Rick Coates

Features Rick Coates Lacrosse: America’s New Craze?
By Rick Coates
This week, hundreds of kids from around Northern Michigan are taking to the fields for what is quickly becoming America’s fastest growing team sport. No, not baseball: lacrosse -- a sport which involves whipping a ball up and down the playing field with hand-held racquets.
That’s bringing smiles to lacrosse enthusiasts such as Wally Kidd of Petoskey. Kidd was a high school All-American at Townson High School in Maryland and went on to be a part of two national championship teams at Johns Hopkins University. He developed the lacrosse program six years ago in Petoskey and he has seen interest in the sport grow rapidly.
“Give a kid who has been playing baseball one year at lacrosse and he won’t go back to baseball,” said Kidd. “Lacrosse is gaining momentum around the country and in particular here in Northern Michigan.”
Pete Jones, who coaches in Traverse City through the Grand Traverse Youth Lacrosse Association (the group partners with the YMCA for leagues and instruction), agrees.
“We have had a record turnout of players this year and we need more coaches as we have to create more teams,” said Jones, who is coaching a group of 6th to 8th graders. “We are still getting calls from kids and parents wanting to sign up kids for the season.”
The Grand Traverse Youth Lacrosse program is for players from first through eighth grade and focuses on the fundamentals of the sport. In addition to teaching lacrosse basics, the program also has a competitive component with games and leagues.

Dining Rick Coates No Salt
Okay, here it comes; the floodgates are opening as legislators continue to justify their importance by constantly coming up with legislation that they feel will better society. A shockwave went through the New York City culinary community a couple of weeks ago when assemblyman Felix Ortiz introduced laws that would ban the use of salt in New York eateries. While shakers would remain on the tables, sodium/salt based seasonings would no longer be used in the kitchen. The fine would be $1,000 for each violation.
Ortiz’s logic for introducing the legislation is a call by the American Heart Association and other health organizations for Americans to decrease the amount of their daily sodium intact. Six grams of salt is the recommended daily allowance for an adult, but most Americans have no idea of their actual intake because most processed foods are loaded with sodium, while salt is a staple in the kitchen for chefs. Experts agree that too much salt may lead to high blood pressure and heart disease but one should not eliminate salt completely. Sodium helps your body maintain its water balance and pH and it also enables your cell walls to draw in nutrients.

Features Rick Coates If you are looking for signs that the economy may be on the road to
recovery, look no further than the Four Winns operation in Cadillac.
Literally on life support just two months ago, as the recreational
boat manufacturer was in bankruptcy, they now find themselves in the
throes of becoming one of the largest employers in Northern Michigan
and possibly one of the catalysts to reviving the region’s economy.
In February of this year, California-based Platinum Equity purchased
Four Winns and several other leading boat brands previously under the
Genmar boat manufacturing umbrella.

Music Rick Coates “Best New Band” the FunDubMentals
By Rick Coates
Sometimes great bands come together when its members are not looking
to form a band. That was the case with the FunDubMentals, the Traverse
City based Reggae/Ska /Dub band that took home our Readers Poll honors
for “Best New Band.” While this was good news in the FunDubMentals
camp, the better news came a week earlier when band member Marc
Alderman was told he would be able to return home.

Music Rick Coates Best Solo Performer: Levi Britton
By Rick Coates
If you ask singer/songwriter/guitarist Levi Britton about his life, he
will tell you that he has the best of “three worlds” and soon plans to
have the best of four worlds. Britton took home the Best Solo honor in
this year’s Readers Poll, but despite his win in the solo category
Britton is known for his band work as well. In fact, last week he was
in Chicago rehearsing with his band mates Down The Line for their much
anticipated new release Open The Door. They held a CD release party at
Chicago’s Lincoln Hall and the group is putting the final touches of a
major summer tour.

Dining Rick Coates Northern Michigan The Best for Food & Drink
Since launching the column Tastemakers/Bottoms Up columns almost seven
years ago, I have had the pleasure of traversing around Northern
Michigan in search of the “Best Of” what our region has to offer in
the way of Food & Drink. In all, I have written over 800 columns, most
of them focused on Northern Michigan with an occasional look at items
of interest from outside our area. In no way does this make me an
expert, rather a person who simply has been very lucky to be afforded
such an opportunity.

Dining Rick Coates Hanna Bistro - Final Cigar Dinner
On Tuesday, March 23, Hanna
Bistro in Traverse City will host its final cigar dinner. In that Hanna is
an extension of what once was Hattie’s of Suttons Bay, home of the first
official cigar dinner in Northern Michigan 23 years ago, it seems only
fitting to pay some sort of tribute, especially considering that these
dinners will no longer be legal in
Michigan after May 1.

