Hawkins Farm pairs brewpub with Thai food, wines
Photo, left to right, Aries, Salve, and Rich Van Steenis.
By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
Hawkins Farm Cellars, an inviting and delicious wine-tasting destination and Thai food and pizza restaurant on M-22 between Suttons Bay and Traverse City, has added a brewpub to its repertoire this summer.
Rich Van Steenis, whose family purchased the original Hawkins family centennial farm in 1977, will soon acquire his brewer’s license and beermaking equipment—a process slowed by the Coronavirus pandemic this spring. Until then the restaurant will feature three local beers and two ciders on draft. Van Steenis retooled the space previously occupied by Chateau de Leelanau for his brewpub.
A beer or glass of wine at Hawkins Farm pairs nicely with a Thai dish or pizza made from scratch by Van Steenis’ wife Salve, whom he met 21 years ago while on a scuba-diving trip in the Philippines. Salve fell in love with Thai food at age 6 while helping her father, a chef, prepare vegetables and fresh ingredients at a Thai restaurant in Manila.
Van Steenis, who was living in Hawaii at the time, corresponded with Salve through letters, and eventually they fell in love and she returned to the mainland United States with him. They moved to Suttons Bay in 2008 to help his aging mother with her local home décor business. Salve talked Rich into opening her own restaurant, and 12 years ago they launched 22 Vines and Wine Cafe & Market (now called Hawkins Farm Cellars).
On a recent visit, I enjoyed the Kung Pao Chicken, a mix of chicken breast, sautéed fresh vegetables, roasted peanuts, and house sauce, served around a bed of jasmine rice. A glass of local Chardonnay joined the party. Hawkins sources local grapes for its lineup of 22 local wines, which include fruity, sweet and dry options.
That said, Salve and her brother Aries, who recently moved here and received a degree in business management at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, are just as proud of the fresh thin-crust and deep-dish pizzas on the menu. Check out the Thai Green Curry Pizza, or the Hawaiian Margarita.
