Traverse City Eats

Just as promised in yesterday's post, today we cover some Traverse City eats!  When I decided to bring the Mr back here, I started doing my restaurant research.  I was looking forward to a week off from cooking and I was looking forward to supporting local restaurants.  One that immediately caught my eye was Patisserie Amie.  We have a great patisserie in our home town so I'm always down with trying new ones.

Patisserie Amie's food was delicious.  Their Belgian hot chocolate was sinful.  Their beignets were pillowy soft inside with a slight crispy shell and a little burst of steam when you cut into them.  The Peasant omelet was my favorite though the Mr's banana nutella waffle was no slouch.

When our pizza craving needed to be appeased, I knew where I wanted to go...Paesano's Pizza.  I read all about their thick crust pizza and given we were about to eat our hands by the time we got there we decided to get some garlic cheese bread (which we hadn't indulged in in quite some time) while we waited for our pizza.   This is also where we discovered Northwoods Soda and I had my first cream soda in probably 10 years.  Yum!

The guy there (owner, I'm assuming) was sooo nice and so passionate in describing the difference in Chicago style and deep dish.  It was great pizza and we took some of both home for later and I can confirm that the pizza tastes just as good cold.  Definitely a must stop for pizza when in town and yes, they have a thinner crust pizza as well.

My favorite place was the Grand Traverse Pie Company.  OH. MY. LORD!  My first introduction was our top left pic which was free on Tuesday because it was in fact, free pie Tuesday which I would like to nominate as a national holiday.  To the right is the pecan pie which was quite yummy as well.

My favorite was the lower left which was the apple crumb.  Oh man, so good.  Then they have these peanut butter cups.  I thought the Mr was going to wreck the car from rolling his eyes back in his head from food bliss on those bad boys.  I'm definitely going to replicate those in smaller sizes.

We hit Slabtown Burgers for lunch one day and satisfied our cravings for some meat...and chili cheese fries.  A rare delicacy in our world.  The Mr got the Pungi Burger (Single stuffed with Jalapeno, Bacon and Cream Cheese inside, topped with Pepper Jack Cheese, Ketchup, Mustard, Pickle, and Onion).  I got the bacon cheeseburger and we split the chili cheese fries.

As the Mr said, these are good, old fashioned burgers.  Nothing fru fru or "gourmet."  Funny thing is when we go back, I'll probably get his and he said he'd probably get mine.  The chili on their cheese fries is perfection.  It's so hard to find good chili for chili cheese fries but they nail it.  A big plus is they are very reasonable so good food that fits into any budget?  I'm there dude!

For the Mr's birthday lunch we were on the road heading toward Point Betsie Lighthouse and we stopped at this cute place called The Cherry Hut.  They had Thanksgiving dinner and I ALWAYS crave it this time of year.  I can't wait until the holiday so this was going to be a nice way to satisfy that itch.

This place could not have been more perfect for the Mr's birthday.  We're high on nostalgia and this place is old fashioned from the food to the plates to the way they serve the butter.  See that bottom left pic?  That's butter done old school in between slips of parchment just like they did back in the day.  We got the dinner version for $16.50 which comes with a ton o' food.  Soup, salad, rolls (both a small dinner and small cinnamon roll), the dinner, your drink and dessert!  For 2 weeks out of the year they have apple pie and we were lucky enough to get some.  Sweet Caroline was that some GOOD pie!  It's nice and spicy just like I like it!  There is a scoop of cinnamon ice cream and a slice of cheddar cheese on the side.  It was a great meal and we're looking forward to going back.

For the Mr's birthday we decided to go to Bourbons 72 for dinner just outside Traverse City in Williamsburg.  It was a good choice!  We got the spinach and artichoke dip with these pita chips.  It was amazing!  I know this is going to sound weird but the pita chips tasted like pizza combos.  (The little cheese stuffed cracker snacky things)  I could've just gnawed on those babies and let the Mr scoop the dip out with his hands.

I got the 6 oz filet mignon with mashed potatoes and green beans.  The Mr loves him some prime rib so he got a small one with a baked tater and green beans.  For dessert (which we weren't going to get but when we mentioned it was his birthday and they said "it's on us" why not?) we split the peanut butter pie with chocolate ice cream.  There was nothing like discovering how awesome it tasted when you'd take a scoop of pie with a bit of the chocolate soft serve.  A really good birthday dinner.  I do wish they had a separate entrance and you didn't have to cut through the chain smoking casino though.

Now to our favorite...Hoxsie's Farm Market in Williamsburg.  Not only does this place have the nicest people you could ever hope to meet, all of their stuff is top notch.  The best honeycrisp apples we had the whole trip, the best sugar cookies I've had in my life, some delicious nutmeggy (yes, that's a word) pumpkin bread which makes for yummy breakfasts and pumpkin donuts that are so soft and fluffy you could swear they were made from clouds baked by fairies riding unicorns.

I might've exaggerated the last part.

Some other honorable mentions are Cousin Jenny's Cornish Pasties (hit 'em up after strolling through Wilson Antiques next door), Dish Cafe (the quesadillas are good but I loved the jalapeno chicken soup!) and Pleasanton Brick Oven Bakery (really good ginger cookies).

Fact is, when you're in TC (or anywhere within a 40 mile radius), you're going to eat some taste bud pleasin' eats baby.  Your hips and thighs might be a little more curvy for it but worth every calorie.

Please note:  Some places like The Cherry Hut and Hoxsie's are seasonal so please make sure you check their websites for current hours before going!

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