Dining Rick Coates Backwoods Pretzels
Parallel 45 Enterprises launched in 2006 when good friends Gene Van Koevering and Jerry Timmer decided to go into business together to package and sell a pretzel snack that Van Koevering and his wife would bring to parties. That popular party pretzel recipe would become Uncle Gene’s Backwoods Pretzels Garlic-Dill, available at stores throughout Northern Michigan.
The pretzels literally flew off retail shelves leading the partners to develop other flavors. They now have four, including Cherry Chipotle, Cinnamon Sugar and Buffalo Wing. The new brands also have found a fan base in the region. “We always have at least two flavors on hand at Right Brain Brewery,” said Russ Springsteen. “These pretzels pack a lot of flavor and our patrons love them.”
At first the partners were able to package the pretzels locally but demand forced them to have production and packaging moved down state. They are currently looking at moving the whole production and packaging operation to Northern Michigan soon. While production may be downstate, the distribution end of the operation takes place out of Traverse City and equally important the research and development of future products also takes place in Northern Michigan.

Features Rick Coates Call of the Wild:World travelers plan a wildlifesanctuary for Northern Michigan
By Rick Coates
Traverse City native Jessica Pociask caught the travel bug early in
life. As a sophomore at Traverse City West High School, she traveled
through Europe playing the violin and after graduating early, she
spent three weeks in Iceland visiting a friend.

Music Rick Coates Uncle Kracker Plans to Bring a Smile to Northern Michigan
By Rick Coates
Uncle Kracker returns to Northern Michigan with a “Smile” on his face. He is kicking off the second leg of his tour in support of his latest release Happy Hour this week in Michigan and will perform Saturday night at Ground Zero Nightclub in Traverse City.
Uncle Kracker has a fondness for Northern Michigan; he grew up in Mt. Clemens and has a place up here where he hangs when he is not touring. Best known for collaborations with artists such as Kid Rock and Kenny Chesney, as well as his own hits, such as “Follow Me,” and a cover of Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away,” Uncle Kracker collaborated this time with another Michigan native singer songwriter JTX on several songs, including the smash hit, “Smile.”
He took time from rehearsing with his band to answer a few questions for the Express.

Dining Rick Coates Irish Or American?
Corned Beef Cabbage
While Americans of Irish descent will be whooping it up over the High Holy Days of St. Patrick’s Day, those who reside on the Emerald Isle will be more subdued in their celebration. Here in the States the day has become one of pints, pubs and plates of corned beef and cabbage. But is the latter really Irish?
Some say not. Sure, there will be plenty of corned beef and cabbage being served in Ireland this St. Patrick’s Day -- but not to appease those who live there --but rather to please the tourists.
Okay, so exactly where did this tradition of corned beef and cabbage come from? From an historical perspective indirectly Ireland, where in the 1600s beef was a scarcity and corned beef was considered a delicacy and served on Easter. It is believed that the tradition of corned beef and cabbage being served on St. Patrick’s Day evolved from Irish immigrants to America who in the 1800s were at the bottom of the ethnic cultural totem pole (“Irish Need Not Apply”) and were among the poorest Americans, so a meal of corned beef and cabbage was considered a real treat. Here is a poem by Irish poet Frances Shilliday from the website St. Patrick’s Day Myth’s:

Features Rick Coates Get Your Irish On
St. Patrick’s Day Happenings for the Irish in Ye...
By Rick Coates
When the Bun Brady Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians formed
30 years ago St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the area were simply
raising a few pints of green beer at local pubs and family dinners and
parties in the homes of the Irish descendants in the region. That has
all changed.

Features Rick Coates Celtic John: So What’s Up His Kilt Now?
By Rick Coates
It seems like a simple proposition on the surface. Simply spend $45
(if you are in Traverse City and live in Interlochen) if you have been
enjoying a night on the town with some adult beverages, or risk
getting behind the wheel of your vehicle and driving while
intoxicated.

Dining Rick Coates Chef Hermann Suhs:Cadillac’s Gift to Gourmet Dining
By Rick Coates
Chef Hermann Suhs of Hermann’s European Café has literally been the
“face” of the Northern Michigan culinary scene for the past 20 years.
His weekly Cooking With Chef Hermann show appeared on TV 9 &10 for 19
years.  For the past 24 years he has developed a reputation for
culinary excellence in the Cadillac and surrounding area with his
restaurant and by adding a deli, Opa’s Butcher & Wine Shop along with
Hermann’s Hotel upstairs.

Dining Rick Coates 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards
It has been called the “Oscars of the food world,” The James Beard Foundation Awards annually honors the best chefs, restaurants, food writers and authors. The old adage “It’s merely an honor to be nominated” does truly hold true in this case. Three chefs from Northern Michigan have received such an honor, Chef Myles Anton (in photo), from Trattoria Stella in Traverse City, Chef Randy Chamberlain from Blu in Glen Arbor and Guillaume Hazaël-Massieux from La Bécasse in Maple City.
In the category of Best Chef, 21,000 chefs are narrowed down to 200 semi-finalists (20 from each of the 10 regions of the category). The three Northern Michigan chefs are in the Great Lakes region that includes Chicago and other metropolitan markets. Only five chefs from Michigan made the semifinalist list, the three from Northern Michigan and Brian Polcyn from Forest Grill in Birmingham and Alex Young of Zingerman’s Roadhouse in Ann Arbor.