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MICHIGAN ‘BEST FOOD TOWNS’ NAMED BY MIDWEST LIVING MAGAZINE

Editors’ Top Picks for the Michigan’s Best Food Towns Plus More Michigan spots to Have a Great Meal

DES MOINES, IA (May 12, 2010) – Ann Arbor and Traverse City have been honored among Midwest Living magazine’s five Best Food Towns. Eight other Michigan communities made the list of 54 towns with meals “worth the trip.” The awards recognize the communities’ increasingly rich and varied food scene, according to Midwest Living® Editor-in-Chief Greg Philby.

In its annual Best of the Midwest issue, Midwest Living serves up editors’ top picks for the five best small to midsize food towns in the 12-state region. (Since most big cities have strong dining scenes, the magazine skipped metro areas of 1 million or more.). After eating more than 700 meals at locally owned restaurants, the foodies at Midwest Living ranked their favorites.

“Researching these awards was tough duty,” Philby joked, as he presented the Michigan awards recently at the Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Mackinac Island. Then, he explained, “We check everything out in person so we can be sure the restaurant will be a good experience from a visitor’s perspective. We looked for quality, for a rich variety of restaurants and prices, and for use of fresh and local ingredients. We particularly love when a restaurant or town really expresses its heritage and sense of place. Part of culinary tourism is about food that tastes great, and part is about personality and a unique experience.”

In addition, the magazine highlights 54 smaller don’t-miss destinations, such as great places to stop for pie, for comfort food, for fine-dining surprises, for coffee, and more.

Midwest Living’s Top Five Food Towns:

Traverse City, MI. This food town boasts farm-fresh menus, and its lake climate makes for bountiful harvests. It does an exemplary job of showcasing local foods such as cherries, fish, and wine.

Ann Arbor, MI. Led by Zingerman’s Deli, the town takes chances with food, has a lot of personality, and is consistently high quality. It has a terrific menu range.

The other top-five winners were Bloomington, IN, Des Moines, IA and Madison, WI.

54 More Meals Worth the Trip:

• Michigan towns/restaurants recognized include:
• Sawyer: The Lark and Pear (coconut-plum cake)
• Petoskey: Jesperson’s (cherry-berry pie with a perfectly flaky crust)
• Grand Rapids: Marie Catrib’s (fudgy chocolate pudding, extra-rich thanks to duck eggs)
• enton: Uncle Ray’s Dairyland (made-to-order frozen yogurt).
• Bay City: Krzysiak’s House (Polish golabki—stuffed cabbage rolls).
• Sault Ste. Marie: The Antlers Restaurant (steaks and burgers, eaten under of the gaze of 200-plus taxidermic critters).
• Wakefield: Randall’s Bakery (pasties—the UP’s trademark pastry pillows stuffed with meat, potatoes and veggies).

