So - taking inspiration from Covington Cat's wonderful travel posts, I offer you my attempt at one inside. :)
Posted by
JenBro
Jul 7 '12, 06:28
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TJ (great friend aka the younger brother I never had - known since 4th grade) & I struck out for Traverse City's Wine Peninsulas yesterday morning. Our plan was to meet at 9 am, and I called him to confirm about 8 am, he rang me back - had just finished breakfast & needed a quick stop at the post office for passport stuff - so I got a double latte downtown @ Roast & Toast with my pre-paid VIP coffee card while he did that & did my bank run & picked him up at his mom's place in town & hesded South for the short 60 minute drive South-West ish.
We headed first up Mission Peninsula, which splits Grand Traverse's East & West Bays to a small dockside restaurant called the boathouse. We dined outdoors enjoying a bacon bloody mary (think delicious drink with an appetizer built in - nice thick cut bacon slice with wedge of tomatoe & lettuce) - and ordered the cheese plate with 3 choices of cheese - we picked a soft triple creme - very ripe, nutty brie type french called Le Delice - A California Cheese made by the same place that does the Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese I love - it was called Truffle Trerror - and had a lovely medium soft texture with a rich earthy truffle mushroom flavor - and the third cheese was from Wisconsin called Evalon - a harder chedder like texture - very tasty as well. The cheeses were served with house made crackers, marcona almonds, hkney comb, quince paste & fresh strawberry - and was the perfect dish to share and start our adventure.
From there we explored a B&B that TJ was considering for a new love interest in his life that I will hopefully meet next week when she visits here (Chris) - it was a very cool beachside place - complete with on site Yoga & Vegan breakfast features (the Tibetan prayer flags displayed outside were a "sign" if you ask me as TJ spent some time with his former wife in Nepal doing some Mission work years ago and has many good memories).
We then set off for one of the Wineries who participated in the Wine Festival I helped with last month - set out to say "Thank You" in person for their ery generous 8 cases of wine they donated for pouring at our event & gave Kristy there a copy of our program & commemorative stemless tasting glass. We then sampled 4 Champagnes & 1 Cherry Wine (5 tastes for 1$) and I purchased 2 bottles & we were off to Brys Vineyards next - a prospect vineyard to solicit for 2013's Wine Festival.
We asked to leave our wine program for the manager on our way in - explained about the Festival - where/when - and had a VERY favorable response (Yay!) and we went to taste some wine and were treated to our tasting (comped! Woo)!
A very knowledgeable and fun young lady (Cindy) gave us the 20/20 not just on their wines but also mentioned a restaurant where she had worked that we wound up visiting later (lesson here is - if you want to know the inside track on where the latest/best eating options are in the City - ask current or former wait staff - they are always died in). I bought 1 bottle and was again pleasantly surprised when the attentive woman we spoke to on our way in signaled that I was to be given a discount on my purchase. Again ... Woo! (and if you don't think they won't be given preferential treatment in booth & program spacing next year - you would be mistaken :)
We realized our mistake at this point - no cooler for holding the wine in the day's heat - so as we made our way across to West Bay and the other Peninsula - we traversed "The Cherry Festival" watching the Blue Angel jets criss cross the sky mere feet over top us and the boats anchored along the shoreline drive. We stopped at Tom's market & bought ice & strofoam cooler - took our bearings and pointed North again (we had dipped ever so slightly 'neath the 45th parallel - mid-way to the equater) and a quick detour for gas in Lake Leanau and the we were at my favorite vineyard up North - Chateau Fontaine. Their wines sing with a purity of the flavours of the grape like none other inichigan I have yet had the pleasure to taste. I have purchased several bottles over the years - have some cellered to enjoy later - and my goal was to secure them for the wine festival in 2013 - they had kindly/politely turned me down this year, citing prior experience (before my time volunterring) as lacking value (Leelanaus Wine Festival boasts 5000 in attendance - so our more intimate 700 is less appealing in terms of "bang for their bottle" so to speak).
At first the owners were not there, so I left the program with a delightful uoung man who then served as our steward for the pourings samples - we tried I believe 7 of their wines - ong with a cheese spread & cracker palate cleanser between the whites & reds - all complimentary - and it's that way for everyone - ways has been - no cost to sample their "wine flight" - this was the one place we noted people were leaving with cases - not just bottles :) reminded me of my first visit there many years ago with another friend Scott who split a mixed case with me (discounts even on mixed cases!) - these people not only make grest award winning wines - they make them Incredibly affordable and with an obvious desire to share their love and passion for their product - confident in it's ability to sell itself once you taste it. They are both smart and graciously humble at the same time and i have great admiration for their operstion.
