Restaurant Sale, Farm Sale, Costco Rumors, and TV News Changes

 

BIG CHANGES ON the restaurant scene in Marquette. The latest? The Union Grill on US 41 has been sold to the owners of the Steinhaus, the German restaurant downtown.

 

No, that doesn't mean the Steinhaus, with a growing and enthusiastic clientele, is moving. It's staying right where it is.

 

Justin Fairbanks, the chef and owner of the Steinhaus, says the Union Grill location will be used to prep food for the Steinhaus, and also for catering and special events, as well as the processing of local meats. The Steinhaus is big on that.

 

But there's more. The new location (no name yet) will also open for lunch and will also retail meats, cheeses and specialty foods. Marquette foodies are jumping for joy.

 

But wait, there's more!

 

Fairbanks and his family have also bought the Dancing Crane Farm in Skandia. He'll now have a ready supply of local produce (though they're not yet set up for winter crops) and a coffee roaster. 

 

In economics, they call this "vertical integration." In culinary circles, they call it "farm to table" or "farm to fork."

 

Whatever, it's an exciting and possibly game-changing development for the restaurant business in Marquette.

--------------------------------------------------

 

SO PROBUILD IS closing down in the middle of November. No surprise, given the intense competition for builders and contractors at that location on US-41. Lowes and Menards are literally a (long) stone's throw away.

Now begins the speculation on who might move into that prime spot.

In the lead, early on, is Costco. That rumor is rampant. Marquette Township officials have heard it but know nothing about it. Costco corporate officials in Washington state are saying nothing about it and wouldn't say anything, anyway, until they got permits.

It does seem that the ProBuild site might be a little small for a Costco, doesn't it?

Also in the running on the rumor circuit is a Meijer hyperstore. There are 100 of them downstate. Why not one in Marquette Township?

Oh, there's also the perennial rumor about the Olive Garden moving in.

And this just in! Saks Fifth Avenue is moving to the ProBuild site! No, wait, it's Bloomingdale's!
----------------------------------------------

YOU MAY HAVE noticed the big tent that's sprouted up next to Coco's.

Turns out it's for a big Halloween party this Saturday night. Everyone's invited (in costume preferably) and reportedly at least 200 revelers are expected.

Don't worry, it'll be fully enclosed, with heaters inside. To say nothing of the body heat that'll be generated.

 

More important, perhaps, is that the tent will go up again next spring as a new wedding venue in Marquette. Coco's management says they already have two weddings booked for the summer.

Coco's, by the way, had been up for sale for well over a year. No takers at the asking price. Owner Jackie Gonda (with her husband Patrick) took it off the market a few months ago. They're staying, she insists, and expanding the restaurant's operations.

Why not? It's a huge piece of property in an ideal location, across from the beach and just down the block from the Nestledown B&B which should be opening early next summer.
--------------------------------------------------

TV6 HAS ADDED a new face to its 6 pm newscast.

She's Sophie Erber, fresh out of Florida. Welcome to five months of winter, Sophie, and by "winter" we don't mean 63 degrees and gloomy skies, we mean 4 degrees, 150 inches of snow, and occasional white-outs.

For now, she's co-anchoring only the six o'clock newscast with Steve Asplund but plans are for her to possibly co-anchor the 7 pm and 11 pm newscasts, as well.

So far, she comes across as attractive, poised and confident. The chemistry with the other anchors isn't quite there yet, but she certainly seems to have a future.

Suggestion: Don't let her be just a pretty face, a news "presenter." Give her serious reporting responsibilities. Investigative work maybe (something sorely lacking in the UP). Get her fingernails dirty.

TV6 would benefit, and so would she.
------------------------------------------------

DOWN THE BLOCK, Greg Peterson, the new news director at ABC 10, is trying to inject a greater aggressiveness into his tiny staff of seven.

Peterson, himself, is out on the streets. A few weeks ago, he accosted Congressman Dan Benishek and quizzed him on climate change. The interview lasted for more than a minute, an eternity on local newscasts. Critics might have thought it was embarrassing and inappropriate, but it did get ABC 10 quoted in the Huffington Post.

For better or worse, it's a new day and a new approach for the UP's ABC affiliate which has had a remarkably strong web presence but woefully weak ratings for its newscasts.

Suggestion to ABC 10: Trade your $37.50 news set (also known as "Flowers in a Pot next to a Pole") to Zach Galifianakis for his Between Two Ferns set. Between Two Ferns is decidedly more attractive than what you've got now.


If you've got news, email me at briancabell@gmail.com

If you wanted to be notified when Word on the Street is posted, go to Word on the Street by Brian Cabell on Facebook and "like" it.

Abortion Vigil, DDA Dilemma, Patient Golfers, and Das Steinhaus

 

Over the last week you may have noticed sign-holding demonstrators outside the Planned Parenthood offices on Third Street. They're from Forty Days for Life, an anti-abortion group. They'll be there for another month.

 

No incidents, no problems so far. Just a quiet, heartfelt protest.

