The Raven Cafe Revealed: The Heart of Port Huron

It's like this crazy love hate relationship with the industry.

2

It's a family, basically.

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You form your own family when

you work in the industry.

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And it's hard to get away from it.

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You find that

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Cliff Duvernois: Hello everyone.

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And welcome back to Total Michigan,

where we interview ordinary Michiganders

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doing some pretty extraordinary things.

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I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.

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So I posted online that

I was in Port Huron.

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The overwhelming response from people

was, Hey, are you going to the Raven Cafe?

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And of course, my answer was yes.

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Not only because I like unique places.

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But I just happen to be a fan of

the writing of Edgar Allan Poe

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ever since I got exposed to it

way back in high school days.

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But what intrigued me about this

particular story is that it really is a

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tale of two owners, one who had a singular

vision to bring something truly unique to

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Port Huron, and another who had a vision

of how to run this beautiful tavern.

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Because sometimes the same

people who build something aren't

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exactly the best people to run it.

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And so by recognizing their

strengths and their weaknesses has

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allowed both owners to serve their

community at a much higher level.

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And that's what we're going to be

exploring today with our guest,

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Sadaat Hossain, the owner of

the Raven Cafe in Port Huron.

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Saadat, how are you?

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Sadaat Hossain: I'm happy.

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How are you?

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Cliff Duvernois: I'm doing awesome.

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Thank you for asking.

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So why don't you tell us

what is the Raven Cafe?

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Sadaat Hossain: The Raven

Café has a full espresso bar.

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Um, We have a full Um, spirits

and beer and wine bar as well.

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Uh, We do sandwiches, entree sized

salads, uh, pizzas, everything, basically.

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And we're the only place in

town that does both espresso

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and spirits at the same time.

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So you get all sorts of like infused

coffee drinks and all that good stuff.

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Cliff Duvernois: You

also do live music here.

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Sadaat Hossain: Oh yeah.

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Uh, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

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We have live music.

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It's generally coffeehouse fare.

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You know, like, you know,

singer songwriter kind of stuff.

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Uh, Once in a while

we'll have a full band.

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Um, But usually it's just solo artists.

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Um, Sometimes a blues band.

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Sometimes we'll have electronic artists.

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But

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Cliff Duvernois: Like a real

eclectic mix of artists.

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There isn't one genre you stick to.

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It's just are you good and Come in play.

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Sadaat Hossain: Yeah, absolutely.

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Um, the Kat that does her booking knows

a lot of folks from this, from Detroit.

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And gets them up here and

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Cliff Duvernois: Oh cool.

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why don't you tell us a little

bit about where are you from?

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Where did you grow up?

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Sadaat Hossain: I grew up in Port Huron.

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Yeah, I did my uh, undergrad in Detroit.

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Uh, as a sound engineer.

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But I've been working in kitchens

and restaurants since I was 13.

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And so, I know the industry.

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And I got my degree in sound engineering.

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But I wanted to go with

what I liked to do.

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Like, um, working in

restaurants, basically.

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You know, I realized I was

making more money doing that.

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And that was my passion.

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You know, bartending, and

cooking, and things like that.

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So, I stuck with that.

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Cliff Duvernois: Why did you decide to

get your degree in sound engineering?

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Sadaat Hossain: That's

what I wanted to do.

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In fact, my dream was to do, do live

sound for concerts, and things like that.

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But then, you know, everybody

that I worked with told me that

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I would have to be unionized.

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I'm like, I don't want to do that.

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Cliff Duvernois: I just want to work.

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Sadaat Hossain: Exactly.

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And I was making more money, frankly,

doing bartending and cooking.

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So, I started working at The Raven.

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Um, The owner is a retired attorney.

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And he had more fun building the

place than he did running it.

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And he was frankly, not

so good at running it.

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it.

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So, I, uh, I became his manager, and I

pulled it out of the red into the black.

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And then we struck a deal.

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And I bought it.

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Cliff Duvernois: So now, so

to go back a little bit here.

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So the attorney bought this building but

it doesn't look like it, at that time

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it doesn't look like it looked today.

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Because this is a massive

renovation he did here.

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Sadaat Hossain: Oh no, he did great.

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He did absolutely great building it.

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Like, this was a ten year renovation.

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He did an amazing job on it.

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Um, This is all built with

wood from his own lot.

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You know, he had a portable sawmill,

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Cliff Duvernois: portable sawmill?

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Sadaat Hossain: handsh

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Cliff Duvernois: Benson.

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So,

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Sadaat Hossain: Apparently Gerald Edson.

