Mario Batali Loves Michigan

Celebrity Chef Mario Batali writes in the August, 2011 issue of Bon Appetit magazine (or the magazine’s blog if you must) on “the coolest lakeside food scene in America.” Where might that be, you ask? The Leelanau Peninsula in the Traverse City, Michigan area.

Sound familiar? It should.

We presented Lovely Leelanau to you on a silver platter a couple of years ago. Last year, you might recall we followed up with a vintage short film in Roaming through Michigan that showed a lot of my home state’s glory.

Not to be outdone, we invited a little back and forth in Shortcake Wars. I don’t know why the photos are so large in that post. Perhaps the better to take a bite out of them?

"Fishtown" - Leland, Michigan

Mario likes the Lake Michigan side of the peninsula so much that he bought an old fish camp there and renovated it for a summer home, and spends July and August in the area. He likes hanging out in Northport at the tip of the “pinkie,” which is what we call this part of Michigan’s mitten. Opening the magazine and learning Mario thinks it is “the perfect antidote for New York City” was fun!