By F. Josephine Arrowood
Sun contributor

Micro-distiller Rifino Valentine is going against the grain with his one-batch-at-a-time Valentine Vodka, which he launched in 2009. Searching for a high quality alternative to mass-produced spirits, he envisioned the ideal formula that would let him use local, sustainable resources, control the entire distilling process, and provide discerning drinkers with an artisan-made alternative to so-so products made by “faceless corporations.”

“In college, I used to brew my own beer. I ended up working on Wall Street for 13 years. One day, I had one of those moments: I could apply the same handcrafted techniques to spirits. Maybe it was the Manhattan influence,” Rifino laughs. “I wanted to make the best damn martini ever.”

With this spirited enterprise during challenging economic times, the entrepreneur carries on his Leelanau family’s tradition of can-do resourcefulness. His dad Nello grew up in Chicago, while his mom, Margaret Patchin, originally hailed from Detroit’s northern suburb of Berkley. The two met at Western Michigan University, and ended up living in Alameda, Calif. on a houseboat with their first son, Nello, Jr. It was the turbulent 1960s, with a lot of people questioning the status quo and their place within that structure.

“My dad had a suit and an office job,” he laughs. “Then they came here, bought a farm [near Cedar], had goats, chickens, everything.” In 1970, Rifino was born there, with his dad, demonstrating more of the family self-sufficiency, acting as midwife to deliver his son.

Rifino recalls, “My brother and me, we started working on the farm about the time we were born! The animals we thought of as kind of pets, but then they’d be killed, butchered.”

He explains, “When they bought that farm, it had been grazed extensively; the soil was really depleted. He was trying to reforest, stop erosion. When the trees started getting bigger, he realized the possibilities.” Thus, the Valentine Tree Farm was born. “My brother and I planted a lot of the big trees you can still see growing there. I think my dad still plants trees all over the county, all over northern Michigan, in fact.” It was all part of the back-to-the-land movement of the early 1970s, not unlike today’s sustainable, locovore initiatives by a growing number of disaffected global villagers.

The Glen Lake High School graduate went on to earn an economics degree at Cornell University, then worked as an independent trader in New York City for over a decade. Several years ago, he moved to Detroit to pursue his vision of creating a handcrafted, limited-edition vodka, drawing on the Motor City’s rich history as a “Mecca” of Prohibition-era liquor making, and the good times of the Roaring Twenties.

“The Walmartization of everything, the liquor industry is no different,” Rifino asserts. “In the federal regulations for vodka, after you’re done with the distilling, you’re allowed to add sugar and glycerol to make it go smoother down your throat. Most use continuous distillation, with ethanol spit out the other end. The process is just computer-controlled; when you cut the ‘heart’ away from the process, you end up with harsher, more astringent vodka.”

When he set out to create his own single-batch, handcrafted spirits, Rifino looked to the experts. He took a distilling class at Cornell, his alma mater, where he met Kris Berglund, a chemical engineer and forestry professor from Michigan State University (MSU). “Kris is considered the father of distilling in Michigan,” Rifino says. “He’s been integral in this, he really took me under his wing.”

“We’re one of the first few distilleries in the world to use a multigrain recipe,” he continues. Corn, red Michigan wheat, and two-row malted barley, supplied by Michigan farmers, provide the drink’s crisp flavor, with “different tasting notes and attributes. That’s part of the artisanal process.”

Each batch of vodka is triple-distilled, which means that the middle, or the “heart” of the mash’s run, is smelled and tasted by the master distiller, to determine “where to cut the ‘heads’ and ‘tails,’” or the undesirable compounds that are present at the beginning and end of each run. Valentine’s result is a smooth, clean, all-natural spirit, literally (and figuratively) from the heart of the distillation process. ”It’s not the cheapest way to make vodka, but it’s the way it’s meant to be made.”

“From grain to your glass, we’re a 100 percent Michigan product. As a whole, we need to start making things here again. It’s great to get people in Michigan to make Michigan-made spirits. If one in 10 people bought [the product], $100 million stays here, rather than ships out.”

But he acknowledges, “There’s only so many people that will buy something just because it’s made here — it has to be better. That’s the overall philosophy.” Currently, Valentine Vodka manufactures its product at a plant near East Lansing, leased from MSU, while working to bring the business to Detroit by the end of the summer. “We want to show people that Detroit is not just the butt of everyone’s jokes, but a viable place,” in which to do business.

