Special section/Progress-D

2012

ALSOINSIDE

McDonald’sIshpeming restaurant getsnew look with renovations

PAGE 2D

Johnny Dogs ofMunisingA unique menu with atwist

PAGE 2D

Arby’sReturns to Marquette area

PAGE 3D

BlackrocksBreweryLocal brewery taking aslow approach to growth

PAGE 3D

Third StreetBagelGets new interior upgrades

PAGE 4D

Gourmet GirlsFills a niche in downtownMarquette eateries

PAGE 5D

MeltedHas a full array of comforting sandwiches

PAGE 5D

CapersA new identity with renovations

PAGE 6D

Midtown Bakeryof NegauneeBuilding upgrades helpsave money

PAGE 7D

GOOD EATS AND DRINKS — SECTION DMONdAy, MARCH 26

PROGRESSA SPECIAL SECTION OF THE MINING JOURNAL

By KYLE WHITNEYJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Since they first boughtthe Huron Mountain Bakery in 1996, Johnand Darci Scheidt have had a single goal:Do everything as well as they possibly can.

In that same time, though, the couple hasalso tried to constantly innovate and to con-tinue moving forward.

“We bought the business in 1996 and wereally built it on four items: donuts, bread,coffee and muffins,” owner John Scheidtsaid. “We really hung our hat on that anddid the best we could do, but at some point,you really need to keep growing and thosecategories were not enough to maintainconsistent, strong growth.”

That’s why, just months ago, the Scheidtsoversaw the completion of a major expan-sion at their South. Front Street store; it be-gan with a $250,000 investment and ended

with the ability to make what John Scheidtthinks are the best cakes in the area.

“If we’re going to do cakes, we’re going tohave the best cakes you can get any-where,” he said.

Scheidt hired a number of employees tostaff the new state-of-the-art cake room,which opened in August, and to producecakes and cupcakes. He has been pleasedwith the community response.

“It’s been great. I expected it to be reallygood because we built a decent reputation,but it’s way above expectations,” Scheidtsaid. “The two full-time decorators that wehave are super-creative. This past weekalone, we sold over 1,000 gourmet cup-cakes.”

Currently, he said, about 20 percent ofsales are on pre-ordered items, but hehopes to see that number climb to 60 per-cent eventually. The long-term goal, he

said, is to change the habits of people liv-ing in the area by convincing them to buycakes from Huron Mountain.

“I don’t think you can go many places inthis country and go to a better bakery andbuy better quality products,” Scheidt said.“It’s really been a lot of fun. We put every-thing we had into it and it’s something wecan really be proud of. When you tastesomething that comes from your ownbusiness and say, ‘Wow. That’s wonder-ful,’ it’s a great sense of pride.”

In addition to the Marquette store, thereis a Huron Mountain Bakery in Ishpem-ing, as well. A website for the businesscan be found at www.huronmountainbak-ery.com.

Kyle Whitney can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. His email address is [email protected].

Huron MountainBakery

Expanding operations

Progress 2012 SECTION D_Progress 2010 SECTION A 6/29/12 8:05 AM Page 1

By CRAIG REMSBURGSenior Sports Writer

ISHPEMING — With on-ly minor upgrades sincethe restaurant opened in1991, McDonald’s in Ish-peming was due for a ma-jor renovation.

At least that’s what own-er Brian Wilson believed.

“We wanted to do a totallobby refresh to make therestaurant more relevantfor the times and thearea,” he said. “Thingswere starting to wear out.”

Begun in October andcompleted Dec. 23, the“nearly $1 million” renova-tion project proved to be a“challenging” task.

“It was a long process toget everything linedup,”Wilson said, addingthe work was done by lo-cal residents through Mc-Donald’s-authorized gen-eral contractor McKee As-sociates Inc. out of Madi-son, Wis.

“There was a lot ofnoise, and we had to rentsome chairs and tables fora while,” Wilson said. “Wedid the best we could toaccommodate our cus-tomers.”

He said a second drive-through lane was in-stalled, new netting, paint-

ing and seating done inthe playland area, and a“complete” lobby remodeladded.

