Rick Coates

Dining Rick Coates Giovanni’s Roadhouse Prime Rib Dinner
Rick Coates 5/4/09

Giovanni’s Roadhouse in Interlochen is part of the TC Food family that includes Fire Fly, Bubba’s and Grandview Catering. Proprietors Jeff and Trish Wiltse are long time foodies in the region who have built their success on the foundations of quality comfort food and exceptional service. A few years ago they purchased Giovanni’s, and kept some of the original flavor that made the restaurant a popular destination for pre- or post-Interlochen concerts, while adding their magical touch and character to the operation.
The “foodie” movement today has many facets. One is the resurgence of standards. One of those standards making a comeback is prime rib and Giovanni’s Roadhouse does it up right. Thursday night is “Prime Rib” special night featuring your choice of an eight, 12 or 20 ounce portion. Prepared to perfection, this cut of beef calls out for a good bottle of wine and “The House” has an impressive and extensive wine list. The Condesa de Leganza Crianza from Spain hit the spot during a recent visit.

Features Rick Coates The simple philosophy of John Gorka
Rick Coates 5/4/09

Folk troubadour John Gorka has enjoyed international success as a singer/songwriter and returns to Northern Michigan this week. He will appear at the Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay on May 7, continuing his lengthy tour.
“I started this tour 25 years ago and it just keeps going,” chuckles Gorka. “I feel very fortunate to have come into the music industry when I did.”
Gorka won the coveted Kerrville Folk Festivals “New Folk Award” in 1984. He was immediately signed with Minnesota’s up-and-coming Red House Records before landing with Windham Hill a few years later. Gorka has since returned to his roots and is back on Red House with a new CD coming out later this year.
He has toured relentlessly over the past 25 years, averaging 150 shows annually and building a fan following across the country, as well as in Europe, where his tours led him through Italy, Belgium, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Switzerland and Germany.

Music Rick Coates The R. A. G. E.
Rick Coates 4/27/09
You never know what might happen as a parent when you sit down and have a conversation with your children. In Lauri (Laura Belle) Newton’s case after a kitchen table conversation with her daughter Jasmine Lace Petrie last September, they started a “revolution.” That simple conversation has caught on in Petoskey as their “Revolution Against Garbage Everywhere” (The R.A.G.E.) and is gaining momentum in the community.
“The R.A.G.E. is a community-minded project seeking to encourage creative arts, awareness, and peace by bringing people together from all walks in an open stage and expo situation. It is a ridiculously huge idea born simply out of a conversation with my daughter,” said Newton. “She came home from college so upset after seeing a video in class about how much plastic is in the ocean and how animals are eating it and dying.”
Their conversation on garbage expanded beyond just the physical.
“My daughter said something so profound that a flood of thoughts came rushing in. She said to me: ‘Mom it is not just the garbage on the ground, in the air or in the water, it is the garbage that starts in our minds and comes out in the form of gossip, reported in the media and sung in the songs of today.’ I thought to myself wow, she is right,” said Newton. “There is so much gossip out there that is garbage that is so hurtful. Gossip has become a destructive force in our schools, communities and society in general. There is so much music today that promotes negative and hate and there is so much garbage coming out of the media. It is all having a negative impact on us.”

Music Rick Coates Good Golly Miss Molly
It’s Little Richard

By Rick Coates 4/27/09

“The Architect of Rock-n-Roll” Little Richard is closing in on 60 years as a performer. Now 76, Little Richard is still putting the “Wooo” and “A-Wop-bop-a-loo-lop a-lop-bam-boo” in his music.
“Plus I still look good,” laughs Little Richard. “God has blessed me with a long and healthy life, so I plan to keep making the most of it.”
Little Richard rolls into Northern Michigan this weekend with his 11-piece band to perform at the Odawa Casino Resort in Petoskey on Saturday May 2. He brings a repertoire of songs that laid the foundation for rock-n-roll, including such hits as “Tutti-Frutti” “Long Tall Sally” “Good Golly Miss Molly” “Lucille” “Jenny, Jenny” and several others. Little Richard is known as rock music’s “great emancipator.” Some feel he is the true “king” of rock and roll.
“I always say if Elvis was the King, then I am the Queen of Rock-n-Roll,” said Little Richard. “Sure, I appreciate the accolades, but for me this about performing for the fans, it is how it all started and it remains my focus. For 60 years I have loved all aspects of show business.”

