Rick Coates

Music Rick Coates Troubled waters no problem for Puddle of Mudd
By Rick Coates
When Puddle of Mudd takes the stage Friday night at Ground Zero
Nightclub in Traverse City it will be a reunion of a couple of
survivors. POM performed to a sold-out crowd three years ago at Ground
Zero and both the band and the club have found a way to survive the
challenges they have faced.

Music Rick Coates The View from China Journalist Li Jin reports on Interlochen and the music scene
For the next two weeks Chinese music journalist Li Jin will be visiting the region. Jin is the editor of “Music Weekly” in China and is on assignment to write a profile about Interlochen Center for The Arts. Express contributing editor Rick Coates interviewed Li Jin via phone from her home in Hangzhou, China (13 hours time difference). While Rick does not speak fluent Chinese Li Jin fortunately speaks fluent English.

Dining Rick Coates Bourbon 72 Tableside Flambé
I was having a conversation recently with an employee from Turtle Creek Casino in Williamsburg who asked if I had been out to the casino lately. I responded that I am not a casino person and that gambling is just not my thing. He chuckled and said: “No, you mean gaming is not your thing; but there is so much more to do than just gaming, you should come for dinner and one of the shows.”
So I went to dinner at Bourbon 72 at Turtle Creek Casino and was impressed with every aspect of my experience. It started with the attention to detail from our server Aaron. He guided my wife and me through our entrée selections and even recommended a great bottle of wine for us.

Features Rick Coates Roseanne Barr in the house. Comic superstar headlines TC Comedy Festival
By Rick Coates
The “Domestic Goddess” Roseanne (yes, she is part of that first name club) will headline the first TC Comedy Festival this weekend. She will appear Saturday night at the State Theatre (tickets are sold out but as is the case with TC Film Festival, there will be a standby line and there is always a possibility that a few tickets might become available).
Roseanne dominated sitcom TV in the ‘90s with her show of the same name. For nine seasons she portrayed Roseanne Conner, whose husband was played by John Goodman. The show was number one in the ratings for two seasons and was always in the top eight shows watched weekly during its run from 1988-1997.
The TV show evolved out of her stand-up routine that she crafted in the early ‘80s, portraying the unglamorized typical housewife in working class America. She became a favorite on the new Comedy Channel and made late night appearances with Johnny Carson.

Dining Rick Coates Phil’s On Front Chocolate Lounge
Chef Phil Murray has been on the cutting edge of the culinary scene in Northern Michigan for the past 25 years. His Window’s restaurant was a popular destination for years on West Grand Traverse Bay and while the entrées and service were always exceptional, so were the homemade confectionary creations.
A few years back he opened Chocolate Exotica in Traverse City, featuring an array of chocolates and desserts. Recently he opened Phil’s on Front (across from the State Theatre), and Murray has picked up right where he left off when he closed Windows.

Features Rick Coates Happy ‘St. LIbations‘ Weekend
A weekend of events celebrating local brews, wineries & food
By Rick Coates
The success of two new festivals (Microbrew & Music Festival and the Wine & Art Festival) this past summer in Traverse City has led organizers of those events to offer winter versions. Toss in the popular North Peak patio party and a wine weekend on the Old Mission Peninsula and there are plenty of opportunities to celebrate Valentine’s and President’s Day Weekend.
Numerous events are encompassed in the Cherry Capital Winter WonderFest, scheduled for February 12-14 at Grand Traverse Resort & Spa, downtown Traverse City, and Mt. Holiday Ski & Recreation Area. See www.winterwonderfest.org for more details.

Music Rick Coates Tom ‘Terrific’ Knific brings his Quartet to Crooked Tree
By Rick Coates
One criticism college professors often receive is that they live within the protective walls of their respective institutions and don’t venture into the real world to gain practical experience in their subject matter. This is not the case with bassist and composer Tom Knific who is the professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at Western Michigan University. Knific has built an international reputation for himself in the classroom and he is equally impressive on the performance stage. Jazz enthusiasts will certainly want to make their way to the Ross Stoakes Theatre within the Crooked Tree Arts Center this Saturday night for the Tom Knific Quartet.
Tom Knific may not be a household name; probably casual listeners of jazz are unfamiliar with him. But he is well respected among his academic and performing peers. “It gives me great pleasure to recommend Tom Knific, not only for his superb musicianship but equally important, in my estimation, for his fine personal qualities,” said musician David Brubeck. “I could not recommend anyone higher.”

