MI 48072
248.544.4100
www.amiciskitchenandlivingroom.com