Traverse City’s One and Only Raw Bar

Umbo opens in May, gets settled in June, and plans to expand to dinner in July

It’s been described as the buzziest restaurant in town. The owners are working hard to make sure it is busy as well as buzzy.

Not that it will take a lot of people to fill up the premises at Umbo. After all, the oyster bar/seafood restaurant only seats 25. Just the right size, according to Sarah Welch, who owns and runs the restaurant with her husband, chef Cameron Rolka.

They wanted to create their niche restaurant in a fashion so they weren’t over-extended, but could still be profitable. “What’s the smallest we can be and make enough money?” Welch says the duo asked themselves.

Armed with accolades and experience downstate and a desire to become part of the food scene in one of their favorite places to visit, the twosome scouted around for a location. “A year and a half ago we started to look at buildings. It helped that our downstate seafood person was expanding up here,” says Welch.

They ultimately landed on a small two-story building on East Front Street that had been home to Pure Essence Salon, which they were able to purchase. They then set about remodeling it to serve as their restaurant and home.

The First Month

Umbo debuted in May, featuring a menu like nothing else locally, heavy on oysters and tinned fish.

Welch and Rolka wanted to create something they had expertise in and didn’t see in the area. “We were always surprised there wasn’t a raw bar [in Traverse City],” says Welch.

So just what the heck is an umbo anyway? It is the oldest, most prominent, raised part of a bivalve’s shell, located near the hinge. According to Welch, it’s also the story of the restaurant.

“It’s the place the oyster starts to grow from,” she says. They typically grow from a tiny piece of calcium, often from the shell of another oyster. “It’s the starting point of an oyster. This is our starting point, built on previous experience.”

Both Rolka and Welch boast impeccable credentials. Rolka has worked in a wide array of establishments, from 3-Michelin star Martin Berasategui in Spain to eateries in Detroit, leading to the high-end seafood and cocktail restaurant Mink in Corktown. Mink is a 17-seat restaurant featuring a seasonally influenced and constantly rotating selection of oysters, a seafood-based tasting menu, caviar service, and a wide selection of curated tinned seafoods.

Welch co-founded Mink and was a co-founder at Marrow, which was voted a semi-finalist for Best New Restaurant in the country by the James Beard Foundation and named one of the top new restaurants by Eater. She’s been nominated four times for James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef in the Great Lakes category, and is now running the front of the house while Rolka oversees the kitchen. Despite its diminutive size, Umbo currently employs nine people besides Rolka and Welch.

The Menu

Of course, oysters are the star of the show at Umbo. “At any point we have between eight and 14 varieties,” Welch says. “They’re high in protein, great for you.”

Welch and Rolka’s enthusiasm goes beyond simply enjoying eating them. “Millions and millions and millions are being farmed. They’re in the water three or four years before market. They’re ecologically positive. They’re a filter feeder, clean[ing] the environment,” Welch says.

She compares them to wine, noting that the specific environment in which they grow impacts their taste. For wine, it is the terroir; for oysters, it’s the merroir that affects their quality. “We think of it a lot like wine and encourage people to think about it like wine,” Welch says.

She adds that seafood isn’t the only thing on the menu at Umbo. “It’s not just an oyster bar. We have steak on the menu, roasted veggies.”

Surf & Turf Tartare features big eye tuna and Moraine Park Farm beef. Roasted Shishito peppers are served in preserved lemon aioli, and there’s the Bok Choy a la Plancha (aka cooked at high temps on a metal plate).

And there’s tinned fish. Welch explains that many specialty seafoods are only in season for a short while and/or don’t ship well. So the best way to preserve them for those in distant locales to enjoy is to harvest them at the peak of flavor and can them.

But these are not like the sardines or smoked oysters available on grocers’ shelves. There’s Tinned Mackerel from France, Regalis Cockles in Brine from Spain, and Island Creek Littleneck Clams from Cape Charles, Virginia, all served with toasted house-made bread, seasoned saltines, pickles, oyster cream cheese, and hard-boiled egg.

So among all the interesting items on the menu, what does Welch say is the best? She says it depends on how adventurous a spirit the customer has, but she’s particularly fond of the Conservas de Cambados Angulas. Which are—wait for it—tiny baby eels in olive oil. “They’re like a vermicelli noodle, simply prepared. They’re a delicacy.”

Various ice creams, strawberry shortcake, and beverages round out the menu.

The Drinks

While waiting for the restaurant’s liquor license to be approved, Welch and Rolka opted to open for lunch only. That allowed them and their staff to get the ball rolling without overstressing themselves. With the license in hand, the plan is to open for dinner service in July.

“We are catering Electric Forest,” Welch says, referring to the electronic and jam band music festival in Rothbury the last weekend in June. “We don’t want to leave the kids here alone to run the show.”

She and Rolka worked with Charlevoix winery and cidery Folklor to craft wines specifically to accent the flavors of their menu. “We made two wines at Folklor. We pair a Pinot Blanc with the oysters. We want to create conversations around oysters,” says Welch.

That’s part of the reasoning for the seating arrangement in the restaurant as well. Rather than crowd tables together in the small space, the restaurant’s interior features only bar seating. That engenders conversation among the patrons as well as with the staff.

Despite her own years in the kitchen, Welch says she enjoys her role out front. “I’m the in-between. I keep the space welcoming,” she says. “We created an environment we love.”

Find Umbo at 430 E. Front St. in Traverse City. (231) 944-2797; eatumbo.com

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