“I’ve always appreciated and leaned toward the handmade,” Rifino reflects. So when it came time to launch a unique Valentine’s Day promotional package that could riff off his surname, yet tweak the traditional lovers’ gift, he instantly thought of Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate, based in Empire.

“I didn’t pick Grocer’s Daughter because it was local; we really looked for the best chocolate out there, and Mimi’s [Wheeler] is just phenomenal. We think our vodka is the best, and we wanted the best to go with it. We selected a beautiful heart-shaped chocolate with a raspberry-caramel filling,” which was created especially to complement Valentine Vodka. The presentation is exquisite as well, with the sweet ensconced in Grocer’s Daughter’s handmade case, beribboned atop each 750ml bottle.

The vodka-chocolate duet is now available at many local liquor retailers, both locally (Cedar City Market, Leland Mercantile, Bayside Market in Traverse City, and Barrels and Barrels in Suttons Bay, to name a few listed at www.valentinevodka.com), and throughout the state. Valentine Vodka is available by the glassful at many local eateries as well, including Art’s Tavern, Blu, LaBecasse, Martha’s Leelanau Table, and more.

In addition to running his business full time, Rifino is negotiating for a suitable manufacturing property in the metropolitan Detroit area, planning an interstate expansion of Valentine Vodka through a “strong distributor who will represent us well,” and dreaming up a flavored vodka that will capture the delicious essence of Michigan’s bountiful agriculture.

From his hippie-era youth in Leelanau, he has come, if not full circle, than in an upward spiral along the same arc of self-reliance within community. He has taken Valentine family traditions to a more refined level, perhaps, than landscape trees and farm animals, but carries along the same principles of hard work, hands-on craftsmanship, and sense of place, qualities so sorely needed in Leelanau, Michigan, and the rest of the country.

(In the interest of full disclosure, Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate is owned by the mother of the Glen Arbor Sun founder and editor, Jacob Wheeler.)

By Pat Stinson
Sun contributor

Like their new neighbors at Farm 651, Nichole (Nikki) and Mike McHugh are not farmers, or at least they weren’t three years ago when they began operation of their hydroponic farm on County Road 651 in Cedar. Nikki grew up in Grand Rapids, and Mike hailed from Grosse Pointe. Both had worked in greenhouses as college students while studying to become teachers at Western Michigan University. After graduation, the pair spent three years teaching in a small Eskimo village on the Bering Sea in Alaska. After they moved to northern Michigan, Mike taught for two more years at Grand Traverse Academy while Nikki stayed at home with Parker, their new son.

Agriculture was not part of their experience, but it became part of their future plan after Parker came along. The pair knew they wanted to be involved in local food production and also wanted a family business that could include their young son.

“Leaving teaching was hard,” Mike said. “There was honestly northing I didn’t like about teaching, but it took up a lot of my time.”

At first, the couple dreamed of adding greenhouses to their 14 acres, but the thought of learning how to grow a number of different crops in soil was daunting to them — especially since, as Mike said, most farmers inherit their farming knowledge. They wanted a farm the family could manage. Their vision led them logically to hydroponics, a method of growing a lot of food in a small space, without soil. In fact, Mike said he estimates that 15,000 plants grown in a quarter-acre vertical hydroponic system would need 6-10 acres if grown in the ground in a linear fashion.

During their first year, Mike read books on hydroponics in the winter months and toured Florida farms while taking classes from the founder of the hydroponic method they chose. (They grow their plants in planters, with rocks to hold the roots, and feed nutrients from the top, rather than placing the roots in nutrients.) At home, the couple investigated farmers’ markets, to see what was selling. They also checked out TLC Tomatoes, a hydroponic farm growing tomatoes and lettuce inside greenhouses in the Suttons Bay area.

“That was very attractive to me,” Mike said, “and cool to watch.”

The McHughs knew they wanted to grow more than one crop and decided to focus their energies on strawberries, with greens, tomatoes, herbs and lettuce as secondary crops. Now in their second commercial year, the couple offers a U-Pick friendly farm where visitors can pluck strawberries from the vine without bending or kneeling. They also sell their crops at their farm stand beneath a white tent in the front yard and take their wares to 5-7 farmers’ markets each week in Leelanau and Traverse City.

“The main reason we’re behind the hydroponics is, we’re fans of the local food movement and sustainable food,” Mike said. “This is more of a homesteading lifestyle. The more we can do at home and for the community without going outside the area, the better.”

Parker, now 5, takes customers on tours of the farm and can explain how the nutrients work just as well as his father. He’s learning his numbers and weights and will be helping at the farm stand next spring.