“We gutted the interior,put in new tile, new tablesand switched to high-effi-ciency LED lighting in thelobby,” he said. “We alsoincreased seating from 68to 84 just by taking a wallout.”

New bathroom fixturesand tile was installed, aswas a television for thelobby.

Sepia-toned murals onthe restaurant walls are al-so a part of the renova-tion.

“We’ll have five picturesfrom Shawn Malone ofMarquette — all of Ish-peming places,” Wilsonsaid. “The four-tone pic-tures are of the U.S. Na-tional Ski Hall of Fame,the Ishpeming Suicide Hillski jump, Carnegie Li-brary, the Ishpeming postoffice and ‘Old Ish’ (stat-ue).

“We tried to bring ahometown feel to therestaurant.”

A grand opening of the“new-look” Ishpeming Mc-Donald’s was held Jan.20. Money was raised forthe Ishpeming Historical

Society and the Ishpem-ing Ski Club at the event,Wilson said.

“We got a lot of positivefeedback from our regularcustomers,” he said.“They’re very happy withthe look.”

Craig Remsburg can bereached at 906-228-2500,ext. 251. His email ad-dress is [email protected].

2d -— The Mining Journal Monday, March 26 PROGRESS2012

Above are images of the newly remodeled Ishpeming McDonald’s making therestaurant more relevant for the times and the area. (Journal photos by MatthewKeiser)

By JOHN PEPINJournal Staff Writer

MUNISING — Munis-ing’s Johnny Dogsrestaurant provides aunique Alger County eat-ing experience.

“It’s gourmet artisan alhot dogs and sandwicheswith a creative touch,”said owner Johnny Flan-ders.

The restaurant, whichopened last February, islocated less than a blockoff M-28 in downtownMunising, at 106 Lynn St.

“For a little dive, it getsa little crazy,” Flanderssaid.

The gourmet hot dogs,which are the mainstay ofthe business along with“Piggy Fries,” are 100

percent all beef. Allmeats are smoked andcooked on the premisesand the burgers are freshground chuck.

“We try to do everythingfresh,” Flanders said.

The hot dog menu se-lections have fun andcreative names rangingfrom the “Piggy Dog,” the“Blue Hawaiian Dog,”and the “Hog Tied Dog,”to the “Bob Marley Dog,”the “Boston Terrier,” andthe “Cordon Bleu Dog.”

Besides the wide vari-ety of hot dogs, therestaurant also has sand-wiches, burgers, hand-cut fries and soups.Johnny Dogs also has adaily special which in-cludes favorites, such as

pot roast and mashedpotatoes, Italiansausage, meatloaf andother great comfortfoods, the restaurantwebsite said.

Johnny Dogs also of-fers catering, themedparties and pig roasts.

The restaurant is openfrom 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.Mondays, Tuesdays,Thursdays and Fridaysand 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.Wednesdays.

For more information,call the restaurant at 387-1300.

John Pepin can bereached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. His emailaddress is [email protected].

A screen shot of Johnny Dogs website that can be found at www.johnnydogson-line.com. A full menu is also available on their site.

Ishpeming McDonald’ssees major renovationsfor new look

Johnny Dogs offersa unique menu inMunising


By RENEE PRUSIJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — AndyLanglois and Dave Man-son are conservativeguys in the businesssense.

While their 14-month-old venture, BlackrocksBrewery, has been wellreceived by the Marquettecommunity, these busi-nessmen are takingthings slow and steady.

Despite rumors thatthey’re leaving their pre-sent location on the cor-ner of Third and Michiganstreets in Marquette, thatis not the case.

“We are not moving,”Langlois said. “We arecontinuing on the path westarted at this site. Growthis secondary, right now atleast, to doing what we’redoing right. We are mak-ing conservative steps.”

“All our growth is con-servative. Market driven,”Manson said.

“Customer driven,” Lan-glois said. “People arespreading the word.”

Located in a formerfour-square house, Black-rocks Brewery offers anever-changing array ofcarefully crafted beer.

