A Showcase of Restaurants

Sept. 18, 2015

Following are abbreviated versions of the seven restaurant showcases we've featured since our last RestauranTour issue. Bon Appetit!

The Glenwood

Onekama

Open May through October, the opening of this seasonal restaurant is considered a sign of spring to folks around Onekama and Manistee.

"Distinctive dining, prepared to your liking," is the motto.

Over the building’s hundred-year history, it has been a summer lodge, a hotel and a restaurant. The spacious front porch overlooks Portage Lake and is always sought by customers wanting to see the sunset over the water.

On The Menu: Popular beef choices include grilled teriyaki filet mignon, porterhouse served with sautéed mushrooms, and the blue cheese filet mignon, a grilled 6-ounce tenderloin in a blue cheese cream sauce and topped with crumbled blue cheese.

The Glenwood’s seafood selection features parmesan-topped whitefish (from Carlson’s of Leland), a tall tower of battered and deep-fried perch filets, and grilled salmon topped with cucumber sauce.

Signature Items: The most popular item on the menu is the almond battered shrimp. It begins with jumbo shrimp, fried to a golden hue, then blanketed in almond shavings.

The Glenwood gets its twice-a-week shipment of fresh fish flown in overnight from Hawaii. The Glenwood’s famously impressive dessert tray features more than a dozen rotating choices.

Steak dinners start at $19, seafood meals at $22, pasta dinners at $14. Meal-sized salads begin at $8. The Glenwood opens for dinner only at 5pm, seven days a week, from May 1 through October.

Contact: The Glenwood is located at 4604 Main Street in Onekama. For more information, visit glenwoodrestaurant.com or call call (231) 889-3734.

River Rock Grille

Indian River

With Chef Mathew Martin’s focus on "fine rustic dining," the River Rock is quickly becoming one of those outof-the-way places that’s well worth a drive.

Capitalizing on Indian River’s woodsy, outdoorsman-friendly surroundings, the restaurant features an impressive fireplace with a stone hearth, sturdy tables made from finished rough-cut wood, and chairs made from birch. The quiet dining room shares space with the livelier outdoor patio and a separate bar/lounge area.

On the Menu: River Rock house specialties are seafood and steaks, with emphasis on the former. The lunch menu adds creative sandwiches, from the standout Perchwich to cod tacos with house-made slaw on tortillas to the Wolverine sandwich: a towering ham, cheese and veggie concoction on a fresh hoagie bun.

"Our goal is to bring great food to Indian River for anyone," Martin said.

Signature Item: The restaurant’s signature seafood dish is Chef Martin's authentic New Orleans Black Pot Seafood Gumbo, a sort of Creole stew from flavored stock, shellfish and a special roux (a French soup base of flour and fat).

Martin’s Gumbo is loaded with lobster meat, crab and shrimp. He even adds an extra pound of seafood to each batch right before serving, so it’ll be extra fresh.

Contact: The River Rock Grille is located at 4653 Straits Hwy in Indian River. For more information, visit riverrockgrille.com or call (231) 238-2103.

Northern Table

Boyne City

Boyne City’s newest restaurant is housed in one of the oldest buildings in the community, the refurbished Bellamy Opera House. Northern Table opened its doors in early May with the goal of providing top quality farm-totable fare.

A full selection of wines and liquors are available, as well as 14 craft beers.

On The Menu: Visitors can munch on an assortment of small plates, including parmesan churros, trout bites and bison meatballs.

Northern Table’s lunch menu features some seldom-seen items, such as organic short rib sliders, a cauliflower bisque and a bison patty melt.

Northern Table’s dinner menu includes most of its lunch selections, plus six entrees, including bacon-wrapped bison meatloaf, a veggie-cheese garden lasagna and sweet potato cannelloni filled with eggplant and white beans.

Signature Item: The most popular buntopper is the Burger Stack, which starts with the guest’s choice of a one-third pound patty of beef, ground turkey, bison or a housemade bean veggie burger.

Small plates are priced from $4 to $15.

Lunch soups are $6 to $7, while salads range from $6 to $12. Sandwiches are $8 to $12 and burgers $9 to $12. Dinner entrées range from $17 to $26. Northern Table is open seven days a week from 11am to 9pm.

Contact: Northern Table is located at 220 S. Lake Street in Boyne City. For more information, visit northerntableboyne.com or call (231) 459-4487.

The Paper Station Bistro

Harbor Springs

When Mary Ellen Hughes retired and closed beloved Mary Ellen’s Place – a part of downtown Harbor Springs since 1928 – no one knew what would happen to the building. Mike and Tawna Naturkas are revitalizing the space into something new, while honoring the old. They’ve crafted bistro-style seating with a front that opens to reveal an open-air restaurant in warm weather.

On The Menu: Paper Station’s food is a definite 180 from soda fountain fare. Breakfasts will showcase a wide range of egg selections, including omelets that can be rolled into burritos.

Appetizers and small plates include Paper Station’s unique Two-Bite Tostadas with pork or chorizo; truffle fries; hand-dipped onion rings with chipotle or BBQ sauce; and pankocrusted Wisconsin cheese curds.

