Whiskeybent didn't care for the Blue Tractor, but I quite enjoyed it. If nothing else, the menu is good for inspiration for one's own efforts. When I visited in May, I was with my mom, and after the first night, she wanted to go back, so I got to try it twice.

I thought the smoked chicken chowder was quite nice -- nothing to write home about, but tasty and smokey with real smoked chicken. Makes one think of other things to do with one's smoker. I'd never had fried pickles before, so they were a fun discovery.

The one thing I had that I thought was outstanding was the Black, Blue, Bacon Burger -- a blackened 1/2-lb sirloin burger with blue cheese and bacon. I also really enjoyed the blue cheese and scallion mac and cheese (mac and cheese comes five ways: the blue cheese and scallion; three cheeses and herbed breadcrumbs; smoked chicken, mild chiles and jack cheese; ham, smoked gouda and crispy onions; or BBQ pulled pork with smoked gouda.) Not a place you travel to visit, but if you want comfort food and you're in TC, it's not a bad option. I don't know about trying their barbecue offerings, as that's something that really has to be done right, but a burger is a bit safer -- just keep it medium rare and good toppings, and I'll enjoy it.

Cynthia wrote:Fun to visit for the history and chocolate is the Grocer's Daughter's Chocolates.

Agree. Fantastic, creative stuff:

Just returned from our annual summer vacation to the Leelanau Peninsula, which is adjacent to Traverse City. We were able to return to a few old favorite restaurants, check out some newer ones, and -- because we were able to do our own cooking this year -- find some nice sources for good ingredients. We were sans famille this time, so the restaurants below (except for Foothills) are a bit more adult-oriented and shaded towards the higher price range of places in the area.

The best meal was at The Cook's House, an apparent labor of love for chef and co-owner Eric Patterson and his partner, Traverse City native Jennifer Blakeslee. He runs a tiny, open kitchen that sits behind (and heats up) the six tables in the restaurant. The equally modestly-sized menu emphasizes locally grown food with a modern sensibility but no goofy combinations or high-tech preparations. The salad of smoked rabbit and warm vegetables was delicate and yummy, as was the gnocchi with spring onions and pesto. The duck with turnip and lentils was very moist and tasty, and the braised pork belly was succulent and flavorful. The service was smooth and professional but friendly. The place is BYOB. Appetizers, salads, and soups were in the $9-12 range, entrees $20-30, not inexpensive but definitely worth the prices. Because of the small size of the place, best to make reservations even during the week.

Red Ginger has been around for about a year, and we have gone twice. Between the fact that it is a popular, hip, local watering hole and that it features the potentially risky "Pan-Asian" type of menu, we approached with some trepidation, but our fears proved unfounded. The menu was actually rather thoughtful and even intelligently innovative, and all the dishes were done quite nicely. There was a good selection of sushi and maki rolls, regular-menu items, and daily specials. It was only a little too loud, and the service suffered from obsequiousness rather than inattention.

Phil's on Front is another, newish place in the downtown area. It was far larger, noisier, and with a more bar-like and casual atmosphere, but it turned out some very serviceable American food. Our meal included a nicely deconstructed wedge salad, prime rib with a Vidalia onion sauce, and locally-caught Walleye in a pecan crust with a creamy beurre blanc. The desserts choices were particularly good, including a sampler of the gourmet chocolates they sell from the front of the restaurant.

We returned to some long-time favorites on the Leelanau peninsula, including an always-killer breakfast at the Foothills Cafe (sort of a Patty's Up North without the sisterly squabbling) in Burdickville; dinner at the always-reliable Italian bistro Funistrada, also in Burdickville; and North, a relaxing, modern-American dinner place with a broad menu (and good winelist) in a lovely setting, halfway between Leland and Glen Arbor. We made the mistake of having dinner at the Riverside Inn in Leland one night, a place that though picturesque seems to have fallen into a time warp (the bad kind) and largely seems to serve long-time regulars who like the things the way they were in the past.

On the uncooked food front, we went to Max Bauer's (407 South Union, TC) for an old-fashioned German-style butcher shop experience reminiscent of Paulina Market and Gepperth's back home. In addition to serious steak, pork, and poultry, they had a very good selection of lamb and veal, two meats that can be tough to find up here. They also had a good selection of their own homemade sausages. For fish, we found a surprisingly good selection of fresh and smoked choices at Burritt's (509 W. Front, TC). Finally, Oryana's Natural Foods Market (260 E 10th St, TC) is a Whole Foods-like store with excellent organic produce and a variety of healthy prepared foods. In summer, there are also farmstands and farmers markets all over the place, with fruits, veggies, and herbs from the many local, family-run farms.

The Cook's House
439 E. Front Street, Traverse City, MI 49686, (231)946-8700
http://www.thecookshouse.typepad.com/

Red Ginger Restaurant
237 E Front St, Traverse City, MI 49684, (231) 944-1733
www.eatatginger.com

Phil's on Front
236 E Front St, Traverse City, MI 49686, (231) 929-1710

Foothills Restaurant
7097 S Dunns Farm Rd, Maple City, MI 49664, (231) 334-3495

Funistrada
4566 MacFarlane, Burdickville, 231-334-3900

North, A Centennial Inn
149 E. Harbor Highway / M-22, Maple City. 231-228-5060

Hellacious weather has been punishing Indianapolis this summer. Less than an inch of rain total since May 1, and then a stretch of 6 straight days of 100+ overlapping the 4th to cap it off. Ouch. Go North Young Man, and contemplate the Manitou's:



TC continues to grow in stature as a food town. I think Bon Appetit named it one of the top 5 in the country, and the meals we had did nothing to dispel that. The whole local, sustainable, farm-to-table yeah yeah whatever seems like a tired concept, but we had a couple meals here that were real eye-openers.

