Traverse City Record-Eagle,  Aug. 1, 2003

The Strait & Narrow of Mackinac Dining

Like a lot of folks in Northern Michigan we play tourist ourselves sometimes, and head for the magic of Mackinac Island. When friends find out we're not staying at The Grand, they often ask, "Well, where on earth do you eat, then?"

Our annual excursions have left us with a really good answer: the Carriage House restaurant in the Iroquois Hotel. Ever since our first meal there more than a decade ago, we've always spent at least one of our island evenings there, and it has never disappointed us. In fact, we think it's worth the time and ferry fare just to go there for dinner.

The Carriage House is one of those rare and special places that puts it all together--fresh food in imaginative combinations served by a bright and genteel staff in an intimate, summery setting where every table has a sweeping view of the Straits through a solid wall of windows.

On this year's Mackinac visit in June the island wasn't yet midsummer busy, but we found the Carriage House in high-season form from the moment the hostess greeted us cheerily until we managed to tear ourselves away from good conversations over a nightcap at the bar.

Our server clucked appreciatively over our menu choices, and throughout the meal her timing was flawless; she let us linger happily but never kept us waiting. And at meal's end, when we asked if we might take home an uneaten muffin from our basket of assorted breads, she returned with a package containing fresh samples of the entire selection.

For all this, the restaurant's strong suit is food. We particularly enjoyed an entree dish of seared scallops with lemongrass and ginger and a vermouth reduction, garnished by a crispy-fried tangle of finely cut leek and half a dozen very lightly cooked and buttered green beans. Our other entrée, a delightfully light penne, combined sautéed chicken with earthy little mushrooms and the bright tang of tomato and Fontina cheese. Civilized portions left us quite receptive to sharing the chocolate lava cake on the dessert menu.

Live, non-stop piano music provides a charming background at the Iroquois and the dining room always seems filled with interesting people happily having a very good time. (Reservations are always a good idea.) Our bill of $108 for appetizer and salad, wine, dessert, coffee, and tip might seem pricey, but on checking other island menus, we found it right in the ballpark for similar meals.

On our second evening we again bypassed the Grand's cavernous dining room, which we have always found more interesting for its theatrics than its food, Instead, we headed for the hotel's other restaurant, called Woods, a mile away in mid-island. It was our first visit, and probably our last. Among things we look for in choosing among unfamiliar restaurants are a kitchen that's busy well before dinnertime, and good food aromas in the air. Woods failed on both counts, although it provided our island trip's best single dish: a sublime, chilled celeriac soup drizzled with white truffle oil and fried leek curls.

It was downhill after that. We were served a shrimp-basket appetizer that smelled so bad, we didn't even try it. An entrée lovingly described as "tomato-scented lamb loin with artichoke, fennel and olive ragout" sounded lovely. But the lamb, which we ordered pink, came to us as hard, gray lumps in lukewarm sauce with a pile of slimy, overcooked vegetables. Our other entrée was something we ordered just because its description as "barbecued Mackinac whitefish" intrigued us. We wondered how something as delicate as whitefish could possibly stand up to barbecue sauce, and the answer was that it couldn't. It struck us as a weird and ill-conceived combination in which neither fish nor sauce enhanced the partnership. Like the lamb, it, too, appeared to have spent a long time on a steam table somewhere.

Our server was annoyingly cute and chummy throughout the meal, and wasn't very deft in handling some confusion over the bill at the end, either. The Grand has a property-wide no-tipping policy, although nothing at Woods signals this to patrons who aren't hotel guests. Worse, when we asked if the check included a tip, the server said, "No." So we wrote in a $15 tip on the $90 check, only to learn later of the policy. In the end, the Grand's accountants deleted the tip, but it took us two phone calls to the hotel to find this out, including one to a manager who suggested we call our credit card company.

There are other places on the island we'd steer you to, including the J. L. Beanery in the harbor for your sunrise coffee, or the French Outpost for a nice lunch (or dinner in the company of a steel band from the other islands). On our next trip, we want to try another place we've never been whose menu looked very promising: the Governor's Room at the Island House Hotel. But we'll be sure to save one night for the Iroquois's Carriage House.

DATA: Carriage House, Iroquois Hotel, Main Street, Mackinac Island, 906-847-3321 (www.Iroquoishotel.com).  Woods, Mackinac Island, 800-334-7263 (www.Grandhotel.com).