Today we have a very fun episode highlighting one of the country’s emerging culinary cities: Traverse City, Michigan. Located in Northern Michigan near the stunning shores of Lake Michigan, Traverse City has a restaurant and wine scene that attracts visitors from around the globe. And this August marks the debut of the Traverse City Food & Wine, running August 20–24. In this episode, we speak with some of the people who make Traverse City such a special place.
First up we speak with Sarah Welch, a Top Chef finalist who ran the acclaimed restaurant Marrow in Detroit before moving to Traverse City to open a forthcoming restaurant with her husband, Cameron Rolka of Detroit’s Mink. Next, we hear from Traverse City Food and Wine director Whitney Waara about the amazing event, with a lineup of chefs including Tyler Florence, Ji Hye Kim, Mei Lin, and Kate Williams. To close, we learn about Traverse City’s growing wine region from Patrick Brys of Brys Estate Vineyard and Winery.
Matt Rodbard is the editor in chief of TASTE and the author of Koreaworld: A Cookbook, Koreatown: A Cookbook, a New York Times Bestseller, and Food IQ, a Publishers Weekly Bestseller and winner of a 2023 IACP Cookbook Award (Food Issues & Matters)