Our first dinner was at The Cook's House also discussed upthread, owned and operated by a chef with monastic fervor toward achieving his vision of dining perfection. We chose the 5 course tasting menu, which started with a tomato soup of intense purity of flavor:


Followed by spaetzle with short rib ragu (there was a salad course in here somewhere too)


Then whitefish with ramps, followed by steak with bone marrow mashed potatoes



Capped off with a delicious blueberry panna cotta:


Pretty amazing meal, especially considering he recreates his menu every single day. Each course was expertly prepared with fantastic ingredients, and the cost for the 5-course tasting was a bargain at $55/person. Highly highly highly recommend this restaurant. There's only 12 tables, make sure you make a reservation.

Apres beach late lunch next day was at Martha's Leelanau Table in Sutton's Bay. The lunch menu is pretty much limited to a few salads and sandwiches, BUT they do have a raclette made with the excellent Leelanau Cheese Co's raclette cheese - more apropos for a snowy winter day than a 90+ scorcher, but hard to pass up:


Sandwiches were pretty good, my wife had a bacon, cheddar, green apple and I had a Cuban. But that dinner at Cook's Table had set the bar pretty high, this didn't quite reach those levels:



Dinner that night was at Trattoria Stella, which is an Italian restaurant in the basement of a renovated lunatic asylum. We'd eaten here on our last trip a few years ago, and I had fond memories of an insanely good meal.


We started with beef carpaccio and an heirloom tomato salad, both were excellent.


I believe my wife had some bucatini preparation, but I had crazy good porchetta topped with a homemade sausage. Porchetta is a little cliched, but this dish was a deconstruction with finely shredded pork and small pieces of crackling skin swimming in molten pork fat. This dish was better than anything we ate in Italy just a few months ago. I was in such a pork delirium that I've completely forgotten what we had for dessert, but I seem to recall it was pretty good, probably a tiramisu. But that porchetta, man that was a dish you dream about, unforgettable

Love this restaurant, it's some of the best Italian cooking I've had in the US.

Final dinner was at the Boathouse Restaurant on Mission Peninsula. I'm still kicking myself for picking this place, because I knew what I was walking into and still went. Wildly overpriced and overfussy preparation, it stood out in even stronger contrast after the two excellent dinners we had before. Most indicative of the gouging going on here is this petit filet mignon (on the menu described as Queen and King, so as to question your manhood if you select the smaller cut). Buried somewhere under this lone onion ring resides a $53 3oz piece of filet, no sear, basically wagyu mush. Pretty room and nice setting, but there's much better eating to be done in this town, a wasted meal. Can't believe that miniscule piece of meat cost as much as the entire 5 course tasting menu at a Cooks Place tsk tsk:


Will definitely have to try and make it up here on a yearly basis, it keeps getting better. I think this is now officially my favorite spot in the midwest.

Looks like you had some great finds, Fast Eddie! My family's up on Little Traverse Bay, so I always think of Traverse City as a place to quickly get into and out of in anticipation of our final destination. Sounds like we should be dilly-dallying a bit. (I've eaten at McDonald's, Wendy's and Subway along 31 a few too many times with my 4-year-old nephew who sometimes needs food & needs it ASAP. He's a good eater, but sadly speed & convenience sometimes win out.)

It's nice to see the food changes that have come to N. Michigan. I used to joke that every restaurant near Little Traverse Bay was required to have at least four of the following dishes on their menu:
* Fried whitefish
* Fried chicken
* Ribs
* Frogs legs
* Prime rib
* Salad with dried cherries

chgoeditor wrote:Looks like you had some great finds, Fast Eddie! My family's up on Little Traverse Bay, so I always think of Traverse City as a place to quickly get into and out of in anticipation of our final destination. Sounds like we should be dilly-dallying a bit. (I've eaten at McDonald's, Wendy's and Subway along 31 a few too many times with my 4-year-old nephew who sometimes needs food & needs it ASAP. He's a good eater, but sadly speed & convenience sometimes win out.)

It's nice to see the food changes that have come to N. Michigan. I used to joke that every restaurant near Little Traverse Bay was required to have at least four of the following dishes on their menu:
* Fried whitefish
* Fried chicken
* Ribs
* Frogs legs
* Prime rib
* Salad with dried cherries

You forgot the cheeseburger!

Totally agree, the food scene has really changed dramatically in the last five years or so, and it keeps improving. They've got some great synergies going on now between the farmers, the wineries, the restaurants, the clientele, and the Great Lakes Culinary Institute. There's some really great talent working there now, you can't turn out these kinds of meals without having everyone in the kitchen line pulling their weight. A lot of the GLCI grads are staying right in town instead of scattering to Chicago, and area residents are really supporting these places.

