PLUS GETAWAYS GRAND ACTION REAL SEAFOOD COMPANY Judy A. Steiner’s watercolor painting titled “Grand.” institutionsInnovative GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC SCHOOLS HAS SOME TOP SCHOOLS THE ARTS ISSUE 2022SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER MAG.COMGR ARTS
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4 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 COVER ILLUSTRATION BY JUDY A. STEINER, PHOTO BY MICHELLE CUPPY contents PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHELLE CUPPY 2022OCTOBERSEPTEMBER/ VOLUME 59, ISSUE 5 FEATURES 36 TRAVEL DESTINATIONSMIDWEST BY PAT EVANS 40 EDUCATION HOW INNOVATIONPUSHESGRPS BY JESSE O'BRIEN 46 ART GRAND RAPIDS ARTISTS BY SAM EASTER Judy A. Steiner is among the artiststhisfeaturedissue.
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6 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 FOOD STACY FEYER-SALO INTERIOR ALYSSA WAGNER PORTRAIT BRYAN ESLER every issue 8 editor's letter 99 dining guide GR's restaurants 156 gr gems A peek into GR history people + places 12 city The B.O.B. is back 13 guide Apple orchard season 14 voice Neighborhood expresses itself 16 spotlight Gordon Lightfoot hits the stage 18 profile Books, books, books 20 issues Grand Action 2.0 look + feel 28 experience Writing books in GR 30 wellness Blue's Gym 32 home Used furniture 33 style Vintage closet 34 expert Schuler rules BookTok food + drink 82 table Real Seafood Co. 86 must-try Dinner time at Little Bird 88 create Fresh bowls 89 top 5 Spicy chicken sandwiches 90 cheers New Holland turns 25 92 on-the-go Gino's Pizza 86 33 18 contents • september/october
Contributors: Ann Byle, Kelsey Dunneback, Sam Easter, Lauren Figueroa, Jesse O'Brien, Pasha Shipp, Lindsey Van Hekken Design Creative Director: Lindsay Richards Art Director: Mark Dryer Senior Production Artist: Stephanie Daniel Junior Designer: Steven Prokuda
Administration Director Of Business Operations: Kathie Gorecki Publishing and Sales Coordinator: Kristin Mingo Assistant Office Manager: Natasha Bajju Senior Accounting Associate: Andrew Kotzian Accounting Associate: Samantha Dick Published By Gemini Media, LLC CEO: Stefan Wanczyk | President: John Balardo Grand Rapids Magazine (ISSN 1055-5145) is published bimonthly by Gemini Media. Publishing offices: 401 Hall St. SW, Suite 331 Grand Rapids, MI 49503-1444. Telephone (616) 459-4545; fax (616) 459-4800. General e-mail: grminfo@grmag.com. General editorial inquiries: editorial@grmag.com. Periodical postage paid at Grand Rapids, MI and at additional mailing offices. Copyright ©2019 by Gemini Media. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Grand Rapids Magazine, 1965 E Avis Dr., Madison Heights, MI 48071. Subscription rates: one year $24, two years $34, three years $44, in continental U.S.; Alaska, Hawaii, Canada and U.S. possessions, one year $35. Subscriptions are not retroactive; single issue and newsstand $4.95 (by mail $7.50); back issue $7 (by mail $9), when available. Advertising rates and specifications at grmag.com or by request. Grand Rapids Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited contributions.
GRMAG.COM 7
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School, artists and highlightapplesfall
EDITOR COURTESY PAT EVANS CONTRIBUTOR COURTESY PASHA SHIPP
There are tons of ways to reach us. By mail: Editor, Grand Rapids Magazine, 401 Hall St. SW, Suite 331, Grand Rapids, MI 49503. Email: pevans@geminipub.com. Be sure to include your name, address and daytime phone number. Or follow us online at grmag.com or on social media: @grmag @grmagazine @grmagazine
Correction: In the July/August issue, the final sentence of the Experience feature on page 33 was cut short. It should finish with "way."
Pasha Shipp Favorite thing about Michigan fall? My favorite part about fall in Michigan is sipping mulled wine on my deck on a cool 60º day with my pup, Lilue, curled up in my lap; sounds like heaven. What was your favorite establish ment this summer? Broad Leaf Brewing is definitely my summer go-to spot. The food and drink options are perfect for the season.
CONTRIBUTORFEATURED
editor's letter / connect
Book lovers and design fiends alike can take a stroll through an unusual gem in Grandville, and you won’t want to miss the report on the artists who are turning 49507 into a community canvas. We also check in with Grand Action 2.0 to see what the plans are to take Grand Rapids to the next level (Hint: There are some really ambitious projects, and the organization does have the history to back up its dreams.)
Writer Ann Byle explores a great local gym, while also chatting with a local author. Keeping with some book themes in this issue, we learn how Schuler Books has become a viral sensation on social media. In the city, we celebrate New Holland Brewing Company’s 25th anniversary, and a new seafood restaurant that is delighting tastebuds downtown, Little Bird's launch from its brunch-only reputation and an iconic Eastown pizza spot still cranking out pies after more than 50 years. Cheers to Oktoberfest season!
Our features highlight some great pieces of West Michigan: Jesse O’Brien checks in with one of the best schools in the country, Sam Easter profiles several great artists beautifying the city and I take on three Midwest destinations that are well worth the drive. In the spirit of fall, start with the Guide at the front of the book. There, writer Lindsey Van Hekken takes readers through three of the region’s generational apple orchards. There’s also a quick spotlight of Gordon Lightfoot, the legendary singer-songwriter scheduled to be in town this fall.
Pat Evans Managing Editor, Grand Rapids Magazine
Next issue Founders turns 25, GR Mag highlights the most innovative bar programs and a holiday entertaining guide.
The sounds of football are back in the air, the smell of wet leaves and pumpkin spice is near and the crisp tartness of apple cider soon will be back on the tongue. With school back in session, there’s a little less time to fully enjoy all the amazing things Grand Rapids has to offer — somehow, that’s seemingly true even when you don’t have children. With that in mind, it’s even more important to efficiently use your time wisely, and that’s where we come in. We’ve managed to put together another delightful issue full of cool stories about the people and places that make Grand Rapids special.
8 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
Scan for newsletter signup: Get the Experience Grand Rapids newsletter and follow us on social media for upcoming events and #ExperienceGRactivities!GRANDMOREEXPERIENCEOFRAPIDS. “Tin Man” by Bill Secunda ArtPrize® 2021 Molly at Listening Room
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GRMAG.COM 11 THE GUIDE TO YOUR CITY people+places PHOTOGRAPH BY KRISTEN NORMAN » PLUS: B.O.BBOOKSSTACKSORCHARDSAPPLEOFISBACK A grand plan ISSUES page 20
Kara Wood takes the helm as executive director of Grand Action 2.0, which looks to take GR to a new level.
Many Grand Rapidians were devastated when the Big Old Building, or the B.O.B., closed last December. Rumors abounded about what the building, a staple in the downtown entertainment scene since the mid-1990s, might become. Rather than a new owner or concept, however, The Gilmore Collection will reopen The B.O.B., albeit with a new floorplan. The top two floors will be for special events and private dining, rather than the familiar nightclub Eve. Comedy shows will be back at Dr. Grins Comedy Club, with Bobarinos and Home also returning. B.O.B.’s Brewery will expand into the first floor and outdoor beer garden.
CITY
25thHearted’sTwo Like several of Michigan’s favorite breweries, one of the state’s favorite beers also is turning 25. Bell’s Brewery — which started in 1985 — is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its Bell’s Two Hearted IPA. The beer is a staple at bars and stores across Michigan and is regularly named one of U.S. beer drinkers’ favorite brews.
opensFoodsWhole West Michigan welcomed its first Whole Foods Market in August. The market, 2897 Radcliff Ave. SE in Kentwood, is stocked with more than 200 items from Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin.WhileWhole Foods is owned by Amazon, the company does make a point to show off local providers and source fish from the Great Lakes.
12 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 2022 EXTERIOR COURTSEY OF THE B.O.B. BEER COURTESY OF BELL'S BREWERY INC. people + places / city
The resurrectedB.O.B.
Located on the west side of Grand Rapids at 9265 Kenowa Ave. SW, Moelker Orchards & Farm Market opened in 1907 and has been family-owned and -operated since then. The farm grows a variety of fruits, such as apples, cherries, peaches, pumpkins, pears andVisitorsplums.can pick their pumpkins and apples each fall. In September, story time at the orchard gives children under the age of 5 and their parents the opportunity to learn about the farm through stories and a short tour. On Saturdays throughout October, horse-drawn hayrides provide fun for all ages. The Old Bell Bakery at the Moelker Farm Market reopened in August and offers an array of sweet treats. Ed Dunneback and Girls Farm Market
Moelker Orchards & Farm Market
These family-owned farms have been around for generations.
