Business is good in Lake Leelanau

Photo: Tony West smokes meat at Locals Lake Leelanau

By Ross Boissoneau

Sun contributor

Summer is here, and for three Lake Leelanau beverage-centric businesses, it’s been worth the wait. The owners of Northern Latitudes, Locals Lake Leelanau and Peninsula Provisions all say things are looking good.

Northern Latitudes opened the doors of its new facility last October. Mark Moseler, who owns the business with his wife Mandy, says the project took longer than anticipated, but that’s invariably the case. “You think you’re the only one having issues,” he says wryly.

In their case, the Moselers had to not only deal with delays in building the new facility, but in getting the liquor licensing. The imbroglio with the state led to having their Suttons Bay tasting room closed, as well as not being able to distill anything while the new location was under construction.

“It was two years from the property to permits to open. Including acquiring the property, it was three years,” Moseler says.

More time meant more cost, at a time when there wasn’t any money coming in. “When projects take longer, things don’t usually go down in price,” he laughs.

Moseler says they have already seen changes in the operation because of the larger building. They have much more room for the distilling operations, as well as nearly 9,000 square feet for servicing customers. That doesn’t include the outdoor space.

The result is a more spacious feeling, even with more customers. “The space is phenomenally bigger,” he says, which leads to better numbers even when it doesn’t necessarily feel as busy.

Among the most popular items are the new Finish Line spirits. The first in the line is a bourbon aged at least five years in American charred oak, then finished in Brazilian Amburana wood barrels. Next up is one finished in French oak barrels previously used for aging orange liqueur.

In the spirit of everything old being new again, Moseler says old fashioneds are the most popular drink. “They are in fashion. They have really taken over. Espresso martinis are also huge.” And number one on their spirits list? “The most popular since we opened is our horseradish vodka,” he says.

Not only are there always new spirits coming on board, Northern Latitudes also boasts a much larger food menu than originally planned. Shareables, soups and salad, sandwiches and small plates give customers options to go along with their drinks.

“Food is a whole new ballgame,” Moseler says. “When we first designed the building, we just had a little teeny tiny kitchen. We were just going to do small plates.” Fortunately, they realized people wanted food to eat with their cocktails before finishing construction, and they were able to convert what had been planned as a storage area into a full-fledged kitchen.

Despite the delays, closure, and this summer’s smoke, heat and humidity, Moseler says summer has been great. The result has been everything they hoped for. “We are extremely happy with our numbers,” he says. “We have no regrets.”

At the former Northern Latitudes location, Tony West opened Locals Lake Leelanau in May last year. The bar and restaurant was hampered by the lack of a liquor license, which ended up taking until the weekend before Memorial Day this year to obtain. “We knew it was going to be a while,” says West.

Just not that long a while. Besides the usual regulations and red tape, the process was slowed by the governmental shutdown last year, and as West says, not a lot happens during the holiday season. Nonetheless, the show went on, and the business focused on food and fun, with a large menu, live music and a side order of history.

Locals Lake Leelanau welcomes locals and visitors alike, with a healthy dose of the region’s story through the years. Not only are the menu items named for people and places tracing the roots of Leelanau County, a QR code takes you to the Leelanau Historical Society. “The beauty of this is we get to tell the story of locals,” says West. “It’s the history, the story of our region.”

West’s enthusiasm is palpable. It’s clear he loves what he does and sharing it with others, be they from the area or those visiting. “We had a big group, about 20. They were from Ohio and got to experience it here,” he says, noting that one of the moms told him their kids would always remember it.

“We had a family here from Japan. Their son is at Interlochen. They said, ‘It’s so beautiful here.’ We can’t take it for granted.”

Now that the restaurant has been granted its liquor license, West talks up the brisket and beer. “I’ve had the Thunderbird smoker going every day,” he says. Another popular choice from the smoker is the T-Bird Smoked Wings, with a special brine and custom rub. Both the smoker and the dish are named in honor of the building’s origin as the Thunderbird Gift Shop, which sold souvenirs and moccasins.

Not wanting to miss a trick, West transformed a large part of the footprint into a retail outlet for Locals-branded merchandise, plus products from some 50 Michigan businesses, most of them from the region.

As if that isn’t all enough, West says he’s been busy hauling the smoker around the region doing catering. “Catering has been awesome. We’ve got 132 (catering jobs) on the books for this year, all over, from Charlevoix and Gaylord to Frankfort and Elberta, and all over the county. We had someone call us from Detroit.

“I get to take Lake Leelanau all over Michigan.”

Just down the road, Kate Vilter Stassen traded her role as proprietor of the Riverside Inn in Leland for what she says is a slower pace at Peninsula Provisions. She took her hospitality experience with her, along with her knowledge of food and wine.

The result is a specialty food shop that offers cheese boards, Mediterranean platters and charcuterie specialties including chicken liver mousse, venison pâté, and spiced pork terrine. It stocks snacks, beverages, and grab-and-go items including salads and dips, even family dinners in the off-season.

Oh yes, catering. Peninsula Provisions does that too. It’s all overseen by Chef Brad Roth. He combines locally sourced, seasonal ingredients with experience gleaned locally and in San Francisco’s culinary scene.

Don’t forget the wine. Stassen certainly hasn’t, with a selection of wines from across the region and across the world. Asked what is the very best wine, she quickly demurs. “It all depends on what you’re serving for dinner,” she says with a laugh.

It all fits with her vision of hospitality, just a different side of it. “I do what I love, just with a smaller footprint,” Stassen says. “I’ve been in the industry 30 years. It’s a slower pace.”

She owned and operated the Riverside Inn for 24 years, selling it in 2021. The next year she purchased the building and opened Peninsula Provisions in July 2023.

She says there were some surprises along the way. “I didn’t know in the winter we’d get into doing dinners. But we have the time and requests.”

She agrees with Moseler and West that business has been good this summer. “I was worried, with the economy, would people be traveling? People are still traveling in the states. I’ve been pleasantly surprised.”

Given its location on busy M-204, connecting the west side (Glen Arbor and Leland) to the east side (Suttons Bay, Traverse City), Lake Leelanau can be considered a drive-through, a place you go through on the way to somewhere else. Stassen says that plays to her business, as people can stop in to pick up a bottle of wine or a grab a snack or salad on their way.

West says while it’s true that Lake Leelanau can be seen as a place to simply pass through, the town is more than that. He champions the other businesses as well as the natural beauty of the town and lake it is named for. “Dick’s Pour House, Fiddleheads, Peninsula Provisions, the new steakhouse in town (Leelanau Steakhouse at the former Bella Fortuna/Nittolo’s). I’ve always considered Lake Leelanau to be the heartbeat of the county.

“Even if you’re passing through, there are some amazing locations to check out.”