Dined for the first time at the Cook's House last night. Wonderful, fresh and clear flavors. Standout dish was pig's tail (pulled), on a bed of chocolate steel cut oats (Awesome idea - poor man's risotto), with a malt vinegar foam on top. The vinegar foam gave the dish a really gamey, bitter aroma, but when you dipped into the oats it the bittersweet chocolate flavor took over and the pork was sweet and fatty. YES. Lake Trout was perfectly prepared too. Place is a TC treasure. Sorry no pics!

Also, (full disclosure, I work w/these folks!) Morsels on Front street beautifully prepares Intelligentsia coffee and has a small, fresh menu too. Posting from there right now!

I just got back from Traverse City on Sunday. I do NOT have all the great pictures from the trip BUT I did find a lot of new places.

Mancino's Pizza - Various locations- This is a NW Michigan Pizza chain. We did not try the pizza. We ordered an Italian sub. Basically, they heat the meat and cheese on the bun and top it with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and mayonaise. It is quite an excellent sandwich and is $10 for a 16" sub which will easily feed two people.

Gobblers of Gaylord - Gaylord - The place lacks a little in ambiance and certainly could use some upholstery work. Their specialties are their turkey dinners. I do not really like turkey but the meat was excellent and the sides were also good. One problem is that they have so many specials - some on a blackboard that are not on the menu. Others are on the menu but not on the board. Their pies are excellent.

Leelanau Cheese - Suttons Bay - They are known for their Raclette Cheese, a cheese from Switzerland. It is worth a drive to see the winery and the farm itself which are quite beautiful. What rubs me the wrong way is that after I spend $35 on cheeses, they CHARGE you $1 to sample the other cheeses.

North Peak Brewing - Traverse City - My coworker told me that this place has the best mussels. I generally hate mussels BUT these were quite excellent. They also have a lot of great fresh salads that are excellent. They have a number of home-brewed microbrews.

Tacqueria TC Latino - Traverse City - Very inexpensive tacqueria with three tables. They do quite well and have some interesting takes on favorites - their chile rellenos are stuffed with chicken.

Moomers - the place for ice cream in Traverse City located on a dairy farm.. They have a wide variety of cherry ice creams.

Pearl's New Orleans - Elk Rapids - They make a killer shrimp gumbo and great jambalaya. This is a place that I would like to try a couple more times as the service was excellent and the dishes well executed. This one is worth the drive.

Don's Drive Inn - Traverse City - the typical diner food. I would actually pass on the hamburgers which are alright. The fruit shakes - especially the cherry and the berries are quite good.

Hooter's - Traverse City - I have always admired this chain for attentive service with passable food. This place has neither. Eating at this location is like Animal House.

Hambonz - Traverse City - If I ever make it to death row, their pit beef sandwich will be my final meal. The owner from Mississippi smokes beef shoulders over apple and maple woods and shreds the meat. For the Philly sandwich, he adds provolone, mushrooms, green peppers, and the like on a great roll. Their ham salad is also excellent. They use Dearborn hams from Detroit. This place is an old barber shop and has FOUR tables and a small counter. The palce is open for breakfast and lunch. BEST MEAL OF THE TRIP.

Port City Smokehouse - Frankfurt - In addition to a variety of smoked fish which we did NOT try, they served fish and BBQ dinners at lunch time for carryout. My wife has a real irritating habit of always asking if a fish tastes fishy. She goes up to the guy running the place and asks whether the whitefish, perch or walleye would taste fishy. He looks at her and says "You want something that does't taste fishy - I have BBQ port, smoked chicken breasts and a beef sandwich. They do not taste fishy." I would recommend the fish sandwiches over the plates as the french fries are nothing special. Down tehe street, there is an old time A&W with curb service.

Seasons Buffet - Turtle Creek Casino - Traverse City - I think that it would be accurate to say that this buffet is one of the better Indian casino buffets that I every ate at as most are terrible. If you are expecting excellent execution on all dishes, you will be disappointed. However, I would go back tomorrow for some of the great dishes. First, they offer traditional native dishes including a venison and wild rice casserole, an excellent bison stew, fry bread and hominy with salt pork. Second, their desserts include a rhubarb cherry crisp and a cherry custard dish that was great. I would say that 75% of the dishes.

Bear Lake Market - Bear Lake -This is a Mennonite-owned surplus grocery with an excellent bakery. The prices are excellent but like all surplus groceries, you MUST look at the expiration dates. They carry all of the typical Amish brands from Ohio. One thing that I bought that was interesting was one of the breakfast packs that are served to students receiving free breakfasts - cheerios, 4 oz of apple juice, and a snack. They also have bulk foods.

I hope that helps.

jlawrence01 wrote:
Mancino's Pizza - Various locations- This is a NW Michigan Pizza chain. We did not try the pizza. We ordered an Italian sub. Basically, they heat the meat and cheese on the bun and top it with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and mayonaise. It is quite an excellent sandwich and is $10 for a 16" sub which will easily feed two people.

There's a branch in Lansing (the one south of Cal City).

jlawrence01 wrote:Hambonz - Traverse City - If I ever make it to death row, their pit beef sandwich will be my final meal. The owner from Mississippi smokes beef shoulders over apple and maple woods and shreds the meat. For the Philly sandwich, he adds provolone, mushrooms, green peppers, and the like on a great roll. Their ham salad is also excellent. They use Dearborn hams from Detroit. This place is an old barber shop and has FOUR tables and a small counter. The palce is open for breakfast and lunch. BEST MEAL OF THE TRIP.

