Northport’s Willowbrook Mill hosts Beaujolais Nouveau Day Dinner

From staff reports

Willowbrook Mill in Northport will host a Beaujolais Nouveau Day Dinner on Thursday, Nov. 17, from 6-9 p.m. The five-course French meal includes wine pairings created by guest chef Guillaume Hazael-Massieux of La Becasse restaurant. Limited seating is available, and going fast. Tickets cost $129 per person and are available online at MyNorthTickets.com.

“In a discussion with our long time friend, Lee Lutz, head winemaker at Black Star Farms, he said he had always wanted to create a Beaujolais Nouveau Dinner like they celebrate every November 17 in France and all wine making regions around the globe,” said Willowbrook co-owner Mimi Heberlein.

“A Beaujolais Nouveau dinner meal is a thank you gathering to the people who work at the winery and the locals who help celebrate the new wines created each harvest season. Vineyards and villages drag tables out into the streets and food and music fill the evening while lively conversations and clinking glasses punctuate the celebration every year.

“We put our collective skills together and we’re making Lee’s dream come true with a fabulous menu, live French cafe music by Dolce and beautiful wines paired perfectly with the menu.”

This is another in a continuing series of Visiting Chef Dinners hosted by Mimi & Joel Heberlein that span more than 35 years at locations in Jupiter, Florida, East Lansing and now, Northport at their event and wedding venue, Willowbrook Mill. Over the years, the guest chefs have included national celebrity chefs like Thomas Keller, Joyce Goldstein and Jeremiah Tower, and Michigan food heroes like Pete Peterson, Jimmy Schmidt and Brian Polcyn.

In August 2021, Willowbrook Mill hosted Five Hell’s Kitchen Alumni Chefs for a sold-out, two-night series led by Season 16 Winner, Chef Kim Ryan. Next summer, watch for Award winning Native American Chef, Loretta Oden.