When the weather gets crisp and the leaves start to turn, many West Michiganders feel the itch to head to one of the region’s numerous farms and orchards. With apple-picking season almost upon us, there are plenty of West Michigan family-owned orchards that have helped celebrate fall for generations, all of which are worth a visit.
pickin'Apple
Robinette’s provides West Michigan with a 125-acre orchard, a winery, and a retail shop full of baked goods, fruits, cider and more. The local staple, 3142 Four Mile Road NE, has been family-owned and operated since 1911 and is open all year. The farm grows more than 40 varieties of apples, along with cherries, apricots, peaches and nectarines. Beyond its apples, donuts and cider, Robinette’s also offers a wide variety of activities, including a 6.5acre corn maze from Labor Day to early November and hayrides that run Thursday through Saturday in the fall for a more laidback Robinette’s adventure.
people + places / guide
GUIDE BY LINDSEY VAN HEKKEN
APPLES BARMALINI / STOCK.ADOBE.COM GRMAG.COM 13
Robinette’s Apple Haus & Winery
For nearly 100 years, Ed Dunneback and Girls Farm Market, 3025 Six Mile Road NW in Alpine Township, has been family-owned andThe-operated.farmoffers U-pick for many fruits and vegetables when they are in season, including apples, strawberries, cherries, pumpkins and asparagus. The barn that hosted countless barn dances and weddings throughout the years now is home to the farm market, which offers an expansive selection of produce. Along with the fresh market, the historic barn houses the gift shop, bakery, kitchen and taproom. The barn’s kitchen serves guests a full menu of pizzas, tacos, pasta, sandwiches and more. Since opening, music has been a vital part of the farm’s atmosphere. The farm features live music and in the fall, an 8-acre corn maze combined with a customizable trivia component provides a twist on a classic fall adventure.
It’s The Diatribe’s 49507 Project, and it’s making a mark on more than just brick and mortar. “In 2020, when all of the riots started to happen in Grand Rapids, Fable, the executive director of The Diatribe, wanted to create something that would really communicate who we really are as Black and brown people, just seeing how the media was and continues to portray a certain image or a certain story of who we are and what we look like,” said Candy Isabel, project manager of the 49507 Project. “He came up with the idea of having Black and brown businesses tell the story of who we really are and what our neighborhoods mean to us.”The project is community driven, featuring a unique opportunity for neighbors and stakeholders to share in a dialogue about what it should be. Youth who participated in The Diatribe’s Writing to Right Wrongs program worked with The Diatribe team, artists and community members to facilitate these“Theconversations.mostimportant part of this project is that it’s a community-based project,” Isabel said. “The main part of that is community voice and making sure that our community is centered in the project. A lot of times in Grand Rapids when there are different developments taking place, community voice is not put at the forefront, especially Black and brown voices,” she said. “We wanted to make sure to center that and starting out with our youth voices and then hosting a number of listening
Lifting withcommunityaart
14 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 2022 MURALIST, SPEAKER LUIS FERNANDEZ
Top: Muralist Edwin Anderson Bottom: Kyd Kane The 49507 Project helps showcase the incredible talent in the southeast part of Grand Rapids.
For the second year in a row, businesses that call the ZIP code 49507 home are featuring murals by Black, brown and LGBTQ+ artists to tell the stories of the people who live and work in this community.
VOICE
BY PASHA SHIPP The Diatribe’s 49507 Project helps showcase a neighborhood.
GRMAG.COM 15 sessions where we made sure that everyone had the opportunity to say how they feel about their neighborhood and what they wanted this art to look like.”
The Diatribe partnered with businesses from each business district in 49507 to be represented for this project. Mary Malone owns Burton Village BBQ on the corner of Eastern Avenue and Burton Street, and she’s excited about what this project can do for the“Icommunity.decidedtobe a part of the 49507 Project after being contacted by Marcel Price, the executive director of The Diatribe and 49507 Project,” Malone said. “I think it made a perfect fit, as they were an organization looking to reclaim our neighborhoods and push traffic to our districts using artwork, and at the same time, I was a new business owner trying to develop small businesses in the same area, without allowing gentrification to set in. This is so important to me, because it is evident that many areas have become gentrified in this city and being able to help brown and Black businesses start and grow in an area that we can shop, eat and enjoy one another’s company is just that big of a deal to me. The message will be grand — ‘Welcome to ourAlynncommunity.’”Guerrais a local artist who lived in the neighborhood for several years. She decided to incorporate the color codes used for redlining into her mural at Cisneros Tire Service to make a statement about the city’s past. “In the 1930s, the Home Owner’s Loan Corporation created this map that color coded areas for lending people money for houses,” Guerra said. “Red is the no-no – 49507 is almost all red and some yellow. I use red, yellow, blue, and green. If you can imagine green like East Grand Rapids and all the suburbs and then blue is anything that is close to it and the undesirables are red and yellow,” she continued. “This was an official document, but even more shocking is that it hasn’t really changed, 90 years later. You can see that it’s systemic; it’s no coincidence that these neighborhoods have been underserviced.”
“These are the neighborhoods that the city of Grand Rapids has sort of turned their back on and have not invested in,” Isabel said. “These also are the neighborhoods where people that are from outside look and say, ‘This is not a neighborhood that I want to live in; this is not a neighborhood that I want to walk in,’ and we chose these neighborhoods to say, ‘Hey, we live here, and we actually love living here; we actually are community here. We are family oriented. Your perception is wrong.’”
The Diatribe will further celebrate 49507 neighborhoods by compiling the community conversations and details about the project. “As part of the listening sessions we have, we work with a data group, Petersen Research Consultants, and they take all of the information that we gathered and put it together,” Isabel said. “We’re going to release a booklet about the project with all the locations and the artists and the business owners. It also gives back the data on what people are seeing in the neighborhood, how we feel about the neighborhood and what we feel the city should be doing about our neighborhood.”
For Isabel, this project is an opportunity to shine a light on a community that is meaningful to her and so many others, and she is proud to showcase what it has to offer. “I’m most excited about seeing the art, of course, but then also seeing other people, other community members be inspired and realizing that we have control of the narrative, not the media, and we have the power and we do have the ability to change the narrative of how people perceive us and how people perceive our neighborhood,” she said. “This project depicts the beauty, the joy, the vibrance, and the brilliance that already exists in our neighborhood.”
The project features mostly local artists, with a few from across the state. Mila Lynn is one of those artists, and she’s thrilled to be part of “Thereit. are a couple of things I think make me feel really good as an artist,” Lynn said. “When I was talking to Marcel (Price, aka Fable) and Candy in the meeting initially, they were telling me that they usually do Grand Rapids artists and then choose maybe a couple of people from out of town. I just felt like, ‘Wow, what an honor to be invited to do something like this.’ I want people to see this project unfolding and understand as minorities or as members of the LGBTQ community, they can be empowered to make a difference. I just hope that people are inspired to do big things.”
people + places / voice STUDENT QUINN KIRBY
The 49507 Project also is used as an educational asset for schools like Godwin Heights High School.
The neighborhoods represented in the project were chosen intentionally. As part of the 49507 Project, youth in the community learned about discrimination, gentrification, and redlining and how the neighborhoods in this part of Grand Rapids have been affected.
The 49507 Project not only takes care to lift up the voices of the community, but it also ensures business owners get the support they need, and the artists are treated equitably and compensated for their work. “The community really appreciated how we ran the project, as well as the artists and the business owners that we have worked with,” Isabel said. “Grand Rapids is big on art and when you say that that’s not the case for Black and brown artists in Grand Rapids, the artists and the business owners just really appreciated how well-structured the project has been and how well-run it has been. The artists are being paid what they should be paid,” she said. “The partner businesses are also getting PR (public relations) time. We’re making sure that we’re putting the voice of the community first and then making sure that the artists and the business owners are well supported and that people in the community can see who they are.”
For more than 60 years, Gordon Lightfoot has traversed the world, singingWhilesongs.Lightfoot is Canadian, the 83-year-old has written multiple tunes directly related to Michigan. He wrote the 1967 song “Black Day in July” about the Detroit riots. Then, in 1976, he wrote the epic ballad, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”
BY PAT EVANS
troubadourTraveling
Perhaps the most famous shipwreck on the Great Lakes, the Edmund Fitzgerald freighter was forever immortalized in the singer-songwriter’s passionate lyrics.
16 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 people + places / spotlight
Lightfoot was listed at No. 5 on the CBC’s list of 25 best Canadian songwriters ever and he was the subject of the 2019 documentary, “Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind.” He is scheduled to play Sept. 19 at DeVos Performance Hall.
‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’ singer hits the stage in Grand Rapids.
SPOTLIGHT
Lightfoot’s lengthy career has resulted in 23 albums — two in the past two years — including 2021’s Beginnings. Several of his albums have reached multiplatinum status.
Gordon Lightfoot has multiple hits across more than 60 years and he's coming back to Grand Rapids in September.
GORDON LIGHTFOOT COURTESY OF DEVOS PERFORMANCE HALL
INFO@JBZoo.org616.336.4300 JBZoo.org @johnballzoogr @JohnBallZoo Sept.30 – Nov. 13 Visit our website for times and tickets. Bioluminescent organisms light up the night! Don’t miss your chance to explore the depths of the ocean and the dark of night through unique interactive light displays. Living Lights, fun for the whole family.
About six years ago, Amber Skiles quit her job in health care administration — and she hasn’t worked a day since. That’s according to Skiles. She has, however, started perhaps one of the more unique businesses in West Michigan. Skiles runs The House of Elements and A House of Books, 3151 Broadway Ave. SW, both of which utilize thousands of books that otherwise would end up in a landfill.
“Eight years ago, if you told me I’d be selling books for a living, I’d say you were crazy,” said Skiles, who originally went to school looking for a fine arts degree before switching to marketing.
But while working in health care administration, her sister started making farmhouse furniture and selling it. Soon, Skiles was helping accessorize the booth, finding vintages vases and books to fill it out. The books, as it turned out, began selling like Surprised,crazy.Skiles decided to put some effort into the side gig and offered a few of the books on Etsy. “It was strictly the books, those were the best sellers and best margins because they were so easy to find with people getting rid of books,” Skiles said. “It started in my
A creative business in Grandville uses literature for decoration, all while helping cut down on waste ofStacksbooks
BY PAT EVANS // PHOTOS BY BRYAN ESLER Amber Skiles
people + places / p ofiles PROFILE
18 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
GRMAG.COM 19
“We thateveryresearchbookcomesintomakesurewe'renotdestroyingsomethingvaluable.”
