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July 27, 2000
View Spells: Ghost Orchard
The first of a series of short pieces about views, great and small, by Anne-Marie Oomen.
The day they pulled out our cherry trees, we renamed our property Ghost Orchard. We felt the change in terrain. What we didn't expect was a change in our interior terrain--how when we change land, we are also changing a view within ourselves.
People speak of houses "with a view." Realtors advertise sites for homes with "lake view" or sites with a "big west view." The play, "Six Rms River View" capitalized on a city apartment view. Large or small, urban or rural, a view is what you see from a certain place in this world. If you live in a city, as I did for many years, the view may be the slice of street or alley that tells you about traffic, temperature, and your neighbor's temperament. If you move to a more rural setting, it may consist of what you can see standing at the brow of a wide sloping meadow.
The summer we purchased property in Lake View Orchards, a former cherry farm in Leelanau County, the four hundred some tart trees on our land carried a bumper crop. As the crop ripened, we walked in the orchard at dusk, staring in awe at the laden trees. The trees had not been sprayed that year and thus the huge crop was probably a stress crop, but the fruit was relatively organic. We invited our friends to come and take as much as they could. We spent long days in the orchard, picking and playing among the shadows of the trees. I learned how the old orchard spread like fingers through the mixed hardwoods on this high plateau over Empire. Though our acreage was only a small part of the original six-hundred acre farm, I walked the entire farm, trying to figure why the orchard had been planted in this way.
Sadly, the trees had to go. The realtor had been straightforward with us. "The trees are diseased. They won't last long now. We've already had complaints from neighboring farmers. You'll need to take them out." And that first winter, when we received the letter from the Department of Agriculture, we knew we didn't have the skills nor the will to farm the trees. We'd also learned that the land had been supporting orchards for nearly eighty years and the soil was depleted. It was time to rest this piece of working earth.
But nothing prepared me for the death of the orchard. One chill March morning John Stanz's Excavating crew rolled up and began removing our four-hundred trees and several thousand of our neighbors' trees. I cringed all day as the big claw yanked these slim, leafless trees out by the roots. Though the machine was efficient and quick, nothing soothed my unease. I wondered if trees, even such domesticated ones as the tart cherry, have ghosts. Would these trees haunt us? I wondered how long before I would walk the land and not see the trees in my mind, not miss them. It was then David and I renamed our parcel Ghost Orchard--half in humor, half in reverence for the lost orchard.
Out of the reverence for the orchard, we tried not to be wasteful. We cut out many of the whole trunks to dry and use for trim in our house. However, after all the saving, there was nothing left to do but pile up the shattered branches. I could not erase my sadness as, on a cool day spackled with clouds, we watched the pyre burn.
How do we learn to see differently?
I am looking away from the rising smoke and dark crackle and across the now empty, open field. From where I stand on the corner of our section, I see a high front moving in from the lake. I am reminded that sun and rain will touch this earth in ways it hasn't for decades. For the first time, I notice the unbroken wholeness of the field. As I walk away from the flames, I feel the wind differently and learn an answer--how the west winds, coming up the Empire bluffs and across this open area, must have kept the frost from settling. And then I see it. With the orchard gone, the view emerges. Looking north, I see over the sections of land my neighbors have purchased and all the way to a wind barrier of popple on the far side of M-72. From here, with the field newly opened, I see the topography of ravines and moraines. I feel the contours of the section, it's shape. Turning to all the cardinal points, I see what my father meant when he talked about "the lay of the land." The land feels wider, and more--I search for the word--more possible.
Possibility tweaks imagination, inspires me to see differently. With this raw look at its structure, the bare bones of the hillsides, I ask at last, what does the land need? How do we care for it? This new view casts a spell--that widening of thinking. That spread of imagination encourages me to understand what I see when I see a long way. Perhaps it is seeing a long way that helps me think in longer ways. A viewspell.
Though I've never seen their ghosts, I do miss the trees. But with this new openness I realize their absence has evoked change. With it comes responsibility. There are things to do for this space, new, more diverse trees to plant, and perhaps native grasses will replenish the soil. But the soil itself--it will rest first. And here, newly discovered, my eyes look on the abundance of a view, the luxury of a sightline that does not go on forever, but moves only as far as the nearest ridge, a lesson indeed. For it is a myth that great views let us see forever. The viewspell's real lesson is that it does end; the view has limitations. It is that contradiction about views which we should keep in mind--the openness goes only to the edge of the visible earth. We must be careful; despite the illusion, our view is limited.