Quite an ambition, jlawrence01. There might be easier ways to get that pit sandwich, and on a more regular basis. Traverse City is quite the retirement destination these days, though you might still need a place in Florida for the winter.

All kidding aside, I am so glad to see that HamBonz is still going strong. I agree that the place is a gem. I'm posting here mainly to let folks know not to miss their pea and bean soups, which are outstanding.

I also wonder if this spot owes something to the Detroit region's love for ham, as exemplified by the legendary Mike's Ham Place. Could be.

Also- I'm sorry to learn that the Boathouse has slipped since I was there. I recall it being expensive, but worth it. Stella's sounds like it remains the best fine dining call in town. They also used to serve an excellent personal pizza that could serve if you have kids or reticent teens in tow.

Love Traverse City and miss it. They say Mario Batali summers there. . . I bet he shops at Folgarellis.

Josephine wrote:All kidding aside, I am so glad to see that HamBonz is still going strong. I agree that the place is a gem. I'm posting here mainly to let folks know not to miss their pea and bean soups, which are outstanding.

No, I am not going to retire to Traverse City. I would rather retire to Charlevoix instead (g) where we had one of the best meals of the trip (at a friend's house). Seriously, I do not do well in cold weather.

I had the pea soup which I would concur was excellent. One warning. Unless you are a growing teenager or carry one in tow, it is nearly impossible to eat a bowl of soup and a sandwich. I tried. Really.

jlawrence01 wrote:Unless you are a growing teenager or carry one in tow, it is nearly impossible to eat a bowl of soup and a sandwich. I tried. Really.

Banner quote nomination for that one. And I guess I am glad that I didn't suggest a takeaway gallon of the soup, which is available, and a popular item in TC.

I almost forgot - probably mentioned earlier but I'm too lazy to browse - Deerings Market has really great jerky - meaty, steaky and not at all dry. Delicious. http://www.deerings.com/

We were in TC for a few days for an extended Memorial Day weekend and here are our picks:

[*]North Peak Brewing in TC - excellent burgers.

[*]Boone's Long Lake Inn - totally old school and a bit supper club-y. I enjoyed my prime rib with lobster tail.

[*]The Boathouse - a nice fine dining establishment. Very nice setting on Old Mission Peninsula, overlooking Sutton's Bay.

[*]The Old Mission Tavern on the Old Mission Peninsula. This was a real find. My rack of lamb was exceptional and my wife's special whitefish with crab and asparagus was also great. This place is worth the drive up from TC.

[*]The Cove in Leland - the "Chubby Mary" alone makes this worth the visit (it's a Bloody Mary with a whole smoked chub), but the batter-dipped perch and chips is also terrific.

There's already been a lot said about The Cook's House and it certainly lived up to the hype on a visit in late June. The highlight was the gorgeous salad of pickled beets, strawberries, lavender salt and a duck yolk.

My husband and I spent a few days in Traverse City and the surrounding area earlier this week. Thought I'd pop in with a few notes on where and what we ate.

Traverse City
7 Monks... chopped salad and black and blue pizza. wonderful, flavorful food. great beer selection.
Grand Traverse Pie company... we had a good chicken pot pie and a slice of their cherry crumb pie. oh my goodness it was awesome! Skip the whip cream... it tasted like cool whip.
The Towne Plaza... Short rib ravioli and the Porchetta were incredible. Wonderful outdoor patio with plenty of space between diners. service was a little slow but we were on vacation so we weren't as bothered. Nice beer list.
Jolly Pumpkin... 30 minute wait for a table on a monday night. beautiful location. food was a-ok.
Moomers... I keep getting disappointed by ice cream. Nothing compares to Grahams based in Geneva, IL with a location in Wheaton, IL. It was good, but there was something chewy about the texture.
Glen Arbor
Riverfront pizza and Sandwiches... Had a wonderful, humongous wrap here. Salad was ok. Perfect for after climbing dunes.
Northport
Barb's Bakery... We had an old fashion donut that rivals the doughnut vault. I kid you not!And get one of the cinnamon twists. Yum!

Had a very nice breakfast at Martha's Leelanau Table earlier this summer. The bacon and egg sandwich on sourdough was nice and the pie was very good. I was ready to leave when I learned they make their own ice cream and that they had a chevre and cherry option available. This was the best scoop of ice cream I had all summer.


413 St Joseph Street
Suttons Bay, MI 49682
(231) 271-2344

Heading to this area for a little R&R next Sunday-Thursday--any recs (food, of course, but would love to hear about things to do as well) will be appreciated. TIA!

Jesperson's in Petoskey (if you want to go that far) for cherry/berry pie. Been there for 111 years. Pies come out of the oven after breakfast.

Jesperson's Restaurant
312 Howard St
Petoskey, MI 49770
(231) 347-3601

boudreaulicious wrote:Heading to this area for a little R&R next Sunday-Thursday--any recs (food, of course, but would love to hear about things to do as well) will be appreciated. TIA!

Cabbagehead and I just returned from a long weekend in TC, where the weather and the food were glorious.