 

The demonstrators say they've heard enthusiastic support from honking, passing motorists while also encountering a little opposition from the occasional, opinionated pedestrian. Nothing nasty, though.

 

And inside the clinic, workers say nearly every day, someone comes by with cookies, a salad or flowers to show support for what Planned Parenthood in Marquette does. One businesswoman has even pledged ten dollars a day to the organization for every day that the protest outside continues.

 

So it's a peaceful, respectful standoff between two groups that disagree on an extremely important issue. Kinda nice to see, especially when you consider that such disagreements in other places around the globe--like Iraq, Ukraine, Central Africa and China--frequently result in threats, assaults, jailing and even death.

-----------------------------------------------------

Let's hope the Farmers Market fracas that broke out last summer and continued into the winter is over.

A committee considering new rules for the market will present its proposals to the Downtown Development Authority board on Thursday.

Here's what to expect. An increase in the fees for each vendor, but nothing exorbitant. Last year, the fee worked out to less than three dollars per site each Saturday. It'll be more this year and, let's be frank, if you can't afford ten dollars a day for a vendor's fee, you probably don't have a viable business.

Between five and seven more vendors' sites will be opened up this year. That's good. There's been pent-up demand to sell at the market.

The set-up of the market will be different this year, hopefully to facilitate better traffic among the vendors.

Finally, (Controversy alert!!) there will likely be an opportunity for a vendor selling produce from downstate to set up at the market. This was the  issue, of course, that created a nasty dispute between Farmer Q's and local farmers last year and ultimately resulted in Farmer Q's closing up shop.

The DDA is in the difficult position of trying to please both the local farmers, who generally oppose competition from downstate, and local shoppers, who love the fresh produce from downstate.

Sure seems like the best and fairest solution is to allow downstate produce at the market unless and until it competes directly with local produce. Then it has to be pulled. Some local farmers say that's precisely what they'd like to see.

The new regulations should come out Thursday, the 13th. Applications for spots at the market can be submitted on Monday, the 17th.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you were hoping that this recent respite from our brutally cold winter was an indication that an early spring was on the way, well, good luck with that.

Weather guru Karl Bohnak says this winter weather pattern--long, frigid periods interrupted by a few days of relief--will likely continue through March into April.

Spring will probably arrive later than usual.

The problem is, the Pacific Ocean just south of Alaska is warm. That keeps Alaska warm, and in turn, keeps us cold. That's just the way it is, and it's going to stay that way.

Wonderful. Can't wait until summer arrives in September.

Something else that's notable. Even though it's been frigid, snowfall is actually down in Marquette County this winter. Like, about 30 inches below average at the Negaunee weather station.

There's still plenty of snow on the ground because the temperatures haven't allowed much melt (at least until Monday), but there hasn't been a serious system snowfall all winter. Just two inches here, five inches there. Nickel and dime stuff, Bohnak calls it. Strange winter.
----------------------------------------------------

And how's the winter affected the Marquette Golf Club?

Surprisingly, it hasn't been too bad.

Craig Moore, the superintendent for the grounds, says they've checked and there appears to be no serious ice accumulation on the course. The heavy snow pack is protecting the grass. That's good news, although winter's not yet over. In past years, significant parts of the Heritage and Greywalls course were damaged because of ice.

When will Heritage open up? Likely in mid-April unless we get another unwelcome visit from the polar vortex. Greywalls will follow a couple weeks later.

As for the persistent and pesky rumors that the MGC is on shaky financial ground, office manager Amy Burdick says absolutely not.

Three straight years of profits, she says, and last year play on the two courses was up 10%, revenue was up 5%.

Membership dues are slow in arriving, as usual. Only 180 have coughed up their money so far; there were 575 paying members last year.

Maybe when we can actually see a blade of grass poking through the snow on the course and the temperature starts hovering above a balmy 40 degrees, we'll start thinking about golf.
---------------------------------------------------------

More on the winter theme.

Marquette's new and heralded German restaurant, Das Steinhaus, has made it through the slow season. The entrepreneur and chef Justin Fairbanks concedes there were a couple of dreadfully slow weeks in January, but business through December exceeded expectations, Valentines Day was a record for them, and business has clearly picked up in the last month.

Then, there's this: Das Steinhaus has added a lunch in the last few weeks, their Sunday brunch (sometimes featuring lobster benedict) has exploded in popularity, the staff has increased from 6 to 16 over the last several months, they're now making their own desserts and their creative cocktail selection is becoming legendary.

The NMU influence is substantial here. The staff includes two NMU grads and three current students. Fairbanks, himself, attended  NMU but never graduated when he found himself cooking more than studying. He ended up getting his education at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan.

Oh, one more thing that you can't help but admire. Das Steinhaus offers 60 different beers, all craft beers or imports. You want a Bud Light or Miller Light? Sorry, they don't carry it. They'll steer you to something else.

German food's not for everybody--especially those who love fresh, crisp vegetables and lean, rare cuts of meat--but you can't help rooting for this place. It's local, it's ambitious, and it's different from every other restaurant in town.

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