November 30, 2005
Contest pits cheesy concoctions
Bake-off features recipes from 11 restaurants and local wineries
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Consuming hundreds of pounds of pasta and sauce while sampling wine at five Old Mission Wineries, 1,200 people reveled in the fifth annual Macaroni & Cheese Bake-off Saturday.
Boosting attendance by 50 percent over last year, the event was a resounding success for the wineries, organizers and everyone who came.
"The food is very, very good, original," said Ken Coppens of Merrill, who attended with is wife, Tamara. "It's very good, different concepts of recipes and wines to taste."
Organized by Peninsula Cellars, whose winemaker Bryan Ulbrich conceived of the idea in 2000, other participating wineries were Chateau Grand Traverse, Bowers Harbor Vineyards, Brys Estate and Chateau Chantal. Attendees drove among these venues, toting their wine glass ticket that allowed them samples of the macaroni and cheese dishes plus tastes of wines.
New winery Brys Estate poured wine samples in their barrel room and set up the mac and cheese tasting in the wine making room. Bustling between them and the jammed public wine-tasting room, Eileen Brys relished the crowds.
"It is fun just to have everybody come and visit because we're so new," said Brys, noting the winery opened for tasting in May after more than four years of preparation.
"It's kind of nice, a continuation of the Thanksgiving holiday and a lot of people are visiting family," she added.
At each winery, chefs from 11 restaurants doled out samples of their creations, turning the traditional elbow-noodles-and-powdered-cheese comfort food on its head. The restaurants strutting their stuff were Windows at LeBear, Bluebird, The Boathouse, Blue Slipper Bistro, Trattoria Stella, Silvertree Deli, Bowers Harbor Inn, Peninsula Grill, Great Lakes Culinary Institute, Travino and the Trillium.
Besides showcasing more cheeses than a big-city deli, unusual ingredients included lobster, bacon, biscotti, corned beef and Thousand Island dressing. Not to mention vegetables such as peas, asparagus and spinach.
Winning in two categories, Myles Anton, chef at Trattoria Stella, threw out all preconceived notions and included crumbled biscotti cookies in his concoction. He decided that teaming sweets with goat cheese, white truffle oil and cavatappi pasta was a natural way to honor a classic Piedmontese dish.
"I just kind of played around and came up with it," he said. "It's from northern Italy and truffles are harvested there at the end of November. The cookie with the goat cheese is a classic combination."
At the other end of the experimental spectrum was chef Randy Chamberlain of Windows at LeBear in Glen Arbor. A restaurant veteran with decades of experience, Chamberlain brought a simple white cheddar mac.
"I thought about doing something wild and unique, but this is what I like," said Chamberlain, who for the day cooked up 120 pounds of noodles and 20 gallons of sauce that featured 40 pounds of cheese.
"I had a lot of fun doing this," Chamberlain added. "I don't cook this every day at work, so it was fun."
Pat Bellows was initially dubious about the Reuben theme of the Great Lakes Culinary Institute's offering, which melded noodles, corned beef, and Thousand Island dressing. One bite, however, and she was a convert.
"I didn't want it because Reubens don't agree with me but it was very, very good," said Bellows, attending the event Saturday afternoon with friends. "We've been to three wineries so far and I'd say it's the best macaroni and cheese."