Posted by editor at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)
Can the cozy feel of Empire expand across M-22?
By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor
Bob Sutherland first considered the vacant meadow across from the National Park Visitor’s Center in Empire as the possible site for a warehouse. Except for hosting the Dunegrass & Blues Festival for the past 6 years, the property has been empty and for sale for a long time. “But it wasn’t an appropriate land use, especially when other buildings were available,” said Sutherland. He went on to lease the Salisbury pole building on Fisher St. to be the new Cherry Republic warehouse, but Sutherland’s interest in the “Dunegrass” meadow continued. After seeking other investors, Bob Sutherland joined into a partnership with Empire locals Robert Foulkes (the guy who saved a couple of great old houses from demolition by literally moving them from Park property into Empire), Ben Weese, and a few unnamed others. Now the trio, officially named the Quercus Alba Partnership L.L.C., wants to expand Empire’s physical layout into that “Dunegrass” meadow. They closed on the property on June 7, and according to Sutherland, the next step is to come up with some creative drawings and a development concept to take to the Village of Empire this fall. “In 1894 Empire set streets and alleys and where 50-foot lots could be,” says Sutherland. “Now it’s time to expand the village concept with that same plan of streets and alleys and intimacy. We hope people will choose to live close to the town center so they can walk to the post office, the grocery store, and local restaurants. This kind of model is necessary for village businesses and the village atmosphere to survive.”
Obviously the Village of Empire will have to be involved in determining the viability and the execution of such a plan, as questions of the ownership and maintenance of roads and septic systems could have an impact on the village budget and the Department of Public Works. “We still don’t know the number of lots we will propose,” says Sutherland, “but we hope to have a set of tentative plans and drawings with streets and blocks available for public perusal during the Leelanau Conservancy’s Empire Day in August.” The Leelanau Conservancy is in the process of buying property along both M-22 and M-72 north and east of town as part of its Gateway to Empire Project. “We want to keep the green belts around our property along M-22 (on the south) and M-72 (on the north), and we hope to work with the Conservancy to do that,” says Bob Sutherland.
Robert Foulkes envisions moving more homes from National Park property and creating another neighborhood in Empire that retains both the physical and social patterns that exist already. “There are about a dozen good houses that need to be removed from the Park over the next few years and will become available,” Foulkes says. “Unfortunately zoning changes over the years have made an exact pattern like the rest of Empire illegal for a village to replicate. New streets and lots have to be bigger than they are now in Empire. So the only way to do it is to keep it private as a P.U.D. (Planned Unit Development). Then it’s possible to deed the streets to the Village if the Village is willing to maintain them. One of the ingredients of P.U.D. zoning is that the details can be negotiated, in this case with the Village of Empire.”
Robert Foulkes is a passionate advocate for this village model. “This county has four things that express its identity,” says Foulkes, “farms, forests, lake shores, and villages. But just as with the rest of the country, we are ruining the first three by sprawling outside of villages with residences, and then we lose village life as well. The Village of Empire saw this when they zoned this property to be 90% residential and only 10% commercial. Empire doesn’t need another pole barn nor an industrial park, it needs residences and houses to grow and yet to retain its small-town feel.” Foulkes believes that expanding the village into the empty areas within it will preserve the integrity of village life. “It’s more socially friendly to be able to walk through a village to see your neighbors, to shop, to eat, to recycle. We have a nostalgia for village life as if we’ve already given up on the possibility of it! Bruce Springsteen sings about the virtue of the small town, Disney even created a model village because that’s the way people want to live, they want that physical and social pattern to anchor their lives. But to stop the sprawl and the isolation we’ve got to focus on the small!”
Neither Sutherland nor Foulkes envisions a monotonous row of small lots and identical houses in military rows. “Proposals for village design don’t exclude small lots or large lots,” says Foulkes. “The idea is just to use a “walkable village” model. Certainly feedback from the people of Empire and from the village council will influence and improve our initial plans. We’re excited to start talking and working together on this.”
