Vineyard Renamed, Ron's Reconsidered, Upfront Re-Viewed, Nutty Goat Replaces and NMU Re-Invented

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THE FORMER VINEYARD is soon to be Spirits.

That'll be the new name of the party store just off of Grove Street and US-41. The new owner, Ed Jakubiszyn, a former health care worker who's made a sharp left turn in his career path, hopes to have Spirits open before the new year.

The shelves are mostly empty now but they should be filled within the next few weeks.

The new store will, of course, feature liquor, wines and beer, as well as convenience foods. Craft beers will be a specialty, and if you have a particular wine you like, Jakubiszyn says he'll find it for you and order it.

You'll notice the interior has been totally re-done. It's fair to say, the Vineyard, for all its charm and familiarity, was seriously due for an updating.
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NOT SO FAST on the re-locating of Ron's Taco Shop to downtown Washington Street.

It was scheduled to reopen earlier this month after a kitchen was installed, but the owner of the property reports a problem or two has arisen with the new tenant.

The deal's not dead, but it is uncertain at this point, according to the owner.

Ron's, meantime, has gone silent on its Facebook page. The last update, provided on November 9th, reported that "the reopening...will be coming soon!"

Stay tuned.
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AND WHAT ABOUT the Upfront?

Realtor Dan Keller reports two serious potential buyers, one from the U.P., the other from downstate, both with a background in food service.

Their engineers and architects have toured the premises trying to determine what might be done to the property and at what price.

No offers yet. The price of the property remains at $3.9 million.

In the meantime, more than 40,000 square feet of space downtown remain vacant, including the city's best banquet facility. Marquette's tourism industry will suffer as long as that space remains unused.
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THIS NATION'S BEST university-based invention program may well be the one just established at Northern Michigan University.

Invent @ NMU opened up a month ago at the corner of Presque Isle and Fair Streets. Founding Director Dave Ollila is the guy in the charge.

You may know Ollila as founder of Viosport. He popularized helmet-cams and invented back country skis. He started a video-sharing service five years before YouTube started up. He's got 12 patents. He knows a little something about making things.

And that's what Invent @ NMU is all about: making things. Widgets.
Hardware. You got an idea? Say, maybe a device to improve a golfer's putting stroke or a pan that never burns fried eggs? Then bring it in to Invent @ NMU.

The staff, consisting of Ollila and NMU students, will do the research and analysis and tell you whether your invention already exists, whether there's a market for it, and whether you'd be able to produce it at a cost-efficient price.

They'll charge you, but it'll be a helluva lot less than you'd pay otherwise, and they'll save you money--and anguish--on an invention that had no future.

Sixteen inventors have walked through the doors of Invent @ NMU so far. Ollila says if two of them actually brought their invention to market, that would be a good percentage.

All inventors, even Thomas Edison, have experienced many more failures than successes. But all you need is one.
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FOR A TOWN that already has more restaurants per capita than most other Michigan municipalities, Marquette's cup continues to runneth over.

You ready for the Nutty Goat?

Yep, that's the name of the coffee house-diner replacing the old Huron Earth Deli on Third Street. Sometime next month is the anticipated opening date.

A young couple with limited restaurant experience is diving in headfirst with a restaurant that will offer breakfast (crepes, anyone?), lunches (sandwiches and such), and dinners (tapas, maybe), as well as coffees, teas and juices.

Good, healthful, wholesome foods. Farm-to-table. Who, besides McDonalds and Burger King, isn't promising farm-to-table these days?

The new owners will be working hard and long (they're the only employees so far) to make the place welcoming and comfortable. Stop by in a month or so to say hello and to sample their crepes, tapas and lattes.
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QUICK! WHERE'S THE only barbeque restaurant in town?

Not the Union Grill. It closed down a few weeks ago.

No, it's Rollin' Smoke, a tiny drive-through on Wright Street that used to house Cruise n' Coffee. It's in a near-invisible location, now that most of the Wright Street traffic takes the little bypass to and from US-41.

The business plan, devised by owners Tom and Vanessa Curry, is a little different, as well. They close down between  July and September while they hit the road for festivals, fairs, parties and other events that have proven much more lucrative than their drive-through business on Wright Street.

They're now open five days a week. Before too long, they anticipate only three days a week. After that, who knows?

We need barbeque in town. Anybody got a spot with foot traffic or car traffic? How about just any spot that's easier to find than Waldo?

Marquette Displayed, Heavy Hitters Pitched, Rowers Relieved, and Liquor License Denied

TOO BAD ABOUT the wet and blustery weather this week because Marquette is on display before 1000 of  Michigan's movers and shakers.