The family’s wish-list for the future includes helping to establish a farmers’ market in Cedar, expanding their strawberry operation, (they grew 11,000 plants this year), and adding greenhouses to extend their growing season.

“Our place is set up really well for events. We would also like to do free classes. We’ve had 15 people purchase their own set-ups. We (sell them) just because we believe in the system.”

As for Farm 651, Mike said, “We’d like to have our strawberries there. The more local food around here, the better it is for everyone.”

To learn more, visit www.cedarsolhydrofarm.com.

By Pat Stinson
Sun contributor

Never underestimate the power of the Internet, the promise of good wine or the beauty of Leelanau County.

The first two brought Junie Zou and Jason Roggensee from their home southeast of Phoenix to a Leelanau Peninsula wine trail event last fall. The third compelled them to purchase 80 acres along County Road 651, a quarter mile south of Cedar. They named their new property “Farm 651,” and Roggensee said they’re building their concept for the land around sustainable farming and building practices and “what’s good for the environment.”

Since March, the pair has planted apple and cherry trees, grown rye grass as a cover crop, had a culvert built across a creek, (to access trees on the opposite side that need management), hired excavator Brian Weber to grade the land, and partnered with Mark Poineau of North Haven Construction to build an energy-efficient concrete block “farm store” that will double as an April-to-October residence for them for the next few years. Later this month, work will begin on a carriage house that includes storage and guest quarters.

“Most wine-producing regions are cost-prohibitive,” said Roggensee, a 34-year-old real estate broker, general contractor and wine lover. He added that Leelanau County’s fertile land and “perfect seasons” lend themselves to the couple’s pursuit of sustainable farming, but he also noted that agriculture in this area just can’t survive without a niche.

“It’s really a tough animal there, because it’s too expensive for farmland or residential,” he said of the large, undeveloped tracts the couple saw here during their search. “It’s a shame; there’s a ton of unused land,” he continued. “I’m not a big advocate of lots of development, but the land could be donated or used for nonprofits or land conservation, converting a portion of a lot for agricultural use.”

Ideas stream from Roggensee, who watched his Arizona cotton-farming community become a bustling city. The nearby town of Gilbert, where he lives today, is the eighth fastest-growing district in the nation. Roggensee and Zou are in a mixed-used, self-contained community that sits on an old farmstead and integrates a neighborhood of homes with retail stores, restaurants, offices, churches, a private school, orchard, garden plot, farm stand, green space and town square.

They would like their new farm to connect with community members, too. A farm store will invite customers inside to browse shelves lined with produce grown on the property, with jams and pies perhaps made by Zou (a “fantastic cook and baker”) in the central kitchen, and with pre-made mixes she has discovered during her culinary pursuits. Ideally, some of their land would be set aside for use by nonprofits, to teach farming techniques. Roggensee has contacted SEEDS (a nonprofit research, design and educational organization that encourages development of ecologically sustainable environments) in Traverse City about the latter, but found he needs to address liability issues concerning third-party use of tractors, farm implements, etc.

Roggensee wants to help change the public’s perception that green-built, energy-efficient homes are more expensive — a conclusion he said is reached by those who have seen the market’s overpriced homes or who are unfamiliar with sustainable construction practices. (Visit www.farm651.com to read his regular blog posts about the farm’s progress, including its sustainable buildings and systems that cost no more than typical construction.)

Rogensee and Zou aren’t farmers or even gardeners, but they’re doing their homework. Rogensee consulted with the owner of Chateau Fontaine winery about the best type of grapes to grow on his site and has had his soil tested twice. He took a class last month on hop growing offered through the MSU Extension. People from SEEDS will help them construct a deer fence and prepare the soil for gardening. It’s this help from others that has impressed them the most.

“We really, really like the people there,” he said. “We knew all our neighbors in the first five days. When you know three-quarters of the people in town, it gives you a safety perspective.”

As far as their perfect vision for the farm in 10 years: “We really have no expectations,” he said. “We really just want to be comfortable in our surroundings and friends. If we have to change our plan or go in a different direction, we are always willing to do so.

By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor

You smell the Seafood Stew just inside the door, and the hunger you brought now grips you in earnest. The conversations from the various rooms, the clinking of glasses, the whooshing of waiters in and out of the adjacent kitchen doors, and tonight’s hostess Janice Fink, all welcome you into the cozy house that is the classic county restaurant North.

