Boyne Appétit

June 10, 2016

When Cynthia Boal Janssens moved to Boyne City a couple of years ago, she was stunned to find that the culture in her new adopted hometown was a lot more expansive than she’d anticipated. “I found out that for a small town of less than 4,000 people, we have so, so many great restaurants and food purveyors!” Janssens said. “The idea that all of this is in this little corner of northern Michigan just astonished me.” But while most people might just sit back and enjoy the amenities, Janssens, a former food writer for the Detroit News, took things a step further, spearheading the new Boyne Appétit! initiative to help promote the food and establishments she so quickly fell in love with.

LAUNCH TIME

Janssens is now the event coordinator for Boyne Appétit!, a cooperative effort of the Boyne Area Chamber of Commerce and Boyne City Main Street (a volunteer organization committed to historic preservation and economic development in Boyne City). Janssens joined the initiative last October. “A study was done of Boyne City and how it could be further developed a few years back, and one of the main suggestions was to promote dining,” Janssens said. “The chamber had already registered the web address ‘boyneappetit.com,’ so we had a meeting, invited all of the restaurants, and got organized.”

NEW CHALLENGES

Since then, Boyne Appétit! has been meeting monthly with Janssens and a steering committee to maintain and promote current programs within the initiative and develop new ones. “Our first program was Wine Wednesdays,” Janssens said. “On the first Wednesday of each month from 5–7pm, a group of our restaurants offer wine tastings and complimentary appetizers.” Three new brewpubs going in to Boyne City this year — 7 Monks Taproom, Stiggs Brewery, and the Charlevoix Brewing Company — mean that beer tastings are on the table for potential event coordination as well. But for right now, Janssens and crew are taking on a new challenge.“We’re in the middle of organizing and promoting our first Boyne Appétit! Restaurant Week,” Janssens said.

COOL KICKOFF

This kickoff for the summer season starts June 6, with nearly two dozen restaurants, delis, sandwich shops, food shops, and pubs participating. “Each will either offer two-forone prix fixe meals for under $35, or special packages to purchase,” Janssens said. Accompanying this program just in time for summer will be a new Boyne Appétit! dining and food guide, in which the team will expand their coverage area to include Boyne Falls, Horton Bay, and Advance. The plan is to have everything work together cohesively to promote the entire Boyne Appétit! initiative. “Having this in place and actively promoting all of it will hopefully attract even more restaurants,” Janssens said. “That’s what helps bring visitors here and makes Boyne City an attractive place to live for our locals. I can see so much potential in the food scene for this little community.”

To find out more about Boyne Appétit! and restaurant week, visit boyneappetit.com.