“We’re conservative bynature. We try to dowhat makes sense,”Manson said. “Wethought at first we weregoing to have to be openevery day for 12 hours aday. But that wasn’t thesmart thing to do.”

Instead, Blackrocks isopen from 5 p.m. to 10p.m. Thursday-Sunday.

“With today’s economy,we are seeing what hap-

pens,” Langlois said. "Weenjoy too much what wedo to rush things. It’s ajourney and we’re taking itmonth by month.”

Blackrocks fans havecome to revel the chanceto try the beers the paircreate.

“One of the things wepride ourselves on is be-ing creative,” Mansonsaid. “We brew on asmall-batch basis. We dosomething different everyweek. I can say with cer-tainty that there are a cer-tain amount, maybe fiveto 10, of the beers that wemake the people wouldbe happy with all the time.

“But we like trying newthings.”

Langlois agreed.“Brewing is why we got

into this. We like to do,”he said. “That’s what weenjoy, being part of thecreative process.”

Rather than moving,something the pair is con-sidering is another type ofchange.

“Not a move but an ex-pansion of our ability toproduce different beers,fun beers,” Manson said.

The one-time house hasbeen converted to includetables and, of course, abar with taps. Mug hooksto allow patrons to keeptheir own drinking glasson site line the ceiling:$40 gets one a Black-rocks Brewery Mug, handcrafted by local artistRyan Dalman. Thosebuying one of these mugscan leave it on hooks andthen each fill is the sameprice as a pint. A mugholds a few ounces more

than a pint.In the warm months,

Blackrocks has a wildlypopular patio area.

“It’s one of the fewvenues in Marquette withthat kind of outside seat-ing,” Manson said. “Peo-ple really like that.”

“There are only so manynice days,” Langlois said.“You have to enjoy them.”

And year-round, musicis part of some Sundaysat Blackrocks, with acous-tic tunes being providedby Langlois and hisfriends or some guestartists.

“We may look at a musicseries this summer,” Lan-glois said.

Renee Prusi can becontacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 253. Her emailaddress is [email protected].

The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 — 3dPROGRESS2012

Top, Andy Langlois, left, and Dave Manson, co-founders of Blackrocks Brewery,pose at the tap of the business. Above, Patrons can purchase mugs which canhang from the hooks at the brewery. (Journal photos by Renee Prusi)

By JACKIE STARKJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Arearesidents who’ve beenpatiently awaiting theday when Arby’s wouldreturn to Marquetteneed not wait anylonger.

The franchise openedits doors to the publicFeb. 17 at its location in-side the new WestTowne Center by Mar-quette’s Super OneFoods off of U.S. High-way 41.

“We’re excited to behere,” said owner ChrisCooper, of Escanaba.“It’s been a lot of yearsin the making. It took alot of people helping out,

a lot of people chippingin. It wouldn’t be possi-ble without the supportwe’ve been getting fromthe community, thetownship.

Cooper hosted anevent Feb.16 inside therestaurant for the shop’semployees, giving themfirst crack at the fran-chise’s trademark roastbeef sandwiches.

“2006 was when Iwanted to put therestaurant up here inMarquette. It’s takenthat long to get it tocome to fruition,” Coop-er said. “Just a tremen-dous ‘thank you’ to ev-erybody that helpedmake this become a re-

ality.”Arby’s is now open 9

a.m. to midnight sevendays a week.

Cooper owns severalArby’s restaurantsthroughout the UpperPeninsula, including inHoughton and Escana-ba.

The West Towne Cen-ter is owned by theVeridea Group, a com-mercial real estate com-pany with offices at 925W. Washington St. indowntown Marquette.

Jackie Stark can bereached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242. Heremail address is [email protected].

Construction on the new Arby’s building just before it opened. (Journal photo byMatthew Keiser)

Blackrocks Brewerytakes a paced approach to growth

Arby’s restaurantmakes return toMarquette area


By JACKIE STARKJournal Staff WriterMARQUETTE — Long-

time patrons of ThirdStreet Bagel are now en-joying a completely newinterior for the first timein the business’ 14-yearhistory.

