Open Tonight · 4:00 to 8:30
(269) 753·1550
Kitchen Proper — Truly Genuine
Plate No. 02 — About

Cook
what's real,
nothing else.

Kitchen Proper is the work of Tony Davis and Sarah Barany — a husband-and-wife team with forty years of restaurant work between them and a single, stubborn idea: that downtown Battle Creek deserves a room where the food is actually cooked.

Kitchen Proper open kitchen at service
i. Open kitchen, downtown Battle Creek
Why "Proper"

A restaurant made
for downtown.

Tony and Sarah bought the room in August 2018, rebranded, and reopened right after Labor Day as Kitchen Proper. The name borrows from how big cities name their cores — Detroit Proper, Charleston Proper — and is meant to evoke being part of the city, not adjacent to it. Battle Creek is in the middle of a renaissance, and we are happy to be cooking through it.

We describe ourselves as a rustic urban eatery. The focus is fresh, scratch-made, to-order cuisine. The menu shifts with the season — pastas, fresh fish, hand-cut steaks, unique salads, chalkboard features that follow what's coming in this week. There is always something new on the board.

We are truly excited to bring tasty, fresh food and excellent service to Battle Creek and all of Southwest Michigan. We look forward to serving all of you in our kitchen.

Plate No. 02b — The People

Tony, Sarah,
and the line.

Tony Davis, Owner and Executive Chef of Kitchen Proper
Owner · Executive Chef

Anthony "Tony" Davis

Tony started, like most chefs do, in the dish tank during high school. After graduating he went to Le Cordon Bleu in Las Vegas, then took the Chef de Cuisine job at Gull Lake Country Club in Richland — where, conveniently, he met Sarah.

Five years running operations for Continental Bakery in Battle Creek brought him back to bread, but he missed the pace of a restaurant. A sauté gig at Malia Bistro turned into the chance to buy the restaurant outright. Today he runs the line, the menu and most of the music.

Trained at Le Cordon Bleu · Gull Lake Country Club · Malia Bistro
Sarah Barany, Owner and Front of House Coordinator at Kitchen Proper
Owner · Front of House & Wine

Sarah Barany

Sarah started in restaurants while studying at Western Michigan and Kalamazoo Valley. Her hospitality work led her to Gull Lake Country Club, where she learned wine, fine dining and special events — and met Tony, as the saying goes.

She spent years at Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo, joined Malia Bistro full time, and stayed through the rebrand. Sarah runs the room, the wine list, and the monthly Kitchen Proper Wine Dinners. She is bringing events, entertainment and education back to downtown.

Trained at Gull Lake Country Club · Bell's Brewery · Malia Bistro
Chef Tim Gibbs at Kitchen Proper
Sous Chef · Since the Grand Opening

Chef Tim Gibbs

Tim got his start as a teenager in the dish tank at Schuler's in Marshall, worked his way up to Kitchen Manager and Sous Chef there, then ran the line at Addington Hills and The Cove Lakeside Bistro in Portage. He came home to help open Kitchen Proper and never left. Tim runs grilling, meat, and fresh fish.

2018
Doors opened
42
Seats in the room
12×
Wine dinners a year
∞
Made by hand
Come Hungry

See you in the room.

Reservations are recommended Friday and Saturday. Walk-ins are welcome, and Sarah is always happy to talk wine.

Reserve a Table Read the Dinner Menu