Dining Rick Coates City Park Grill Salmon 4/27/09

Legend has it Ernest Hemingway frequented the City Park Grill during his youth, where he was seen scribbling what would eventually become his “Nick Adams” stories. Since opening in 1875, the Park Garden Café (which became City Park Grill in 1997) has been at the center of Petoskey’s social scene. It continues to have a vibrant live music scene featuring the best musicians the region has to offer along with the occasional traveling band.

Dining Rick Coates A few weeks back I appeared on the Omelette & Finster Morning Show on KLT as the guest news anchor. As part of an April Fool’s prank I made up a story along with the hosts that the weather conditions had eliminated this year’s morel crop. Both Omelette & Finster played the story up and we even had a person pose as a Professor of Botany from MSU call in confirming the story. We eventually told everyone that it was simply an April Fool’s joke. Well not everyone heard that we were just joking and organizers of various morel events in the region have been getting calls asking if there were going to be morels this year.

Dining Rick Coates Michelle Bommarito Takes the Cake

By Rick Coates

Food Network celebrity chef and world-renowned wedding cake designer and pastry chef Michelle Bommarito is a ball of energy. Her friends, family and colleagues find it hard to keep up with her. So what is Bommarito’s secret to what seems to be endless amounts of energy?
“I consume ‘super power foods,’ and I eat five to six small meals a day,” said Bommarito. “I also learned some life lessons along the way that the secret to healthy living is moderation in all things, including work.”
Bommarito will be making several appearances this weekend at the Chef’s Challenge at Shanty Creek Resort. On Friday, April, 24 she will be giving a free seminar, “Eat Well, Move Your Body & Watch What Happens.” Bommarito also expects have several impromptu discussions throughout the weekend on wellness and eating healthy.
While Bommarito is most known for celebrity chef appearances on the Food Network by winning the first wedding cake challenge and finishing second twice, and most recently appearing on a new show, Last Cake Standing, she is now focusing her talents and energy on helping people learn to live and eat right by offering seminars all over the country.
“I am still making wedding cakes and other pastries but I’m being more selective on what a take on. The wedding cakes I make require me to be on location for three days as I have to put the cake together,” said Bommarito. “I have always had a passion for eating right, but at first I didn’t understand the moderation aspect of it all. I took things to the extreme.”

Music Rick Coates When multi-instrumentalist, John Ragusa and roots music specialist Hugh Pool -- collectively known as Mulebone -- make their whirlwind tour across the north next week (with shows at the Cabbage Shed, Beaver Island, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and the Inside Out gallery), they plan on taking their audience on a musical journey to the origins of rock and roll with an exploration of the great blues masters of the past.
“I think every musician starts out getting connected to songs and when they start tracing the lineage of their favorite bands and songs it always leads back to the great blues master of the past,” said Pool. “That is exactly what happened to me. I was in boarding school and came with an interest in the rock music of the day. Well, as I met other students and started listening to their favorite music, I noticed that some of my favorite songs were being performed by other musicians. Then I started doing my homework and found out that my favorite bands were actually playing the songs of these other guys.”
After a disagreement with administrators in college, he was kicked out and decided to head in a different direction.

Dining Rick Coates With the Epicurean Classic departing, the Chef’s Challenge in one short year has vaulted itself as the must-attend “foodie” affair in Northern Michigan. While the Challenge is two weeks off, organizers came up with a unique way to promote their three-day event (April 24-26 at Shanty Creek Resorts). The Chef’s Challenge this past winter offered non-profits in Northern Michigan the chance to auction off seats at fundraising events for the Preview Dinner on April 18 at the Jordan Inn in East Jordan.
This all-Michigan menu helped several regional non-profits collectively raise more than $5,000. A few seats remain for anyone interested in a unique culinary expedition. First of all, dining at the Jordan Inn is a treat in itself. Chef Joe Krumholz has a unique way of creating his menus at this historic inn located in the heart of East Jordan. Chef Krumholz allows the first havndful of dinners that make reservations to dictate the menu offerings for the evening.