Amber Skiles basement, then filled into the garage and I was doing it as I was working full time. “Eventually, it came to the point it would replace my income and be sustainable. I took the leap and started full time working out of my house and now in the warehouse.”
“Even if you look back to the 1950s decorating magazines, it was there,” Skiles said of decorative books. “It’s not a huge saturated market, maybe 10 or so big players in the decorative book industry. We have to combat the question, ‘Why would you have books on the shelves you don’t read?’ a little bit. “And then we do hear from people mad about us selling pieces of books for crafting as well. They don’t understand it was halfdestroyed already.”
Skiles said there is a commitment to keep as close to zero waste as possible, and that’s one reason A House of Books was created, to utilize all the books and materials not used in The House of Elements.“Libraries are giving books away,” Skiles said. “This gives us a great opportunity to educate on the situation of waste and it’s better that we’re giving them a new life.”
Skiles said it’s not her goal to sell destroyed books. But the other alternative is to send them to a landfill, where 320 million books already head annually, according to the National Wildlife Federation. Many of the books used in The House of Elements are modern books that were either over printed or left-over stock from bookstores. (New books often are covered in fabric of some sort, while vintage books are left as is for home décor.)
With up to 12 pallets full of books, it can take up to six months to sort through them. Signed and first edition books pop up regularly. That’s when she created A House of Books, to sell those valuable books — the most valuable she found is a signed Hellen Keller book — and then selling others for paper crafting, junk journaling and scrap booking. While The House of Elements did not initially attract much local attention, Skiles pushed A House of Books out in the community, starting an event at Georgetown Township Library. Eventually, crafters wanted to come in, so Skiles made a small retail storefront at the business that is open Thursday and Friday. The customers can come in, shop the entire warehouse and learn paper crafting. The whole concept of Skiles’ business can be a bit confusing. Why would there be thousands of books at any given time in this 5,000-square-foot Grandville warehouse? Many people have bookshelves full of books they’ve read. But perhaps more now have bookshelves or stacks of books specifically curated to look nice.
The business was strictly online, with Skiles never really working to develop a local following. The majority of The House of Elements’ customers are in California, Texas and New York, with boxes of books shipped to interior designers and, some, direct to customers. That sector accounts for about 90% of the overall business. But there was some spillover, Skiles said. Early in the business, she would buy books at estate or library sales. Now, they come in by semi-truck on pallets. “We never knew what was coming in. We’d buy a huge quantity, and we’d have to sort them,” she said. “We were coming across some not in good enough condition to sell for home décor, maybe because of water damage, missing cover or the spine was broken. Then there were more valuable books. “We research every book that comes in to make sure we’re not destroying something valuable.”
//
Kara Wood, catalytictheActiondirectorexecutiveofGrand2.0,posesforaportraitoutsideofDowntownMarketinGrandRapids.TheDowntownMarketisoneofseveraldevelopmentsspearheadedbytheorgiinalGrandAction.
big(ger)Thepicture ISSUES BY
is ready to drive another
significant factor in the growth and evolution of the city has been the privatepublic partnerships that have popped up. Perhaps the most consequential of those partnerships stem from the Grand Action Committee, a coalition of several of the most prominent families in West Michigan. The organization was the main driver behind transformative projects like Van Andel Arena, DeVos Place and the Downtown Market. The core three of Grand Action — Dick DeVos, David Frey and the late John Canepa — hoped they could push the city to a new level. They certainly helped. “Growth in West Michigan isn’t by luck. It’s by our investing in our future,” Frey told Grand Rapids Magazine in 1993. “This is another significant step forward that doesn’t just reinforce but clarifies the A 2.0 phase of growth Rapids PAT EVANS PHOTO BY KRISTEN NORMAN
in Grand
Grand Action
20 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
Then, there’s an aquarium. While the city might be in competition with Muskegon for that asset, Frey said he hopes Grand Rapids could soon have an aquarium near or on the Grand River that becomes a regionalAnotherattraction.projectthat’s “not quite ready for primetime,” according to Frey, but that was circulated prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, was a convention-sized hotel to complement DeVos Place. A hotel with 650 rooms or more would allow Grand Rapids to attract more and bigger conventions. All these projects could serve as catalysts for private developers to bring in new businesses, residential buildings and other community assets that make the city a great place to live, work and play.
Back in the early 1990s, as Grand Action was getting off the ground, even the original trio of leaders had no idea what their commitment to the city was setting the table for.
“The continued growth of Grand Rapids, in part through our projects, has validated itself,” DeVos said. “It has put us on lists, so much so that MLS will not only tolerate a call from us, but call us.”
DeVos said another signal of Grand Action’s success is that the model has been used in other West Michigan communities and the development of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport. With the new Grand Action projects, Frey thinks Grand Rapids can take another step to become a thriving city. As new catalytic developments, they also could attract even more residential buildings and potentially more corporate headquarters that mark a vibrant downtown as the place to be, rather than in surrounding suburbs and bedroom“Momentumcommunities.isimportant,”
GRMAG.COM 21 people + places / issues relationship between the public and private sectors. We’re continuing to fulfill what we had planned for us — we’re just doing what comesAfternaturally.”Canepadied in 2018, the original Grand Action dispersed, or at least took a pause. Frey told GRM this summer they hoped a new generation of leaders would emerge to drive the next phase of growth. “We waited, but we waited not too terribly long, maybe 12 to 18 months,” Frey said. “But there was a sense of urgency growing in the city that we needed to restructure Grand Action with a new set of leaders.” Previously, Frey had been the “today” of a trio of leaders meant to represent the “yesterday, today and tomorrow” of Grand Rapids. Now, he admits, he’s the “yesterday.” He now takes an emeritus-type role, with DeVos being joined by Carol Van Andel and Tom Welch, the West Michigan region president for Fifth Third Bank. The organization also has a new executive director, Kara Wood, who replaced longtime director Jon Nunn. Wood was most recently associate vice president of community partnerships at Western Michigan University, but also spent more than a decade at the city of Grand Rapids in community planning. “I’m really appreciative of Grand Action’s proactiveness in basically laying what it takes to get the city to the next level,” Wood said. “There is an expectation for me, because they’ve outlined it to the community, and if we’re going to elevate the city, they’ve given us a roadmap to follow. Grand Action, being proactive leaders, they advance some elements quickly to ensure success. I wanted to support and continue to support those goals.”
“I would love to see this serve as a catalyst toward a far more residential downtown,” DeVos said in the 1993 article. “An arena in the Heartside area — will this prompt bars to spring up? I guess I don’t think so. But I believe we should look at it as it evolves in reality, not in ourTheminds.”article also noted studies suggested the arena might bring a “minor league hockey team, large touring acts, prominent entertainers and a host of family shows.”
Frey said this summer. “It’s already a great mid-sized city halfway between Chicago and Detroit. Our goal is not to be a Chicago, a Detroit, but a mini version of both with the best features of both.”
Well, the Grand Rapids Griffins are a two-time American League Hockey champion that has produced dozens of players that went on to play for the Detroit Red Wings and other NHL organizations. The arena also is one of the most successful venues of its size, regularly placing among the top-5 grossing mid-sized venues globally, according to Billboard.Oncecompleted, restaurants and bars did pop up around Van Andel Arena — including The B.O.B. and the line of entertainment venues that run down Ionia Avenue. Without the arena, it is unlikely some of the big developments of the past decade would have come to be, either, like Studio Park and Arena Place — it’s literally in the name!
“But there was a sense of thegrowingurgencyincitythatweneededtorestruc-tureGrandActionwithanewsetofleaders.”
David Frey
With the new leadership in place, Grand Action 2.0 already has big plans. The top priority is a riverside amphitheater — a $116 million, 12,000-seat venue that could host a variety of touring acts coming through the region. The project has passed multiple hurdles, including the Grand Rapids City Commission approving the $24.3 million sale and a commitment of $30 million in state funding. The project also will include more than 1,000 housing units and a park. Frey said the state support is key as Grand Action continues to work toward fundraising for the project that would activate a major downtown site, 201 Market Ave. SW, that has been talked about for years. Beyond that, there’s even bigger aspirations. DeVos said there are discussions with Major League Soccer to bring a minor league soccer team to Grand Rapids. That project would include a stadium, potentially on the West Side, that also could serve other community athletic and entertainment projects.
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Although neither UBS Financial Service Inc. nor its employees pay a fee in exchange for these ratings, UBS may hire RJ Shook to be a speaker for events. Past performance is not an indication of future results. Investment performance is not a criterion because client objectives and risk tolerances vary, and advisors rarely have audited performance reports. Rankings are based on the opinions of SHOOK Research, LLC and not indicative of future performance or representative of any one client’s experience. Learn more about award criteria at ubs.com/us/en/designation-disclosures
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Clients know that Michael Toth goes above and beyond every day, bringing the global resources of the firm to address their needs and goals here in Michigan. It is this dedication that earns each client’s trust and confidence— and now this distinction. Please join us in extending our hearty congratulations, and we encourage you to reach out to discuss how we can help you pursue what’s important to you. Toth Senior Vice President–MI honors Michael Toth as a Best-In-State Wealth Advisor in Michigan 2022
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E verything seems to shift a little when autumn starts to roll in, whether you’re sending kids back to school, evaluating your empty nest, planning for the next holidays to come, re-energizing your fitness routine, or thinking about more serious things, such as how the costs of goods, materials, and services are affecting your life and household budget. Whether momentous or everyday, the issues that concern us matter—and a little guidance on how to maneuver through them is always welcomed. For those looking for thrifty options for getting away, CVBs across Michigan share their best ideas for where to go and what to do—including some of the best routes for fall color gazing. If you’re a homeowner, one of our area insurance experts wants you to be thinking earnestly about your insurance coverage. Read on to find out why. And, whether you’re young or old, being active is crucial for safer, more graceful aging. Learn from a pro how it can make a difference.
