An Inaugural Festival Celebrates Northern Michigan’s Burgeoning Food Scene #DetroitFood

This month, one of Michigan’s most beloved destinations will debut what organizers hope will be a new tradition. At the inaugural Traverse City Food & Wine festival, Wednesday, August 20, through Sunday, August 24, attendees will explore the region’s rich culinary landscape through five days of experiences hosted by high-profile, award-winning chefs and media personalities.

More than 70 events will take place — from farm dinners and lakeside brunches, to wine pairing classes and tastings aboard a historic schooner on Grand Traverse Bay. The goal? To offer a deeper, more delicious taste of what makes the region so special.

With Northern Michigan’s cerulean lakes, 50-plus wineries, a palpable farm-to-table energy, and a diverse agricultural bounty, it’s actually surprising this sort of event hasn’t happened sooner. (Traverse City is best known for its annual, family oriented Cherry Festival in early summer.) 

Unlike massive food festivals where you’re lost in the crowd, organizers designed Traverse City Food & Wine to be more intimate, says Whitney Waara, COO at Traverse City Tourism. The Grand Tasting on Saturday, August 23, in Open Space Park — the largest event of the week — offers a chance to interact with the chefs, farmers, and winemakers behind the flavors. Tickets range from $125 to $225 per person, plus tax.

Festivalgoers will roam among tents to snag bites from local restaurants, plus wines, ciders, beers, mocktails, and also pairings, such as a crisp Black Star Farms pinot blanc with a rich, nutty raclette from Leelanau Cheese Company.

“We didn’t want to replicate another city’s food and wine festival — we wanted to highlight what’s uniquely Traverse City,” Waara tells Eater. 

The line-up of award-winning chefs is impressive for an inaugural festival, and most have connections to Traverse City or broader Michigan. 

Tyler Florence, Food Network veteran and two-time James Beard nominee, will host a dinner at Aerie at Grand Traverse Resort & Spa, where he worked early in his career. He’ll also host food demonstrations at the Grand Tasting along with Mei Lin, a Top Chef winner, James Beard Award semifinalist, and Dearborn, Michigan native who opened 88 Club in LA this past spring.

Additional talent includes Top Chef finalist and James Beard nominee Sarah Welch, who left her executive chef job at award-winning Marrow in Detroit to develop a Traverse City fine dining restaurant with husband Cameron Rolka, the executive chef at Detroit’s Mink. Their new restaurant and oyster bar, Umbo (referring to the highest point of a bivalve shell), at 430 E. Front Street, is scheduled for a 2026 opening and is on the bites roster for the Grand Tasting event.

Jennifer Blakeslee and Eric Patterson, co-chefs at the Cook’s House in Traverse City and the only two Michigan chefs named finalists in this year’s James Beard awards, will take attendees on a farmer’s market shopping trip, followed by a cooking demo at their restaurant. Ji Hye Kim, a five-time James Beard semifinalist and owner at Miss Kim and the recently opened Little Kim in Ann Arbor, will host a luncheon on the patio at Artisan.

“We’re bringing in chefs who know and love this area, alongside our local talent,” Waara tells Eater. “It’s a creative space where they can collaborate and maybe even invent something new.”

Mario Batali, who has a home in Northport on the Leelanau Peninsula, has kept a low national profile in recent years outside of virtual events and an investment in Common Good Bakery, a local business with two locations, following sexual misconduct allegations and several related lawsuits (all since settled). He’ll host a Tuscano Lunch at Bonobo Winery on the Old Mission Peninsula. Waara declined to comment when asked about Batali’s participation in the event.

Most of the region’s wineries snake up two scenic peninsulas, sandwiched between Grand Traverse Bay and Lake Michigan, just north of the city’s center. With its glacial soils, well-drained slopes, and lake-effect climate, the region works very well for varietals like riesling, pinot noir, cabernet franc, gruner veltliner, and even chardonnay, merlot, and sauvignon blanc. 

You’re less likely to see cabernet sauvignon grapes, which need more time to grow than Michigan’s short summers can deliver. That said, discussions with winemakers reveal that Michigan has gained growing days in recent years with a documented rise in the state’s average temperatures.

Some are experimenting with techniques to support more types of varietals: Mari Vineyards grows about six acres of heat-loving red grapes in its “hoop houses,” which allows an additional four to six weeks of maturation.

With 20-plus direct flights into Traverse City during the summer, and a registered festivalgoers hailing from Michigan and Illinois to New York, according to Waara, the event is drawing at least some national buzz.

“We’re seeing strong interest from locals and visitors alike,” Waara says. “This is going to be something special for everyone who comes, whether you live down the road or you’re flying in from the East Coast.”

Traverse City Food & Wine takes place from Wednesday, August 20, through Sunday, August 24; events range from small-group tastings to curated dining experiences and are individually ticketed — many have or are expected to sell out.

from Eater Detroit