Mario Batali Gives His Restaurant Recommendations

You tweet and Batali responds.

Here are the links to Batali's favorites:
The Cooks' House
Hearth and Vine at Black Star Farms
Garage Bar and Grill
Barb's Bakery

Going The Whole Hog

This is something delicious that originated from the PigStock TC event.

Chef Mykes Anton at Trattoria Stella is now doing his own butchering and using the entire animal in his creations.

See MyNorth: Trattoria Stella, a Traverse City Restaurant, Cooks in Whole-Animal Tradition

Look, I don’t want to get too gross, but basically, I butcher all the meat and skin off the head, and then I braise it or slow cook it, so it’s basically mushy. And then I mush it up and roll it up, and it has so much gelatin in it, that when you cool it in log form, you can actually slice it. Then I bread crumb it and deep fry it. And it’s the essence of pork. It’s really rich and it’s really, really good.

The East Side

The east side of Traverse City has the Chocolate Den, The Cook's House, and Jack's Market. Now the Record-Eagle reports on how that end is blossoming.

See: East end of downtown turning into food stop

The Warehouse district is the bohemian center. East Front St. is becoming the culinary center.

What's new:
9 Bean Rows Bakery
Simply Cupcakes
and The Cooks' House is moving into the Wellington Street Market site.

Part Of What Makes A Culinarian Capital

To my way of thinking, Traverse City is a culinary capital because of the people who live here and the way they use food in their home and due to the restaurant density and how those restaurants utilize the local agriculture.

The Record-Eagle has more on how local farms and chefs interact: Area eateries find value of local produce

The Cook's House And Artificial Scarcity

In a brilliant move, Chef Eric discusses in further detail why he keeps the Cook's House small: THE plan...(part 2)

We have chosen to do away with the unnecessary expenses that come with bigger restaurants and multiple restaurants. We are only going to open 5 days a week so we may have more time with our families, which is something I have put off for to many years, and more time to just fiddle around in our kitchen coming up with new ideas and new directions. We are choosing to lose all that extra income for the sake of more happiness.

For more on artifical scarcity see Techdirt: The Grand Unified Theory On The Economics Of Free

"If Disney World had a Foodland, it might look a little like Traverse City"

Thank you Midwest Living, I think. Is that a compliment?

See: Best Midwest Food Towns: #2 Traverse City: an established food reputation

However, the population of Traverse City is around 14,000 - the region has 142,000 people. And Radish closed because no one wants to buy salad by the pound.

The article mentions that Traverse City is missing culinary diversity, and that is true, there are a preponderance of brew pubs, but with eateries such as Zakey and the Soul Hole opening I have hope that there will be a trend to more diverse cuisine.

That Cooks' House Is So Hot Right Now

The Cooks' House is getting a lot of well deserved press.

See MyNorth: A Day Inside The Cooks' House, a Remarkable Traverse City Restaurant

and Food & Wine: Michigan: In Defense of B-List Wine Country

The food scene is also dynamic, embracing all things artisanal and farm-to-table. The two-year-old Cooks' House, for instance, is a tiny storefront restaurant that serves seasonal dishes worthy of an A-list wine country, like a slow-cooked pulled pork sandwich dressed in a sweet barbecue sauce and tucked into a crusty artisan roll.

MidWest Living Recognizes Traverse City As A Culinary Capital

Midwest Living ranks Traverse City as the number 2 food town in the Midwest. Why not number 1? Because "...it's relatively lacking in ethnic options or hole-in-the-wall favorites."

A fair argument, but enough to keep TC from being the number one foodie town?

And us Traverse City residents will be surprised to see the population listed as 142,000.

See: Best Midwest Food Towns: #2 Traverse City: an established food reputation

Traverse City Restaurants And The Film Festival

Traverse City's downtown restaurants benefit from the TC Film Festival much more than they do from the Cherry Festival. Some will even extend their hours for the duration of the Film Festival.

See the RecordEagle - Eateries prep for festival crowds