Food recommendations--
As several have noted above, Cooks' House is excellent. If you want to go there, call asap for a reservation. Even with a few tables on the porch (it's a small old house converted to one eating space with an open kitchen), it seats a max of 28 or 30. We very much enjoyed the five-course tasting with wine pairings ($82 per person). The menu changes with the seasons. Ours included a terrific asparagus soup with morels that was like sipping spring, so green and fresh we could hardly believe it; pig's tail with scallions on steel cut oats with bee pollen (mentioned in a post above), my least favorite as someone who doesn't care for oatmeal, no matter how elevated its presentation; choice of a beautifully seared piece of whitefish served with crisp pancetta bits, tiny mustard greens, wild roasted parsnips, and cranberry beans--totally delicious in every way--or of a marinated hanger steak with roasted wild sunchokes, puntarelle, and chimichurri sauce, also wonderful; a simple but satisfying salad of romaine with polenta croutons, shitake mushrooms, a slice of local Leelenau Cheese raclette, and a mild pumpkin seed oil vinaigrette that worked with the Pinot Grigio paired with it; and a wine frozen parfait, served as a slice with an amazing "humming bird nectar sauce" they make themselves. It's a berry sauce, but far more complex, but that was into the fifth wine pairing, so I'm afraid I'm a little hazy on the details now. All the wines as well as the ingredients are local. Service is friendly, and the meal was surprisingly quick. We were in and out in under 2 hours.

Ham Bonz, also recommended earlier in this thread is a MUST. Go for breakfast! It sounds strange to recommend a barbecue place for breakfast, but they aren't open past 3 pm on weekdays, 1:30 pm on Sundays. Another small place with an open kitchen, run by the improbably named Bo Uzzle, a Mississippian in Northern Michigan. The ham is great, the pit beef is amazing, the corned beef and pulled pork are excellent (didn't try the turkey). Their omelettes are tender, folded ones, filled with meat goodies. Their menu reminds me of the Monty Python spam skit; menu items seem to have more and more meats in them as you continue reading through! I'm sure the lunch sandwiches are great too. We brought home a pound of ham and a pound of pulled pork in our cooler. I'm already wishing we had bought more.

We do recommend the cherry and strawberry shakes at Don's. Get the ones with "real fruit" in them (the others use just syrup). The hamburgers are decent but not the reason to go.

Speaking of ice cream, we did drive out to Moomer's, which sits on a rise above its dairy farm so you can see the cows. We thought the ice cream was fine but not outstanding. I like Jeni's better.

One of the hot new places in TC is Georgina's, another tiny place downtown, which calls itself an "Asian and Latin Taquería." This fusion place was quite busy on a Sunday night (another place to make reservations). After some chicken dumplings (Asian) as an appetizer (fine), we went "Latin" with carne asada (him) and shrimp in wine sauce with onions and green peppers (me). The soupy black beans served with both were excellent, the rest quite good but no more. No alcohol is served, so it keeps things cheap.

We had a good breakfast at Green House Cafe in downtown TC, but it fades in comparison to Ham Bonz.

Other recommendations--I wrote some years ago in this thread that the Music House Museum in Acme (just east of TC) is worth going to if you are interested in musical instruments. The most amazing thing there is hearing their automated piano play Gershwin's own version of Rhapsody in Blue. It's as if he is there playing. We also thought the Dennos Museum at Northwestern Michigan College was great. Their collection of Inuit art is amazing and unique. Well worth an hour and cheaper than shopping on Front Street!

Speaking of shopping, there are a few kitchen/houseware shops downtown and a branch of the marvelous American Spoon jam empire. At the American Spoon shop, you can taste a couple dozen jams, preserves, conserves, butters, and sauces. Their stuff is great.

Finally, you can do a lot or a little wine tasting at the numerous wineries up and down both the Old Mission Peninsula and the Leelenau Peninsula. Some are bigger and fancier than others. We found the Chateau Chantal empire (winery, restaurant, B&B) too much, but liked the older, more modest places such as Peninsula Cellars more to our taste. Seems as if the sweet wines are the most popular, but there are some good dry ones being made up there too. We brought back some and are looking forward to drinking them.

Enjoy your trip! It's just great up there. The water is too cold for swimming, but the beaches are beautiful, the biking fun, and the air clean and cool. We wished we had more time there.

Cooks' House
115 Wellington St, Traverse City, MI 49686
(231) 946-8700
thecookshouse.net

Ham Bonz
1108 E Eighth St, Traverse City, MI 49686
(231) 929-9288
ham-bonz.com

Don's Drive In
2030 U.S. 31, Traverse City, MI 49686
(231) 938-1860
donsdriveintc.com

Moomer's Homemade Ice Cream
7263 N Long Lake Rd, Traverse City, MI 49685
(231) 941-4122
moomers.com

Georgina's
439 E Front St, Traverse City, MI 49686
(231) 943-1555
http://www.georginastaqueria.com

Green House Cafe
115 E Front St, Traverse City, MI 49684
(231) 929-7687
greenhousecafetc.com

Music House Museum
7377 U.S. 31, Williamsburg, MI 49690
(231) 938-9300
musichouse.org

Dennos Museum Center
1701 E Front Street
Traverse City, MI 49686
231.995.1055
dennosmuseum.org

American Spoon Foods
230 E Front St, Traverse City, MI 49684
(231) 935-4480
http://www.spoon.com

Peninsula Cellars (Old Mission Peninsula)
11480 Center Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686
(231) 933-9787
peninsulacellars.com

Thanks so much EvA--we made the plans pretty spontaneously, based on what looked good on AirBnb (nothing closer was enticing) and are hoping that it will be worth the extra drive. The area certainly looks lovely and I'm excited about staying on a working farm. If anyone else has additional updates, please share them--thanks!!