Manager Nick Vanden Belt and Chef Greg Murphy have been perfecting this dining experience for a few years now, so everything unfolds with a practiced nonchalance. My wife Mimi, the chocolate-crafter of Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate and a true “foodie” with impeccable taste, accompanies me. She will help me sample, savor, evaluate and describe the night’s offerings from the kitchen of renowned culinary artist Greg Murphy. I am not an experienced food critic with a super-discerning, cynical tongue, but I always read “Tables for Two” in The New Yorker, and a worn copy of Jim Harrison’s “The Raw & the Cooked” is tucked in the shelf next to my bed to ameliorate late-night munchies. Not exactly impeccable credentials, but they’ll do.

Mike seats us by a window into the bar, and we discover immediately that the menu has a little bit of everything. People are looking for affordable, good food, and North has many “tender prices for tough times.” There are multiple choices among the appetizers, soups, salads and desserts for $5, and there are tempting specials among the entrees for $15. On Sundays and Mondays you can get dinner and a glass of wine for $19.95!

Mimi is choosing a bottle of 2005 Zolo “Cab”, a bold red from Argentina (for under $30), while I peruse the appetizers. Bruschetta, Shrimp & Crab Cake, Gnocchi, Clams, Lamb Tenderloin and the obligatory Smoked Whitefish Dip are all good choices. I go for the earthy, rustic venison and duck Country Pate’ studded with pistachios and black trumpet mushrooms. It comes with an assortment of outstanding relishes so you can build little mountains on crackers and get your hands busy right away.

We like to trade about half way through each course, so I soon get Mimi’s Pheasant Foie Gras Pierogies. These morsels come in a black currant demi-glaze that is smoky and fruity with lightly sautéed apple slices. The pheasant within is luscious, tender, and delicate. The complexity of flavors transports you into October: you walk in the tall grass of an apple orchard, the rooster pheasant crows and you glimpse the white ring around his neck as he disappears into the edge of the woods, the waft of the smoldering leaf fire from the next farm (the retired guy who has time to rake) leading you down the hill. Just as mesmerizing is the smell of the bread, an important and often scrimped aspect of a fine dinner. At North the bread is homemade, with a lovely light crust, served warm with sweet whipped butter. The Zolo is the perfect compliment and palette purifier, and now the narrative arc of our meal is moving into the rising action.

The soups and salads are all excellent and inexpensive. Greg Murphy uses the best produce he can find locally, as he has for 20 years. He aims to help local businesses, so all of the Leelanau County vineyards are represented on the wine list, and 90 percent of the produce comes from the local Meadowlark CSA. He works fresh snap peas or purple cauliflower into the salads and side dishes at every turn. There is Tomato, Bibb, Caesar, or Mixed Green salad, and Gazpacho, Broccoli, Roasted Onion & Tomato and Seafood Stew among the soups. We share a fine, fresh Bibb salad as our anticipation for the entrees builds.

This lingering glow between salad and main course may be the best part of the meal. The conversation rambles and swings: How is the new hazelnut truffle selling? Who is that woman sitting behind you, she looks familiar, but don’t just turn around! Has anyone rsvp-ed that they’re coming to our picnic next week? Will either of our busy grown children get around to having babies? Oh look, those guys are having the Lobster & Clam Pasta with Tomato and Saffron Sauce. Sure smells good!

North has a wide-ranging list of entrees. There’s a Karubi Pork Chop, Beef Tips, Filet Mignon and Top Sirloin, or Ahi Tuna, Hawaiian Hapoha, Sea Scallops, Chicken Strudel, a couple of pastas, a burger, a Whitefish & Seafood Cake. It’s difficult to choose, and you realize after the appetizers that you can’t go wrong.

Mimi is delighted by her Lamb & Risotto. It comes in a big bowl with green beans and corn on the side. The incredible “sooo-tender” lamb galumps right into your mouth. The risotto is soft, vigorous and filling, with a lovely melted cheese and a garnish of parsley, tomato, and scallion.

I am wild about the Seafood Stew. Big chunks of scallops, lobster, shrimp and clams, with some potato, tomato and scallion, all float in a rich, creamy, buttery sauce that is so good you are forced to use the bread you didn’t think you’d eat to sop up the last of the juices. Greg Murphy has always been a master of delicious sauces. This one is a liquid epiphany. You close your eyes to capture the beauty of it, and suddenly you’re transported to a hot, lazy island in the Caribbean, where waves plash over the coral reef off shore, the susurrus of salt air redolent with kelp eases over the pier where a schooner knocks against the dock and an old man carrying a wind-whipped sail furled around a short mast shuffles slowly down the beach toward the grass huts in the palm trees. How does Murph concoct flavors that take you to places like that??