The experts featured in this section cover all the topics that are front of mind for many. Follow their trusted advice! Tips for Falling Back Into Travel, Activity, and More
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Shelby Peterson Beacon Hill at Eastgate Wellness Manager 1919 Boston St. SE Grand Rapids, MI 49506 616-245-9179 beaconhillgr.org
Q: What role does physical fitness play in the aging process?
Q: How do I know when it’s time to update my homeowners insurance?
Spencer Klukowski Lake Michigan Insurance Agency Personal Lines Manager 5550 Cascade Rd. SE. Grand Rapids, MI 49546 616-234-6690 LMCU.org/Insurance
A: As we age, our bodies change and our flexibility, range of motion, balance, and mobility can be greatly affected by those changes. Though it can be a little scary to lose certain functions we once had, it’s important to face those challenges head on and do our best to mitigate the effect that any limitations may have on our overall wellbeing and quality of life. At Beacon Hill, our senior residents range from those in independent living to those in some form of assisted living. Physical activity is critical, no matter where they are in our continuum of care.
A: Like many homeowners, your insurance premium is likely wrapped into your mortgage payment. That makes it easy to forget about your policy until a major change occurs, such as a renovation, addition, or significant growth in items of value. But, it’s smart to examine your policy regularly—and even shop around for a more competitive rate, if you notice your costs are going up. Today, there’s another factor that homeowners should be paying close attention to, and that’s inflation. Supply chain issues, as well as rising inflation, have greatly increased the cost of building materials—and that means the cost to rebuild your home in the event of damage or a catastrophe has increased dramatically, too. So, the short answer is: Reviewing and updating your homeowners insurance policy should be a top priority for all homeowners right now. Though some insurance companies are taking action in response to the current financial climate by increasing Coverage A, the dwelling aspect of the policy, that still is unlikely to be enough. My recommendation is to talk to your agent right away about additional extensions that could help safeguard you.
Begin your tasting journey at Pond Hill Farm, where you can pick a pumpkin from the patch, shop the market, or go on a gnome house hunt. Visit petoskey.wine to learn about all the wineries in the region. Ski season is also right around the corner, and now is the time to start planning your winter getaway. Petoskey area has three of the top ski resorts in Michigan, plus opportunities for snowshoeing, fat tire biking, and hiking. Whether it’s leaves, libations, or lifts, we’re your go-to for fall and winter fun.
Q: What are three big reasons to plan a fall/winter vacation in the Petoskey area?
Jim Powell Petoskey Area Visitors Bureau Executive Director 401 E. Mitchell St. Petoskey, MI 231-348-275549770 petoskeyarea.com
A: As an autumn destination, our region boasts the Tunnel of Trees—one of the state’s most iconic attractions and ranked as one of the most scenic roads in the nation. Hugging the shoreline along M-119 from Harbor Springs to Cross Village, it’s one of the best routes for basking in the fall color glory. This extraordinary byway is also the perfect starting point for a winery tour, combining breathtaking sights with delicious sips. The region is home to 14 wineries, all part of the “Tip of the Mitt” American Viticultural Area.
What’s important for me, as the Wellness Manager, is to tailor a fitness regimen that supports each individual’s level of readiness and experience—one that focuses on increasing their overall agility while ensuring all movements are done safely and without harm. Whether in a group scenario or in a oneon-one consultation, I create modified exercises and provide plenty of encouragement to assure our seniors’ comfort, while also challenging them to push themselves a bit—all with the purpose of giving them more confidence to keep doing what they love.
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A: While some Michigan destinations start winding down after the summer season, the Ludington area continues to offer excitement, adventure, and recreation all year. Autumn is an ideal time to visit our charming harbor town. Of course, a color tour is a must—either by car or bicycle. Weave though through downtown, cruise along the Lake Michigan shore, and meander down country roads to take in the full spectrum of fall color. Follow one of the self-guided Mason County Cultural Trails if you need inspiration. Get further immersed in nature on one of the many hiking trails in Ludington State Park and Nordhouse Dunes or go out on the water, kayaking or canoeing along the stunning Pere Marquette River. Don’t forget your fishing pole, because king salmon are running in the rivers into October. Golfing and disc golfing are also popular activities for fall visitors. We keep the calendar full, too, so look for seasonal events like Octoberfest, Haunted Village, and the Run for Your Lives 5K & 10K, along with other Halloween happenings. After that, we ramp up for the holidays with shopping, celebrations, and merriment galore. Learn more at pureludington.com.
A: The opportunity to see the Northern Lights, also called the Aurora Borealis, is one of the many reasons vacationers are attracted to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We’re actually the best place in the 48 continental United States to see them! Though it’s not a guarantee that you’ll be graced by this incredible sky show while visiting, you can take some steps to increase your chances. First, plan your U.P. trip between August and April. Peak months are April, October, and November. You’ll also want to choose a clear, crisp, cold night without the threat of lake effect snow. Location matters as well. The farther north and closer to Lake Superior’s shoreline you are, the better, with Drummond Island, Whitefish Point, Brimley State Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and Au Train Lake being some optimum spots. The U.P. is also ideal for dark sky viewing in general, thanks to our lack of light pollution and proximity to the North Pole. We now have our first designated International Dark Sky Park, based at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge in Copper Harbor, at the northernmost tip of the U.P. Northern Upper Peninsula?
A: Nothing sparks romance like a dreamy drive to take in the fall colors. But there are more rich hues in our area than just the beautiful foliage! Along Southwest Michigan’s Makers Trail, couples visiting the region will find glasses filled with amber, russet, garnet, deep purple, straw yellow, and rosé wines, beers, ciders, and cocktails. Download the 2022/2023 Makers Trail Passport app and earn rewards by collecting stamps at participating nature trail/Makers Trail site combinations. Popular stops include Mt Tabor Trails, which connects guests from Round Barn Estate and Tabor Hill Winery & Restaurant, and Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve trails near River St. Joe—one of the area’s newest breweries that serves up farmhouse ales and generously hopped beers with a scenic overlook of the hops fields. Book your overnight stay at one of our hotels and resorts—many just minutes from Lake Michigan—and you’ll also enjoy remarkable sunset displays of fiery red, orange, yellow, and lavender. And, while you’re here, refer to our harvest guide, available at swmichigan.org, to find the best pick-your-own farms and markets.
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Lights in the
Millicent Huminsky Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council 2300 Pipestone Rd. Benton Harbor, MI 49022 616-459-4545 ext. 3242 swmichigan.org Brandy Miller Ludington Area Convention & Visitors Bureau 119 S. Rath Ave. Ludington, MI 800-542-460049431 pureludington.com Adonia Finendale Marketing Coordinator Upper Peninsula Travel and Recreation Association P.O. Box 400 Iron Mountain, MI 49801 906-774-5480 uptravel.com
Q: What are some ideas for an empty-nester couple’s getaway in Southwest Michigan? Q: What are some quintessentially fall activities to do in Ludington? Q: What are some tips for stargazing and catching the
ALLTHATGLOWSGR.COM | 616.588.8880 all that GLOWS save the DATES beauty event 9.22 | 2-8p | BENGTSON CENTER Presale : 9.19 – 9.30 after glow : 9.29 | 8:30-12
GRMAG.COM 27 KEEPING YOUR MIND AND BODY HEALTHY look+feel PHOTOGRAPH BY ALFIELD REEVES WELLNESS leaderRing page 30 » PLUS: HOMEVINTAGESTYLECLASSICISBOOKTOKHOT Dino Newville kicks and punches hard, but he has a soft heart.
Picture book creator puts heart on the page
28 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
look + feel / expe ience Music. Theology. Organic vegetable gardening. Construction. Farming. Kenneth Kraegel has pursued all these enterprises, and all have played a part in what has become his permanent career as a picture book writer and illustrator. Settled in the basement studio of his Grand Rapids home, Kraegel meticulously adds detail after detail, color upon color to the gorgeous illustrations that populate the children’s books he also writes. His newest book is “Mushroom Lullaby,” published by Candlewick Press and releasing in October. “I like this book because mushrooms are an uncharacteristic subject for a bedtime book,” Kraegel said. “It starts out talking about mushrooms in different places, then moves to a mushroom for you. Readers can enter a fantasy bedtime world, then decrescendo into sleep.” He admits to not knowing where the idea came from for the newest book, just that it came and he began writing the story bit by bit, then sketching his ideas for each page. “This is the messy period when I don’t really know where it’s going. I work on it every day for a couple of hours until I’m tired. The next day I look at it again and find the problems. I do that every day. If I keep messing around with it long enough, I come up with something that works,” Kraegel said. Once he had the rough sketches done and the story written, he sent what he calls a “book dummy” to his editor. And once he got the official approval, the real work of illustrating “Mushroom Lullaby” began. Illustration process Kraegel creates detailed sketches of each page in pencil. He puts each sketch on his homemade light box and puts watercolor paper over that, drawing again in pencil in case he wants to tweak any details on the watercolor paper. The final step before beginning to paint is going over the pencil lines in pen.