Sutherland concurs. “Twenty-five years ago all of the year-around necessities were in Empire, like the doctor, the bank, the hardware store. Now some of those offerings have moved to Glen Arbor. But Empire still has the museum, the library, the ball fields, the real neighborhoods that Glen Arbor doesn’t have. Of course this won’t happen over night, it’ll be a long, slow building process with everyone’s input. But there’s a magic and an intimacy in Empire that can be shared through sensible land use that enhances the village. As we start to work with county and village zoning authorities, the vision we have is a vision of nurturing the small-town values that Empire already has.”
Posted by editor at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
Singer/Songwriter Jay Webber gives voice to his dream
By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor
A shaft of sunlight cuts through dark-bellied clouds and paints half of South Manitou Island with a lemony brush. Wafting aromas from the kitchen curry the breeze. As mellow as the evening beach, as bracing as the blue waves that lick the sand, Jay Webber captures this dreamscape with a song as delicious as a sip of benedictine and brandy after dinner. We are on the deck of Le Bear at the end of Lake Street in Glen Arbor, mesmerized by the languid urgency of this master musician. Jay coos dream songs full of longing and the joy of poignant epiphanies. You can hear that he lives his dreams deeply, and since February, when Jay left wage-slavery to pursue his singing passion full-time, he has brought that dream into the full light of day.
At the age of 6 Jay Webber got a ukelele from his Dad, and then he moved up to a guitar at age 9 or 10. A songwriter and singer almost since birth, Jay remembers “I won a 6th grade talent show in Wheaton, IL with an original song called ‘Day After Day.’ I could really jam on the bar chords then!” It’s like that song foreshadowed Jay’s life of working for pay while his artistic muse kept tugging at his sleeve and whispering in his ear to “Just sing, just follow your bliss!” For 6 years Jay was an agent near Detroit booking musicians, comedy acts, and dinner theater, but he was never the one who ended up performing. So in 1990 he and wife Julie made the first of their big “life-changes” by selling the business and moving “up north.” They bought 20 beautiful acres, a big house, and thereby acquired “big bills.” So Jay worked as a national sales manager selling infrared medical technologies and spending lots of time on the road. The singer’s dream of writing and performing stayed elusive.
“My songs are obsessed with breaking free, with traveling and hiding, because I always wanted to be a full-time singer/songwriter,” says Jay. Song titles like “Childhood Dream,” “The Journey I’ve Been Hiding From,” and “Startin’ Over,” reflect this lifelong desire. True artists have no choice, they must create and express or go crazy. The muse bites you young, and then it either gets to speak through you or it gnaws the edges of your soul into gristle. One of Jay’s songs is called “I Decided To Go Insane,” and with humor and irony it chronicles the result of repressing one’s artistic voice.
It was time to make another big “life change.” “Last year my wife Julie said ‘you gotta stop working and just do music,’” Jay says with a relieved laugh. “She gave me two months to make it big!” (pause, more laughter) “She said we could sell the house and 20 acres, so we sold it and moved into a little place near Sugarloaf. We like it, we like havin’ neighbors, and I can afford to just make songs.” Julie is in a business with her father Thomas Bender in Glen Arbor called Disciplined Growth Investors. “Jay had to have the chance now or he would regret it down the road,” Julie says. “He has a great opportunity and he has tremendous talent. And I’m probably his harshest critic. I really feel it will happen, that he will succeed as a professional singer/songwriter. We simplified our lives and it’s working out real well.”
Jay cites James Taylor, Cat Stevens, and Joe Cocker as his main artistic influences, along with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and Dan Fogelberg. His sometime singing partner Justin Trapp, who has the perfect voice for harmonizing with Jay, says “Jay is the most talented and the most fun person I’ve ever worked with. He is an amazing songwriter, and we are a good match style-wise.”
Jay's first and only CD called Innocent Child “was done on a shoestring.” The title cut is a breathless diatribe against the murders of children at a Macdonalds and at a day-care center several years ago. “The jist of the song is that there will never be justice for such a crime, because you can never get your child back.” Jay’s daughter Lindsay made the cover painting for the CD. It is an intense tune, and Jay says it gets played in Leland at the Bluebird “all the time.” But the rest of the CD is more wistful and philosophical, tracing Jay’s pursuit of his dream. ‘Orion,” the first cut, captures the predominant ethos of Jay’s dream voice: “No I don’t want to spend my time watchin’ my life go by, don’t want to sit and cry. . . . .I got some blocks to build a sturdy foundation, build a life that reaches into the sky.”