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So, all the wood that's in here, and, you

know, it's stained, it's beautiful, and he

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did a really good job building the place.

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Cliff Duvernois: One of the things that

struck me when I first came in here was

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how, in my mind anyways, this has like

a really, like a New England feel to it.

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This place when you walk in.

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It's not like, you know, just because

we're in the theme of Edgar Allan Poe,

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it's not just a bunch of books sitting

on a shelf, but it actually feels like

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a New England style like bar or pub.

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Sadaat Hossain: Well Gerald Uh,

let's see, he did his undergrad at

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U of M, and then he went to Harvard.

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So he was on the East Coast.

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And that's when he fell in

love with the whole feel.

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And, I mean, it checks out when you

look around, because it feels like

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that kind of New England situation.

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Cliff Duvernois: Right.

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Now when how did the Edgar Allen

Poe influence come onto the cafe?

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Where did that come from?

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Sadaat Hossain: That was also from Gerald.

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Gerald, uh, I mean, he kind of

had a penchant for the macabre.

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Yeah.

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And he influenced it into here.

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And if you look at the menu, all of the

sandwiches and salads are named after Poe.

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Short stories, salad, you

know, that kind of thing.

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Cliff Duvernois: hmm.

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Now, for this particular place here, I

know you talked before about how you've

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been working in restaurants, so it was

like, did your parents own a restaurant?

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Did you just wander into a restaurant

and say, you know, when you were 12 or

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13, and say, I need a job, I'm really 16?

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How did that work?

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Sadaat Hossain: Oh, no, no when I was 13,

I lived down the road from a country club.

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And I went wash dishes and

prepped at the country club.

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And You know, I just kind of

fell in love with the industry.

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I did retail for a little bit but then

when I went to Detroit for University,

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I paid my rent bartending and cooking.

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Cliff Duvernois: Right.

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What do you think it was about working

in restaurants and the service industry

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that made you fall in love with it?

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Sadaat Hossain: It's, have

you ever seen the Bear?

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Have you watched the Bear?

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Cliff Duvernois: Uh, no, I don't think so.

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No.

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Sadaat Hossain: It's amazing.

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It's, it's like this crazy love

hate relationship with the industry.

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It's like, it, it, it just.

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It's a family, basically.

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You form your own family when

you work in the industry.

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it's hard to get away from it.

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You find that personal drama,

interpersonal drama, and you

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form your own relationships.

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And it's just, you know,

it's another family.

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Cliff Duvernois: Sure.

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Sadaat Hossain: You get

another family out of it.

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Cliff Duvernois: You said you were

going to university down in Detroit.

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How did you wind up coming

back here to Port Huron?

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Sadaat Hossain: My old man got sick.

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Yeah, he got sick.

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And then shortly after my mother got

sick with, uh, inoperable cancer.

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So I'm here taking care of them as well.

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Cliff Duvernois: Ok.

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Then how did you wind up coming

to work here at the Raven Cafe?

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Sadaat Hossain: Oh, this is the f

I mean, like, as soon as I moved

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back, uh, they needed a server.

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So, um, a friend of mine, a childhood

friend of mine, recommended me because

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I needed work while I was there.

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And so I got hired immediately.

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And then I just worked

my way up the ladder.

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I started booking music first.

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Then, uh, started managing, and then

when Gerald wanted to sell, I sold.

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Right.

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Cliff Duvernois: when you go from,

you know, sound engineering, you can

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control everything on that board,

the sound board, to all of a sudden

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now you're having to manage people.

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Sadaat Hossain: is kind

of, I mean, I don't know.

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I, I've been told that I am,

um I'm a suicidal empath.

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Cliff Duvernois: I'm learning a lot today.

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Right.

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So,

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Sadaat Hossain: So, I mean, I'm trying to,

you know, like, balance the HR situation

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with all of these other cats that are

working here that, you know, you know, I

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can smooth, smooth the, uh, hard edges.

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edges

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Cliff Duvernois: right.

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And so you worked here.

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You said you worked

your way up the ladder.

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At what point did you and the former

owner this attorney like connect?

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I mean did he did says he was going

to put it on the market and you jumped

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up and say he I'd like to get it?

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Sadaat Hossain: He put it on the market.

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He asked for way too much.

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There were a couple of cats that,

you know, asked him about it.

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And It was marked up.

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But like I say, I was

the manager beforehand.

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So he realized how much

I did for the business.

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So he cut me a deal on it.

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It was about half of the asking price.

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Cliff Duvernois: Oh well

that's kind of cool.