EXPERIENCE BY ANN BYLE // PHOTOS BY TERI GENOVESE
Kenneth Kraegel
Kraegel’s first book, “King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson,” came out in 2012 with Candlewick Press and received a starred review in Publishers Weekly. The reviewer said, “debut author Kraegel proves he’s a force to be reckoned with” and “he has a Monty Pythonesque sense of language, humor, pacing, and character.”
GRMAG.COM 29
Today’s celebration is tomorrow’s heirloom. Shop in-store or on-line for designer jewelry custom made in our Grand Rapids studio. (616) 459-5075 www.meta l ar t studi o inc.com 978 Cherry St SE, Grand Rapids MI (Park free in our lot) Rustic diamonds in white & yellow gold. “I start painting in light layers, watching as the colors gradually come together. I paint multiple layers to get the coloring just right,” he said, adding that each illustration takes 10 days to two weeks to complete.
Since then, Kraegel has written “The Song of Delphine” (2015), “Wild Honey from the Moon” (2019) for early readers, “Green Pants” (2020) and the board book “This Is a Book of Shapes” (2020). He’s drawn everything from dragons to emus, giraffes to snails, knights to small boys to little bears. And mushrooms, of course. Change of plans Picture books weren’t Kraegel’s first plan. As an adolescent he wanted to play the guitar in a rock band, but soon realized that making music wasn’t easy. What was easy was listening to music and drawing. He built an easel and starting painting in oils and writing stories. But he went to Wheaton College to study theology. Then his interest in organic vegetable gardening developed when in Uganda for his new wife Irene’s dissertation research. They moved to Wisconsin for his internship on an organic vegetable farm. Then a move to the state of Wyoming for her internship while he worked in construction. Indiana and a little vegetable farm. A farm in Ohio. “I finally realized that what I really wanted to do was picture books. I started taking it seriously, going to conferences and creating more stories,” Kraegel said. The family, which added son Milo, settled in Grand Rapids in 2008 when Irene Kraegel got a job at Calvin University. She is director of the Center for Counseling and Wellness. Kenneth Kraegel divides his time between writing and illustrating picture books and tutoring children with reading disabilities such as dyslexia. “I had too much creative time, but being out there interacting with people has been kind of freeing,” he said. “I was spending too much time coming up with something; now I sit down and get to work. I’m excited to get into my studio and use that time efficiently.”Kraegelhasn’t given up music. He listens to everything from classic rock to alternative, from classical to folk to international music. He and his family love to hike and backpack, with favorite spots in Michigan including the Porcupine Mountains, Pictured Rocks and North Manitou Island. He’s constantly evolving his work and his process. “With earlier books I wanted to know how the story would finish. Now I have an outline, but I see how it goes from start to finish. The story evolves over time,” he said. “If I make one picture, that sparks another idea and I make that picture. The process has become really fun. It’s exciting to see something evolving like a plant coming up, coming into itself.” Kraegel continues to make picture books. He’s got several more in the works and always is jotting down ideas for more. “Picture books are the books we read most. We read favorite novels maybe once every five years, but picture books are read all the time. Kids and adults scrutinize the illustrations. It’s like entering into someone else’s imagination,” he said. Meet the author Kenneth Kraegel will read “Mushroom Lullaby” during Children’s Story Time at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22, at Schuler Books, 2660 28th St. SE in Grand Rapids. A short Q&A and book signing will follow.
“I teach kids to believe in themselves no matter what anybody says,” said Newville, who runs Blue’s Gym with his wife, Sara Newville, and a team of volunteers. “I encourage kids that if they have a dream, to chase that dream and it’ll come true.”
Then-Grand Rapids Mayor Abe Drasin declared Jan. 27, 1981, Dino Newville Day to honor his achievement. Mayors since then have kept up the declaration, including current Mayor Rosalynn Bliss.
Gym history Dino Newville opened his first gym, called Stockbridge Gym, above Salvatore’s Restaurant on Stocking Ave. NW in 1998. His dream began when he was hit on the head during a street altercation. “I died instantly. They said I was dead, but I could see myself. Then I saw a silhouette of light —it was God giving me another chance. He put me back in my body,” Newville recalled. “I said, Lord, use me any way you want to use me. I stopped drinking and going to bars.” A short time later, he opened his gym. After several years above Salvatore’s, he moved and renamed his business Blue’s Gym in space across from Belknap Park, then to Burlingame and 28th Street SW. Finally, about 10 years ago, he saw the building at 4248 Kalamazoo Ave. SE and knew it was the new space for Blue’s Gym, which offers memberships for those who wish to use the training facilities along with programming for kids. Several rooms also are available to rent for outside events. Its 21,000 square feet include a weight room, boxing gym, wrestling room, learning center, education room and prayer room. Thanks to donations, a new art room and counseling room are being renovated by teams of volunteers. Newville figures there are about 500 kids each week in the building for after-school programs and to use the learning center and gym spaces. Kids Open Gym on Saturday from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. brings in kids ages 4-17 for exercise and inspiration at no cost. Kids ages 8-15 can sign up for summer programs, which include prayer and educational guidance plus coaching in boxing and wrestling.
As founder of Blue’s Gym in southeast Grand Rapids, Newville has turned his passion for fighting into a passion for bringing out the best in young people.
Dino Newville knows how to throw a punch. Kick hard. Dance around the ring like a butterfly. He could lay most of us out flat without breaking a sweat. Yet this mixed martial arts champion has a heart for kids and young adults, spending his time and energy encouraging, challenging and urging them to be and do their best.
BY ANN BYLE // PHOTOS BY ALFIELD REEVES
Newville comes from a family of fighters including his father, Billy Blue, a boxer himself and for whom the gym is named. Newville started young and rose fast. He’s a four-time world kickboxing champion. One of his most famous fights occurred in 1981 in Japan when he defeated his Japanese opponent for the world title in International Team Fighting, now called UFC. At age 19, with broken knuckles and ribs, a broken foot and a hairline fracture of the jaw, plus a broken nose, Newville threw himself back into the ring and won the title.
WELLNESS Dino Newville look + feel / wellness 30 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
Giving kids a fighting chance: Dino Newville
• Corporate sponsorships
Volunteers do everything from training to teaching wrestling, from tutoring in reading and math to cleaning, from handing out gloves and hats to distributing food donations.
One recent donation was time spent building bookshelves for the many donated books. Volunteers also do fundraising and other support services. Newville himself even took to the ring one more time in November 2021, raising $21,000 to help the many kids who find a home at Blue’s Gym.
Blue’s Gym, a nonprofit entity, works with other nonprofits and businesses to help the community by giving back what is given to them.
Areas of need include: • Monetary donations for operating costs (the biggest expense is power to heat and cool the large building) and equipment.
• Volunteers “First, come and see what we do,” Newville said. Visit the website www.bluesgymgr.orgat to learn more or donate.
GRMAG.COM 31
He doesn’t ever want to see bullying and encourages kids to help others who are being bullied. He doesn’t encourage fighting, instead urging his young listeners to pull the kids away from the bully and move away. Dino’s wife, Sara, works closely with him at the gym. They met in 2011 and married in 2016, “and we’ve never been apart since we met,” Sara Newville said. “Dino’s message is that he wants to keep kids off the streets by giving them something to do with that extra energy, giving them goals and dreams. So many kids come back and say thank you to Dino.”
Volunteers keep Blue’s Gym running Blue’s Gym depends on the many volunteers who help train in boxing and wrestling, teach reading skills, offer counseling, and tutoring help with homework. Ed Cullivan owns Artistically Inclined (www.artisticallyinclined.com), a Coopersville-based small business that creates murals, vehicle wraps, and all manner of graphics for businesses and nonprofits. Cullivan was contacted by The Fixers, a television show streaming on BYUtv, to create a mural for an episode they were filming about Blue’s Gym for which they redid several rooms in the building. “After that project, I stayed and volunteered for four hours every Monday,” said Cullivan. “I saw Dino treat everyone like family and saw the programs he created to keep kids off the street. It inspired me to keep being involved.” Soon he was on the gym’s board, where he continues to serve. “What inspired me most about Dino was his commitment. At age 19 he went across the world and got in the ring with a broken body and still fought,” said Cullivan. “Years later, when I was helping with the television show and had broken ribs from a motorcycle crash, I thought, ‘What would Dino do?’ He really brings credibility to the programs.”
Tim Van Antwerp has been a school therapist and mentor at Arbor Circle and is now an independent support coordinator for adults, and lends his expertise on a volunteer basis each Wednesday to help those who come into Blue’s Gym. “I make myself available for people with questions and who need resources,” he said, adding the gym has become a resource hub for the community. “Dino is a very engaging guy, and I love the transformation he went through in his life,” said Van Antwerp. “I know he loves the kids and loves engaging with them. I have a military background, so I understand the value of that kind of training, especially for at-risk kids. Dino offers that kind of training and values.”
“I tell the boys and girls that I want them to be able to defend themselves,” said Newville. “I don’t want them to take what I teach them and be violent, but to defend themselves and not be bullied. If a bully comes at you and you put your head down, they’ll come at you. But I teach them to stand tall and give the bully a stern look.”
Dino Newville has found a home there as well, bringing in police officers and military personnel to talk with the young people, encouraging every child who walks in the door looking for something to do. He’s considering a leadership training program and is constantly speaking at churches and schools. “I want to teach the kids to have confidence,” he said. “I just want to give and help people.”