1. Bike or hike the 25 miles of the Tart and Leelanau Trails.
   The 10-mile Traverse Area Recreational Trail and the 15-mile Leelanau Trail take hikers and cyclists all the way from Acme to Suttons Bay, passing through a varied landscape of beaches, forests, wetlands and city neighborhoods.
2. Discover 25 spring wildflowers.
   The woods around Traverse City are full of spring flowers: giant white trilliums, tiny pink spring beauties, yellow trout lilies and dainty blue forget-me-nots. Explore the richness of our spring forests!
3. Taste 25 different kinds of pie.
   The Grand Traverse Pie Company actually makes 27 varieties of fruit pie – including six kinds of cherry pie. And that’s not counting the seven kinds of cream pie and all the other cookies, scones and other goodies they have on sale every day.
4. Take two 25-year steps into the past.
   That will put you in 1958, the perfect year to enjoy two of our most nostalgic attractions. Stop in at Don’s Drive-In, an old-fashioned 1950s-style burger joint on Traverse City’s East Bay waterfront that’s a favorite with summer visitors. Then take in a double feature at the Cherry Bowl Drive-In, where nothing has changed since 1953 except the movies.
5. Spit a cherry pit 25 feet.
   It shouldn’t be too hard – after all, the world’s record for spitting these slippery little critters is 100 feet and 4 inches. It’s a summertime ritual in Traverse City – but the folks at Cherry Republic make it easy by selling packets of ready-to-spit chocolate-covered cherry pits!
6. Stop in for some baseball with the Traverse City Beach Bums.
   Join Traverse City’s own baseball team for an evening of great Frontier League ball.
7. Sample 25 award-winning wines.
   The Leelanau and Old Mission peninsulas boast 29 wineries where some of the world’s freshest and cleanest-tasting wines are being made. Two of our wineries also operate off-site tasting rooms — just for your convenience!
8. Celebrate 125 years of history at Sleder’s Family Tavern.
   Built by Bohemian sawmill workers in 1882, Sleder’s is one of Michigan’s oldest taverns, and a great place to enjoy good fun and good food in an authentic pioneer atmosphere. (Make sure to kiss the moose!)
9. Take a 25 mile-drive to the 45th Parallel.
   The quaint Old Mission Lighthouse stands in a lovely park at the tip of the Old Mission Peninsula — smack on the 45th Parallel, halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. It’s a fast 20-mile drive up M-37, but why not take the longer, prettier trip along the water’s edge?
10. Skip 25 stones at Bryant Park Beach.
    Or West End, Clinch Park, Haserot, Empire Good Harbor, Otter Creek or any of the dozens of beaches in the Traverse City area. It’s surprisingly addictive, and when you’re done you can take a stroll, catch a few rays and enjoy the beauty of an early summer’s day.
11. Try 25 varieties of cherry jam.
    Or cherry jelly, preserves, salsa, mustard, barbecue sauce, wine, soda… well, you get the idea. This is the Cherry Capital of the World, and you can find hundreds of cherry products in our stores, restaurants and farm markets. Cherry sausage, anyone?
12. Play 25 holes of golf.
    OK, that would be dumb. Start with the usual 18, and then look around for more. Here on “Michigan’s Golf Coast” we’ve got 19 world-class courses to choose from, so you won’t run out of opportunities.
13. Make 25 new friends aboard the tall ship Manitou.
    Ahoy, maties! Twice a day, this lovely two-masted schooner sets sail across Grand Traverse Bay, giving passengers a pirate’s eye view of Traverse City. (No pillaging allowed.) It’s a great way to experience the romance of sailing ships.
14. Take 25 minutes to reach the top of the Dune Climb.
    It can be done faster, but why risk a heart attack? This massive wall of sand near Glen Arbor is part of the magnificent Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and climbing it is harder than you might think – but the view from the top is worth it!
15. Catch a 25-inch salmon in Grand Traverse Bay.
    They’re out there. So are perch, lake trout and whitefish, and our inland lakes are full of great walleye and pan fish action. Meanwhile streams like the Boardman, the Cedar, and the Jordan provide great fly-fishing action for brown and brook trout. This is America’s top all-around fishing capital!
16. Listen to Beethoven’s Sonata No. 25 at Interlochen.
    Or, for that matter, Chopin’s Etude in A Minor Op. 25 or the Mozart 25th Symphony. All while relaxing in the open air at the renowned Interlochen Center for the Arts, where hundreds of talented young musicians gather to practice and perform each summer.
17. Play the 25-cent slots at Turtle Creek or Leelanau Sands.
    Between them, Traverse City’s two tribal casinos have thousands of hungry slot machines in every denomination – not to mention blackjack, poker, roulette, craps and other table games. Try your luck!
18. Spend 25 minutes having your feet massaged.
    The Elements Spa at Traverse City’s Great Wolf Lodge and Spa Grand Traverse at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa have dozens of different spa treatments, massages and soaks. One of the most popular is a 25-minute Foot Relief Massage: a “cooling tea tree spritz, followed by warm towels and a peppermint foot massage.” What better way to end a day of shopping, beachcombing or golf?
19. Visit 25 art galleries, studios and boutiques.
    Exhausting, but not impossible – Traverse City was named one of America’s Top Art Towns, and the evidence is all around you. Whether your interest is watercolors, jewelry, weaving, ceramics or sculpture, there’s plenty of art to suit every taste. But pace yourself – you don’t have to see it all in one day!
20. Try 25 different appetizers.
    But bring a decent-sized group or a mutant-sized appetite! This time of year, it’s possible to eat your way through some of the best food in Traverse City in small doses, by munching on tasty little culinary treasures like Vietnamese Beef Noodles or Bouillabaisse Steamed Mussels as you migrate from one wonderful restaurant to the next.
21. Tell your horse “giddy up” 25 times. (At least.)
    The horses at Ranch Rudolf are gentle critters — perfect for a leisurely ride through the woods and glades of the beautiful Boardman Valley, especially when you’ve got kids along. But sometimes you want them to move along a bit more briskly…
22. Try on 25 different hats in downtown Traverse City.
    All right, maybe you’re not a hat person. But our picturesque and pedestrian-friendly downtown has more than 150 clothing stores, gift shops, cafes and restaurants. So maybe you want to try on 25 pairs of shoes? We have very patient salespeople…
23. Identify 25 rare trees at the Grand Traverse Commons.
    Over a century ago, the superintendent of the Northern Michigan Asylum gathered rare trees from all over the world and planted them on the hospital grounds. Today this is the site of a groundbreaking retail/residential development, but the trees are still there – and boy, have they gotten big!
24. Taste 25 flavors of beer in Bellaire.
    Short’s Brewery, in the picturesque village of Bellaire, makes dozens of specialty beers and ales, flavored with everything from chocolate to orange peel. They’ll set up a special small-glass tasting so you can try several without falling off your chair. Just make sure you bring that designated driver with you!
25. Find 25 things to do at the Open Space.
    This one’s up to you – but you’ll find lots of ideas if you just look around. Here on Traverse City’s “front porch” you’ll see folks flying kites, tossing Frisbees, walking dogs, pushing strollers, watching the sailboats on West Bay, feeding the swans, playing a little football or just gazing affectionately into each other’s eyes.