It must be years of experience coupled with sheer genius. Greg’s grandmother was related to Mark Twain, and like that author, Murph’s food is practical, perfectly balanced, clever, astonishing, always earthy, and full of surprises. There is a brightness to a Greg Murphy meal, an aura of accomplishment, and a lasting satisfaction.

Already full, we grin on into dessert with our last sips of Zolo. Tonight we choose the Berry Crisp, and it arrives in a tilted elliptical-oval bowl. The strawberry rhubarb cobbler is elegantly tossed with blueberries and garnished with spears of mint leaves. It is positively bursting with flavor, and the bold, fruity tang is the perfectly refreshing way to tamp down an outstanding dinner.

Greg Murphy, Nick Vanden Belt, and the experienced staff at North manage to provide a dining experience that has gourmet appeal while serving “what people want.” The portions are ample, the prices are affordable, and the service is great. The building next door will also soon open as the Northstore, a fine convenience stop featuring sandwiches, pies, feta, whitefish dips, and a “challah” bread that Greg says makes the best toast you ever had. It’s rich and moist “like Grandma’s roles!” North is open daily at 5 p.m. For reservations call (231) 228-5060, or visit their website at northcl.com.

By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor

You are on vacation, so don’t cook! There are plenty of choices for dining out right here in this corner of Leelanau County, from breakfast to late-night munchies, from take out to slow food, from American to French to Italian, from quick and easy to refined and elegant. Most of the culinary choices at your disposal have ads in these pages where you can find opening hours and phone numbers. But to tantalize you to visit the villages, check out the avenues, and eat your way around the lakes, here’s a quick primer.

BREAKFAST & LUNCH

A few eateries specialize in breakfast, including The Foothills (east side of Glen Lake) where Don Sielaff features his popular Eggs Benedict, great French toast & waffles, huevos rancheros, and the new hit, Cherry Pancakes. (All day lunch choices include a redolent Reuben!). A new morning choice this summer is at the Leelanau Coffee Roasters (downtown Glen Arbor) with fresh breakfast sandwiches on bagels or muffins featuring sausage, Canadian bacon, and revolutionary “steamed” scrambled eggs. John Arens says “the eggs go POOF!” They also have fresh baked goods to accompany your organic Guatemalan coffee. Fresh pastries to get your day started can also be found at Laker Shakes (Burdickville) featuring Bay Bread scones, muffins, cinnamon rolls, sticky buns, and local fruits and vegetables. If you’re up early and hungry in Empire, stop by Gemma’s for homemade scones and cookies, as well as sandwiches fixed fresh every morning. (I’ll get to All Day restaurants that have a breakfast menu later!) Riverfront (Glen Arbor) features deli lunches from 11-3, with Sue Nichol’s Cherry Chicken a favorite among several salads along with fine homemade soups on a menu that changes weekly. Dune Dogs (Glen Arbor) provides Chicago style hot dogs with the works accompanied by authentic blues music, and Deerings Market (Empire) has ready-to-go lunch specials including pizza, chicken, and sandwiches.

LUNCH & DINNER

When the sun reaches the zenith, your eating choices abound. Chris Roberts opens The Grand Café at Cherry Republic (Glen Arbor) with lunch specials, including cherry chicken salad, and dinner specials like cherry pulled pork BBQ. They continue the popular Rib Night every Friday, and Sunday brunch with cherry ice cream waffles, huevos rancheros, or biscuits with sausage gravy. Cherry Republic now offers FUDGE, including the bold Pirate Fudge, a smooth cherry fudge with cherry sour patches. Their winery has added a Cherry White Pinot Grigio and a Balaton Cherry Wine, and the store is featuring a new Hikers Trail Mix that comes with a compass so you don’t get lost. Boondocks (Glen Arbor) has daily food and drink specials and features their porcupine chicken, ring-tailed Reuben, and perch sandwiches, as well as BBQ ribs, a 20 oz. T-bone steak, parmesan crusted walleye, salads that can have chicken or whitefish added, interesting appetizers, and burgers cooked to order. There is also live music seven nights a week with New Third Coast, Cabin Fever, the Boondoggies, or Chris Skellenger & the Good Boy Band. The Manor on Glen Lake offers different lunch specials daily including salads and sandwiches on the lighter side, and there’s a lovely Sunday Champagne Brunch. Their popular whitefish and salmon dinners are always available along with broasted chicken dinners or buckets to go. Every night there’s a complete five-course meal, and there are monthly wine dinners with 5 courses and 5 wines.

