Chez Amie opens at Warehouse MKT, returning to Traverse City dining room

Chez Amie opened in the former Hexenbelle space at Warehouse MRKT, giving Eric and Amy Fritch a brick-and-mortar return after years of food-truck service, brunch pop-ups and supper clubs. The move put one of Traverse City’s most familiar French-inspired names back in a permanent room in the Warehouse District, where foot traffic from nearby boutiques and local services can help steady a restaurant built to outlast the seasonal churn.

For the Fritches, the opening marked the latest turn in a restaurant run that began in 2004, when they launched Patisserie Amie. The bakery-restaurant became a fixture in Traverse City’s dining scene, first on Front Street in the building now occupied by Chubby Unicorn and later on Lake Avenue, where it lasted 14 years before the pandemic disrupted the business with shutdowns and staffing shortages.

After that closure, Eric and Amy Fritch kept the concept alive through Le Métropolitain Cuisine de Rue, first as a food truck and later through a series of more flexible formats. In January 2025, Le Métropolitain was serving brunch at Traverse City Whiskey Co. every Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and a launch party for the brunch service was set for Feb. 1, 2025. That same year, the couple also announced monthly supper clubs at TC Whiskey and Le Métropolitain beginning Feb. 20, 2025, with three-course themed menus priced at $30.

By February 2026, that run had hit another wall. Le Métropolitain would not reopen after being badly damaged in a November fire, and the truck was destroyed. The couple then shifted again, planning a new brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Warehouse District. Chez Amie is the result of that reset, and its placement inside Warehouse MRKT gives the Fritches a more visible, fixed home than the truck or temporary service model could offer.

Warehouse MRKT describes itself as a downtown Warehouse District destination for unique boutiques and local services, a setting that fits a restaurant trying to rebuild a public presence and draw consistent traffic. The opening also adds another dining-room option to a part of Traverse City that has seen steady turnover and reinvention among independent operators. For the Fritches, it is more than a nostalgic return. It is a test of whether a long-running local brand can convert recognition, location and a smaller-footprint retail environment into a stable next chapter.