In only 17 days duringDecember, the entirefront of the restaurantwent through a completeoverhaul, with new dry-walling, ceiling, floortiles, countertops, bath-room space and evenextra seating areas.

“Customers love it,”said owner Christal Silta.“We’ve gotten lots ofgreat feedback.”

The new seating areasincludes all new booths,chairs, tables and stoolsas well as a new upperlevel seating area com-plete with a couch and afireplace.

Extra space was par-tially provided for bypushing the guest bath-rooms farther back intothe store, and makingthem a bit smaller.

The ground floor is alsohome to a new centralbar with several plug-insfor laptops and other de-vices that need charging,along with a new flat-screen television.

Extra seating meansextra customers, so Siltaalso added another reg-ister to allow for the pos-sibility of two lines toform during busy times.More space behind thecounter is now availableas well, meaning moreemployees can workmaking drinks and fill-ings orders at the sametime.

Silta said the extraspace has allowed her toadd more employees onthe weekends and forspecial events, when theshop is a little busier.

“We’re very busy onthe weekends and whenwe have events like thesled dog races or theNoquemanon, anythingin town, we get reallybusy,” Silta said. “Withone POS (point of ser-vice) system up front, itwas difficult to movecustomers throughquickly ... Now we’reable to put more peopleback there so we canactually staff more peo-ple. The added employ-ees on the weekendhave helped our produc-tivity.”

The store is now offer-ing a new ice creamshake made from Jil-bert’s ice cream to add totheir wide selection ofbagels and coffee drinks.

Along with the cus-tomer-friendly changes,the restaurant also madesome environmentallyfriendly changes, withnew double-paned win-dows, better insulationand new lighting.

Silta said the reasonthe renovations could bedone so quickly was ateam effort on the part ofall the contractors in-volved in the construc-tion as well as inspectorswilling to cooperate withshort notice.

“The city inspectorswere very cooperative inhelping me get reopenedbecause they under-stood how important itwas. I was losing somuch money by beingclosed, they (the city in-spectors) were very re-sponsive,” Silta said.“The minute we called,they would come. I’ll al-ways remember that.”

Jackie Stark can bereached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242. Her emailaddress is [email protected].

Above, recent images of the new interior upgrades ofThird Street Bagel. (Journal photos by Matthew Keiser)

Third Street Bagel getsinterior upgrades

4d — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 PROGRESS2012


By JACKIE STARKJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Afterthree years serving theMarquette area as acaterer, Lisa Byrnesthought it was time toopen a storefront all herown.

Gourmet Girls had itsgrand opening Feb. 17 atits location inside the Ma-sonic Building at 128 W.Washington St. in down-town Marquette. It’s acafe that Byrnes said ismore geared toward afeminine pastry shop, aniche she saw missingfrom the businesses inMarquette.

“I do lunch, some sand-wiches, soup and quiche,”Byrnes said. “I’ll have aspecial everyday and starthaving salads and wrapsas summertime gets go-ing. Of course, lots ofsweets and organic coffeeand cider. I call it a dessertboutique.”

She said she wanted tooffer area residents some-thing a little different thanwhat they’re used to out ofa cafe, with bite-sizedsweets and savories anda small lunch menu thatoffers good food in goodportion sizes.

Byrnes is also tappinginto the growing market oflocal food by offering asmany items in both her

catering and storefrontbusinesses from localfarms as possible.

“I work in as many localingredients as I can,” shesaid. “It’s a little harderover the winter up here. Inthe spring and summer Igo to the farmer’s market,work on my menu. I al-ways get organic greens,try to make it as nutritiousas possible. Keepingthings in small portions al-lows me to have that flexi-bility.”

Byrnes said she’s keep-ing her portion sizes

small, offering a style offood that’s scaled downbut delicious.

“I do a lot of vegetablefare and I keep the portionscale down,” Byrnes said.“If you have a smallerlunch, you can justify abrownie. I make every-thing from scratch and Imake everything myself.That’s why I kept it small-er.”

