Siren Hall

May 10, 2009

The Tantalizing Call of
Siren Hall
By Nancy Krcek Allen 5/11/09

Next time you’re in Elk Rapids, listen closely and, if you’re lucky, you’ll hear the call of Siren Hall. You’d be well advised to follow this Siren’s call. Like Ulysses and his crew, you might find yourself spellbound; but unlike Ulysses, you’ll get to go home after dinner.
Siren Hall is Michael and Rebecca Peterson’s newest restaurant odyssey. The couple has converted a former downtown Elk Rapids antique shop and gas station into a chic, clean-lined contemporary restaurant featuring seafood.
“There’s a mariner tradition here like out east,” says Rebecca. “We wanted to play off that—to honor it. Cape Cod; Newport, Rhode Island; Bar Harbor, Maine; they do it really well. They have that tradition and history. As it turns out, Lake Michigan has it as well. I traveled on the cast-iron U.S.S. Badger as a kid and my great-aunt was a private nurse to one Mr. Edmund Fitzgerald.”
“We knew we wanted to do a seafood restaurant,” says Michael Peterson, the restaurant’s chef. “We spent time living on the East Coast. I love seafood; it’s what people want. We have a group that comes in for oysters. In the summer we have at least four or five different kinds. We don’t put a lot of fish on the menu—we bring it in as features. When it’s gone, it’s gone. That way we don’t hold onto it.”

SIMPLE & FRESH
“We also have steaks and stuff, not just seafood — people love our pizzas,” says Peterson. “We keep it simple and fresh — from scratch. We try to offer a reasonable price. We’re not trying to be fine dining — you could come in and have pizza and beer or a five-course meal. Vegetarians, children and celiacs — we try to accommodate everybody. We have a regular menu and in addition, on any given night, we might have four entrée features and three to five salad and appetizer features.”
Siren Hall offers Sunday brunch and daily lunch and dinner. For brunch, you can dine on dishes like Cinnamon French Toast with Praline Cream Cheese, Apples and Maple Syrup ($7.50), an open-faced Omelette with Toast ($7), Belgian Waffles ($7.50) and Eggs Benedict ($8) along with eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns and granola.
You might begin lunch with New England Clam Chowder ($5) or Fried Calamari ($8) and go onto sandwiches, pastas or pizzas like Crispy Chicken Sandwich on a ciabatta roll with capicolla, roasted tomato, asparagus and muenster cheese ($7), a 10-ounce house-ground chuck Burger and Fries with cheddar, bacon and tempura onion rings ($13), Baked Four Cheese Pasta with penne and smoked ham ($11) or a Grilled Chicken, Chorizo, Roasted Corn and Goat Cheese Pizza ($11).
Dinner enlarges the menu with made-to-order guacamole ($8), One Pound Peel and Eat Shrimp ($13), BBQ Smoked Pork Short Ribs ($21), Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes ($24) and salads like Watercress-Endive with fried egg, crispy potato, bleu cheese, bacon and vinaigrette ($10). Features might include house favorites like scallops, tuna and walleye. Desserts are simple but enticing like Lemon Tart with Cherry Purée ($6) and Chocolate Mousse Parfait ($6).

LOCAL TOUCH
The Petersons are locals. Michael grew up on Old Mission and Rebecca was born and raised in Elk Rapids. Michael Peterson started his culinary career at 14 at the Bower’s Harbor Inn and the TBA vocational program with iconic chef-instructor Carl Malin. After high school, he went on to graduate from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.
In November 1999, he moved back to Northern Michigan after cooking stints in Philadelphia and South Carolina and travel to Australia, Maui and San Francisco. “I had a job and family members in Maui, but I just couldn’t live there,” he says. “I didn’t like the weather. It was November 1992 when I met Jeff and Laura Kohl, who owned Spencer Creek Landing (in Alden). They hired me, but I didn’t start ’til April. So I flipped pizzas.”
Peterson was chef-owner of Spencer Creek for seven years. In 2001, he opened Lulu’s in Bellaire, which the couple still own.
“I feel fortunate,” he says. “I’ve had people believe in me. It’s a great career — a passion. I love coming to work every day. I’m a lead-by-example guy. You find good people and you treat them well.”
Peterson’s staff tends to stick around. Two of his chefs are Northwestern Michigan College culinary school alumni who decided to enroll after working for him. Six of the staff are students currently enrolled in the culinary program.

FOUR KIDS
The Peterson’s move to Elk Rapids (and its school system) was, in part, for their four children, Gavin, 10; Evelyn, 6; Mary, 5; and Michael, 4.
“My mother lives on the water here,” says Rebecca. “I was born and raised five blocks that way and we live in a house that I went to preschool in two blocks that way.”
“When we started it was nice being from here — to have all of our friends pitch in,” she says. “A printmaker in Antrim County, Chad Pastotnik, did our coasters. My brother’s best friend from high school, Aaron Wosek, did the engineering. Our mutual friends from high school did the wine list (Sean O’Keefe), the signage and design (Mike Albaugh) and the pieces of art (John Holdeman). I don’t feel we could have done something like that in New York City. Here there are more crafts and artisans. It’s good to have people pitching in. They want you to succeed.”

Siren Hall is located at 151 River Street in Elk Rapids. Current dining hours are Tuesday-Saturday: Lunch 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Dinner, 5-9 p.m. Brunch available on Saturday only from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Summer hours begin in July, open seven days a week.For more information, call 231-264-6062 or visit www.sirenhall.com