A lifelong foodie, Diana Milock, picks her favorite foods at Northern Michigan restaurants. Milock splits her time between Torch Lake, downtown Traverse City and Portland, Oregon. A devoted home cook, Diana finds inspiration from her annual forays to international food capitals like Florence, Lima and Paris.
Charcuterie Plate
Lobdell’s // 715 East Front Street // Traverse City 231.995.3120 Cured-meat and garde manger guru Chef Bob Rodriguez directs his culinary students in the creation of rillettes, terrines and saucissons that change with the seasons.
The Dessert Case
Patisserie Amie // 237 Lake Avenue //  Traverse City 231.922.9645 Resident pâtissière April Sisco stocks Amie’s sweet menagerie with classic French confections like apricot tartes, pain au chocolat, pistachio macaroons and eclairs, to name a few.
Fried Green Tomato Cobb
Lulu’s Bistro // 213 North Bridge Street // Bellaire 231.533.5252
Lulu’s stylizes soul food with Werp Farms frisée, smoked
salmon, avocado, soft-boiled egg and the eponymous ingredient drizzled with green goddess dressing.
Brioche
Nine Bean Rows // 5441 N. Overlook Rd. // Northport It’s that unspeakably sublime French fusion of egg yolks, butter, flour and yeast baked into an airy golden bauble. Go at it Jacques Pepin–style with sweet cream butter and apricot jam.
Mac & Cheese with Duck Confit
Bistro Fou Fou // 118 Cass Street // Traverse City 231.421.6583 An old-school continental macaroni gratin with béchamel, gruyère, mustard and crunchy breadcrumbs served with a duck leg quarter slow-cooked in its own fat and then seared crispy. Tasting is like winning the lottery on your birthday.
Coconut Cream Pie
Grand Traverse Pie Company // 525 West Front Street // Traverse City 231.922.7347 Rich flaky crust underpins a sweet catharsis of coconut custard, whipped cream and toasted coconut topping. Pair with Higher Grounds coffee.
Watch as Jenny Buechel visits 2013 Best Eats locations and chats up chefs about techniques and secrets.
Hungry yet?
We were. And being conveniently located in downtown Traverse City, the MyNorth staff stepped out for a day of eating. Check out our video tour of 6 stops featured in Traverse Magazine‘s Best Eats 2013.
Have more!
Don’t miss the other 36 picks from local Northern Michigan foodies—including 8 from Chef Mario Batali:
Get the issue.
These 41 food finds are featured in the March 2013 issue of Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine. Pick up your copy today at ShopMyNorth.com.