Some tips for finding sourcingandused and vintage furniture
5. Local resale and vin tage shops are anoth er great source. Some of my favorites include Lost & Found: Trea sures of Old & New (Downtown GR), Changing Redesign.com).(onlineandAntiquesParsons(Grandville),ThymesTheNose(OakPark),SimpleRedesignonlyatSimple
HOME If you’ve tried to buy a piece of furniture in the last couple of years, I can guarantee you’ve run into major backorders, “out-ofstock” notifications, and seven-to-eight-month lead times on new furniture orders — not so fun! But, if you’re open to a little legwork and don’t mind the idea of sourcing used, you can pretty quickly find what you need for any space. Personally, I love the hunt that comes with sourcing used furniture and decor, as well as the layered and eclectic aesthetic it creates. While I don’t often utilize found pieces with my interior design clients, in my own home, I’d say 80% of the pieces are vintage or used. This is a great option 1) if you’re on a budget, 2) if you don’t want to wait seven-plus months for a sofa, or 3) if you are interested in a more sustainable way of designing your home since you’re able to utilize pieces that already exist in the world — hurrah!
32 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 INTERIOR ALYSSA WAGNER look + feel / home If supply chains got you down, try vintage and used pieces in your home! Old school help
4. Esty is great source for vintage decor finds, particularly artwork and rugs. My favorite source for vintage rugs is an Etsy shop theyTurkishRugEmpirecalled—haveahugeselection,greatpricingandsuper-fastshippingtimes.
3. Don’t be afraid of outof-style fabrics or col ors on pieces you find. Casegoods (dressers, desks, etc.) and tables are easy enough to update with a quick coat of paint or new hardware, and uphol stery — dining chair covers, armchairs and sofas — can easily be qualityespeciallyreupholstered,ifit’sapiece.
1. My favorite place to look for used and vin tage pieces is Face book Marketplace. I’d suggest you narrow your search radius to your local area, maybe 10 to 15 miles max, and change the search options from “shipping & local” to “local listings only.”
6. Don’t underestimate a good old thrift store (places like Goodwill, New2You and the Sal vation Army). I’ve found some fantastic pieces at places like this! I especially love to check out the pottery and baskets for any unique vessels that can be used for house plants, and I always make sure to flip through the art section for any interesting frames or pieces that I can use or repurpose, since new or original artwork tends to be quite expensive. So, there you have it! If you’re fed up with the supply chain issues and want to try a more sus tainable, cost-effective and quicker approach to furnishing a room in your house, vintage and used furniture and decor is a fantastic approach. Happy hunting!
2. On Facebook Market place, you can search by category, and many folks are open to nego tiating on prices as well. If you have a particular piece in mind, I’d sug gest checking back 2-3 times each week since new listings always are being published, and the good deals tend to go quickly.
BY LAUREN FIGUEROA , LAUREN FIGUEROA INTERIOR DESIGN
Molly Kickham personifies cool-girl style rooted in musical inspiration.
+ feel /
BY KELSEY DUNNEBACK // PHOTO BY KRISTEN NORMAN
GRM: How would you describe your style and where do you find inspiration?
GRMAG.COM 33 Molly Kickham embraces the everevolving world of fashion as someone whose style inspiration cited as Jane Birkin, Sharon Tate and Zoe Kravitz (and of course, Zoe’s parents Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet) would — with a sense of adventure and openness toward the unknown.WhileKickham shares that her fashion icons have perfected effortless style, it’s clear she’s been able to embody that aesthetic herself. You can spot her as Store Brand Leader at Urban Outfitters, mixing feminine and masculine pieces and experimenting with style by pairing her outfit staples like vintage T-shirts with newGrtrends.andRapids Magazine spoke with Kickham about inspiration, how architecture has influenced her style and more.
GRM: What’s your go-to outfit for the fall season?
GRM: Where does your interest in fashion come from? Molly Kickham: Growing up in a parochial school doesn’t leave room for individual style. I would stand out by putting pins on my shirt or accessorize by wearing ties or decorative belts. This was also during the early 2000s where Avril Lavigne was my icon. I’m not look style
MK: I’ve always said my style is femme dad, mixing feminine colors with basic staples like a light wash jean and, of course, a fresh pair of New Balance 574s. I’m obsessed with vintage T-shirts and wear them almost every day. I experiment with more masculine styles, which has changed my wardrobe significantly. Instead of wearing a dress or more feminine silhouettes, I opt for a pant and blouse or blazer situation with a heel. Surprisingly, I’ve been drawing inspiration from architecture recently. I’ve been carefully curating my home to reflect exactly who my partner and I are. Mid-Century elements and Brutalism architecture have been taking up much of my Instagram feed.
MK: I’m really excited about the resurgence of late Y2K grunge. I was almost too young to enjoy the style since I couldn’t afford to buy clothes for myself at the time, so I’m looking forward to micro layering, sheer dresses, and maxi mesh skirt styles for fall. Also, oversized style, like utility and cargo pants, is here to stay for a while and I have no complaints.
Modern muse STYLEMolly Kickham poses for a portrait in her home in Grand Rapids. ashamed to tell you that I wore a tie in my third-grade yearbook photo.
GRM: What in fashion are you really into right now?
MK: Loose jeans, Doc Martens or sneakers and oversized sweaters on repeat.
been watching TikTok, figuring out a way to be on there.”
BookTok star EXPERT BY PAT EVANS // PHOTO BY ASHLEY WIERENGA If the algorithms strike right on TikTok, Grand Rapidians might find a familiar sight: Schuler Books. The longtime independent bookseller, 2660 28th St. SE, has turned into an influencer in the world of BookTok, the subgenre on the popular social media platform. Schuler’s influence is so strong that its suggestions often end up impacting Amazon’s algorithm — not that they want anyone to order off the online retail“We’vegiant.had bookstores tagging us from all over the world,” Marketing Coordinator Alana Haley said. “We have followers from Germany, Brazil, we have a lot from Australia. We’ve ended up shipping books all over the world.” But how does a local bookseller end up going globally viral? “Social media is always growing and changing. I’m old enough that I’ve been around since before there was a Facebook,” Haley said. “So, whenever there is a new channel, that’s something I will always start watching. So, we had
The main players within the hashtag, however, are generally individual readers.
As it turns out, TikTok was a smart place to start looking. Book sales started to surge during the pandemic as people were cooped up in houses during the COVID19 lockdowns and engrossed on social media platforms. As of July, the #BookTok hashtag had more than 64.3 billion views, per a Mashable article, and according to BookScan, BookTok helped sell 20 million printed books in 2021, with growth up another 50% in 2022. Bookstores now have sections dedicated to trending titles and TikTok even partnered with Barnes & Noble for an official book club this summer.
From there, selling out three titles that had been out for more than 10 years positioned Schuler as an influencer. Libraries started imitating the strategy and using their prompts.
In a New York Times article this summer, the publication noted the platform just provides an accelerated version of how books often spread historically: word of Withmouth.readers driving the content, Schuler’s team decided to do what they do really well in store, just on social media, which is give suggestions. Then one day after they had been receiving decent results, there was a mention of going viral. “If you speak it, it will happen and it was within a week or two we had the first one go viral,” she said. “Once that happens, it’s a cumulative effect. We had some much stronger results after that, but it wasn’t until March we had one of our speed recommendations go mega viral and that particular viral basically sold out titles nationwide for three books that were not new releases.”
look + feel / expe t
Schuler Books has become a social media sensation with more than a half-million TikTok followers.
While it has become a way to grow business, Haley said it’s also been a great way to support the industry as a whole. She hopes their suggestions drive business at other bookstores as well, not just at Schuler’s locations and website. And the exercise is not just about moving books. “It’s a lot of fun, but a lot of work to keep up with,” Haley said. “But we balance being silly and fun and recommending books.”
34 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
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MIDWESTERN
For many in Michigan, the Midwest is an unattractive vacation destination. Michiganders often recognize the amazing beauty of the Mitten, from incredible forests and lakeshores to the great cities — from Detroit to Marquette — full of awesome cultural attractions. But when we look beyond the state’s borders, we’re often blind to the assets of our Midwestern neighbors. Depending how you define the Midwest, or the Great Lakes States, or however you want to divide the United States, there are dozens of great attractions within a state or two of the Michigan borders. For the 2022 GR Magazine Midwest Travel Guide, we’ll focus on three incredible cities within a half-day’s drive of Grand Rapids. Ignore Chicago, which doesn’t fall into the blind spot we have. We all recognize Chicago is a high-quality spot to visit (Go Cubs!). Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a fantastic northern jaunt, Des Moines, Iowa, is an underrated Plains State gem, Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky, are delightful food and beverage hotspots and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a rust belt renaissance story. But for the inaugural list, we’ll look a tad closer than all those amazing communities. The 2022 Travel Guide includes: Cleveland, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. These are suggestions of activities to pique interest, not definitive guides. All three of these cities offer so much more than these brief highlights. Explore the Midwest, it is an incredible place! A fantastic trip is less than a five-hour drive away.
BY PAT EVANS GEMS
36 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
Cleveland Metroparks circles the entire city with nearly 23,000 acres of greenspace in 18 separate spots. Also, if you’re up to it, check out the nearby Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which is an amazing Midwestern natural wonder and can be experienced through the 51-mile Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, which offers wine sampling (Grape Escapes) and beer tasting (Ales on the Rails) excursions.
The city also has a hot food and beverage scene. Be sure to check out Fat Head’s Brewery, Market Garden Brewing and Great Lakes Brewing Co., among many more.