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And did it work out to be

one of these things where you

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know did you have the money?

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Did he offer to finance part of it?

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Is he still part owner in this?

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How did that work?

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Sadaat Hossain: No, no, no,

it was a turnkey situation.

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where I found a private

investor and I, you know, just,

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you know, just picked it up.

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Correct.

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Um, liquor license, uh, the

units upstairs, all of that.

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Cliff Duvernois: And then all

transferred over to you, no problem.

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Sadaat Hossain: Correct.

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Uh, actually it's funny because I

drove with my current bookkeeper to

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Lansing to get the liquor license

and the fax didn't go through.

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So exactly so I got a banh mi Next

door to the office and grumbled

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And then I drove back myself.

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And got it the next day and on

my way back, I got a burger.

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And I was happy.

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Cliff Duvernois: Yeah.

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Oh awesome.

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Cool!

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I guess then my next question would be

when you take over complete ownership

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of the place what was maybe some of the

things that surprised you, challenges

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that popped that maybe you just

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Sadaat Hossain: me.

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that maybe you just Since I'd

been managing so long, it kind

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of was no, no secret to me.

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So, going on.

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I knew what I was getting myself into, uh,

aside from being here seven days a week.

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Cliff Duvernois: The previous

owner was he like an absentee.

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Oh,

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Sadaat Hossain: kind

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of like

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Cliff Duvernois: Man I

just want you to run it.

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I'm going to play golf today.

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Sadaat Hossain: Oh not no he would

I mean he would still be in here

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like lourding over everybody.

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But, um it took a lot of weight

off his shoulders and I could

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tell that when I was managing it.

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Yeah so

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Cliff Duvernois: Well, for our

audience, we're going to take a

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quick break and thank our sponsors.

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When we come back, we're going to talk

to about how Sadaat managed to fit the

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Raven Cafe into the eclectic culture that

is Port Huron, the impact that they're

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having on the local music scene, and also

what you can expect when you come here.

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We'll see you after the break.

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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to

Total Michigan, where we interview

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ordinary Michiganders doing some

pretty extraordinary things.

265

I'm your host Cliff Duvenois.

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Today, we're talking with Saadat

Hossein, owner of the Raven

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Cafe in Port Huron, Michigan.

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So Saadat, when I was lining up

interviews in Port Huron, and I was

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talking to Carol from the Foundry,

Andrew from Port Huron Museums, Gary

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Warwick from Warwick Mask, and I would

tell them, I'm like, Hey, I'm going to

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be doing an interview at the Raven Cafe.

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All of them said, was Sadat?

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Oh, that's cool.

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So it seems like you've got quite the

reputation of being very active in

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this community a bit of a rock star

so to speak Which is absolutely great.

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What I would like to do is if you

would tell us If you would what are

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your thoughts about how the Raven Cafe

fits into the Port Huron community?

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And also, would you tell us

some of the things that you

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are doing in the community?

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Sadaat Hossain: Well this is a

very unique spot that run and, you

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know, I'm here seven days a week.

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So folks see me.

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They know what I'm doing.

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They see what I'm doing every day.

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And to top it off, um, We're kind of a

hub for the arts and music community.

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And drag.

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And, you know, we, we were the first

ones to, uh, to host Drag Nights and

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Pride Nights and things like that.

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So, you know.

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we try to be all inclusive here.

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And that has worked to our advantage.

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Correct.

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8 to 80.

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Maybe older.

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Cliff Duvernois: Who knows?

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Uh, and I know that part of your thing,

and we, we talked a little bit about

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this before in the first segment,

was, uh, you know, you started here.

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And one of the first things you

were doing was booking bands.

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How important is that to have

that live music element here?

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Sadaat Hossain: I grew up flipping

through the phone book with my, you

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know, garage bands looking for, um, like,

halls for rent and things like that.

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And I always wished that there was

a venue for local bands to play at.

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And once I acquired this venue,

it's, you know, it's, it's

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uh, it's a fairytale story

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Cliff Duvernois: when,

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and then now cause usually when

you're thinking about I'd like to

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book local bands and I wish I had some

place to play, are you a musician?

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Are you in a band?

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Sadaat Hossain: am.

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I am.

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I do, um, I do a lot of,

uh, musical theater stuff.

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I have a theater company.

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Um, pit bands for, uh, musical theater.

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We also play a lot of gigs.

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We used to have, we had the

longest running open mic night

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at a pub that's just on the other

side of the bridge from here.

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And it was the only, uh,

full band open mic night.