If you’ve still got room for lunch or dinner, Paper Station can oblige with their grilled Reuben from house-made corned beef and apple kraut on marble rye or their Double-Decker BLT.

Signature Items: Their selection of craft burgers includes the Top Shelf Wagyu beef burger, the classic Station Burger and the Black Bean burger with avocado and jack cheese.

Contact: Paper Station Bistro is located at 145 E. Main Street in downtown Harbor Springs. For more information, visit paperstationbistro.com or call (231) 262-4680.

JR's Hometown Grill and Pub

Petoskey

One of the newest restaurants on the Petoskey scene encourages you to round up the whole family to enjoy food with a unique Western flair.

On The Menu: Breakfast starts with egg sandwiches on Texas toast, Country Eggs Benedict with gravy and the Angry Burrito featuring scrambled eggs, sausage, tomatoes, onions and jack cheese in a tortilla with spicy ahogada sauce.

Appetizers at JR’s heat things up via Black ’N Tan onion rings, fried pickles and house favorite chicken wings in your choice of sauce.

For lunch and dinner, meals for meat lovers are JR’s focus. Ribs are a menu highlight, slow-roasted and smothered in barbecue sauce. If it’s Mexican food you’re looking for, you’ll find a whole page of platters.

Signature Items: JR’s prides itself on steaks a cut above the rest, using only Angus beef.

"Our meat does not come in frozen," General Manager Loretta Monusko said. "And we don’t use preservatives. We cut our own, fresh, including our New York strip steaks."

Breakfast starts at $2.99, appetizers start at $3.49 and soups at $2.99. Burgers start at $8.79, steaks at $12.99 and south of the border platters run $8.99–12.99. A special senior citizens menu is also available.

Contact: JR’s Hometown Grill and Pub is located at 1301 Spring Street in Petoskey. The restaurant is open from 7am until 10pm Monday through Thursday, until 11pm Friday and Saturday, and until 9pm on Sunday. For more information, visit jrsgrillandpub.com or call (231) 881-9144

That French Place

Charlevoix

Can’t make it to France? Pas de problème! A new creperie and ice cream emporium is the next best culinary thing.

On The Menu: The crepes are made two different ways, traditional (buckwheat on the griddle) and Americanized (flour in the pan). Whichever you prefer, you can’t lose; they’re all made with fresh ingredients like eggs from the Berrou’s farm, plus veggies from the local farmers markets.

The gourmet ice cream uses local ingredients, too, including milk and cream from the Shetler’s herd of 40 cows grazing right in Kalkaska.

Signature Items: In the crepes department, café customers love both sweet and savory flavors. Banana Nutella tops the dessert crepes list, while the savory winner is a more complex mix of aromas and textures.

"The most popular savory crepe is, by far, our spinach and mushroom," co-owner Brian Freund said. "You can get it with Swiss or feta cheese and it’s seasoned with garlic and fresh herbs."

And what about the top ice cream flavors?

"Our salted caramel would be the bestseller, and then the darkest chocolate ever," said Freund.

Ice cream starts at $5 per cup (up to three flavors/cup), crepes start at $3.50, sandwiches at $7. Beverages include local Northwoods Soda, Perrier, French lemonade, tea and coffee.

Contact: That French Place is located at 212 Bridge Street in Charlevoix. They are open Monday–Saturday from 7am–9pm and Sunday from 8am–9pm. For more information visit them on Facebook or call (231) 437-6037

Chee Peng

Charlevoix

New owners have redesigned the space and blended several complementary cuisines to better connect the local favorite to Asian culture.

On The Menu: The menu offers Chinese, Thai and Japanese selections, beginning with the appetizers, which range from egg drop soup to fresh-made egg rolls.

Chinese entrees feature Mongolian Beef and Almond Boneless Chicken. Japanese sushi is offered alongside Chee Peng’s Japanese Chicken, a crunchy flash-fried chicken dish.

If you prefer Thai fare, Chee Peng has that, too.

"We offer a Massaman Curry and our Pad Khing Ginger, which is your choice of meat stirred with vegetables and both Thai black sauce and Pad Thai red sauce," said coowner Toui Thao.

Signature Item: Chee Peng’s Peanut Butter Pad Thai arrives drenched in a curry sauce simmered for up to six hours, then cured overnight. The Pad Thai is served with your choice of tofu or meat and features fried noodles.

There’s only one dessert on Chee Peng’s menu, but that’s because one dessert is all they need. Their Thai Toasted Coconut Ice Cream is made in-house with real coconut milk and coconut meat.

Lunches are all $8 flat, including the buffet, with the exception of added special items, such as shrimp, which are $1 more. Appetizers start at $2, dinners start at $11 and their coconut ice cream is $3.

Contact: Chee Peng is located at 1411 Bridge Street in Charlevoix. For more information, visit them on Facebook or call (231) 547-6060.

Compiled by Kristi Kates, Al Parker and Erin Anderson