Dining Rick Coates Meet Chef Carrie Trogan
She brings a touch of Chicago’s style to Hanna Bistro
By Rick Coates
Executive Chef Carrie Trogan of Hanna Bistro in Traverse City left her home in
Saginaw to pursue a psychology degree at Western Michigan University. Growing up, she had not given much thought to becoming a chef, but after college graduation she moved to Chicago where she found herself helping friends cater parties.
Trogan caught the culinary bug and headed off to chef school. After working in a variety of positions at kitchens in Chicago and out west, her parents suggested that she move to Traverse City (where they had recently retired) and try to get a job working for Amanda Danielson at Trattoria Stella (their favorite place). Lucky for Rob Giffer and Hanna that Stella was not hiring.
Chef Carrie took time after a busy Tuesday night dinner rush to share some thoughts:

Dining Rick Coates Boathouse Restaurant Wild Game Dinner
In Northern Michigan “wild game” dinners are somewhat common fare in many homes. Venison, duck and fresh fish from area lakes make their way to my table at home on somewhat of a regular basis. Several restaurants in the region offer entrées featuring game from local fields and streams. Now the Boathouse Restaurant located at Bowers Harbor (the actual harbor, not the restaurant) on the Old Mission Peninsula puts the “wild” in their game dinner, hosting their sixth annual dinner this Friday night.
Chef Eric Nittolo and proprietor Doug Kosch have outdone themselves in creating an impressive menu of wild game “oddities” that will give most in attendance a first time opportunity to taste lion, yak, zebra and even piranha. Sourcing such exotic meats is challenging as much research goes into verifying these game items come from legitimate and legal sources. Kosch and Nittolo went to great lengths to insure all menu items came from lawful suppliers.

Music Rick Coates Ground Zero ready to rock thanks to Doug Street
By Rick Coates
After a one year hiatus, Doug Street is now back at the helm of the Ground Zero Nightclub (Streeter’s, The Terminal) in Traverse City. Street, who developed the vision for the Streeter’s entertainment complex at the age of 23 after traveling to such entertainment destinations as Las Vegas and South Beach, sold his interest in the nightclub in late 2008 but retained ownership of the property.
After a successful 10-year run of bringing major club entertainment to Northern Michigan, Street decided to look for new challenges and opened a club in Grand Rapids. He is currently opening a restaurant and nightclub in downtown Grand Rapids near Van Andel Arena.
“I am commuting between Grand Rapids and Traverse City,” said Street. “I am energized and looking to be creative in this economy to re-brand Streeter’s into Ground Zero. I don’t think that Ground Zero really had an identity over the years, this place was either Streeter’s or The Terminal; now it will be known as Ground Zero.”

Dining Rick Coates Hanna Whitefish Cake & Bittersweet Chocolate Cake
When Executive Chef Carrie Trogan took over the kitchen at Hanna from proprietor Jim Milliman (also of Hattie’s fame) she had some pretty big shoes to fill. But Chef Carrie took a different approach: She decided to bring her own shoes and create a name for herself. Along with new proprietor Rob Giffer (long-time manager for Milliman at Hattie’s and Hanna) Chef Carrie has taken the popular downtown eatery into a different culinary direction.
She has energized the menu with her creativity by blending local favorites with classic recipes. For example, her Whitefish Cake is a play on crab cakes.
“Everyone has a crab cake -- I wanted to give it a different look and to use whitefish,” she says. The Whitefish Cake has been a big hit, especially with visitors to the area. The presentation is impressive and the chunks of whitefish blended with smoked corn, smoked portabella, sautéed and roasted, make for a tasty gastronomic experience and a welcome change from the traditional planked, broiled or blackened whitefish.
Chef Carrie finishes off the Whitefish Cake with a topping of watercress and apple slaw and places the cake on a bed of rice and greens and serves it with a roasted red pepper sauce. This entrée or appetizer pairs nicely with several wines from the wine list that Rob Giffer has carefully crafted from a variety of unique boutique wineries from around the world.

Features Rick Coates The Modern Wedding ReceptionKeep it personal
By Rick Coates
In the quest to find out “what’s in,” the modern bride may be shocked to
learn that just about “everything” and “anything” goes for today’s wedding
reception. It is important to remember that this is your day and your
guests are coming to honor and celebrate with you. So the secret to a
successful wedding reception in 2010 and beyond is to “personalize” it.
Make it about you and your significant other and the reception will be
memorable.

Dining Rick Coates Homemade Food on the Fly
The Flying Bowl is located at the entrance of Centre Ice just off of Hammond Road. It is a tough location because of traffic, so getting in an’ out is somewhat of a challenge (I know, I have been doing it for years taking my son to hockey) as Hammond seems to be the Autobahn bypass for Traverse City. But battling traffic is well worth the trip to The Flying Bowl even if it is just for a bowl of their Sirloin Chili. I do not know if this chili has ever been entered in any local chili competitions but I see it challenging the best chili around.
We all have our favorite dish and mine is pot roast with mash potatoes and gravy. I learned the art of this meal from my grandmothers so when I had it for the first time at The Flying Bowl I was wondering if they too had spent time with my grandmothers in their kitchens.

Dining Rick Coates The Spirited Life
Good times flow at speakeasy cocktail bash this Saturday
By Rick Coates
Party like it’s 1929, well minus Prohibition, there are some things going
on lately that are remarkably similar to the start of the Great
Depression.  

Music Rick Coates Two Great Shows/Solas & Sister Wilene perform in TC and Cadillac
By Rick Coates
Okay, so the big venue shows may be non-existent in Northern Michigan at present, but there are a plethora of great musical offerings throughout the region this weekend at more intimate venues. The great folks in Cadillac at Gopherwood Concerts host Sister Wilene (a Patsy Cline Bob Wills honky-tonk hoedown). The City Opera House in Traverse City is not wasting any time since forming a new partnership with the MSU based Wharton Center as they bring the highly acclaimed Celtic group Solas to kick off their 2010 concert season.