Byrnes, whose back-ground is in pastries, hasbeen in the catering busi-ness for six years, three ofwhich have been in Mar-quette.

She typically catersevents for non-profits,showers, weddings andother events where peo-ple may want to offer food,but not a full meal.

Winter hours forGourmet Girl are noon to6 p.m. Tuesday throughFriday. Saturdays andMondays are reserved forspecial cupcake parties.

For more information onher catering business orher storefront, call Byrnesat 906-250-9703 or checkout her Facebook page atwww.faceboook.com/up-gourmetigrl.

Jackie Stark can bereached at 906-228-2500,ext. 242. Her email ad-dress is [email protected].

Above and below are images of the interior of Gourmet Girls. (Journal photos byMatthew Keiser)

By Journal StaffMARQUETTE — Just

months after NMU’sTemaki and Tea sushirestaurant relocated toPresque Isle Avenue, itsvacated former home, atthe heart of campus, wasfilled by a restaurant dedi-cated solely to grilledcheese sandwiches.

Melted: Your GrilledCheese Fix is located onthe second floor of theC.B. Hedgcock building.

“That particular locationhas no classrooms or au-tomatic warfare. It’s a des-tination location,” saidNMU Dining Services Di-rector Greg Minner.“When we looked at it, wethought, ‘It needs to besomething people want tocome to.’”

Temaki and Tea officiallyrelocated in May and Min-ner said the university hadfrom June 4 until the startof the fall semester to de-

cide upon and install anew restaurant. He is hap-py with the choice.

“The grilled cheese, tome, is not a fad,” he said.“It’s a comfort food type ofthing for people. They likegrilled cheese.”

Minner said his depart-ment routinely offersgrilled cheese sandwichesthrough their other opera-tions and the item is al-ways a best seller.

The menu at Melted ismodeled after a universitycourse bulletin. A GC100is a basic sandwich, whilea customer ordering aGC300 will be able to se-lect from a number of top-pings and spreads.

Sandwiches from thegraduate section are evenmore complex, and in-clude things like the grilledcheese sandwich withmacaroni and cheese,pulled barbecue pork andcaramelized onions.

There are also dessertoptions, like the s’moresandwich and the NewYork cheesecake sand-wich.

The restaurant offersCampbell’s tomato soup,as well as NMU stapleslike Stone Creek Coffeeand Dining Services’ grab-and-go items.

Though the concept of adedicated grilled cheeserestaurant seems unusu-al, Minner said such es-tablishments have seensuccess in other areas ofthe country and he appre-ciates the opportunity toshare the idea with NMUstudents.

“We want to be able tofill the niche of what stu-dents are looking for,” hesaid. “We value the factthat we can do self-oper-ated, self-designed thingslike Melted and Temakiand Tea. And I think thestudents do, too.”

A student places an order at Melted, the new grill cheese resturant located on thesecond floor of the C.B. Hedgcock building. (Journal photo by Matthew Keiser)

Gourmet Girl fills aniche in downtownMarquette eateries

The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 — 5dPROGRESS2012

I do lunch, somesandwiches. I’llhave a special ev-eryday and starthaving salads andwraps as summer-time gets going.Of course, lots ofsweets and organ-ic coffee and cider.I call it a dessertboutique.

“

- LISA BYRNESOwner of Gourmet Girls

”

Melted has a fullcourse catalog ofsandwiches


By RENEE PRUSIJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Own-er Christine Pesola isproud of the renovatedCapers Restaurant onthe ground floor of theLandmark Inn in Mar-quette.

“The basic idea withthis latest renovation isthat it finally representswho we want to be,”Pesola said. “When youwalk into the lobby, it’smade up as it was origi-nally. But the restaurantdidn’t seem to fit. Nowit’s cozy, classy andwarm, all we wanted it tobe.”

Added Michelle Cook,the Landmark’s directorof sales and marketing:“It stands the test oftime. It’s traditional yetup to date. It’s beautiful.”

