Boarded up, shut tight and closed all winter, The Cove propels itself smack bang into your summer plans with a “Here Comes The Sun” launch party on the outside deck every year in May. A Northern Michigan summer is not complete without indulging in their trademark World Famous Drink—The Chubby Mary—and The Cove’s Seafood Chowder and Fresh Lake Michigan Whitefish. (They have been known to go through 700 pounds of whitefish in a busy week!) It is summer and the days should be carefree, so they don’t take things too seriously around here, except of course when it comes to making sure customers are happy, well fed and their glasses are full. So it’s a fun place to spend a few pleasurable hours on any given day. Rick Wanroy has owned The Cove for what probably feels like forever to him. It’s actually since 1986, when he purchased the business from a large restaurant company he worked for down in Detroit. The location
for them wasn’t doing well and Rick had a great reputation, so they suggested he could do better. He saw the amazing setting on the water and decided to go for it! Slight catch at the time was the 20 percent interest rates, and not one bank would lend him money as a new business! “I had four credit cards with high limits, so I asked for maximum cash advances,” Rich recalls. “They all said yes, but the APR was 22 percent. Why quibble over 2 percent when the bank said ‘No’ at 20 percent?” The rest, of course, is history, and he even has the four shiny gold credit cards framed on the wall; this is where youngest son Chris exclaims, “Oh, that’s what that is. I never knew!” These days Rick is passing on the Chubby Torch to sons Sean and Chris, who also work on the everyday operation of running the restaurant smoothly. “It’s like opening a new restaurant every year, with the summer starting up again. We have a lot of people that always come back, but we put a lot of
work into hiring the right people,” says Sean. “A lot of college kids that worked here come back and visit, now married with their own kids,” says Chris. “Ugh, it makes me feel ancient,” Rick chimes in. Rick has earned his Snow Bird status, migrating to West Florida for the winters, but he returns for the season when the restaurant re-opens. Behind the scenes he is a talented baker, making all the breads from scratch, and the pies, too. You can also find him and his quick wit, cracking a few jokes or vocalizing sarcastic lines as he engages with locals and visitors alike. He is a funny guy. The vacationers are enamored, having met the owner, and the locals are all dear friends with their resident bar stool! “Dad has a passion and cares about what he does, he loves it,” says Chris. Stepping inside The Cove, the décor fits JULY/AUGUST 2015 | BAY LIFE NORTH
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