DINNER

Elegant and affordable dining is close by! Nonna’s (Homestead Village) Chef John Piombo (from Italy!) just won the Northern Michigan Chef’s Challenge Cookoff. He concocts original pastas, gnocchi, and original fish dishes including his popular cedar planked Arctic Char, Sauteed Halibut, or Grilled Silk Snapper. Leelanau County and Michigan produce is featured fresh daily, and Manager Jon Kloo says “We live the dream every day so you can experience one day of that dream!” On Sleeping Bear Bay in Glen Arbor is the elegant blu. They offer a daily early bird 3-course prix fixe menu. A house specialty is the amazing Duck Confit, and there is always super fresh fish, homemade desserts, and a seven-page wine list. Blue lump Crab Cakes are a popular appetizer, and Randy’s Opera Torte that features an espresso and coffee layered butter cream ganache, the French version of terramisu, is super rich and to die for! A “blu pac” of truffles from Grocer’s Daughter Chocolates is also new on the menu. Glen Arbor’s Western Avenue Grill features fresh whitefish from Leland, as well as walleye and perch, great prime rib, and a seafood ravioli. Chef Shane Jackson’s Parmesan Whitefish is a favorite. Around Big Glen Lake in Burdickville are two more great dinner choices. Legendary La Becasse has homemade prosciutto, “Inevitable” Duck, daily specials like grilled Tasmanian Salmon, Veal, and Hangar Steak, and it is the only local restaurant to win a Spectator Wine List Award. Just down the street is Funistrada, featuring five-layer lasagna with six different meats, hugely popular Veal Saltimbocca, Bistecca Balsamico, and a tantalizing salmon with lemon asparagus sauce. Great produce from the local Sweeter Song Organic Farm is also featured, along with local rhubarb and strawberries.

BREAKFAST, LUNCH, & DINNER

You can’t go wrong with a visit to any of the “all day every day” heavy lifters of the local restaurant universe. Art’s Tavern in downtown Glen Arbor is a perennial favorite with specialty burgers, white fish in a bag on Fridays, Chicken jalapeno soup on Wednesdays, shrimp dinners, and now eggs benedict, and apple white cheddar omelet added to the expansive breakfast menu. The home of the Nightly Resurrecting Pool Table, Art’s keeps their grill going into the wee hours for late night munchies. The Good Harbor Grill is known for their Crab Cakes Benedict or Crab & Avacado Omelet for breakfast, for soups like the Seafood Mediterranean with lots of garlic and kalamata olives for lunch, and for fresh and unique salads with an emphasis on local, organic food. Some featured entrees are Mahi-Mahi, or Lamb with a mint pesto topping. Cos is now making in-house pies, including Strawberry Rhubarb and Chocolate Bourbon Pecan. The Friendly Tavern in Empire is famous for their Burgers, but they also provide great breakfasts, local perch, salmon, blue gill, and lake trout dinners, sweet potato fries and nachos, and chocolate cherry bread pudding. At the Glen Lake Narrows is the new Melbe Ann’s Restaurant. They offer breakfast all day anytime, nightly dinner specials including pasta on Saturdays and meat loaf on Thursdays, as well as homemade soups, baked goods, and ice cream. Across the scenic Co Rd 616 in Cedar is the Cedar Rustic Inn. With a new patio and carpet, the Inn features a Sunday family style breakfast. Popular dinner highlights are Pot Roast, Perch, and Seafood Pasta. There’s plenty of variety!

PIZZA

The Bear Paw in the middle of Glen Arbor has hot slices of pizza all the time, as well as subs and salads. Both traditional and deep-dish pizzas include the popular Pepperoni Bacon, and the Hula Bear (ham, pineapple, red & green pepper, and tomatoes). Their Carnivore Sub has a half a pound of meat. Riverfront (Glen Arbor) has a great Greek pizza, but Tim says the most popular continues to be the basic Pepperoni. He is working on a gluten free crust for his pizzas, so ask about that. In Empire check out the Village Inn. You can get their famous Mediterranean with feta, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, and spinach, and wash it down with homemade Hardtimes Root Beer. Five percent of all root beer proceeds go to the Roy Taghon Music Scholarship.

So you see, you can explore the area by just going to a different place to eat every meal! Get out of that condo or up off that beach and EAT! After all, you’re on vacation!!