Martha’s Leelanau Table offers culinary inspiration

By Ross Boissoneau

Sun contributor

While she might favor a beret, Martha Ryan actually wears many hats: Chef, restaurateur, cooking instructor, tour guide. They’re all based around Martha’s Leelanau Table, her popular Suttons Bay restaurant.

Martha’s culinary roots run deep in the county. They stem from a stint at Thyme Inn and Thyme Out, Carol Worsley’s Glen Arbor bed and breakfast and specialty food shop/eatery, respectively; baking at Stonehouse Bread in Leland and subsequently running the café there; and doing catering and pop-up dinners. It all led to launching her own restaurant in 2008.

Since then, Martha’s Leelanau Table has won accolades across the region and beyond. “It took years and years to build up … the reputation,” says her son Matt, who is involved in the kitchen at the restaurant. As well as the trips overseas and the cooking classes – wait, did we mention either of those yet?

Let’s back up and start with the restaurant, which took shape when Martha and her friends and investors saw a vacant building in downtown Suttons Bay while scouting another location across the street in 2007. It took a year to renovate it – “A complete overhaul,” says Matt.

“We opened July 3 of 2008,” says Martha, though the restaurant didn’t get its liquor license until mid-September. No matter, as the quality and ambience began to attract visitors and locals alike. As the region began to gain notice for the quality of its food and beverage offerings, from farm-to-table dining to wineries and micro-breweries, Martha’s was one of the restaurants at the forefront. The creative menu and dedication to service built a devoted clientele, and it is now busy throughout the summer as well as the shoulder seasons.

While things slow down in the offseason, the winter still brings patrons eager to try the Tuscan chicken, Leelanau cassoulet with duck breast and elk sausage, or vegan potato skins with coconut bacon and sunflower vegan sour cream. It is open Thursday through Sunday, with Sunday designated Burger and Trivia Night, with alternating Wednesdays hosting cooking classes.

And while there’s a lot going on at the restaurant, perhaps the most remarkable thing is what goes on offsite: Many of her regular customers accompany Martha on tours of Europe. “People like to travel with me,” she says, noting that while the trips are not billed as culinary tours, they invariably include stays in hotels with and stops at various restaurants, cafes and the like.

“They’re walking tours,” says Matt. That may mean walking through the woods, or through an olive grove, followed by a meal or a tasting at a local establishment. That’s right—while they’re not food and wine tours per se, they are sure to include plenty of both.

This next trip is to Croatia and Italy, Dubrovnik to Venice. It will skirt the Adriatic Sea, and as the enticing description says, the trip “seamlessly combines a laid-back coastal lifestyle with a historical legacy.” Matt says the trips enable the family to enjoy a trip abroad together with friends old and new, while learning about the cultures of other countries and discovering new foods and ways to prepare old favorites.

They provide a tangible benefit to patrons beyond those who accompany the Ryans on the trip. Foodstuffs, methods of preparation, and ingredients discovered abroad may well make their way to Suttons Bay. “We now have Mahon cheese from Mallorca,” says Matt, citing a prominent example.

The trips usually include a cooking class as well. “I like to go to cooking classes to see what they do in Europe,” says Martha, noting they’ll be looking for one on this upcoming trip.

Ah yes, the cooking classes. The restaurant has long hosted its own cooking classes, each revolving around an international theme, typically rotating among Spanish, French, Italian and Asian. Martha, Matt and Matt’s wife Andi work in different stations at the restaurant’s kitchen, alongside eight to ten people learning about various ethnic favorites.

“Every other Wednesday we do a cooking class, except Valentine’s Day and the trip,” says Matt. Given the popularity of the French and Italian classes, they often offer two of those and one of each of the others.

If it sounds like there’s always something mouth-watering to discover at Martha’s Leelanau Table, you’re right. For information about events, the menu, and how to join the cooking classes and/or the overseas adventures, visit MarthasLeelanauTable.com.