Glen Lake Restaurant Week profile: Guillame, La Becasse
From staff reports
In advance of Glen Lake Restaurant Week, May 1-9, we reached out to several participating restaurants to ask our local chefs what excites them about this culinary opportunity before the local tourism season kicks into gear. Participating restaurants will offer their own 3-course prix-fixe dinner for $25. Some establishments will offer $15 lunch specials as well. Glen Lake Restaurant Week began in spring 2014.
Next up is La Becasse chef Guillaume Hazaël-Massieux.
Glen Arbor Sun: What delectables will you offer on your Restaurant Week menu?
Guillaume: Lake Trout with warm lentil salad, pork curry, mushroom risotto, codfish gnocchi, beet salad … all good stuff!
Glen Arbor Sun: What’s your personal favorite?
Guillaume: the pork curry, of course! It’s my roots.
Glen Arbor Sun: How did you fare during Restaurant Week 2014? Did you see a boost in sales?
Guillaume’s wife, Brooke : RW was great for La Becasse last year — it gave our sales a real boost. People love a reason to go out — to be part of an event — and what is not to love about 3 courses for $25? We appreciate the opportunity to get new guests in our dining room.
Glen Arbor Sun: Are you experimenting with any new foods or courses this year that folks should know about?
Guillaume: We’re offering a salad — achards — which isn’t Caribbean, it’s from the Indian ocean. I served it at our colonial wine dinner and was pleased with it. The lake trout is part of a plan of working with different local fish this summer.
Glen Arbor Sun: How, when and where do you typically conceive of new recipes? I.e., on the boat, in the shower, or on a trip to the Caribbean?
Guillaume: In the kitchen with my chefs. But inspiration can hit any time — trips to the Caribbean don’t hurt!
Glen Arbor Sun: OK, so what’s the perfect day in Leelanau County. That is, what’s the ideal way to spend a day that concludes, of course, with a meal at your establishment?
Guillaume: In the summer, some of my best days have been spent with my wife’s family in Omena, hanging out at the beach, or floating on a pontoon boat on Lake Leelanau with a packed cooler. In the fall I love spending the day with friends hunting woodcock. I work up an appetite walking all morning, and it is good to be outside with friends, chatting and laughing. Less fun for the woodcocks.
Glen Arbor Sun: Were you to pair your cuisine with a particularly place in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, what would you serve, and where would it be enjoyed?
Brooke: I think it would be simple: baguette, cheese, pâté, olives, a little fruit and a bottle of bubbly. And a slice of almond pear tart. And a chocolate truffle I’d enjoy it on a secluded spot at the beach at the end of Bohemian Road.
Glen Arbor Sun: As Northern Michigan becomes more and more of a “foodie” haven, what challenges does that present? How do you distinguish yourself?
Guillaume: It raises the bar on transparency — telling our story, which isn’t something we’ve been really good at. I’ve always worked with local farmers, since the beginning — buying pork from Amish farmers in Mancelona, getting vegetables, fruit, coffee, tea, wine, eggs, etc. We have to be more out there with the origins of our food, and I think that is a good thing. Distinguishing myself? No, I just need to keep producing a good quality product — and stay true to our French concept.
Glen Arbor Sun: Would you rather be featured on the show Top Chef or make a meal together with Mario Batali?
Guillaume Is this a trick question?
Glen Arbor Sun: Any other restaurants (in Northern Michigan, or the world at large) you’re dying to check out?
Guillaume Yes! I’d love to do the Grand Ducs Road in France — it takes you to all the best restaurants in France.