Apache Trout Grill.

Great Bloody Marys, The sandwiches and burgers are very tasty, and I would say this is one of the places that is really upping the level of food available in the area. Plus the view and Al fresco dining would be hard to beat. I've never made reservations (not sure they even take them) but this place can get pretty busy so you may want to try.



Enjoy!

boudreaulicious wrote:Thanks so much EvA--we made the plans pretty spontaneously, based on what looked good on AirBnb (nothing closer was enticing) and are hoping that it will be worth the extra drive. The area certainly looks lovely and I'm excited about staying on a working farm. If anyone else has additional updates, please share them--thanks!!

You're welcome. Forgot to add that with the long, cold winter and cold spring, plus the more northerly climate, the TC area is still in late spring. Lilacs everywhere! Asparagus at roadside farms!

Also if you get to Leland, try Carlson's smoked fish in Fishtown. And if you've never been to Sleeping Bear, it's beautiful.

Have a wonderful trip!

Carlson's Fishery
205 W River
Leland, MI 49654
(231) 256-9801
http://carlsonsfish.com/

EvA wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:Thanks so much EvA--we made the plans pretty spontaneously, based on what looked good on AirBnb (nothing closer was enticing) and are hoping that it will be worth the extra drive. The area certainly looks lovely and I'm excited about staying on a working farm. If anyone else has additional updates, please share them--thanks!!

You're welcome. Forgot to add that with the long, cold winter and cold spring, plus the more northerly climate, the TC area is still in late spring. Lilacs everywhere! Asparagus at roadside farms!

Also if you get to Leland, try Carlson's smoked fish in Fishtown. And if you've never been to Sleeping Bear, it's beautiful.

Have a wonderful trip!

Carlson's Fishery
205 W River
Leland, MI 49654
(231) 256-9801
http://carlsonsfish.com/

I'll second the Carlson's recommendation!

It looks like Carlson's is only open on weekends--in which case, we'll be out of luck since we're going to be there Monday-Wed (getting in late Sunday night and leaving early Thursday morning).

I have reservations at Stella's on Monday and Cooks House on Tuesday. We're staying a bit north in Cedar, so wondering if there are any don't miss places for the last dinner that might be closer to where we're staying or, alternatively, in just a different area.

boudreaulicious wrote:It looks like Carlson's is only open on weekends--in which case, we'll be out of luck since we're going to be there Monday-Wed (getting in late Sunday night and leaving early Thursday morning).

I have reservations at Stella's on Monday and Cooks House on Tuesday. We're staying a bit north in Cedar, so wondering if there are any don't miss places for the last dinner that might be closer to where we're staying or, alternatively, in just a different area.

If you're in Cedar and can cook or grill, maybe you can check out the Plevalean Burger (beef and cherries) from Pleva's Meat Market. We didn't get there but were intrigued....

Pleva's Meat Market
http://www.plevasmeats.com/

Returned a few days ago from our trip to Leelanau Peninsula/Traverse City and am happy to report that we really loved it. For the past 10 years or so, I’ve always headed to Door County for lake vacations but I have to say that I enjoyed this destination more for several reasons, not the least of which was that the food—from breakfast to dinner—was much, much better. I’d guess it’s some combination of the fact that there’s a lot going on agriculturally, including the vineyards, along with a more year-round population. Whatever the reason, we didn’t have a bad meal the whole time we were there. I really look forward to returning in the late summer or early fall to take advantage of the bounty of produce that will be available—we were a bit early for anything but asparagus and rhubarb—but those were available in abundance! We also stayed in a gorgeous, newly renovated farm cottage with a spectacular kitchen—given a few more days, I would’ve loved to have cooked a few meals with some of the great local meat and veg.



Anyway, on to the recap! So we had 2 terrific breakfasts. The first was at Foothills Café, noted above. Fresh asparagus and Swiss omelette with a side of their famous cherry pancakes. I don’t even know what SO ate because I was so enthralled with my order, I don’t think I looked up. Half of both went home for snacks but WOW! This place was terrific and the perfect start to our most beautiful day there, weather-wise. From the café we headed down to see the sights of Glen Haven and Sleeping Bear Dunes.



After checking out the US Coast Guard museum and walking along the beach, we headed back up to the town of Glen Arbor and while SO enjoyed an hour in the bookstore, I checked out Cherry Republic’s tasting room across the street. Cheesy as hell and not the most sophisticated wines in the world but entertaining and a nice way to pass a bit of time. If you find yourself there, don’t miss the Cherry Hard Cider—much better (and drier!) than expected and likely to be found at Laikom’s next picnic! Some decent NA sodas too. The adjacent store had lots of cherry-themed tasting samples (good for a bit of a snack after lots of walking) though nothing I loved enough to buy.


