Lynda Wheatley | Author
Crepes & Co. Savory Crepe
Aug. 4, 2018
We’re not sure there’s a better way to improve your hyper-rushed morning than ordering up a crepe stuffed with ham, cheese, and egg — scrambled or sunny — at French chef Vanessa Grasset's Crepes & Co. Freshly made far faster than any drive-thru McBreakfast...
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Montmorency Cherry Juice Box
June 28, 2018
So you’ve heard for years that drinking the juice squeezed from tart cherries eases muscle pain, soothes arthritis aches, and makes your heart healthier. And maybe you’ve dutifully popped a couple tablespoons in a glass, added water, and slugged some down each morning. Well, S...
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Bacon Habanero Tortilla Chips
June 23, 2018
There’s a picky person in every Up North party crowd. And if yours has a dieter, a vegan, or a gluten-free, GMO-hating, Mexicali-loving bacon addict, just serve a sack of Late July Snacks’ Bacon Habanero tortilla chips, and you’re golden. Probably the least offensive but...
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Oloves
June 16, 2018
It’s a cruel irony that bathing suit season happens to coincide with the absolute best time of year to sit outside and sip wine. (A six-ounce glass will run you about 115 to 150 calories, but let’s be honest: With this scenery, who stops at a single glass?) Luckily, Chateau Ch...
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High Five Spirits' Mi Senorita Vodka Rita
June 9, 2018
We swear, it’s not only High Five Spirits’ gorgeous presentation of its Mi Senorita Vodka Rita that had us swooning. (But seriously, who wouldn’t fall hard for a chilled copper vessel cut in the shape of an upside-down pineapple and packed with thick rings of citrus, Hig...
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The Tonic
June 2, 2018
For ’80s kids from the Detroit-area’s eastside burbs, it wasn’t autumn without a trek to Blake’s cider mill in Armada, Michigan. Class trips, family jaunts — you filled up on all the fall accoutrements at Blake’s: fresh-pressed cider, hot-from-the-oven-...
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Dirty Thirty
May 12, 2018
You might not expect a lace-curtained tea shop to bring the heat. But the speakeasy hidden behind Traverse City’s Teetotalers does exactly that — once your password gets you permission to step behind the bookcase anyway. Inside the moody, elegant space done up in hyper-detaile...
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We Put Three Look & Feel-Better Methods to the Test
March 31, 2018
I’m not a vain woman. But I am a profoundly lazy one. So the idea of any facial treatment, no matter how pricey or painful, that promises I’ll look good without makeup, intrigues me. Fact is, I’m 43 years old. My face sports wrinkles, pimples, unreasonable shades of red ...
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Espresso Bay’s Bulletproof Coffee
March 31, 2018
It’s not farfetched to say this issue was brought to you in part by Espresso Bay’s Bulletproof Coffee, the new addiction of several Northern Express staffers. Based on the concoction made famous by biohacker entrepreneur Dave Asprey, Bulletproof Coffee is said to suppress hung...
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The Morning After
March 10, 2018
There’s only one surefire way to avoid a St. Patrick’s Day hangover: Stay home, swallow some corned beef and cabbage, then go to bed. But if you’re like most American revelers who head out on March 17, you’ll likely find that a pint of Guinness often leads to two o...
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Bradley's Braised Short Rib
Feb. 10, 2018
Bradley’s Pub and Grill might be the best-kept secret Up North right now. The cozy eatery is easy to forget this time of year, nestled as it is among the frozen fairways of the hibernating Interlochen Golf Course, but make no mistake: Under the crafty talents of new head chef Mike F...
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Mammoth Distilling’s William Tell Cocktail
Feb. 10, 2018
The only thing we like better than drinking Mammoth Distilling’s William Tell cocktail (shown here)? Learning how to make the short pour of subtly sweet and winter-spicy Apple Pie Shrub in it. A half-ounce of the shrub — a macerated blend of apples cold-steeped in apple cider ...
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Food for Thought’s Great Lakes Pear Organic Preserves
Feb. 3, 2018
Every September Leelanau County organic farmer Gene Garthe drops off a 600-pound box of fresh-picked Bosc Pears. The folks at Honor’s Food for Thought peels and dices each precious fruit, then transforms the lot into a limited number of Great Lakes Pear organic preserves. The lightl...
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The Hot List
Feb. 3, 2018
If you’re looking for love, the Northern Express this week is the right place. In honor of the impending holiday of hearts Feb. 14, we’re unveiling a hot list of single ladies and gents nominated by friends, family, or coworkers, and whittled down by the Express staff. All hav...
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Opioids Up North
Jan. 29, 2018
This fall, President Trump directed acting Health Secretary Eric Hargan to declare opioid abuse a public health emergency. The epidemic has taken hold all over the country, reaching across age, gender, and socio-economic lines — and, as anyone who reads the headlines is familiar, ri...
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Cheboygan Brewing Company’s Blood Orange Honey Beer
Dec. 9, 2017
Brace yourself. We’ve got a helluva long haul until spring. And until those clouds crack open and daylight outlasts the dark, you’re going to have to find another source of sunshine. Enter Cheboygan Brewing Company’s Blood Orange Honey. Tastier than a tanning bed and far...
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Civilized Spirits’ Bourbon Manhattan
Oct. 14, 2017
Maybe it’s the towering 24-plate column that master distiller Mike Hall designed for ultimate purity in his spirits. Maybe it’s the vanilla flavor compounds seeping from the oak barrels in which his whiskey marinates alongside oak wood chips. Whatever the cause, the effect is ...
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5 Veggie-Heavy Recipes from the Food-Service Front Lines
Sept. 30, 2017
Restaurant chefs get all the attention. And while certainly deserved — the North is home to loads of lauded food artists, after all — the acclaim overlooks an equally admirable culinary caste, one that doesn’t face dainty groups of self-appointed foodies e...
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The Humble King
Sept. 16, 2017
Twenty-one years ago, Philip Asplund ate a turkey sandwich that changed his life. He was 46 years old. He had a degree from Michigan State University and a couple of decades experience as a registered social worker. And he had just completed a treatment program for alcoholism at Traverse ...
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The Woman Behind the Ladies Behind the National Cherry Queen
July 1, 2017
If you’re talking to Kay Relyea, the longtime director of queen’s activities for Traverse City’s National Cherry Festival, you’d better get two things straight: First, the court- and queen-making system Relyea and her team of 12 women orchestrate and oversee isn&rs... Read More >>