You may have noticed them on the streets and in the restaurants, bars and hotel lobbies--members of the Michigan Municipal League. They're politicians, city officials and lobbyists from all over the state. Only rarely do they venture this far north for their convention.

In a very real sense, Marquette is a poster child for city revitalization and can provide lessons for other languishing cities and towns.

You don't have to go back very far--30 or 40 years--to remember when Marquette's waterfront was an industrial slum and its downtown was all but dead. Today? A brilliant and striking contrast.

The often unappreciated partnership between government and private enterprise has led the way.
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THE MUNICIPAL LEAGUE has just published  a book, The Economics of Place: The Art of Building Great Communities, and no surprise, several pages are devoted to the turnaround in Marquette.

A quote: "Today, the city of Marquette essentially owns and controls its entire waterfront, a fact that has had a profound impact on its sense of place as a scenic waterfront community."

The book goes on to praise the city's brownfield cleanup, its embrace of its historical heritage while welcoming new development, and its promotion of the city as an outdoors community flush with bike trails everywhere.

Also mentioned: brew pubs ("Brew pubs have just gone nuts here"), the Landmark Inn ("History and architecture buffs have made it a favorite spot on the circuit of national historic hotels"), the remarkably popular and sold-out Beerfest ("The only problem might be too much success"), and the Vierling ("They actually still walk down to the harbor each day and get the fish fresh off the dock").

We've got a lot to boast about. Now, if we could just do something about the rain and the wind. And the icebergs in the harbor on May 30th.
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A NEW CHAPTER on the city's future was being written this week at M Bank on Washington Street.

About twenty heavy hitters (annual income of $200,000 or net worth of $1,000,000) gathered to hear a pitch to become angel investors in Marquette's new Smartzone.

Angel investors invest in small, start-up companies in need of cash.

The Smartzone, with substantial financial incentives for high tech entrepreneurs, will be taking shape over the next six months throughout the city.

You like high tech? You like taking a bit of a gamble on smart people with new ideas? You like investing locally? You got an extra 50 grand burning a hole in your pocket? This is an opportunity to make a difference to your net worth, and to your hometown.
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WE DON'T WANT to jump the gun on this but it sure looks like the once controversial and much delayed boathouse on Lake Superior, near the Hampton Inn, will become a reality within a few years.

The Marquette Planning Commission and the City Commission have now approved the plan to lease the boathouse to the Upper Peninsula Community Rowing Club.

Issues may still crop up but it appears that final approval of the rezoning of the site by the City Commission is all that remains. That should come at its October 27th meeting, just before the next election which, with new members, could have thrown the entire issue into doubt.

What you're hearing now is a collective sigh of relief from the rowers who've been planning this for four years and struggling to get it through the City Commission for eighteen months.

Most of the criticism died when the UPCRC agreed to build the boathouse but let the city maintain ownership of the property.

One teeny, tiny obstacle remains. The club has to raise a paltry $600,000 over the next few years to build the boathouse. Here's a guess: these women (and the club, for some reason, is mostly women) will do it ahead of schedule. They're a smart, tenacious, and well-connected bunch.
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SO YOU STILL can't order a Corona with your burrito at Sol Azteca?

Nope. Management at the Mexican restaurant which opened since last winter (sans alcohol) bought a liquor license a few months back from a Gwinn business, but has still not gotten state approval to actually sell liquor.

The food's been good and inexpensive but management is frustrated because they're losing money. They say several tourists have sat down to order, then gotten up and left upon learning that alcohol wasn't on the menu.

Here's the back story. Sol Azteca management has gone to State Representative John Kivela looking for help. Kivela inquired and learned the Liquor Control Commission has denied the restaurant's application for a liquor license. No reason was given to Kivela.

Now the license denial is going through the appeal process. No word yet on when that will be completed.

So Sol Azteca has a liquor license but they can't use it, at least not yet.

In the meantime, they'll ply you with soft drinks and water. Yum.
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CONTRARY TO EXPECTATIONS a few months ago, the tiny but much loved Huron Earth Deli on South Third Street is still open.

The owner thought she would close down and complete the sale of the building to an out-of-state couple within a few weeks.

It's taken longer than anticipated but the sale is still going to happen. Meantime, Huron Earth Deli's doors are still open with a limited inventory, including its near legendary crawfish chowder.

The new owners, by the way, will be also operating a food-related business on the site. That's good news for the neighborhood, certainly a better choice than a dental office or an auto supply shop. Or a bar.


You got news? Email me at briancabell@gmail.com

If you want to receive Word on the Street when it's posted, go to Word on the Street by Brian Cabell on Facebook and  "like" it.

