More Food in Fennville

Last October the NRA (no, not the one with the guns, the National Restaurant Association) produced a list of the Top 10 Restaurant Trends in the “What’s Hot and What’s Not Chef Survey.” Here’s what they came up with:

1. bite-sized desserts
2. locally grown produce
3. organic produce
4. small plates
5. specialty sandwiches
6. craft/artisan or microbrew beer
7. sustainable seafood
8. grass-fed items
9. energy drink cocktails
10. specialty salts

So, short of the energy drink cocktails, Rye and Journeyman Café, sister restaurants in Fennville, Michigan completely cover the hot factor. Amy and Matt Millar dared to start Journeyman Café, their first restaurant, in downtown Fennville where there was almost nothing going on about 4 years ago. My family, especially the cousins from Chicago who have a place in Fennville, found them almost instantaneously as the café quickly became the place to go for cool food, a great cup of coffee and fresh bread while away from home.

Rapid Growth has featured Fennville, and specifically the Journeyman, in the past. But little has been written on Rye: A Public House, which officially opened in February 2008. Adjoined to Journeyman through a doorway, the Rye room has a similar yet completely different feel. Similar in its low light, laid back, friendly atmosphere. Similar with its amazingly fresh and local foods. But slightly different in mission, as the website describes:

“The cooking is drawn from our American farm heritage and the pub and bar traditions of England, France, and Italy and reflects the desire to eat well without breaking the bank or becoming mired in formality”

I like to call Journeyman Café a trendy, casually elegant upscale dining experience. They’ve turned some of the more casual items on their menu like pizza and house made sausages over to the Rye menu.

For English pub tradition, there’s a winner in the Ploughman’s plate, a superb way to start your visit to Rye. The platter features the Journeyman’s bread brushed with olive oil, grilled, and served along with a plate of plenty of pate, olives, cured meats and artisan cheeses. Together they were a perfect complement. This dish and the smoked salmon salad with pickled onions, warm bacon vinaigrette, and hard boiled egg were the most traditional English items on the menu.

Another item that one of our crew gobbled down was the grilled pork chop (locally raised) with apple sauce. My friend who had it was stunned that it wasn’t “applesauce” as we know it but rather a lovely creamy apple sauce. The skirt steak entree, though on the salty side, was tender, and when chummed up with warm potato salad and collard greens, it’s certainly a countryside throwback.

I had the grass fed beef burger that had been hand “pattied” with rosemary and garlic and topped with roasted red pepper, pickled onions, provolone and mayo. When it arrived, it was the most perfect looking burger, the bun scared me as it looked dry, but it melded right in with the meat, pairing perfectly.

Two other friends had pizzas. Rye offers wood fired pizza with an interesting cheese blend and diners can choose from two sizes, four sauces, and seven meats, including house made fennel sausage, local Creswick Farms bacon, Benton’s country ham, Batali sopresatta or coppa, Spanish anchovies and smoked salmon. Beyond that there are also six different choices for fresh veggies and two extra chunky cheese options.

Rye has a full liquor license and has made a very good start with their offerings. As a fan of nice wine at decent prices, I was excited to see many of the smaller produced wines on their list that I know and love. The selections are of great quality and taste but don’t cost an arm and a leg. The list features around eight offerings each red and white by the glass and by the bottle.

The night of our visit, I spied an open bottle of Steele’s Shooting Star Blue Franc at the bar, a fabulous wine. Not seeing it on the menu, I asked about it and they were very willing to serve it up for me instead of those on the menu. On the beer end, they have only two draft offerings, both local. I was disappointed to find that there weren’t more esoteric choices on the draft pulls but, hey, we all make our choices. And with 34 bottled flavors – both local and international – beer lovers won’t go thirsty.

For dessert, the offerings of Poached Plum Tart and Chocolate Stout Cake were good – not heavenly – but certainly hit the spot for the end of a pub night.

The night we were there Rye was quiet, but I have a great vision of this place hopping with people giving it that typical happy-go-lucky English pub style feel – alive with music and food. We were there on a night sans music. However the restaurants features a great lineup of concerts, every Friday at 8 PM there’s a local band – and there’s never a cover. Find the schedule online.

So go for a drive this spring or summer. Experience food that sings, something different from your GR choices. Seriously, just 40 short miles southwest of Grand Rapids sit two “big city” restaurants in a quaint quiet town just awaiting your taste buds. No reservations needed.