Bay City chef Craig Fiebke is a hunter, angler and outdoorsman who heads north when it's time for fun--as well for the culinary inspiration that he finds about an hour after he crosses the Mackinac Bridge.
"I go hunting, fishing and kayaking in Seney, Michigan," says the owner of
Fusion 1 Café. "I bring back game, brook trout--whatever I catch--and experiment with it in dishes at home before I re-create them to serve in my restaurant."
In the U.P. and in mid-Michigan, Fiebke is always on the lookout for morel mushrooms and wild leeks to add interest to the dishes that he creates for his Bay City customers, using the freshest of meats and locally harvested produce he can find, as well as some of the mint, chives, sage and parsley he grows.
"I go to all of the local farmers markets, and I shop at grocery stores in town, too--the ones that I know get most of their food locally," he says. Fusion 1 Café, according to Fiebke, features Bay County's only sushi bar, as well as a roster of other international dishes on a menu that changes frequently.
His recipes of Asian, Cajun, Japanese, Mediterranean and American dishes are among the current selections, including a Traverse City-inspired salad loaded with cherries, almonds and strawberries.
"Right now I'm buying lots of asparagus," says Fiebke. "And later in the summer, I will get my soft, tender veggies from growers around here. Those Roma tomatoes and cucumbers will make a great summer gazpacho."
And the benefit isn't only the freshness, but local ingredients also cost less.
"It's cheaper to eat fresh foods--I pay less than I would in a grocery store."
The many types of produce Fiebke carefully selects are not alone on the highly indigenous menu at Fusion 1 Café. Jack's Fruit & Meat Market, in Saginaw, where fresh cuts of beef, pork and poultry are sliced daily and where beef is being ground almost hourly, is among the chef's favorite stops for meat.
"Once meat is wrapped in a container, I can't see the whole piece, and that's what I really need to do before I buy. I want to look at both sides of it on a meat counter to make sure I'm getting a quality cut of steak," Fiebke says. "Speaking on a personal level, pre-packaged is not the way I like to shop for myself, so I don't do it for my customers if there is any possibility of getting what I need locally."
"And you know what? People can tell," he says. "Some of my customers drive 30 miles to eat here and I know that's one of the reasons why they eat here. It's good for the customers and it's good for the economy. Everyone wins."
Ron Leahy concurs. A restaurateur serving vegan and vegetarian fare almost has to, right? He's happy to support the local food movement--in fact, he would have it no other way.
"I get all of my potatoes from one local grower," says the owner of
Heather's in Bay City. "Yesterday, Saginaw Meadows farms dropped off 12 pounds of herbs--parsley, sage, cilantro, rosemary--twelve pounds! That's a lot of herbs."
Saginaw Meadows is a small farm specializing in naturally grown produce and herbs of edible and medicinal purposes. Leahy's daughter (Heather, naturally) is a creative chef, according to her father. "Heck, we use herbs that I've never even heard of. But people just love the food. They come from all over the place for it," he says.
Leahy is quick to point out that although Heather's caters to vegans and vegetarians with meals including black bean burgers and a dish called "un-chicken marinated tofu filet," the Bay City eatery has a good selection of carnivorous dishes on its menu.
"We have gluten-free options too, and we adhere very strictly to gluten-free guidelines," he says. "That's another reason to buy locally. We couldn't call a lot of our fruits--especially apples--gluten-free if they came from the grocery store, because some of them are shined and polished with oil."
Leahy frequents farmers markets and co-ops in Saginaw, Midland and Bay City for the most nutritious foods available; he does so both to support the local food movement and to keep customers coming back for healthy meals that are hard to find elsewhere in the region.
"We make everything from scratch, and we have a niche here, so people come from all over," he says.
The carefully hand-picked ingredients that make up the cuisine at Heather's take a lot of time to gather; Leahy works, between all of his duties,100 hours each week, seven days each week, for 363 days each year.
"We're only closed on Christmas and Thanksgiving, but this is worth every minute," he says. "Customers have told me that it's the best meal they have ever had, and that's something I'm always proud to hear."
His dedication to the quality and freshness of his ingredients and the integrity of his menu is what makes the demands worthwhile.
"Peppers, squash, potatoes, fruits and other veggies--everything that the farmer picks with his own hand is better than what is trucked in from California to a large grocery store," says Leahy.
Kelle Barr is a Portage-based freelance reporter who can be reached at Kellebarr@gmail.com