There also is an amazing theater district in the city, full of bright-light marquees. Throw a show on the itinerary if that strikes your fancy. Another must stop: Brewnuts. The donut shop will make mouths water daily on Instagram and ensure you’ll take a drive down to Ohio.
Courtesy Destination Cleveland
CLEVELAND
Ohio often takes a beating from Michiganders. The state is not fun to drive through and its capital, Columbus, is home to Ohio State University, which is enough to make Spartans and Wolverines alike wince. But Cleveland is a city full of stunning architecture. Simply walking around Cleveland is a nice look into history, back when the Midwest was quite literally the heartbeat of America.
While the northern Ohio city did fall on hard times — the Cuyahoga River literally caught on fire! — it bounced back pretty quickly.
A stopover in Cleveland must include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s touristy, sure, but the giant pyramid on Lake Erie is a fun look back at the world of music, the influence of which has spread across the globe.
As mentioned, an architecture walk is worth the steps. Take a stroll around town to see what you see, but stop by The Arcade, an 1890 building with four levels of balconies topped with a glass skylight. There’s also the Cleveland Trust rotunda, which is now home to a high-end grocer, but has a giant glass dome built in 1908 that is surrounded by murals from artist Francis Millet — who died on the Titanic.
The Guardians of Traffic are eight 1932 sculptures by Henry Hering on Cleveland's Hope Memorial Bridge. They are now the namesake of the city's MLB team, the Guardians.
The Cleveland Museum of Art, along with being its own architectural wonder, is worth a stop for its exhibits. But on the way to the museum, make sure to pause for the Cultural Gardens on MLK. Near the Museum of Art is the Cleveland Botanical Garden and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, close to Case Western University, all of which make up a nice cultural district.
One could spend days walking around, admiring the architecture and green spaces in Cleveland, or taking in the professional sports teams.
GRMAG.COM 37
If you’re thinking of a visit to Indy, don’t be afraid to plan it around the Indianapolis 500. Whether or not a motorsports fan, the spectacle should be on everyone’s bucket list. The race itself is an awe-inspiring feat of manmade machinery.
INDIANAPOLIS
The people-watching is first rate, too.
If a late weekend in May doesn’t line up on your schedule, Indy still is a fun place to spend some time. Big Ten sports fans probably already are well accustomed to the city — which features great venues for college basketball and football games. Take that a step further by stopping at the NCAA Hall of Champions. A visit to Indianapolis would not be complete without a meal at St. Elmo’s Steakhouse. The meat is delicious, but the shrimp cocktail is a must. The cocktail sauce will clear any sinus of the most serious clog and an Elmo Cola might be required to recover. Regardless of when you visit, make some time for a stop at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum to pay tribute to the race that helped put the city on the map. Afterward, head to the Indianapolis Museum of Art at TheNewfields.Garage at Bottleworks is a very cool food and market hall with more than 25 vendors. It’s built in a redeveloped Art Deco Coca-Cola bottling plant. For breweries, check out the dog-friendly Metazoa Brewing, Sun King Brewing, Daredevil Brewing or Guggman Haus Brewing.
White River State Park is a nice spot for an afternoon walk, while the Indianapolis Zoo and Children’s Museum of Indianapolis both are great for families looking to spend a day engaging in activities. The zoo has more than 230 species of animals and the property includes a park, botanical garden and aquarium on its 64 acres along in the White River State Park. For literary fans, a stop at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is worth the time.
Photos Courtesy Visit Indy and Visit Milwaukee.
Middle top: The Garage is an awesome downtwon food hall in Indy, full of food Middlevendors.below: Travelers walk out of the Milwaukee Art Museum. Below: Midwestern towns are beer havens, and brewery patios are often dog friendly.
GRMAG.COM 39
MILWAUKEE
Once in Milwaukee, a great start is the Milwaukee Art Museum, situated on the lakeshore in a memorable sailboat-inspired building. The exhibits often offer a mix of attractions for all ages.
For something more adult-oriented, check out the Harley Davidson Museum. The Milwaukee River Walk is a great 2-mile trail that winds through downtown and has easy access to a plethora of retailers and restaurants. It’s a showcase of what an activated riverfront could mean for Grand Rapids in the coming years.
All three of the cities highlighted here are less than a five-hour drive from Grand Rapids. But Milwaukee potentially has the most exciting, unique and, in this case, quickest route. Drive up to Muskegon and take the Lake Express ferry across Lake Michigan. The trip is sure to be memorable and a tad more fun than the average road trip. The total trip is less than four hours, but be aware it is more expensive than the drive would be with a ticket coming in at $181 round trip for the classic cabin and $227 for the premier cabin. Guests also can pay $218 round trip to bring a car.
And before you leave, don’t miss the Bronze Fonz — a statue of Arthur Fonzarelli from “Happy Days.” You can’t get much more Midwest than that.
Opposite: The Indianapolis 500 is one of the largest sporting events in the world.
There also are any number of establishments serving up cheese curds, sausages and frozen custard — you likely can’t go wrong. Beer lovers have plenty to see in Milwaukee, from the MillerCoors Brewery — a great example of a major industrial brewery — and the historic Pabst Brewery and Mansion. Then there are the new breweries, like Lakefront Brewing Co., which show the industry has not left the city behind or stop by one of the great beer gardens in the city, like the Estabrook Beer Garden. In the fall there’s a great Oktoberfest celebration.
There is a nice array of food options in Milwaukee, from the innovative Great Lakes-inspired fine dining spot Ardent and longtime staple Lake Park Bistro to artisan restaurant and butcher shop Bavette La Boucherie. The reigning James Beard Best Chef in the Midwest, Dane Baldwin, serves up creative menus at TheKeepingDiplomat.inline with your Midwestern roots, grab a butter burger at Solly’s Grille, which earned the 2022 James Beard Foundation’s America’s Classic Award.
Evolving education
Grand Rapids Public Schools already touts the state’s best high school, and the district continues to strengthen its offerings.
40 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
VanderVliet commended City High’s staff and students for the way they strive to find best practices for learning that fits the needs of the individual rather than working from a place of “one-size-fits-all” style of education. Students are encouraged to self-select methods that best demonstrate their understanding of the curriculum and VanderVliet noted that isn’t always the more “traditional” method. “Maybe a scholar would prefer speaking over writing an essay, so we allow students to demonstrate choice and choose something that better meets their learning needs,” she said. “It’s not just pen and paper tests, it’s about implementing best practices that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and mastery of concepts in a variety of ways.”
Back in April, the Grand Rapids Public Schools institution was named the top high school in the state of Michigan and No. 18 in the nation by US News & World Report in the publication’s 2022 rankings. City High posted an overall score of 99.9 out of 100 by the publication’s metrics, which takes into account college readiness, graduation rates and performance on state-issued tests, among other factors. In addition to boasting a 100% graduation rate, City High also was lauded for 100% of its students passing at least one International Baccalaureate exam and its 98% reading proficiency, well above the state average. The school measured in the 99.7th percentile score on the SAT. City High Assistant Principal Charlie VanderVliet said those rankings not only are a symbol of the school’s academic achievements, but also are reflective of the school’s commitment to analyzing data, finding new approaches to teaching and differentiating curriculum and programs to suit students’ needs. “We know our work is never done and we see these rankings and celebrate them, but we always have that growth mindset to keep improving and offering the best educational opportunities to the scholars we have in our building,” VanderVliet said.
Throughout the state of Michigan, pencils are sharpened, backpacks are filled and first day outfits are planned as the beginning of the 2022-23 school year hits. For young scholars at Grand Rapids City High Middle School, they’ll return to some of the top classrooms in the country.
City High has been a mainstay on US News & World Report’s rankings as it also was ranked No. 1 in the state in 2020 (No. 21 nationally). This year’s placement at No. 18 on the national list represents the highest ranking in the school’s history.
BY JESSE PHOTOSO'BRIENBYBRYAN ESLER
City High.
Students at the Museum School also are required to complete capstone projects that demonstrate an understanding of issues that impact the outside world and find ways to help solve them. For example, in ninth grade students are taught about The Great Depression and assigned to read John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” an assignment that likely sounds familiar to generations of high school students across the country. But scholars at the Museum School take that lesson a step further, meeting with administrators and visitors at Dégagé and Heartside ministries, getting to see first-hand how homelessness affects people in the community and the efforts in place to help solve the issue. “Our students have the opportunity to meet our unsheltered neighbors and learn about their situation as humans and how they navigate life in a difficult scenario,” Rowland said. “They conduct interviews and talk with people, then come back to science class and lab and will make personal care products like soap, or lip balm or lotions that we then donate back to Heartside and Dégagé.”
Another major tenet of the Museum School is its focus on project-based education, which has students going through the process of researching an idea, putting it out there, receiving feedback and working toward a solution. In doing so, students are encouraged to research their projects using primary sources — that is, reaching out to experts in the city and at the museum to conduct interviews and lead discussions on topics relating to their studies. Additionally, students have access to museum artifacts that help them learn how objects from the past can tell a comprehensive story.“We kind of stretch the idea of what a classroom means,” Rowland said. “The community is our classroom, and the community members are part of our education team.”
“When they come to us (as sixth-graders) we sort of lovingly say there’s a disorientation that has to happen,” Rowland said. “I think they can come in thinking there’s a correct answer for anything and that everything’s black and white. So, we have to disorient them to open them up to seeing multiple solutions to a problem and there isn’t just one linear path that will get them to where they want to be.”
