Foo0d fight/Epicurean Classic

Last fall after five years in Traverse City, the Great Lakes Culinary Institute at Northwestern Michigan College announced it would no longer host the annual Epicurean Classic. That sent shock waves around the Northern Michigan foodie community.
Community leaders from the mayor to tourism industry officials went to work to find a new location for the popular fall festival. They were unsuccessful and Epicurean organizers announced a month ago they were moving the event to St. Joseph (a shoreline community close to Chicago).
There has been a lot of speculation and a lot of “they said, we said -- they didn’t, we didn’t” going on as to how this could have happened. But after careful examination it appears that this was a good decision for both the Epicurean organizers and for those who oversee the Great Lakes Culinary Institute.
The real loser here is Northern Michigan. The Epicurean Classic brought a major spotlight on the region bringing top notch chefs, drink experts, the media and a lot of foodies from all over the country to the area. It shined a bright light on the local restaurant scene as well as the wineries and farms of the region.

UNMANAGEABLE
But the success of the Epicurean brought with it challenges. For the college, the size of the Epicurean became unmanageable for the facility. The Epicurean relies heavily on student help, yet half of the students have only been in the program for a month when the Epicurean took place the third weekend of September.
The success of the Epicurean also brought on more expenses, forcing organizers to look for major sponsors. Major sponsors came on board, but they wanted the event moved closer to Chicago.
So the Epicurean Classic will be no more, at least here in Northern Michigan, but many lessons from the past five years should be taken away from this experience so that future food festivals that take place here will stay here.
First off, organizers Matt Sutherland and Mark Dressler should be commended for what they did over the past five years. Their efforts have greatly helped to create a “foodie” community in Northern Michigan. Anyone who attended any of the cooking classes, receptions and dinners over the past five years knows that this event will be missed.
Secondly, the efforts of Fred Laughlin, director of the Great Lakes Culinary Institute, and his team should not be overlooked. They spent countless hours accommodating guest chefs and speakers. In addition, the staff and students spent hours setting up, cleaning up and doing dishes in addition to their regular classroom work.

A NEW FESTIVAL
But where do we go from here?
Currently there is a lot of speculation about new food and drink festivals coming to the region, including the following:
• Businesses in Traverse City’s Warehouse District have been meeting with plans of creating a major food, beer and wine festival in the district.
• The Village at Grand Traverse Commons has also been discussing hosting a major food festival at their site.
• Sam Porter of Porterhouse Productions has been floating the idea of a major beer and food festival in Traverse City. Porter started and organized the very successful Montana Beer Festival.
• Recently, the wine association of Northern Michigan received a grant from the Department of Agriculture to explore creating a food, wine and art festival the last weekend of August in Northern Michigan.
So, as these festivals begin to develop, here are the lessons we take from the past five years:
The Great Lakes Culinary Institute needs to be a player. They have an obligation to the community that funded them and they should give back to the community. It is right in the NMC Mission, Vision & Values statement:
“NMC provides lifelong learning opportunities for our communities. NMC will be the resource of choice for higher education, lifelong learning and cultural experiences. NMC will be an essential contributor to quality of life and a vibrant economy. We will demonstrate collaborative and inventive approaches to education… we will continuously improve the learning experience and its relevance to those we serve through innovation, agility and thoughtful risk-taking.”
So as the region moves forward with future food festivals, the Culinary Institute needs to step up and be an “essential contributor.” But the lesson learned is within reason. Future festivals cannot expect to hold 100 percent of their event at the Great Lakes Culinary Institute.
Also, the Grand Traverse Chamber of Commerce, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and other community leaders need to work to insure that events that are started here stay in the region. These festivals require a lot of volunteer help and in-kind resources from the community. Some in the area have felt a sense of betrayal over the Epicurean leaving after donating their time or services to making the event successful.
One issue that lingered over the Epicurean and other events that benefit non-profit organizations is whether the organizers are making money. Major events require a major investment in time, and while volunteers are important, paid staff are needed to insure the event happens. The Traverse City Film Festival is a great example of this. So the community needs to accept that future major food festivals will require a paid staff to make them successful.

CHEF’S CHALLENGE
Currently, there is another event that may become the premiere food event in Northern Michigan. The Chef’s Challenge, launched last year at Shanty Creek Resorts with little publicity, garnered major media coverage downstate and outside of Michigan.
The Chef’s Challenge will take place the weekend of April 24-26. It has a focus on Michigan agricultural products highlighting wines and beers and chefs from around the state. The event will pit six chefs and restaurants from Northern Michigan versus six from the southern part of the state. The top chef from the south battles the top chef from the north on Saturday night in an “iron chef” style cook-off featuring a “Michigan mystery basket” of food items they must prepare in one hour. Celebrity judges select the top chef.
The Saturday night iron-chef cook-off is hosted by Food Network celebrity chef Michelle Bommarito, who calls the play-by-play action for the audience as the camera crews broadcast the event on large screens. Guests that evening are treated to a gourmet four-course dinner from the Shanty Creek culinary team.
Last year’s event attracted visitors from all over the Midwest and as far away as San Francisco. This year’s event has been receiving national coverage with a write up in this month’s Midwest Living Magazine.

YOUNGER PARTICIPANTS
The Chef’s Challenge will also include a competition for high school students. There are several food and drink related sessions and workshops planned over the weekend that are of no charge to participants. In addition, culinary students from college programs from around the state will be participating in the Chef’s Challenge. In fact, chef Chris Kibit, director of the Hospitality Management Program at Northern Michigan University is one of the coordinators and is bringing several of his students. Also participating are the professors and students from the Northwood Institute in Midland and chef Chris Woodruff head of the hospitality management program at Lake Michigan College (South Haven) and his students.
Missing from the list is the Great Lakes Culinary Institute.
Organizers are looking at stretching the Chef’s Challenge out to a weeklong event next year with hosting some international tasting events and competitions in Traverse City after the Michigan-focused event takes place at Shanty Creek.
Shanty Creek Resorts has gone to great lengths to make this event work. Last year the visiting chefs could not say enough about the cooperation they were given by Chef Andrew Reh and his team at Shanty Creek.
For more information on the Chef’s Challenge go to chefs-challenge.com or call 231-535-2227.


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