Often in the past, peo-ple felt as though theyneeded to “dress up” togo to Capers, Pesolasaid.

“Now you don’t have towear a tie. You can if youwant,” she said with asmile. “But it’s muchmore ‘come as you are.’”

But beyond the physi-cal renovations, Caperswent through anothertransformation.

“We made the menuover so it features sea-sonal local and regionalflavors,” Pesola said.

“We like the local thing alot.”

Cook said Capers usesmeats purchased atGuindon Farms in Cor-nell and vegetables andfruits bought throughFarmer Q’s in downtownMarquette.

“And of course wehave Lake Superiorwhitefish,” Cook said. “Iam really proud of thechefs and what they’vedone with the menu.Foodies love it.”

Pesola said, “By doinga renovation, it openedthings up. It was achance to look anew andhow we do our menus.Spring will be differentfrom fall. I think that’svery exciting for ourchefs in back.”

The renovated menuallows chefs to put somenew spins on dishes.

“Christine encouragesthat,” Cook said. “It’snice to showcase notjust what is available re-gionally but throughoutMichigan. That’s some-thing great both for localfolks but for our guestsfrom outside the area.”

The Landmark has be-come a popular destina-tion weddings site, Cooksaid, with the renovatedCapers playing into that.

“With the renovatedCapers and the lobby,we now have a nice flowfor that,” she said. “It’sso exciting. We havehosted weddings withpeople from internation-al places like Japan andAustralia as well ascoast to coast. The brideand/or groom usuallyhave a connection withthis area and want toshare that with their fam-ily and friends.

“To see their reactionswhen they are experi-encing Marquette for thefirst time, it’s pretty in-credible,” Cook said. “It’snot what they expected.”

“The rooms look likethey belong togethernow,” Pesola said.

“It’s historic, but keptup beautifully,” Cooksaid. “This has been alabor of love for Chris-tine.”

Renee Prusi can be con-tacted at 906-228-2500,ext. 253. Her email ad-dress is [email protected].


The basic idea withthis latest renovation isthat it finally repre-sents who we want tobe. When you walkinto the lobby, it’smade up as it wasoriginally. But therestaurant didn’t seemto fit. Now it’s cozy,classy and warm, allwe wanted it to be.

“

- CHRISTINE PESOLAOwner of Capers

Restaurant

”

With some renovations in Capers Restaurant in the Landmark Inn, the facility wasopened up to be more flowing with its lobby. The warmth of the restaurant is reflect-ed in its cozy fireplaces. (Journal photos by Renee Prusi)

Capers gets new identity in renovation Progress 2012 SECTION D_Progress 2010 SECTION A 6/29/12 8:05 AM Page 6

By JOHANNA BOYLEJournal Ishpeming Bureau

NEGAUNEE — Withits vivid blue siding, theMidtown Bakery andCafe on Iron Street inNegaunee is easy tospot, even if you aren’talready going thereseeking cookies, soup,sandwiches or almostworld-famous cheese-cake.

Underneath that sid-ing, however, there havebeen some changes thatdon’t have anything todo with the menu.

In 2011, owner Mary-beth Kurtz spent severalmonths having the build-ing that houses theeatery renovated, mak-ing a big impact on howmuch energy is usedthere.

“I knew from day one itwould stay blue. It’s kindof our signature,” Kurtzsaid of the new locally-harvested pine siding.

But new siding wasn’tthe only change.

“In the view of trying tobe more green, wewrapped and insulatedthe entire outside,” Kurtzsaid.

Kurtz also had 22 newenergy-efficient win-dows installed.

Starting in April of2011, the renovationwas completed by thebeginning of July, withwork performed by localIHS Construction.

That work, which Kurtzcompleted through re-bate programs throughthe city of Negaunee,has meant a big changein the building’s energyuse.

“My heating bill is al-most half,” Kurtz said.“We really saved mon-ey.”

In addition to the insu-lation work and new sid-ing, Kurtz also replacedlights with energy-effi-cient bulbs.