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And we would just back, you know,

we'd back everybody that came in.

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And, you know, it's like, okay, you

know, you want to play Fred Bear.

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We'll do it.

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begrudgingly

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Cliff Duvernois: you

said you're everybody.

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Eclectic, uh, eclectic taste of

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Sadaat Hossain: Yeah, exactly.

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So yeah, we just backed that up.

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Cliff Duvernois: Talk to us about some,

like, some of the, like, some of the

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bands that you've had come and play

here that really stand out to you.

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Sadaat Hossain: Oh, goodness.

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Uh, we have, um, we have a regular

set of cats that come through.

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I've, um, I've offloaded my duties

of booking, but we still have,

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um, we have some regular bands.

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Uh, Still Running is one of them.

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They do everything from the Decemberists

to the Avett Brothers and, uh,

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Flaming Lips, things like that.

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Uh, There's an award winning fingerstyle

player, uh, William Henry Russell.

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And he just plays classical music,

like, on the guitar, and it's amazing.

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Cliff Duvernois: Hey,

listeners, Cliff here.

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I just want to give you a quick sneak

peek as to some great upcoming interviews

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that you are absolutely going to love.

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Next week, we've got a winemaker who does

things just a little bit differently.

341

Allowing you to customize your

wine to your liking, even if

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you want to have your own label.

343

Then it's the Memorial Cup.

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One of the biggest events in hockey.

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And it is coming to Saginaw.

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And we're going to be talking to

the general manager of the Saginaw

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Spirit Hockey Team as to how they

won this multi million dollar

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boost to the Great Lakes community.

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These are two episodes that

you just will not want to miss.

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Make sure to hit the subscribe

button, catch us at the same

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time on this radio station.

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And now, back to the show.

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next question I got for you is if

somebody is coming here and never

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been here before what can they expect

when they come through the door?

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Sadaat Hossain: Usually I see everybody

looking around in bewilderment.

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Because before there's

just a lot to look at.

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There's a lot of stuff

to see on the walls.

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A lot of stuff to take in at first.

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They don't know what to do because there's

just so much stuff all over the place.

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It's very eclectic.

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Cliff Duvernois: place.

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Right.

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Sadaat Hossain: And then, you know,

once they, once they take a seat.

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It's full table service.

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Um, Menus are at every table.

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And, it's a seven page food menu.

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A five page beverage menu.

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So there's a lot to take in if

you haven't been here before.

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So.

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Cliff Duvernois: The one thing that

really surprised me when I came in here

371

was, The the fact that you guys have a

second floor With a lot more seating,

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which is actually where we are right

now But you guys got a second floor with

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a lot more seating up here and it just

makes the place feel so much bigger.

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Sadaat Hossain: Yeah.

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Absolutely.

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Gerald did a really good job

renovating this building.

377

Originally, the first floor was,

uh, it housed a radio station.

378

And then the second floor and the

lofts above were, uh, dance studios.

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Uh, At one point there was, yeah,

one point there was a leather worker

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that worked upstairs too, as well.

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So, I mean, it's been, it's been a few

things, but Gerald gutted the whole

382

place, and he did a fine job with it.

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So.

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Cliff Duvernois: And another thing

that really struck me is because,

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you know, and I talked before

about really good use of space.

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But even like how the tables are

arranged, how the benches are arranged,

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and how you've even got seats right here

that are facing towards the musician.

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This really is like, you know, I gotta

give, I gotta give a shout out to

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the, to the former attorney, Harold?

390

Gerald.

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That, um, he really, um, just took a

lot of time to really like map this

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place out and make it really something

393

Sadaat Hossain: Well it

was a 10 year renovation.

394

Um we have a an upright

piano that's on the stage.

395

And the stage is on a loft.

396

Uh, People have to bring

their stuff up a fire ladder

397

Cliff Duvernois: Yes, they do

398

Sadaat Hossain: to get up there.

399

But, to get the piano in, he took

the entire facade off, slid the piano

400

in, and then rebuilt the facade.

401

Cliff Duvernois: That's the

reason why it took 10 years

402

Sadaat Hossain: it

403

And for

404

Cliff Duvernois: And for the people

that are coming here, because you talked

405

about this seven page menu that you

have, and it is packed full of food.

406

What would be some of the, what

would be some of the key dishes

407

that you would recommend people

to try when they come here?

408

Sadaat Hossain: The signature sandwhich

quote unquote is the House of Usher.

409

Like said all of the food

is named after Poe stuff.

410

It's basically like a

Thanksgiving dinner in a sandwich.