Long known for its scenic beauty and recreational bounty, the Traverse City area has also begun to attract attention as one of America’s most unique culinary destinations. Today, many visitors are familiar with the region’s award-winning wines and superb restaurants. But there is another side to the story: the talented artisans who create delicious foods that you can sample, purchase and enjoy on you own – whether it’s a fresh baked loaf of bread, a warm cherry pie, a glass of hard apple cider or a string of smoked sausages.

Want to meet and chat with the butchers and bakers, fishermen and brewers, cheesemakers and candymakers whose creations have helped to turn Traverse City into a “foodie’s paradise?” Here are a few places where you can do exactly that. This guide is by no means exhaustive, but it offers a wide variety of food experiences that you can enjoy any season of the year.
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EMPIRE, MI – After a six-month winter, the arrival of spring can make people do strange things.

How else to explain the literary impulse that comes over residents of this tiny Lake Michigan coastal village every year when they see the first brave spears of spring asparagus pushing up from the sandy earth?

Each May, residents of Empire dress up in asparagus costumes and parade down their short three-block downtown. They hold huge asparagus cook-offs featuring everything from soups and soufflés to casseroles and crepes. They sing, dance, compete in athletic events, and consume respectable quantities of beer and wine. But the spotlight event of the two-day Empire Asparagus Festival is the annual “Ode to Asparagus” competition, where local bards outdo each other in paying homage to this beloved vegetable.

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TRAVERSE CITY – The annual May blossoming of the cherry trees in Traverse City is one of America’s most impressive floral displays. Ironically, it’s a show that few outsiders ever see.

There’s no denying the spectacle itself: 2.6 million blooming cherry trees climbing the steep glacial ridges like battalions of tidy white clouds, their soft lines contrasting with bright new grass, acres of yellow dandelions and the cobalt blue waters of Grand Traverse Bay. But because it takes place in May, several weeks before the start of the formal tourist season, the sight is only witnessed by those who already know what’s in store for them.

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TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Every spring, the forested hills around Grand Traverse Bay begin to fill up with crowds of eager, determined hunters. But none of them have guns.

Most, armed with mesh bags and long sticks, are searching for morel mushrooms – the culinary Holy Grail of the northern woodlands, which attracts literally thousands of gourmands to this area each May. But for others, the quest is more aesthetic: they’re on the lookout for “spring ephemerals” – shy plants that grow, bloom and disappear for a few brief weeks between the end of winter and the start of summer.

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TRAVERSE CITY – Its flavor is indescribable, a delicate spring nuttiness with a firm texture that has been compared to rare prime rib. Sautéed in butter with a pinch of garlic and perhaps a hint of lemon, it’s one of the world’s great taste experiences.

It’s the wild morel, a spring mushroom that grows throughout North America but seems most at home in the hardwood forests of the Great Lakes states. Each year, hundreds of devoted mushroom hunters head to the wooded slopes around Traverse City to search for these “truffles of the North,” combing the hillsides for the well-camouflaged fungi.

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Times might be tough, but Interlochen Center for the Arts (ICA) is apparently bucking the trend and poised for a strong summer.

A couple of weeks after its box office  opened, tickets are selling briskly for headliners The  Steve Miller Band, Styx and Willie Nelson & Friends, says Steve Hoffman, director of marketing and communications  for ICA, which is now in its 45th year of bringing guest  artists to the Grand Traverse region.

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As  assistant travel editor for Midwest Living, Hannah Agran had  heard plenty about Traverse City, particularly as a place  for foodies. But she didn’t fully appreciate the area’s  scenic beauty until her first trip here for a story on the  Midwest’s top food towns.

“It took my breath away,”  says Agran, who came to Traverse City while researching the  story “Five Star Food Towns” in the June 2009 issue. “I’d heard it was beautiful, but I didn’t expect the water to  look like the Caribbean. You know what really stood out to  me? The fruit. I expected to see cherries, but when I went  to the farmers market downtown and saw all those blueberries, apricots and plums, I just died. I’d never been  to a farmers market with such gorgeous  produce.”

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Green Island isn’t that far off of Front St. in downtown Traverse City. But it’s far enough.

“I see people all the time coming to the corner, looking down the street and then turning around,” says Lori Burns, who owns the earth-friendly retail shop a few dozen yards from the busy intersection of Front and Union streets.

But she is encouraged to hear that wayfinding signs are soon coming that will alert visitors that there is indeed stuff to see, do and eat down the street.

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