This summer, Kurtz

said she hoped to con-tinue work on the build-ing, including improvingthe garden that sits be-tween the bakery andthe building next door,providing a place forcustomers to sit and en-joy their meals and as aplace to grow her ownvegetables.

When she purchasedthe building nearly 17years ago, the businessserved mostly as an an-tique shop, with a smallbakery in the back.Since then, Kurtz has fo-cused increasingly onthe cafe and bakery,adding daily specials,different types of soupsand sandwiches and avariety of sweets anddesserts.

Customers range fromregulars to visitors intown for special eventssuch as the Ore toShore Mountain BikeEpic to bikers and skierson the Iron Ore HeritageTrail.

In February, a filmcrew from PBS showUnder the Radar Michi-gan visited the cafe tofilm portions of a showthat will air in the sum-mer of 2012.

A variety of Kurtz’scookies are now alsobeing sold at the localBorder Grill restaurantsin Negaunee and Mar-quette.

“People know we bakeall from scratch,” shesaid.

Success of the restau-rant, Kurtz said comesfrom her staff of eightemployees, all of whomhave worked for her fora number of years, andthe clientele who keepcoming back for more.

“We like to call our-selves Negaunee’s bestkept secret,” she said.

Johanna Boyle can bereached at 906-486-4401.Her email address [email protected].

PROGRESS2012 The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 — 7d

Above right, owner Marybeth Kurtz stands near her store front of Midtown Bakery. She has recently spent several months having the building that houses the eateryrenovated, making a big impact on how much energy is used. (Journal photos by Johanna Boyle)

Midtown Bakery upgrades buildingand focuses on saving energy



CongressPizza’s newmanage-mentpreservesheritage

By JOHANNA BOYLEJournal Ishpeming Bureau

ISHPEMING — In 2011,one of Ishpeming’s oldestrestaurants changedhands, but don’t expect anybig changes.

In June 2011, Mike Koskipurchased the CongressPizza and Lounge, original-ly founded and owned bythe Bonetti family, takingover the helm of the restau-rant he started working innearly 12 years ago.

“I’m the first non-Bonettito be in the Congress,”Koski said.

Originally started in 1934by A. Louis Bonetti, theCongress menu at first did-n’t have pizza anywhere onthe menu. When sonsGeno and Guido Bonettitook over the establish-ment, however, they intro-duced the restaurant’s sig-nature thin crust pizza, andsince 1958, things havestayed that way.

When Guido Bonetti re-tired in 2000, Koski said hewas brought on as a busi-ness partner by GuidoBonetti’s son, Paul Bonetti.

“People don’t likechange,” Koski said. “I’mdoing these recipes exactlythe way Guido taught me.We make our own dough,our own cudighi and ourown sauce. Fresh everyday.”

Over its long history, Kos-ki said the Congress hasbecome its own tradition inIshpeming, often being thefirst stop for former resi-dents returning home or aregular spot for locals to re-lax and enjoy good food.

“People just love thesauce. I’ve got people whowill buy it by the jug,” Koskisaid.

Although busy throughoutthe year, the Congress istruly packed on holidays.

“Come fourth of July, it willbe a two-hour wait andpeople will wait,” he said.

In the future, Koski saidhe hoped to obtain thenow-vacant lot adjacent tothe restaurant, the site ofthe former JC Penneybuilding that was demol-ished in 2011, in order toset up an outdoor diningarea and expand therestaurant’s kitchen.

For now, however, Koskisaid he’s focusing on theoriginal recipes and thecustomers.

“I’ve been very fortunate,”he said. “We’ve got greatclientele and great employ-ees... There’s couples thatcome in every Saturday.They have the samedrinks, the same pizza.

“People come here just tosit and relax and talk.”

Even though he’s beenworking at the Congress for12 years, Koski said lovesthe history and the environ-ment of the restaurant.

“Even 12 years into it, Istill enjoy coming to work,”he said.

Johanna Boyle can bereached at 906-486-4401.Her email address [email protected].

Mike Koski the new own-er of Congress Pizza andLounge stands in therestaurant. (Journal photoby Johanna Boyle)


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