Chef‘s challenge

April 20, 2008

Joe Breidenstein of Walloon Lake has been somewhat of a lone wolf when it comes to promoting springtime tourism in Michigan. For years he’s felt Lansing and tourism leaders from the region have paid lip service or worse – ignored spring tourism marketing altogether.
Last week, Breidenstein attended the Michigan tourism conference and heard music to his ears.
“A couple of the tourism council members spotted me and said: ‘We are going to promote all four seasons, and yes, Joe, we are going to promote spring.’ Finally, I feel that after all these years, they are starting to get it,” said Breidenstein.
Despite the lack of support from area tourism leaders, Breidenstein has forged ahead with his own springtime initiatives. He annually hosts morel mushroom weekends at his vacation rental operation in Walloon Lake, attracting visitors from all over the country, with his weekends this year sold out months ago. Now, Breidenstein has created a new event to celebrate the virtues of spring travel as well as the bounty of Michigan’s agricultural scene.

BENEFIT EVENT
This weekend, he is hosting the first Chef’s Challenge at Shanty Creek Resort in Bellaire. The event will benefit Challenge Mountain in Walloon Lake, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the physically-impaired, mentally-challenged, and at-risk youth through outdoor recreation. The event will feature Michigan agricultural products, wineries, breweries and distillers. Some of Michigan’s top chefs and their culinary teams will also compete in an “Iron Chef” format.
Breidenstein knows that travel trends have been changing in recent years. While tourism leaders point to the struggling economy and lack of marketing dollars, Breidenstein feels that a lack of initiative has resulted in a challenged tourism economy for Northern Michigan.
“What I have been trying to convince Lansing and others of is that we have moved into an event/experience tourism economy. We have to take a different approach because that is what our competition has done,” he said.
“If you look at our neighboring states, they are kicking our butts in tourism because they are giving people a reason to come. Those reasons are usually centered on events that showcase their regional offerings. There is a lot of competition in this business and we no longer can just say come and see us, and expect people to come, because our competition in other states is creating reasons (events), so we have to go the extra mile to get people to travel here.”

TOURISM DEFICIT
There is data to support Breidenstein’s theory. Despite the economy in Michigan, residents are traveling in record numbers, according to research conducted by Michigan State University, but are choosing non-Michigan destinations.
In fact, Michigan is the only state in the Midwest to have a “tourism deficit,” with residents spending more dollars traveling out of the state than visitors are spending in Michigan.
At the tourism conference, Breidenstein drove this point home at a legislative session when he asked panel members how many of them had traveled outside of Michigan for their spring break.
“I think I caught them off guard. Heck, even some of our state tourism leaders left the state for spring break. How in the hell is anyone helping our economy by leaving this state to spend money? We have to rethink this approach,” said Breidenstein.
“Senator Jason Allen admitted to going to Florida, saying it was an every-other-year tradition with his family. He was quick to point out that the other years his family traveled through the state, enjoying museums and other cultural offerings. That is my point exactly. There are a lot of great things in Michigan and I know other families who are taking these cultural trips through the state for their spring break and they are having a great time, spending half of what they would to leave the state, and guess what, they are helping the economy of Michigan.”

THE CHALLENGE
It is that passion that chef Joe Krumholtz of the Jordan Inn admires in Breidenstein. When Krumholtz was invited to participate in the first-ever Chef’s Challenge, he jumped at the chance.
“Joe Breidenstein has been an innovator and a go-getter for years. He invited me to participate in a culinary event at Castle Farms (Flavors of Michigan) a couple of years ago that gave my restaurant great exposure, and now we are one of the preferred restaurants for events at Castle Farms,” said Krumholz. “What I like is, Joe is creating something for us in the off season.... and will test our on-the-spot culinary creativity and capabilities.”
The weekend will include events that are free of charge, such as cooking demonstrations and food and beverage pairing seminars. Other classes and demonstrations will cover topics from fly-fishing, golf (free golf for kids), Michigan food products, morels, and cooking demos with a session on the latest in “must have” utensils.
But the heart of the weekend will be the competitions.
“We have structured this in two events. On Saturday the chef teams (four from southern Michigan competing against four from the north) will each prepare a different recipe that our panel selected. The public will have a chance to vote for the best of the south and the best of the north. The winning teams will compete in an iron chef event on Sunday. In addition we will have several Michigan wines, beers and the True North Vodka from Traverse City to be tasted as well.”

WHO’S WHO
Among the participants are chefs Jeremy Pomeroy of Island Resort & Casino in Harris in the western U.P.; Kyle Marshall - Magnum Hospitality that owns Red Mesa, Pearls and The Fish; Joe Krumholtz - Jordan Inn, East Jordan; William Read – St. Mary’s Health Care, Grand Rapids; Steve Simpson - Art Institute of Michigan; and David Hathaway - Wyndgate Country Club, Rochester Hills.
On Sunday afternoon there will be several food and drink related seminars at no charge to the public. That evening the main event, the Iron Chef competition, will take place.
“This will be a ticketed event with the public able to watch the two teams compete in a one-hour face-off with each team being presented a ‘Michigan Mystery Basket’ to prepare,” Breidenstein said. “Attendees will be served a gourmet meal that will feature Michigan wines, beers and vodka cocktail while watching the culinary teams compete.”
Chef Joe Krumholz and his culinary team can’t wait.
“Our operation at the Jordan Inn is like an iron chef mystery basket event every night,” said Krumholz. “We let the first reservations of the night dictate the menu for the evening, so we are constantly in this situation of not knowing what we are going to prepare for that evening – sometimes until just hours before we open.”
Celebrity chefs are also coming in, including chef Eric Villegas of the popular PBS program “Fork in the Road.” Michelle Bommarito, a Food Network celebrity and former chef to Michael Jordan, will participate in judging the Iron Chef event and offer free cooking demonstrations.
Tickets for the Saturday North vs. South Challenge tasting event from noon to 3 p.m. are available in advance or at the door. The Sunday night Iron Chef Challenge dinner has limited seating and advance tickets are suggested.
For additional information on the Chef’s Challenge Weekend on April 26 and 27 at Shanty Creek Resort in Bellaire (the Resort just spent $10 million renovating and has a great weekend package price for the event), visit chefs-challenge.com or contact Joe Breidenstein at 231-535-2227.
Rick Coates will be the third judge and will be offering a special food and drink-pairing seminar on Sunday afternoon
featuring Michigan foods, wines, beers, spirits and juices.