THIS Saturday marks the last weekend in June and one of our favorite events of the summer– The Traverse City Wine & Art Festival. The day is quickly approaching, and all of us at TLD are really looking forward it. We can’t wait to sip on the incredible wines of leelanau county, and even more, enjoy them paired with some amazing food.
Delicious fare is being prepared for guests by connecting the farmers who grow our food and the restaurant chefs who love to cook with it. For this event, the festival has committed to being a “Certified Local Food Event” and TLD has been leading this initiative by working directly with the restaurants, farmers and producers who will be present at the event.
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The Local Food Event certification ensures local ingredient sourcing, sustainable food vending practices, zero-waste initiatives and more.” shares Tricia Phelps, Operations Director at TLD. “Guests can feel comfortable knowing that the organizers are making a sincere commitment to supporting the local community.”
TLD has arranged for five local restaurants paired with local farms to share their food at the wine festival, along with some incredible local producers of delicious desserts as well. The array of vendors is unique, with each bringing a little something special to the festival.
Here’s a little bit more about what to expect:
Martha’s Leelanau Table paired up with Meadowlark Farm.
Martha’s Leelanau Table is located in Suttons Bay and can be best described as a European-style cafe with entrees made from scratch, including delicious pastries. Meadowlark Farm provides shares of certified organic vegetables, cut flowers, and herbs from their 20 acre farm in Leelanau County. Farm owners, Jenny Tutlis and Jon Watts, provide shares to Traverse City and Leelanau at convenient drop off sites.
The Redheads have teamed up with 9 Bean Rows.
The Redheads Cafe and Tasting Room is located at 202 W. Main Street, in Lake Leelanau. They serve breakfast and lunch all day, specializing in healthy options, but never forgetting your sweet tooth (try their famous fudge brownie!) At 9 Bean Rows, Nic Welty is dedicated to growing healthy food in a community environment. Nutritional content and the flavor is their focus.
Oryana Community Co-op and Second Spring Farm.
Oryana is a popular place for local food in Traverse City. Their Lake Street Café offers fresh espresso, juice and smoothies, made-to-order sandwiches, fresh salads and fresh baked goods. Second Spring Farm is an organic farm located between Traverse City and Cedar. The farm was founded in 2008 by Reid Johnston and they pride themselves on both quality and flavor.
Spanglish is working together with Loma Farm
Spanglish is located at 1333 Yellow Dr, Traverse City and is known for being quaint and colorful serving delicious mexican cuisine with an american twist. Loma Farm is a vegetable and flower farm located in the Leelanau Peninsula. Owners Nic & Sara Theisen have a love for the land and a passion for high quality produce.
Bistro Fou Fou partners with Sweeter Song Farm
Located in downtown Traverse City, Bistrou Fou Fou is known for their delicious French cuisine. Pairing wine with Guillaume’s french fare is something you will not want to miss. Sweeter Song Farm is located in Cedar, MI. The Organic farm is owned by Jim Schwantes & Judy Reinhardt, serving local families, stores and restaurants.
Underground Cheesecake Company and MI Farm Market
UCC is located in the Village at Grand Traverse Commons. And there, you can find everything from honey to ice cream!
Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate
A small, family-owned business with a love for craft chocolate. All of their creations take both time and skill. You can order their delicious chocolates online or find them at their retail store in Empire, MI.
TLD has also helped to organize wine + food trails, in fact the Wine Fest is offering friends of TLD a complimentary ticket to your favorite wine + food trail with purchase of festival entry! Use the codes at checkout: TLDDESSERTS16 —> for the Morsels Dessert and Wine Pairing ticket OR TLDCHEESE16 —> for the Cheese Lady and Wine Pairing ticket. You can purchase your ticket online!
You can check out the menus for the Wine fest ahead of time to get a sense of what you will be tasting from all these amazing restaurants and farms!
The festival is being held on the front lawn at the beautiful and historic Village at Grand Traverse Commons.
We are so looking forward to Saturday and we hope you are too! Get ready to eat amazing food and sip some delicious wine.
Margaret Sheets is the 2016 events intern at Taste the Local Difference® and she is a senior at Albion College. You can contact her at [email protected]