Apologies for the rest of the crap on my kitchen counter

For dinner that evening, we decided to stay closer to home base. One note to those who haven’t been—everything in the area is VERY spread out. We were staying near Cedar, which was very centrally located, but pretty much anything we did was 20 to 40 minutes away. Wasn’t an issue for us but if you hate driving (or aren’t a VERY fit biker!!) Leelanau is likely not the place for you.

Anyway, for dinner we decided on the Riverside Inn in Leland. Yelp reviews seemed to indicate that a new chef had revitalized things and, after liking what we saw on the website menu, figured it was worth a try. This was one of only a few meal decisions we made without recommendations from here or our Airbnb hosts and we were happy with the choice. Food was quite good, cocktail and wine lists were respectable, and the décor and view from our window table completely lovely. Only the service was a bit underwhelming—our server was a total flake but very nice so it wasn’t that big a deal. We were there on a very quiet Monday night and neither of us was starving so we ate pretty light. We shared a Bibb salad with avocado, bacon, teardrop tomatoes, chive, buttermilk blue cheese dressing which was fresh and delicious and each had fish for entrees—mine was Carlson’s whitefish, herb basmati rice, Serrano ham wrapped asparagus with a roasted tomato buerre blanc and SO’s was pan seared halibut, fingerling potato confit, pancetta, English pea puree, caramelized onion and preserved meyer lemon. Again, very fresh and well-prepared—nothing to jump on the table about but exactly what we were looking for after a long day of walking, driving and exploring.



The next day broke with pouring rain that gave way to overcast skies and a bit of a chill in the air. We had reservations for Cook’s House that evening and questionable weather for outdoor activities so wanted to keep it light during the day. Decided to head over to Suttons Bay and try a suggestion from our hosts—9 Bean Rows. The pastries came very highly recommended and looked delicious but we didn’t indulge—just a couple of coffees which were excellent and some chill time perusing their cookbook library. From there, we headed over to Martha’s Leelanau Table, discussed by several folks in this thread. Coffee there was baaaaad but the food was light and fine. I had the daily special half sandwich with salad (ham, asparagus, dijonnaise) which was a perfect light bite and SO had a salad.

From there, we explored the area a bit and then headed out to find Mawby winery. SO doesn’t drink so our plan was that I’d hit the tasting room while he found a nearby trail for a run. I tasted through pretty much everything they recommended—they produce only sparkling wines in two styles—Methode Champenoise from estate grown grapes (Mawby label) and Cuve Close with grapes from around and about (M. Lawrence label) . They have a set program, where you get two wines of their choice for free and then you pay for a choice of a couple of tasting flights of 2 sparkling wines accompanied with cheese or pate and crackers, for a cost of between $5 and $13 depending upon the wines you choose. I wasn’t interested in eating and asked them if I could pay for a small taste of 6-8 wines, since I was interested in purchasing at least a half case and they were happy to oblige (they weren’t terribly busy) and they didn’t charge me for it. I thoroughly enjoyed almost everything I tasted—a nice range of traditional French champagne-style to Prosecco-type lighter sparklers and even the sweeter Moscato and sparkling Lambrusco varieties. For what it’s worth, the snacks that I saw being prepared did look delicious and I would love to return and try the smoked whitefish spread or one of the cheese spreads that they were offering. And, as I walked out lugging my almost full case of purchases, SO came running up the drive—perfect timing!






More to follow!

Continued...

After leaving Mawby, I dropped SO off at the cottage and headed down the road a couple of miles to Chateau Fontaine, which was recommended by the folks at Mawby. Very nice, professional tasting room and the price was right—no charge for tasting anything you wanted and they encouraged going through their whole lineup. Definitely a plus that I was 5 minutes away from the cottage! Chateau Fontaine’s wines are all estate grown (though the gal who was pouring at Black Star farms kind of cattily disputed that) and I enjoyed several of them very much. Pretty sure it was father and son pouring and they had a good schtick going.



I bought a few bottles and headed back to relax a bit before dinner, with a last pit stop at Pleva’s Meats in Cedar. After a quick browse, picked up some of their signature cherrywood smoked and actual cherry filled encased meats (the Cherry Chorizo sausage sounds particularly interesting).

Dinner that night was at Cook’s House in Traverse City and was, sadly, my only really disappointing meal of the trip, though it was still good, at least as far as the food. Mostly, my issues were aesthetic—it is not the most comfortable restaurant I’ve even eaten in. The room is very small, very warm and VERY tightly packed. We were sitting so close to the couple next to us that we couldn’t have a conversation (though theirs was VERY interesting!) SO was seated on an uncomfortably narrow wood bench with no cushion and a huge framed mirror behind him, such that he couldn’t lean back at all without knocking into it. On top of that, our servers were bizarrely disorganized, serving us each other’s courses and my wine pairings to SO, etc. And our main server (whom we barely saw), was loudly discussing his annoyance with other tables directly behind me (we were seated right next to the server station). The vibe was strangely stressful and negative—the opposite of what I was expecting. Sadly, the food became kind of an afterthought, though it was mostly fine. I had the 5 course tasting and all of the courses were the same as those described in EvA's post above. The highlight of my meal was actually the first wine they served—another local winery, Brys Brothers’ “Naked” Chardonnay—I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get to the winery since we only had one day left and it wasn’t close to where we were going to be the next day, so I ordered a few bottles on line.