Innocent Child has been a hugely popular CD, and it has become the daily sound track for many of his local fans. Mike and Becky Sutherland listen to Jay on the deck of Le Bear with me this night, and Becky says “We wake up to Jay’s CD everyday. There’s an intimacy you share with your favorite songs, and his music permeates the atmosphere of our home.”
Jay says a new CD is close. “I’ve got all the tunes, all the musicians, all the studios lined up, but I don’t want to do it half way. I want orchestration, a tastier, bigger production than Innocent Child. A good producer is costly, but they know how to get a certain sound.” Jay has been in Nashville several times, and he recently spent 18 days in Texas at the Kerrville Folk Festival “sitting around campfires tradin’ songs with other singer/songwriters.” When I ask Jay where this path is really leading to he replies, “I wanna tour and do festivals, do concerts when people find out who I am. Success is being able to do this and get by, not get rich, especially at 43 years of age. It’s gonna be tough, but I’m determined. It’s always been my dream.”
With poignant resonances Jay Webber captures both the work and the magic of love, the rewards of resilience, the harmonies of hard times and daily earthly experiences. His lyrics take you through meadows of goldenrod while horses canter contentedly nearby. There’s always an impending revelation in Jay’s songs, a miracle just around the corner or behind the next tree, and then suddenly it’s here, and it’s you! Jay Webber’s dream has been skipping around the next corner ahead of him long enough , and now he has got hold of it. Discover this marvelous talent at Le Bear on Wednesday nights, or sometimes at The Cove in Leland on Sundays or at North Peak Brew Pub in Traverse City on some Saturdays. Jay also performs regularly in the Songwriters in the Round series at Horizon Books in Traverse City. He takes you to that dreamland of fulfilled promises where Orion sprinkles stars like coins into your hands: “Out in the cold of night I look to see Orion out in the western sky. . . . .I talk to the stars as if they know just who I am. It helps me to get through the night. . . . .”
Jay Webber performs on Wednesday nights on the deck at Le Bear in Glen Arbor.
Posted by editor at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)
Tim Barr takes over Art’s Tavern!
By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor
When Tim Barr moved to Empire in 1964 as a 7th grader, he never could have imagined that he would one day own a bar/restaurant in downtown Glen Arbor. Tim’s father Jim was the superintendent of Glen Lake Schools, and Tim graduated in 1970. He then worked for the Village of Empire, he sailed as a merchant marine on a lower laker hauling cement up and down Lake Michigan, he was a janitor at the air base in Empire, and he worked for Ron Fisher Construction when the town hall was remodeled. He has also sold firewood on and off for the past 15 years. But how does this all lead to owning Art’s Tavern?
“I originally got into this business because I was having too much fun on this side of the bar, and I decided I had to somehow keep my money in my pocket,” Tim recalls with a smile. “So I moved behind the bar, and I’ve been there ever since.” Over the past few years Tim has been looking for a way to “have something to retire with,” and buying Art’s Tavern from the Weisen family certainly fulfills that dream.
“I started working at the Friendly Tavern in Empire back in 1975 when the menu was still on the wall,” Tim remembers. Weisen Enterprises still owns both the Friendly and the Village Inn, and they built both Lakeshore Motels in Glen Arbor and Empire before selling them. In April of 1986 they asked Tim to do inventory for them at Art’s, and he has been there ever since. “I was never officially manager of Art’s, but gradually I just assumed that position,” Tim says. When the Weisen family expressed an interest in selling Art’s last fall, Tim started serious talks with them in November, and they agreed on a price around Easter of 2000. The official closing of the deal and Tim’s takeover occurred on July 17, 2000.
In order to make the deal Tim formed Medusa’s Sharkpaw Operating Company, but he says “the name Art’s Tavern will not change, though maybe someday it could be Art’s BARR!” Tim plans to continue the tradition of Art’s Tavern being the local melting pot of Glen Arbor where people find great food and good conversation, discover what’s going on around town, and feel comfortable whether they are 2 years old or 80 years old. Art’s employs 12 people year-round (“The very best people in the business,” Tim assures), and up to 25 people full and part-time during the busy summer. He especially wants to thank those who made the purchase possible. “The assistance from those who helped me obtain the liquor license and jump through all the hoops is tremendously appreciated,” Tim says, “and they know who they are!” So next time you stop by Art’s Tavern, greet and congratulate the new owner, Tim Barr!