Features Rick Coates There was one common denominator on the runways of Paris, Milan and New York for the 2009 spring fashion shows: Hats. In past years, the occasional runway model would appear with a hat; now it’s the other way around, as only a few models appeared without hats.
Yes, hats are in style, especially those with wide brims.
Typically, Northern Michigan has been three to five years behind the fashion trends, but that has changed in recent years with clothing designers making their homes here and trendy, locally-owned clothing stores popping up all over. So will hats be “in vogue” in Northern Michigan as well this year? The answer is yes, according to hat guru Phil Anderson.

Dining Rick Coates Bear Claw Brewery Steak Stackers
The general rule of thumb is that most places do one thing real well and everything else just okay. For example, nightclubs and bars that have live music are typically known for their music or good dance scene. Rarely are they known for their food. But there are exceptions, and during my travels through Northern Michigan I have come across many a tavern that has excellent food. For example, the Clear Lake Bar north of West Branch has some of the best walleye anywhere. The Side Door Saloon in Petoskey has great burgers. The perch on Friday night at the U&I Lounge in Traverse City is hard to beat. For years I have been heading to Happy Hour Tavern (north of Leland) for their burgers and whitefish sandwich.

Features Rick Coates Geocaching
Electronic Treasure Hunting

By Rick Coates

It is one of the fastest-growing activities in the silent sports world -- basically a year-round electronic Easter egg hunt. Geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing) started in 2000 and in the past couple of years it has taken off with an estimated five million enthusiasts in North America and millions more around the world.

Features Rick Coates Silent Sports
Michigan is missing the boat on non-motorized tourism

By Rick Coates

While kayaking the Lake Michigan shoreline during a recent blustery spring day, silent sports advocate Georg Schluender gazes across the horizon. While Schluender can’t see Wisconsin, he ponders whether or not tourism officials in Michigan will ever embrace “silent sports” the way neighboring states have.
“Wisconsin gets it. Even Illinois is doing a better job marketing the virtues of silent sports in their state and they don’t have a tenth of the resources we have here in Northern Michigan,” said Schluender. “In Wisconsin, silent sports contributes $9.7 billion to the economy annually; has created more than 129,000 jobs; generates $570 million in state tax revenue annually and contributes $7.5 billion in retail sales which accounted for nearly four percent of the gross state product in 2008.”

Dining Rick Coates Tastemakers: Food Safety Modernazation Bill of 2009 HRB875-S425
RIck Coates 3/30/09

Over the past week I have received several calls and e-mails from concerned organic farmers and others about a new bill in front of Congress (House Resolution 875 and Senate Bill 425) known as the Food Safety Modernization Bill of 2009. The fear is that the legislation could possibly eliminate organic farming, farm markets and small farm operations such as small orchards and vineyards in this country.
With all of the recent food poisonings and recalls on mass-produced items that have contained e-coli and other harmful bacteria, it was only a matter of time before Washington D.C. was going to step in and do something. But is this bill really the answer?
First, here is a brief definition of the proposed bill from its sponsors: “To establish the Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services to protect the public health by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes.”
On the surface this sounds good, but if you dig deep into the pages upon pages of this proposed legislation you start to wonder if you will be able to grow food in your own backyard. In typical Washington D.C. fashion, the wording is complex and confusing and leaves room for a lot of interpretation. For example, this new agency would establish extensive and uniform inspections and growing and production requirements for all “food production facilities,” meaning any farm, ranch, vineyard or confined animal-feeding operation.

Music Rick Coates Wynona
Rick Coates 3/23/09

She is in that one-name club, like Oprah and Bono (both good friends who attended her wedding) and is known worldwide as one of the all-time great country music female artists. Wynonna (Judd) rolls into town this Friday to the Little River Casino Resort in Manistee with a new tour bus, a new CD, and a new outlook on life.
“I feel I’ve come full circle and I’m back to where I started: an 18-year-old girl sitting on the back porch playing and singing her heart out,” said Wynonna. “I’m ready to begin the journey again.”
That journey has included a life filled with ups and downs. On the upside, she sold more than 20 million CDs as part of the duo known as the Judds (with her mother) and another 15 million albums as a solo artist. Rolling Stone magazine referred to her as “the greatest female country singer since Patsy Cline.” The rockers love her as well, as the Rolling Stones, U2 and Phish all have asked her to join them on stage.
But despite millions of fans and millions of dollars, Wynonna has had her struggles with heartbreak, eating addiction and plenty of other struggles that she has both sung and written about in her autobiography Coming Home To Myself that made the New York Times Bestseller List a few years ago.