Tillie’s Tafel’s Cinnamon Roll

Tastemaker

By Lynda Wheatley | Dec. 12, 2020

At Petoskey’s newest downtown bakery, Tillie’s Tafel, 437 E. Mitchell St., they like to keep things simple. They have a simple storefront. Inside are basic chairs and tables. The menu is simpler yet, containing just two items. Wait … what? Yep. At Tillie’s Tafel (“tafel” means table in German), diners can have a cinnamon roll or coffee, or both. There’s nothing else.

Now, some might think that’s a bad thing. But, rest assured, each cinnamon roll ($5), satisfyingly weighty and slathered in a decadent cream cheese frosting, is fresh-baked that day, using a decades-old recipe, of which neither the ingredients nor the process have ever changed.

Let’s face it: If a restaurant or bakery has only a single, solitary item on their food menu, it’s safe to assume that dish will be spectacular. Tillie’s Tafel’s cinnamon roll definitely hits the mark, with a dough containing local, farm-fresh eggs and treated with a three-rise process. One batch takes four hours to produce, meaning Tillie’s can currently only produce one batch of cinnamon rolls daily. So far, those have been selling out by noon daily.

So, it’s unclear why you’re still sitting here reading this when you could be waiting for your authentic cinnamon roll at Tillie’s Tafel. Find out more by visiting www.tilliestafel.com.