Posted by editor at 12:46 AM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2000
Cherry Republic establishes a colony in Empire
By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor
Not a shot was fired. No bugles blared. There were no casualties, and so far, no injuries. Few saw them coming. But Cherry Republic now has a beachhead in Empire after a benign “invasion.” When the press was allowed at the front, three men were found to be hoisting the Cherry Republic flag, silver stars on a dark-sweet-cherry-colored background, onto one of the advance vehicles, a fork-lift. Soon pallets holding up to 2000 gift boxes on a good day will be loaded onto semi-trailers with UPS on the side and dozens of people will be working and spending money in Empire. And the invaders hope the citizens will be glad they have come.
The old boat building, where fiberglass speed boats were manufactured in the 50’s and 60’s before it burned down, was replaced by a big pole building by Fred Salisbury. It functioned as the warehouse for the National Park Service for awhile, and then it held lumber as an annex for the Empire Lumber Company. Captain Pete Edwards, PFC Derek Prechtel, and Special Forces adjunct Chris Tiihonen explained how Cherry Republic plans to use the space. “This will be our total warehouse for shipping, receiving, gift-boxing, staging, and production/packaging of Cherry Republic products,” explained Edwards. “We have over 100 products, and we fill gift box orders 5 days a week with a year around crew of about 20 packers.” Adds Prechtel, “During the holiday rush in December there will be 50 - 60 people employed here.”
Cherry Republic has been getting their dried cherries, chocolate-covered cherries, candies, and cherry nut mixes packaged by Lakeshore Enterprises in Frankfort/Benzonia. “We hope to bring their crew to Empire now,” says Tiihonen, “so that all of our production can be under one roof.” (Another supplier, Food for Thought, operated by Tim Young with connections in Glen Arbor, Empire, and Honor, who makes the preserves, jams, jellies, salsas, barbeque sauces, and cherry toppings, may or may not join in the move at first.) The first job for the three point men was going to be a battle much larger than the invasion itself: scrubbing a 10,000 sq. ft. floor with straws and toothbrushes. As soon as they ready the colony, the workers will be moved in and settled.
Bob Sutherland, the benevolent despot and president of the Cherry Republic, told me “We’ve moved our shipping facility five times in the past six years, expanding every time. Let’s hope we can stay in Empire for awhile.” Other places were considered before this opportunity in Empire was seized. “It seemed to make more financial sense to build a structure near the Empire Airport and be centrally located for our suppliers,” reported Sutherland, “but that really wasn’t good land use. It made more sense to use an existing building as close to a town center as possible. Empire is great because several employees already live there, having found housing to be more affordable and available in Empire (than in Glen Arbor). We have quite a few young people working for us who want to settle into the community.”
For Sutherland and his troops, the biggest bonus in being at the Empire warehouse is that it means an end to hand-lifting. “We’ve never been where we could use a fork lift before,” he said. “Every day we have been hand-lifting over 2000 lbs twice a day, once bringing stuff in, and again sending it out. It will be a tremendous pleasure for all of us to have that fork lift doing all of the work! And we hope this will be good for Empire as well,” adds Pres. Sutherland. “Those 20 plus employees will be spending money in town, using the bank and the grocery, buying lunch, etc. Hopefully it can be a little boost to the local economy. We’re excited to be in Empire, and we hope to keep the flag flying on this soil forever!”
Posted by editor at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)
Funistrada means excellent Italian food “off the beaten path”
By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor
I lounged in a hammock dozing and thumbing the pages of Diane Ackerman’s book “A Natural History of the Senses” as a northeast breeze nudged the maple leaves over my head. A red-shouldered hawk gave a single cry as it just missed the indigo bunting it hunted in a sudden plummet. Some enchanting scent was riding the air current up to Echo Valley from Burdickville. It wasn’t the burnt smell of roasting coffee I sometimes nose when the north wind is strong over Glen Arbor. No, this was making me hungry. It was oregano! Someone had a pot full of bubbling tomato sauce simmering downwind, and I was determined to find the source of that heavenly smell. There was garlic in it too, and the promise of Chianti served in a wicker bottle by a woman like the one in “Il Postino.” So I quick-peddled down the green tunnel of Echo Valley Road to find a new Italian country restaurant just opening near Miller’s Resort. Tom and Holly Reay have hatched their dream, their own eatery at the former Glen Lake Inn in Burdickville.