As we made our purchases, I lucked out and the owners retirned just in time for me to make a pitch for next yesr - and I'm hopeful - cautiously hopeful - but hopefull none the less that I may have sealed the deal. He commented that he appreciated my in person visit - so I can certainly feel I did my best at least. :)
As it was now nearing 5 pm - we headed to Suttons Bay - to a Thai place a friend had showed me before - and enjoyed orders of steamed dumplings, tempira fried veggies & a cup each of the best hot & sour soup I have found above The 45th Parallel in Michigan :) It's called "Hang on Express" - probably because they seem to always have an endless line waiting for take out order pickup ? We dined in (only 8 or so tables) - if I lived closer it would definitely be my "go to" for take out!
So - as this was NOT the restaurant Cindy from Brys Vineyards had recommended to us - and we were pleasantly satiated (The Hot & Sour made my eyes water & nose run & I drank nearly 3 glasses of water to cool my tomgue) - so I suggested a trip to the casino just up the road - we went - we lost - we won - we should have left - I lost - but we killed an hour - which as we all know is the requisite time for being hungry again after oriental food!
We drove the 20 or so minutes back to the heart of Traverse City - planning on a lite - "perhaps salad?" option at Cindy's "farm to table" dining pick called Trattoria Stella (website linked below) - located in the basement of one of the stoic gothic style buildings on the grounds of the former State Mental Hospital - and may I say now, a brilliantly sucessful re-purposing of a building I have yet to experience.
Cindy was our MVP of the day for suggesting this gem - it's the only time I have requested a chef autograph a menu for me (their menu changes daily - so it's not like the menu was being re-used - just to keep this in perspective for you) - we had excellent timing - arrived with no wait - got a 2 top seating immediately - Stewart our waiter was prompt - attentive - listened well - was knowledgeable about the menu - source of the ingredients - had excellent wine suggestions based on our food choices - and perhaps best of all - he talked with us just the perfect amount - and as often happens with TJ & I - he relaxed and enjoyed serving us as much as we enjoyed his company and service that enhanced our dining experience. Our bus girl/water girl was exceptional - my water glass NEVER dipped below half full once during the meal - and she too engaged with us as we invited her into our night out - and also seemed genuinely pleased that we appreciated the attention to detail she brought to the job and was again the perfect balance of banter and quiet depending on what conversing he & I were having at the time. Even the floor manager - who quipped as he moved by about me photographing the food didn't pause to talk until my responce invited further discussion - it seemed to me that staff had almost been schooled in some type of dining rules of engagement? It was just perfection. Now ... The food ... WOW!
We decided to start with an arancini appetizer - which is a deep fried risotto ball stuffed with cheese & they served it with a wonderful smokey tomatoe sauce - we each enjoyed 2.
Bread with mini pitchers of balsamic vinegar & a very nice green fruity (I presume extra virgin) olive oil was served - tables had pepper grinders - but the salt was table salt and they had no sea salt or salt grinder option (my only suggestion for improvement).
We next had the heirloom tomatoe salad - which was plentiful and delicious - wedges of red, yellow, green/purple & red/white striped tomatoes with wonderful house made mozzarella balls & 4 or so basil leaves - just lightly drizzled with a different olive oil. I ate half as served & then added a dash of balsamic and wished for a nice crunchy sea salt that could have been a nice textural and flavor enhancer - but it was only a fleeting wish as the tomatoes and cheese were truely exceptional.
For our main & last course - we split them - I had a Kohlrabi papparadelle pasta with spinich & fava beans in a butter sauce ever so lightly flavored with garlic - and the pasta was perfection - the velvety smooth supple soft texture that can only mean freshly made that very afternoon. TJ had scallops with a polenta side and an eggplant type of ragout - basil predominant but very flavorful. The scallops were a thing of beauty - sweet & carmelized on one side from a perfect pan searing and the middle was soft and texturally inviting to the point where you could have easily bit your tongue - lip - or inside cheek from not wanting to stop chewing!
It was one of the best meals I have had at a restaurant in a very long time - for all parts of the experience being flawless and exceptional on it's own and then together each simply elevated the whole in such a way that I suspect it will not be surpassed.
We had opted ahead of time to save dessert for the chicory coffee & bread pudding at Pearl's in Elk Rapids on our way home & I have half of it here to eat this morning because I just couldn't finish it last night at 10:45 pm ... So dessert for breakfast it is!
I wish I could do yesterday all over again - I wouldn't change a thing - except maybe bring my own coarse sea salt. :)
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