JP Makes and Bakes in Detroit takes the No. 8 spot on the 2025 Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Top 10 New Restaurants & Dining Experiences list for its Filipino flavors and foodways.
JP Makes and Bakes might be new to the New Center neighborhood, but the bakery’s breads, cakes and cookies are well established among the Detroit dining scene. Pastry chef Jonathan Peregrino first introduced the bakery as a pop-up concept back in 2021 and quickly wielded his Filipino foodways as his superpower.
His secret weapon? Ube.
Majestic purple confections became Peregrino’s signature as he colored everything from cookies to brownies to macarons with the purple yam. The starchy root lends its vibrant color to each of Peregrino’s pastries, as well as its creamy texture and mildly sweet flavor. Cookies are softer and chewier and hard chocolates have a velvety melt.
Today, Peregrino, a former competitor on Food Network’s “Holiday Baking Championship,” flaunts his range at JP Makes and Bakes. There is an assortment of Filipino breads — pan de sal, pan de coco and pan de everything are in the pastry cases daily — as well as weekly savory specials. A silky gravy, for example, teeming with hunks of chicken longanisa, is ladled over dense biscuits and two fried eggs.
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JP Makes and Bakes menu highlight
In the warmer months, ube softserve is a must. Peregrino offers an ube twist with the purple yam as the base and a monthly rotating flavor like jackfruit or coconut.
JP Makes and Bakes address
6529 Woodward Ave., Ste. B, Detroit. jpmakesandbakes.com.
Save the Date: On Tuesday, Sept. 30, JP Makes and Bakes, the Detroit Free Press and Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers will host a Top 10 Takeout event showcasing the best the bakery has to offer. Stay tuned for ticket information at Freep.com.
For a chance to win five $100 gift cards to dine at restaurants on the 2025 Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Top 10 New Restaurants & Dining Experiences list, visit chevydetroit.com/community/giveaways/roy25.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: No. 8: JP Makes and Bakes in Detroit earns nod for Filipino flavors, colorful confections
Reporting by Lyndsay C. Green, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