Holly Reay, holding darling daughter Carson while the harried crew prepared for their first “big night”, explained the origin of the name “Funistrada.” “In 1974 the Army did a food preference survey,” Holly said, “and they threw in the word “Funistrada” to see if the guys filling out the survey were really paying attention. Well, “Funistrada” was checked off as better than eggplant, instant coffee, pickled beets, and grilled bologna!” Tom and Holly were married on a Kentucky Derby day, May 3, 1997, when one of the horses running the race was named, you guessed it, “Funistrada.” And then their Italian friend Sal told them that it means, loosely translated, “off the beaten path.” Tom Reay chimes in “These were all great connections, so that’s what we named our restaurant.”
The old Glen Lake Inn is no stranger to many of us, having been a favorite supper club run by the Frank Hockstein’s from 1970 to 1993. Tom recalled “It specialized in German fare and was known for its great martinis. The same people came at the same time on the same weekday for years. It was almost like a private supper club for locals.” Brian Hockstein tried to run it for a year, and for the past three years it has been Jack’s Glen Lake Inn, run by Jack Russell. I asked Tom Reay why he and Holly took it over. “It’s the old American dream of being self-employed,” Tom replied. “You have to be crazy to own a restaurant, so I’m qualified.”
Tom and Holly have plenty of experience in local food service establishments. Tom worked at Art’s Tavern in Glen Arbor for 13 years. Holly managed the Village Inn in Empire for 2 years, and Tom joined her there for another year. They supervised the renovation of the kitchen and the menu while there. Says Tom, “We played with somebody else’s money and made it work, so we thought OK, we can take the risk.”
Funistrada is a “trattoria,” an Italian bistro serving informal, peasant/country style cooking. Why did they choose Italian? “No one else in this area does it,” says Tom, “and it’s my favorite kind of food.” The restaurant seats sixty including a bar that seats four. They specialize in fresh seafood and only use fresh ingredients. Tom declares “You can’t make good stuff out of bad stuff!” Core menu items include Veal Scallopini, Marlin, Red Snapper, and pasta. “We aim to see what people want and to tailor the menu over time,” says Holly Reay. Adds Tom, “We have NO whitefish.”
So on my 39th birthday I take my wife Mimi and daughter Julia to Funistrada. Holly greets us warmly, the staff is friendly and welcoming. We read the menu boards and then ooh and aah and dance our eyebrows over the appetizers: calamari, broiled asparagus with prosciutto and mascarpone cheese, and steamed mussels. Tom comes out in his starched white chef’s jacket and explains that the pasta is air dried from Italy, and not microwaved as is most ordinary pasta these days. All entrees are served with a side dish of pasta and a choice of sauces. They include Veal Picatta (“Provimi veal,” Tom assures, “the best kind.”), Broiled Lemon Chicken, Eggplant Parmesan, or NY Strip au poivre with a balsamic reduction sauce. Julia gets linguine with clams in white wine and declares it to be light and fresh, somehow not as heavy as pasta is usually, somehow healthier. Mimi goes for the lemon asparagus penne and responds to my queries with only head nods and contented, satisfied sighs, the nonverbal communications of someone in the middle of a great meal. My plate of spaghetti with calamari fra diablo is subtly spicey, full of delicate nuances, balanced just right with garlic and herbs, delicious.
The portions are huge. Everyone leaving is grasping a doggiebag container like a quarterback holds the football on a rollout. We do the same, and then I get to finish everyone’s the next day for lunch. I head for the hammock for a nap, tasting the calamari, the lemon penne, the clams in white wine. From the great bread with rosemary olive oil we started with, to the sweetly layered homemade tiramisu we washed down with coffee, I relive the great service, the fun, the friendly faces, and the fresh food we experienced at Funistrada. As I doze, sniffing the air for another story, I think to myself how this wonderful little Italian restaurant is sort of hiding in Burdickville, so “off the beaten path,” and if I don’t talk about it too much there will always be a seat available for me. So can you keep a secret? There’s now a wonderful Italian restaurant in Burdickville! Do yourself a favor and visit Funistrada for supper soon. But don’t tell anybody!! Or pretty soon I’ll be quoting Yogi Berra, who once kept other eager eaters away from his favorite Italian restaurant by saying: “Oh, nobody goes there, it’s too crowded!”
Funistrada serves Tuesday - Sunday from 5 pm - 10:30 pm. Call 334-3900 for reservations.
Posted by editor at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)