Dec. 10, 2004
Friske's Orchard Café: a tree-hunters' haven
After a couple of years of scraggly things from our own woods, we decided on a really handsome Christmas tree this year, so we headed out just after Thanksgiving to scout the tree farms north of our home in Elk Rapids with our niece, her husband, and their boys, Alex, 10, and Marshall, 7. Cold, blustery weather was good for the Christmas spirit, but by mid-day it had us very ready for a hearty lunch. Trouble was, we were sort of out in the middle of nowhere and didn't want to drive a long way.

Then we remembered a nice lunch we'd had last summer in the little café at Friske Orchards' farm market in Atwood, just a few minutes away. Unlikely to be open, we thought, but we headed there anyway, and we were delighted to discover a rarity among farm markets: Friske's not only has a café, the café stays open all year.

We certainly felt right at home on a cold pre-Christmas day, and they served up just the hearty, satisfying lunch we wanted. We eyeballed the blackboard menu, relayed our orders at the kitchen counter, drew our own hot apple cider, and settled in at one of the spacious tables to await delivery of our orders.

Marshall enjoyed a humongous burger and Alex a giant bun overflowing with tangy pork BBQ. We grown-ups settled for somewhat more sedate sandwiches and some good hot, satisfying soup. Amy and Jason had turkey-and-Swiss affairs the menu labels the "Rachel," while Sherri and I divvied up a tuna salad on rye called "the Watering Hole" and shared a bowl of corn chowder.

Soup is a specialty at the café, and the regulars tend to make a ritual of it paired with whatever pie is in season -- apple caramel is far and away the favorite at this time of year, and cherry is always a hit in summer. Chicken noodle, chili, and cabbage-tomato "Harvest Soup" are particular favorites. The kitchen's potato soup recipe is from the family matriarch, Olga Friske, who still works in the market's fruit room and mingles cheerily with customers while two generations of descendants look after the farm, café and shop.

The Friskes make their own ice cream and the café-market's bakery turns out their own pies, doughnuts, breads, cookies, and seasonal specialties. It's what you smell as you enter, and that alone makes the trip worthwhile.

Our chowder turned out to be precisely what we'd been hoping for when chills and hunger sent us in search of lunch. It was richly creamy, thick with kernels and chunks of potato, and full of flavor. The sandwiches were straightforward, generous, and hearty, and came on thickly sliced, zebra-striped, rye bread. The "Rachels" were heavily layered with sliced turkey, slaw and 1thousand-island dressing. Among the dozen-odd combos listed on the menu, the biggest seller is said to be a  "farmers' special" Reuben of corned beef and Swiss on rye. The sandwiches all come with chips and seasonal fruit; crisp, fresh, apple slices adorned our plates. The drinks are seasonal, too, so in summer, it's not hot cider but icy cherry lemonade.

As you can see, there's nothing fancy about lunch at places like Friske's; it's just solid, unadorned, down-home, fill-you-up fare. A lot of folks from Charlevoix routinely make the 10-mile drive to have lunch there, and plenty more stop by when the café opens at 10 a.m. for the daily, one-buck bargain of locally-roasted coffee and a doughnut. (Friske's is the only place we know of that offers freshly roasted coffee in a caramel-apple-cinnamon blend.)

Three generations of Friskes run the farm, café and market. The family has owned its 200-acre Atwood farm for 42 years, and grows apricots, peaches, nectarines, strawberries and raspberries in addition to cherries and the apples that grow on its 15,000 trees. They had a small farm stand for years, but four years ago expanded by buying the former Elzinga Farm Market on US-31 and adding the present café and gift shop, and the adjoining, climate-controlled, fruit market. The café sells a variety of cards, books, gifts, preserves, salsas, and specialty food items, and makes good browsing while the family treasurer settles up the check.

Settling up won't require heavy lifting. For about $40, all six of us enjoyed a lunch hearty enough to let us devote the balance of the day to tracking down just the right Christmas tree.

DATA: Friske's Orchard Café, 10743 N. U.S. 31, Atwood; 231-599-2604. Café open 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., daily except Sunday.
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