Farm-to-Table, a Change of L'Attitude, and Enigmatic Anti-Semitism

Get ready for a new farm-to-table restaurant opening up in Marquette later this summer.

It'll be called The Marq and it'll be located in the space that the much-loved but short-lived Rubaiyat occupied a few years ago, next to the Childrens' Museum.

Chef Austin Fure and three partners, all from the U.P., are behind this new culinary venture that will strive to bring as much local produce and meat to their tables as possible throughout the year, including winter. Hoophouses are extending the growing season here.

Fure, who worked as a chef in New England and Chicago after graduating from the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson and Wales University, describes The Marq as a "gastro-pub." That's fancy restaurant talk for cool, hip food and great drinks. The drinks will include creative cocktails and craft brews.

The four partners will be adding a full sit-down bar to the restaurant but, otherwise, the changes will be only cosmetic. The empty restaurant is already a great space.

The hope is that the gastro-pub will attract both date-night diners and the more casual types, taking a break from their bike rides.

What's not to like here? It's an infusion of young and local energy into the Marquette restaurant scene which would seem ripe for exactly what The Marq will offer--fresh, local food.

Anticipated opening date is August.
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Meanwhile, a few blocks away, L'Attitude (no, it's not plural or possessive...there is no "s") is undergoing a few changes of its own.

The owners, Steve and Sam Nagelkirk, are bringing in a new management team who will be starting in about three weeks.

Tommy and Elizabeth Wahlstrom, the owners of Elizabeth's Chop House, had been managing L'Attitude for the last three years but the Nagelkirks say they'll be taking the parkside restaurant in a new direction.

Most of the staff will be staying on but a new wine list is on the way, and a new menu will likely follow once the new management team gets in place.

The Nagelkirks say they want the new iteration of the restaurant to offer a more casual, friendly, welcoming atmosphere with an emphasis on drinks as well as a good but limited selection of food. The kitchen is small.

Just an opinion: the food, under the Wahlstroms' management, has been good. Diverse and tasty. Let's hope that doesn't change too much.

L'Attitude is as good a restaurant space and location as any in Marquette. Aged brick on the walls, with high ceilings, and huge windows looking out on the park and Lake Superior. Inside and outside seating.

The furnishings were recently updated and made more comfortable. The only obvious improvement, it seems, would be a fireplace or wood-burning stove to warm the place up for the frigid winter months, but that apparently is not doable.

L'Attitude should keep doing what it's doing...just do it a little bit better.
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A strange and ugly story is playing out in Tennessee but it has a distinct connection to Marquette.

Seems that a former resident here who claims to have taught English here and published the weekly live-arts magazine Marquette Jam several years ago has had a conversion to rabid anti-Semitism.

The guy's name is James Laffrey who says on his Tennessee-based blog that he's 56 and once voted for Barack Obama but now he's seen the "truth." He describes himself as an educator and journalist.

There's a lot of nasty, angry, frustrated people on the blogosphere but the reason this is relevant to us here is that, for some reason, Laffrey is spewing some of his hatred at Jason Schneider, a former city commissioner and now a candidate for county commissioner.

Schneider says he once knew the guy and Laffrey seemed nice enough. Normal. Why did Laffrey change? Schneider's got no idea.

In any case, he and another man who was also the target of Laffrey's hate-mongering, notified the police and FBI of the problem back in December. Laffrey's now being monitored by authorities.

And Schneider, who's one of our brightest, most talented and forward-thinking citizens in Marquette, is left to wonder...What the hell? What did I do to piss off some middle-aged man in Tennessee?

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

SmartZone Fast-Track, Hospital Silence, L'Attitude Makeover, and Margaritaville at Coco's

Marquette's plan for its SmartZone is on the fast-track.

City manager Bill Vajda expects to have the SmartZone application submitted to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation by May.

The decision on exactly what to do and where and how would be made in June.

And then work begins in July.Yeah, that would be fast-track.

The project will bring in and nurture new technology-based companies, something all cities dream about. The focus here in Marquette would likely be health sciences (NMU's strength) and agricultural sciences (Michigan State).

The original SmartZone in the UP, of course, is the one started by Michigan Tech. Tech, along with Houghton and Hancock, as well as NMU and Michigan State, are all playing a part in planning for Marquette's SmartZone.

We want good, forward-looking jobs in Marquette? We may have found them.
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Silence on the hospital relocation front.

Vajda says he's heard nothing recently from the site-selection folks, and Randy Girard, the Marquette Township manager, says it's been almost two weeks since he's had conversations with them.

The site-selection officials did their local groundwork a few weeks back, then retired to their offices back in Nashville. Best guess is they'll come up with their recommendation for the future site of MGH and forward it to Duke LifePoint within 30-45 days, and then Duke LifePoint will make its momentous decision.

A tidy little $290 million dollars is on the line for the two contenders for the site--the city of Marquette and the Township--along with the prestige of being home of the biggest and most important hospital in the UP.

Girard says, regardless of the decision, the Township will continue to grow at 7-10% a year. There's plenty of land, and people and businesses want to locate there. The big box stores are clear evidence of that.
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Downtown, there have been rumors that things were a little shaky at L'Attitude and Elizabeth's Chop House.

Couldn't be further from the truth, according to co-owner Tommy Wahlstrom.

Take a look at the newly refurnished L'Attitude. New booths, new chairs, new bar stools, new artwork. Impressive and much, much more comfortable.

Up next, a new 30 foot long heater to be suspended from the ceiling on the outside patio. Nice. It'll make those 52 degree days outside bearable. The heater arrives this week. Also coming up, new tube lighting and a new menu.

What's been  the impact of the new restaurant, Sol Azteca, upstairs? Not surprisingly, it's increased the liquor revenue at L'Attitude because the Mexican restaurant doesn't have a liquor license yet.

As for the Wahlstroms' other restaurant, Elizabeth's Chop House, 2013 was the best year yet. Marquette's most expensive and arguably classiest restaurant has struggled through the recession years, like just about every other restaurant in town, but last year was a breakthrough. This year should be even better.

That's good news for fine diners in Marquette.
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More restaurant news.

Coco's, just across the street from McCarty's Cove and Picnic Rocks, is taking a turn toward Margaritaville, UP style. It's busting out a wall on the north side of the building, installing a 900 square foot deck that'll be shaded from the direct sun, and then lining up bands on the deck this summer. They'll play Thursday through Sunday.

They're also considering bringing in a few truckloads of sand and setting up a volleyball court on site.

And they're starting a remodeling of their bar this month.

Finally, it seems, Coco's is taking advantage of its unique and attractive location just across the street from the beach.
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You may have noticed that Fox UP, TV6's junior partner in the WLUC duopoly, has a new anchor, just in from the University of Maryland.

He's Ben Oldach. He's young but he has a pleasant look with a nice voice and carries more authority than you might expect from a rookie. His hairdo, featuring a big wave on top along with sideburns, seems a little retro, but hairdos come and go every half century or so.

The Fox UP newscast, at 10 pm, has never drawn much of an audience. It's actually pretty good and it features an early dose of meteorologist Karl Bohnak if you don't feel like waiting up until 11 pm.
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Overheard at Babycakes this week: a job interview with an NMU graduate who went on to get his PhD at the University of Leeds in medieval history.

He's back in town hoping to land a job as a barista.

The message here? We need (and value) baristas more than we need medieval historians.


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