411

Um, But, one of the big

sellers is the California Club.

412

Which is, uh, cream cheese, turkey,

and spinach, and veggies, and stuff.

413

That's good.

414

Uh, The salads are huge.

415

My favorite, my personal

favorite is the oval portrait.

416

Uh, But, It's a spinach salad with

a warm bacon and balsamic dressing.

417

Um, Another big seller is the

Pit in the Pendulum Reuben.

418

It's a stacked Reuben.

419

I've also been told that we have not

only the best oatmeal, Uh, it's loaded

420

with, uh, nuts and dried fruits.

421

And also the, uh, the French dip.

422

Cliff Duvernois: Right.

423

Sadaat Hossain: mushrooms and onions.

424

And, I mean, that's another big hit.

425

Cliff Duvernois: And it seems like

it's a real solid mix of what you would

426

consider to be kind of like comfort food

427

Sadaat Hossain: Yeah,

428

Cliff Duvernois: also

lighter fare as well.

429

Sadaat Hossain: yeah, there's,

there's a little of everything.

430

Uh, The only thing we

don't have are fried items.

431

We don't do that.

432

We don't do fries.

433

We don't do wings.

434

We don't do tenders.

435

You know.

436

But for the kids, we got stuff.

437

We've got an extensive breakfast menu.

438

Uh, Build your own breakfast sandwiches.

439

The breakfast belt.

440

It's basically like a

BLT with an egg on it.

441

That's a big one.

442

Uh, Breakfast pizzas.

443

with, um, you know, it's

got a base of Alfredo sauce.

444

With some egg on it.

445

And your choice of protein.

446

Cliff Duvernois: And then what

about, like, what are some, like,

447

maybe like signature events that

you have going on through the years?

448

Or just something that you have on the

calendar, like every, you know, July, we

449

have these events or something, or is it

450

Sadaat Hossain: In the community,

uh, in July, there is, um, the

451

Mackinac races, you know, like the

race from Port Huron to Mackinac.

452

And the whole area explodes for that.

453

So we usually have something going on

for that, like a special or whatever.

454

Um, Drink specials, and we

also do seasonal cocktails.

455

Cliff Duvernois: Right.

456

Sadaat Hossain: So it's usually

. centered around those things.

457

Cliff Duvernois: Right.

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Yeah, cause that's coming

up here pretty quick.

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Sadaat Hossain: quick.

460

Mm hmm.

461

Yes.

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Cliff Duvernois: Yes.

463

Awesome.

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Uh, so Sadaat, if somebody is listening

to this and they want to connect with

465

you, you know, find you online, maybe even

come and visit the Raven Cafe, please do.

466

Where can they go?

467

Sadaat Hossain: Uh, We

have all the social medias.

468

Um, The big one is Facebook.

469

If you look up Raven Cafe.

470

There is coincidentally also

a Raven Cafe in Arizona.

471

And, um, oddly enough, I was in

contact with a woman that was trying

472

to plan her, uh, bridal shower.

473

And she thought she

was talking to Arizona.

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Cliff Duvernois: three weeks.

475

And she's

476

Sadaat Hossain: So it

was a week beforehand.

477

I was in contact with her for three weeks.

478

And she's like, so do

we just go down I 90?

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I'm like, no!

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No!

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You're talking to the wrong Raven Cafe.

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Raven Cafe.

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She's

484

She's like, oh no!

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Cliff Duvernois: Yeah, with a week to go,

that would be a panic button right there.

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Sadaat Hossain: it was.

487

Never heard from her again.

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I apologized up and down.

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Cliff Duvernois: what's the address here?

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People want to find you that way.

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Sadaat Hossain: 932 Military Street.

492

493

Cliff Duvernois: And you can't

miss it when you drive by.

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Sadaat Hossain: Nope.

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There's a giant wooden facade.

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A big ol wooden bird out front.

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Uh, South side of the drawbridge.

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Cliff Duvernois: Sadaat, thank you so much

for taking time to chat with us today.

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Really appreciate it.

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Sadaat Hossain: Thank you Cliff.

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Cliff Duvernois: And for our audience,

you can always go to TotalMichigan.

502

com, click on Sadaat's interview, and

get the links that he mentioned above.

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Also, you can connect with us on Facebook,

Instagram, and TikTok at Total Michigan.

504

If you want to see the video

version of this podcast with all

505

kinds of great footage, find us

on YouTube at Total Michigan.

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We'll see you next week when we talk

to another ordinary Michigander doing

507

some pretty extraordinary things.

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We'll see you then.