So I’m pulling back the curtain a little bit on how things get done at Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine. We plan far ahead for our feature stories, more than a year, so that we can get the seasons right on our photography. That means we are now producing stories for next winter, and yesterday (Feb. 27), photographer Todd Zawistowski and I braved the whiteouts (U.S. 31 closed) and headed up to Siren Hall restaurant in Elk Rapids for a food shoot for a February 2015 story, that’s right: 2015.
The story is about cooking with microbrews, and Chef Michael Peterson (who opened both Siren Hall and Lulu’s in Bellaire) offered to be our expert. Todd and I showed up about 10:30 a.m. and chatted with Peterson for a while in his sleek and handsome restaurant and then all got to work.
Siren Hall dining room.
Peterson made four delicious and beautiful dishes—a pizza, a pork tenderloin, some chicken thighs and a panna cotta (yes, a beer panna cotta!)—and all were amazing.
So now you can feel some of the angst we always feel at the magazine, because you have to wait, like we do, until February 2015 to see this tasty story come together (and see the recipes so you can re-create these for yourself).
Siren Hall: Chef Michael Peterson.
I’m sharing some shots from my iPhone, some of just the food, some of Peterson cooking, some random things here and there, including one of Todd Z. standing on a table to get the shot.
Enjoy this prelude and be sure to go to your calendar right now and on Feb. 1, 2015 write: buy Traverse Magazine to get that amazing cooking with beer story with recipes by Chef Michael Peterson! I PROMISE you it will not disappoint!