Prior to and after dinner that night, we walked around Front Street a bit. Directly across the street from Cook’s House (corner of Wellington and Front St.) is a spot called The Little Fleet—a nice looking, open-air bar with a large patio, a very nice selection of local brews and a respectable cocktail list. The highlight is that they converted the parking lot into a food truck mall—8 or so trucks (not all were open when we were there) with some good looking stuff on offer. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area.





Walking around Front St., we also found that Red Ginger (written about above) has closed, soon to be home to a new tasting room for Grand Traverse Distillery and that the gourmet kitchen goods store, Peppercorn, is home to a Moomers Ice Cream outpost.



Our last day also started with rain and chilly temps so we decided to head back in to Traverse City to, hopefully, get our food karma back on track with breakfast at the LTH-endorsed Ham Bonz. Jackpot! Sour dough French toast for SO and Pit ham and mushroom omelette for me—this was my favorite meal of the trip! I forced myself to cut the lovely thing in half so that I wouldn’t end up too full to eat again that day—absolutely the most difficult thing I did that week. The homemade hot sauce wasn’t hot but was delicious on the eggs. They will soon be bottling it for sale, along with their mustard (which I purchased) and horseradish sauce.

After breakfast, with skies still overcast and rain threatening, we headed back over to Front St. to explore a bit more. There is a Wed. morning farmer’s market that we, unfortunately, just missed, arriving just as the last of the vendors were packing up their stalls. I asked around to see if anyone had asparagus for sale and all were sold out. Next time! Did a bit of shopping, picked up some jams and sauces at American Spoon and then headed back to the Peninsula for one last winery stop (and run for SO) at Black Star Farms. BSF was disappointing, since it had been recommended by a few folks, both in and out of the area. I didn’t love the wines and the vibe was very commercial and a bit competitive (see comment above).

But the piggies behind the cafe were very cute!



From there, we headed back to Suttons Bay with a stop in to Leelanau Cheese to stock up on Raclette (both the aged and un-aged) as well as a container of Black Peppercorn Fromage Blanc and the highlight of SO’s trip, their store t-shirt.



To be continued...

Finally, the end...

We're still in Suttons Bay and next up was the very delicious-smelling bakery, Leelanau Pie & Pastry, where we stocked up on Cinnamon Cherry Buns (for the kids), Dill Parmesan and Sour Dough breads, a sour cherry pie and Asparagus & Cappicola and Spinach Feta Croissants for the drive home the next morning. I highly recommend stopping in here—everything was fantastic—only sorry we didn’t get to have lunch there.



Across the street from the Pie shop is a coffee shop that we'd stopped at the day before and SO decided to grab a cup for the drive back to the cottage. I, of course, was lured by the little distillery tasting room I'd seen (and some raves I'd heard about a horseradish infused Vodka) that just happened to be next door to the coffee shop. So, promising myself I'd be quick, I made my last booze stop at Northern Latitudes Distillery, where a very enthusiastic gentleman told me the story of the spirits offered and insisted (!) I try everything. I was in a bit of a hurry since we were ready to head back but I couldn’t resist picking up bottles of the Apollo horseradish vodka which was so true tasting, I felt like I could’ve sauced my brisket with the stuff and the Jack Pine gin which nicely expressed its namesake, as well as local lavender and a few other thing I can’t recall.



And that brings us to the last meal of the trip. We were planning to go to Stella’s but we were a bit burnt out on the trips back and forth to Traverse City, as well as a little leery of the hyped spots after our experience at Cook’s House, so we decided to visit Funistrada, again recommended by our hosts and nearby in Glen Arbor. Menu is Italian and features local produce and meats but very low key. Great martini, reasonably priced selection of mostly Italian wines and good, hearty food. Mains come with a better than expected antipasti salad (greens, salami, pepperoncini, olives, Asiago cheese) and a small side of pasta (choice of types and sauces). SO had a very tasty salmon with asparagus sauce and, after striking out on my first 2 choices being sold out (DAMN I wanted that duck special!!), I enjoyed a tender and well-prepared veal dish with artichokes and lemon. Finished with a lemon tart with blueberries and a panna cotta with raspberry sauce.

The next morning we returned home (actually to Portage, IN for a 10:00 a.m. travel baseball tournament game--yup, we made the 5+ hour trip in time, with a bit of help from the time change) with a lot of goodies to remind us of a great trip.



Sorry there aren’t more food pictures but I actually think that’s a sign of a good trip—too busy enjoying it to experience it behind a phone or camera. If anyone wants info on the cottage, I’d be happy to share that as well. It’s a terrific place to visit and not a bad drive if you time it right. Can’t wait to go back!

Glad you enjoyed your trip, Jenn. We have often speculated why the food in Michigan is so much better than in Wisconsin. (This point was brought home to us this weekend as we visited my MIL in Calumet County.) Sorry to hear about your bad experience at Cooks' House. It is tight and not the most comfortable seating, but we had good service, excellent food, and the couple next to us left shortly after we arrived! Unlike you, we stayed in town--right on the bay with a gorgeous view. Wish little things such as work and money didn't prevent me from spending the summer up there!