Handing the Good Harbor Grill over to the next generation
By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor
Cady Hall scooped ice cream at the Pine Cone at age 14 and started waiting tables at the Good Harbor Grill a couple years later. A Glen Lake graduate now living with her family in Suttons Bay, Cady has joined forces with Cos Burrows to manage the midtown mainstay eateries. The son of owners Ann and Brendan Burrows, Cos has worked there all of his life.
“The Grill and Pine Cone were for sale for a couple of years, and Cos and I were managing anyway, so since we worked well together and didn’t want to see it change hands, we decided we wanted to take over,” Cady explained.
“We wanted to see how it went last year, and if they wanted to really be the owners,” Ann added. “They did a great job, so we are working out the details.”
It all started in 1992 when Ann and Brendan bought the Pine Cone and Good Harbor Grill from Audrey Pistonetti. “Each year we worked on the Pine Cone (the former Red Pine Ice Cream Shop),” Brendan remembered. “The first year we covered the deck, the next we matched the deck to the cover. We tried to save the trees. The first six or seven years we improved something. It never worked to expand into food. It has been easier to stick to ice cream at the Pine Cone, and some simple food for 15-year-olds.” (You can also get pizzas and hot dogs at the Pine Cone.)
Locally the Pine Cone has been the first real job for countless local and summer young people. Brendan guessed that “There must be a thousand going way back: Wheelers, Pattons, Piñas, Doe-Simkins, Burritts, the Haskins girls, Wisemans, Ridays, Hilliers, Vanderbergs, Maggie Meyers, on and on. Several siblings from many families got their first summer job scooping ice cream at the Pine Cone. When it was the Red Pine back in the day, even the Sutherland boys got started here.”
“For us it’s neat when siblings come along and start after their older brothers and sisters have worked here,” said Ann. “We have tremendous carry over from year to year, including cooks and wait staff at the Good Harbor Grill. So there are many years with many families.”
Ann arrived in Glen Arbor in ’87, but Brendan has been coming since 1948 as a toddler. In 2000 Ann enclosed part of the ice cream deck and started Glen Arbor Botanicals, where you can buy antique prints, Japanese wood blocks, and other “odds and ends.” This year Ann plans to keep it open, but then “it will evolve,” said Cos, “probably into a bakery.” Brendan showed off the new pie press. Cos added, “It seems like a logical extension of the Grill, but we’ve got a lot on our plates. We’re still brainstorming. We have some physical limitations regarding any expansion, so we are being methodical.”
“We are also happy to have the opportunity to stay the same,” Cady added.
The Good Harbor Grill has been successful by providing locally sourced, quality food with a simple presentation and a really nice staff. Their turkey soup and sandwich is a delicious favorite, and they remain dedicated to serving healthy food. Cady added, “We have no deep fryers! We’ll stick with local, in season healthy food.”
“We may add some new sandwiches, and try some bakery items here that may eventually be sold out of the gallery, but there are no big changes planned.”
How sweet it is to see local institutions like the Pine Cone and Good Harbor Grill being passed down to the next generation. They have been open for 22 weeks per year for a long time, but Cady says they plan to extend their season next fall through Thanksgiving. So get your reservation now for Thanksgiving dinner at the Grill. Seats will fill up fast!