Golf Course Is Out, Coast Guard Is Out to Lunch, and Huron Earth Deli Will Serve Lunch No Longer

LOOKS LIKE WE can cross one of Duke LifePoint's options off the list.

The Marquette Golf Club Board Wednesday morning voted to cut off all negotiations with DLP regarding a possible location for the new Marquette General Hospital.

Duke LifePoint, at last word, had been considering half of the Heritage course as one of its three options for relocation. But communication between the golf club and DLP over the last few weeks had gone silent and DLP's last offer to the club had been woefully inadequate.

Not only that, but the ongoing negotiations and gossip had upset the club membership and some of the surrounding neighbors. So, the board said, Enough.

Which apparently leaves DLP with two sites left on its list: 1) the 42 acres behind the Westwood Mall in Marquette Township, and 2) the Roundhouse property on the western fringe of downtown Marquette.

Maybe there's some unpublicized, darkhorse candidate out there. Who knows? We should have an answer by the end of this month.
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REMEMBER THAT GREAT property trade that Marquette made with the US Coast Guard several years back?

You know, the one in which the city got almost nine acres of coastal property for a public park, and the Coast Guard, in return, received one and a half acres on which to build their fancy new station.

Worked out great. The Coast Guard immediately built their $5 million, 6000 square foot facility in 2009 and opened it up to rave reviews, and the city...well...uh...the city...well, it seems that the city, you know...

The city still doesn't have squat.

Five years later, the city still doesn't have ownership of the property. It's fenced off. "No trespassing" signs abound.

Why the delays? Last year's government shutdown is one supposed reason. Whatever. That reason's getting old.

The government has determined that before the city takes ownership, the lighthouse and the other buildings on the property need to be repainted to encapsulate the old lead-based paint. Okay. That should take...what?...two or three weeks?

The real reason for the delay apparently is government bureaucracy. Despite pressure from our elected representatives, the Coast Guard clearly has not made this a priority. We all love the Coast Guard and appreciate what it means to Marquette, but clearly five years should be more than enough time to complete a deal. A deal was made and a promise was made but neither so far has been honored.
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HOW WOULD YOU like to work 70 hours a week and not earn a paycheck?

Welcome to the world of Andrew Sear, the owner and chef at Paladino's Café at the Peter White Public Library.

He, along with a tiny staff, has been at it for three months now turning out what most consider to be remarkably tasty and inventive food. Eclectic. Fusion. Local produce, local meat. Farm-to-table.

Problem is, it's a tiny café with a limited clientele and limited revenue even as its catering business grows. Thus, so far no paycheck for Sear. He's paying the bills, that's all.

So what's the plan?

He's looking to grow--start another Paladino's, a larger café-deli, preferably in Marquette but he's not ruling anything out. He's looking for investors, people with money who believe in his food and his vision. That hardly makes him unique, but you can't fault him for trying and dreaming and working 70 hours a week.

This week's special, by the way, is the Hot Mess which includes roasted pork, pickled red onions, kimchee, Michigan brie and bread. Yeah, that would be fusion. And eclectic.
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NOT TO PLAY middle man in all this, but a venue Sear and his angel investors might be considering is the building on Third Street currently housing Sweet Basil and MacDonald's Music Store.

If you passed by in the last week, you couldn't help but notice the For Sale sign on the building. The sign is roughly the size of a minivan.

Great location. It also includes four apartments. Two showings so far. $349,000.

As for Sweet Basil, business owner Shelly Morley says she'll either stay in the current location, or move it elsewhere in town if the new building owner asks her to move. But Sweet Basil, which has built a substantial catering business over the years, is not going away.
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ON THE OTHER hand, the Huron Earth Deli on South Third Street is going away.

The little café and deli tucked away into a mostly residential neighborhood is shutting down a week from this Friday. A shame. Good, wholesome high quality food here.

What this tells you is that even if you work hard and offer a great product, the profit margin in the restaurant business is tiny, sometimes non-existent. For every Vango's, there are a dozen good restaurants that go under within a couple of years.

The Huron Earth Deli building is up for sale at $325,000, but there appears to be a very interested owner from out-of-state. Another restaurant? We'll have to wait and see.
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THE BAYOU IN Harvey is now brewing its own suds under the brand name Chocolay River Brewery.

After a series of delays, the beer is now flowing under the direction of brewmaster Grant Lyke.

Here's what they have to offer so far:
   Bayou Blonde Ale
   Blueberry Wheat
   Gitchigoomie Black Ale
   Shot Point Wheat
   Rock Cut American Pale Ale

Needless to say, a distinctly local flavor.

You got news? Email me at briancabell@gmail.com

If you want to receive Word on the Street as soon as it's posted, go to "Word on the Street by Brian Cabell" on Facebook and  "like" it.