Photo by Michael Poehlman Photography
2022 edition
Northern Michigan’s Legendary Dishes
By Craig Manning Sometimes, an entrée on a restaurant menu is just a meal, but every once in a while, it becomes mythic. You know the type of dish we’re talking about: the ones you tell all your friends and family about; the ones you try (and usually fail) to recreate at home; the ones that you’d drive 200 miles to experience again if you ever moved away. In 2018, Northern Express set out to find the dishes throughout northern Michigan that meet these lofty standards. We wanted to document the most iconic, legendary dishes in our neck of the woods, the ones on which our area’s growing “foodie” reputation were built. Four years, three installments, and 13 dishes later, we’ve built the beginnings of a hall of fame that spans everything from beloved sandwiches to adventurous Bloody Marys. This week, we’re pleased to add five more dishes to the pantheon. Don’t just take our word for it, though: We fully endorse getting out there to “do your own research” on this subject.
North Peak (Traverse City)
WHITE CHEDDAR ALE SOUP Leave it to one of northern Michigan’s longest-running craft breweries to create the best beer-based soup in the land. Since North Peak Brewing Company opened its doors in downtown Traverse City back in 1997, the white cheddar ale soup has been a staple. Somehow, on a menu dominated by burgers, pizzas, and hearty meat dishes, it’s this soup appetizer that seems to steal the show. It speaks volumes, for instance, that a Google search for the soup turns up a whole slew of copycat recipes from food bloggers and amateur chefs who have tried to recreate the dish at home. In our minds, though, the “oft imitated, never duplicated” mantra holds
10 • may 09, 2022 • Northern Express Weekly
true for the cheddar ale soup, which just has a unique magic to it when you’re slurping it down in the bustling North Peak pub alongside a pint of Diabolical IPA—the same ale used in the recipe. North Peak often markets the white cheddar ale soup as a “winter warmer,” and that makes sense: Between the rich, smooth, cheesy soup itself and the delicious mustard pretzel croutons that North Peak piles on top, it’s the type of dish that absolutely hits the spot after a January day spent out in northern Michigan’s winter wonderland. According to North Peak General Manager Mike Lloyd, though, the white cheddar ale is popular all year round—to the point where the kitchen team preps six or seven gallons of the stuff every day, even on the dog days of July. “We can never, ever think about running out of it,” Lloyd says of the soup. “It’s become something where people come from far and wide just to enjoy it, so we always make sure we have plenty on hand. It’s been a long-time staple, and it's not going anywhere.”
