Amanda Debek persuaded the small California House of Chimney Cakes chain to let her expand their concept with savory menu options and a comfortable, Instagrammable environment. They’re named for the steam given off when the dough, wrapped around a wooden dowel, emerges from the oven golden, crispy, and piping hot. | Photo by J. Adrian Wylie
“This whole store is me,” beams Amanda Debek from a deep U-shaped booth upholstered in pink velvet and topped with a rich arrangement of artificial flowers at her new House of Chimney Cakes Café.
It’s a positively pink presence in the revitalized mixed-use building on Fourth Ave. that began life in 1928 as a Montgomery Ward department store. The last tenant here, Bandito’s, moved to Plymouth Green Crossings more than five years ago.
“I’m going to eat, sleep, and live here, literally,” Debek hyperbolizes. “I’m probably going to put a pillow on this booth and sleep. I love this place.”
The loquacious Dearborn native, who moved to Canton Township three years ago, did corporate event planning from home while her three children were younger, and before that she managed her uncle’s Cinnabon franchise, but “I’ve always wanted to be a business owner.”
Intrigued by a dessert shop in Dearborn serving Hungarian-style sweetbread cones filled with ice cream, she reached out to the small company’s headquarters in Anaheim, California, and convinced them to let her expand and personalize the concept with savory menu options and a comfortable, Instagrammable environment. Upbeat neon-style signs (one says “calories don’t count when you’re dreaming”) and a swing flanked by feathered angel wings help round out the rosy picture.
Everything’s made to order, including the chimney cakes. They’re named for the steam given off when the dough, wrapped around a wooden dowel, emerges from the oven golden, crispy, and piping hot. From there, the menu offers fifteen signature creations—from Matcha Monster to Tiramisu to the chocolaty Fashionista—with various fillings, ice cream or Dole Whip toppings, and sauces for $10.98 or $11.98. Build-your-own options start at $8.98.
Other sweet treats include milkshakes, cheesecake, ice cream nachos, and lemonades with or without popping boba. Customizable açaí bowls are available, along with a range of coffee and tea drinks.
The savory chimney cakes include the spiced Zaatar, a nod to Debek’s Lebanese heritage, also represented in the labneh gems, balls of yogurt-based cheese rolled in rose petal, mint, black seed, sumac, and red pepper flakes.
With support from her husband, who owns an oil change business in Redford Township, Debek has persevered through contractor delays and miscommunications since signing the lease in early 2023.
“We were expecting this place to be done within a couple months like every other business. It took a year and a half, so it was very stressful,” she confides. “I wanted to give up so many times—I’m not gonna lie—where I would wish there was a turnaround button. I’m going to be busting my butt in here to make sure we pay for it all and we start up our savings fund again, because that’s just vanished.
“I did something not only for the community to enjoy, but it’s my personal dream. It’s my personal passion. And I just love that I was able to fulfill that and share it with everybody.”
House of Chimney Cakes Café, 216 S. Fourth Ave. (734) 882–2708. Sun.–Wed. 10 a.m.–9 p.m., Thurs.–Sat. 10 a.m.–10 p.m. thehouseofchimneycakes.com
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