After their initial freshman year project, students are Tegan Sievers, Asa Kulchar and Shiloh Kulchar tend the garden at CA Frost Elementary.
While City High prides itself on its academic reputation, VanderVliet said the diverse background of its student body and the educators’ focus on creating a safe and open-minded environment fosters community development and helps to create wellrounded and active members of society. City High’s emphasis on strong character development is reflected in its partnerships with the surrounding community in the Creston neighborhood and business association. That community building is at the heart of GRPS’ mission, and theme schools like Grand Rapids Public Museum Middle and High Schools, CA Frost Environmental Science Middle High School and Zoo School further leverage partnerships within the city and strengthen the students’ relationships with West Michigan. At the museum schools, students are taught by full-time staff, but also are provided with resources to meet and learn from a wealth of “people of passion” in the Grand Rapids community, incoming Museum School Assistant Principal Kim Rowland said. Getting students out in the community is one of the school’s three core tenets, alongside design thinking and utilizing the resources provided by the museum itself. “We try to get our students out of the building as often as possible,” Rowland said. “And the school is that way by design. There’s no gym and no library, so we utilize community resources like the YMCA and park spaces to provide a physical education space and we use the city public library as our library and that gets our students out and about in the downtown area.”
Kim Rowland
"We kind of ofthestretchideawhataclassroommeans."
This approach to place-based education encourages students to get to know Grand Rapids, learning how to get around, understanding public transportation options and introducing students to organizations in the city that are focused on solving problems in their hometown. As students advance through the school, opportunities to expand real-life learning experiences advance along with them — for example, incoming sixth-graders might learn the city bus system and street names their first year, leading to field trips to Chicago and New York where they navigate more complicated public transportation systems and visit some of the most celebrated museums in the world.
Left: Marili Lucas-Ramos, Attain Marshall and Caleb Sutter at Grand Rapids Public Museum High School. Above: Grand Rapids Public Museum High School exterior and design lab.
“Being able to have those different aspects and mind frames in how students learn different allows our staff to also have open mind frames as to how they can learn and teach differently,” he said. “Our students are talking to real-life individuals and relate what they’re talking about in a classroom setting to real-life projects.”
In addition to his duties as principal of CA Frost, Lundvick also oversees Zoo School, another theme school in the district. With its campus on-site at John Ball Zoo, 60 sixth-grade students have the opportunity to learn from and interact directly with professionals in the field of zoology.
GRMAG.COM 43 asked to branch out from the Museum School’s curated experience and reach out to community partners on their“Ourown.students have a lot of energy, a lot of free time and a lot of opinions about what’s happening in our community, so I think we really are empowering them to be able to reach out to folks and say, ‘This is something I want to learn more about — How can you help me?’” Rowland said. CA Frost Environmental Science Middle High School and Zoo School principal Brad Lundvick echoed his district colleagues’ thoughts on the importance of community building in teaching. He noted CA Frost’s diverse student body — about 57.8% minority enrollment, as reported in US News & World Report’s rankings — as one of the strengths of fostering a strong community within the school. As it turns out, the “Environmental” part of the name has a double meaning. “We want to acknowledge the diversity of all our students — and their own family environments — as having a unique purpose that makes our culture and community here at school better as we learn about and from one another,” he said. Lundvick said educators at CA Frost also understand the importance of providing alternative learning styles and working to meet each student at a level that works for them. While “sit and get”-style learning works for some, Lundvick said CA Frost students can benefit from the school’s specialized amenities, like the on-site greenhouse, several acres of woodland and a yearlong restoration project that created a natural-flow stream using a recycled drainage pipe that had been removed and donated by the city of Grand Rapids. That restoration project is a particular point of pride for the school, Lundvick said, and was born from CA Frost students gathering data and presenting it to the district and city about how they could improve the land use on the school’s campus.
In addition to the core competencies, Zoo School students can get hands-on experience at John Ball Zoo as junior zookeepers, helping make meals for the animals, cleaning exhibits and feeding the animals. Additionally, the school organizes two camping trips per year to help establish collaboration and teamwork skills.
As cities everywhere grapple with talent retention, these unique educational opportunities in Grand Rapids that leverage strong community partnerships could have a positive effect on students’
Lion at John Ball Zoo.
ANIMAL DEMONSTRATION BRAD LUNDVICK44 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
While not every student that attends Zoo School stays in the field, there are some who do — Lundvick noted that John Ball Zoo veterinarian Ryan Colburn is an alumnus of the Zoo School.
willingness to plant roots in the region. VanderVliet said City High is intentional in building on those relationships to encourage students to form a bond with the neighborhoods where they attend school.
GRPS schools have worked to demonstrate that sometimes the best way to meet the needs of the scholars in the building is to also give them the room and opportunities to learn and grow outside of it.
“While academics are important, so is character development and so we try to produce students that are open-minded, understanding and well-rounded,” VanderVliet said. “And it always comes back to our community. It’s people at all different levels and abilities working hard to be successful. And most of all, it’s about our hard-working students.”
It’s no secret that teachers have faced extraordinary difficulties in recent years as the COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges that had no precedent. But VanderVliet said she feels that her school has been strengthened by the experience as teachers and students learned together how best to move forward in a tough situation and grow from it. For example, VanderVliet said some teachers still opt to record their lessons as an aid for when students are out sick. “It was a huge learning curve, but I really truly believe it’s helped us recognize our strength as educators,” she said. “Each teacher in our building has been able to learn over the last few years what they would like to keep and what they would like to discard from the new learning styles we had to adapt to. “And I don’t think we’re ever done; challenges will always come up and be in our way. So sometimes we need to step back and be reflective about how we can best meet the needs of the scholars in the building.”
“The people that surround the building welcome us with open arms — we’ve made great connections with businesses here,” she said. “It’s been amazing to see, and I think that for the people that work in the city of Grand Rapids to connect with the school can only further show GRPS students what the community has to offer them.”
Opposite: Animal demonstration at John Ball Zoo. Above: Brad Lundvick, Zoo School. GRMAG.COM 45
46 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 ArtisticendeavorsArtistic EASTERSAMBY West Michigan is home to a wide array of creators.talented artworkCommissionedforTheColorForestbyNickNortier PHOTOS MICHELLEBYCUPPY
Nick Nortier
It’s the small push that brought him to a passion that’s buoyed him for the rest of his career. At Grand Rapids Community College, a short experiment with architecture (it was not for him) eventually led him to a drawing class. He loved it. By 2013, he was graduating from Kendall College of Art and Design with a bachelor’s degree in illustration — hoping to find work illustrating kids’ books and comic books. The move was a gutsy one, and it wasn’t always obvious that things would work out. Graduating in 2013 was better than graduating in the late 2000s, in the depths of the Great Recession — but he was still an artist trying to find work. For a while, he had to make ends meet as a waiter and a bartender before he got his first mural in 2015 (and he still went back to tending bar in 2017 for a little while).
Before Nick Nortier made his mark in Grand Rapids’ art scene, he was just a kid reading comic books, walking with his friend to Argo’s while his mom was still at work.
“The pandemic was definitely a scary time, because I had three decent-sized clients lined up, and then all of that fell apart. I was laid off for a few months,” he said. He was lucky that two of those projects were exteriors, and that he could soon get back to work. That work, nowadays, is all over town; he does illustration and printmaking, but it’s his murals that you’ve probably seen. He painted an owl, wings swept wide, soaring into the marshy brush on the walls of Division Avenue Arts Collective. He has a blue heron, in startlingly white-and-orange profile, on the wall at Gerald R. Ford International Airport. One of his favorites is one he said is a little silly — at Condado Tacos, he painted a three-eyed bear in a button-up shirt, holding a platter with a single taco and hoisting a beer. It’s a nod to Grand Rapids’ brewing scene. It’s also a chance for him to do something off-the-wall. And painting the mural was a social activity, too. “It’s because there’s eight or nine of us all working on our murals at the same time, all in the same restaurant,” he said. “Just the interactions that all of us got to have with each other was a ton of fun. It was just really inspiring to be around that many people who were super passionate about what they were working on.”
GRMAG.COM 47
It’s good the pandemic is mostly past, and it’s good that Nortier has a lot of work these days. He always keeps coming back to his artwork, he said, because he must. He just doesn’t have another choice. “I think a lot of creatives are this way. If we’re not making something … (or) drawing or painting or making music or singing or something like that, then there’s just kind of something that’s missing in our lives. That, for me at least, has led to a lot of depression in my life,” he said. “If I don’t do these things I kind of start to sink. I kind of have to keep my mind up.”
It’s the Spiderman series that stands out to him now — “pretty much every variation,” he said, from Spectacular Spiderman to Amazing Spiderman to Spidey Super Stories.
“She couldn’t go to camp because she didn’t have any shoes,” Cano Villalobos said, with that edge-of-sanity tone that parents probably find familiar. “How can she lose five different pairs of shoes? Two of them in the last two days? What is that?”
When Mandy Cano Villalobos, an art professor turned professional artist, first picks up the phone, she can’t chat — the kids have to go to summer camp.
48 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
Mandy Cano Villalobos
About 45 minutes later, she’s just back from the trip. Her 6-year-old, the youngest, didn’t make it.
“I’m really interested in, like, how do I engage with not only my present state, or even the roles of moms, but also the past in the present and the future in terms of like, what are familial roles?” she said.
“There’s something glorious in the struggle itself,” sheOnesaid.of those is a performance piece called “Motherload,” in which Cano Villalobos binds together all the “massive amounts of detritus of everyday life,” from broken toys to kitchen utensils, and lugs them around in a massive bound pile on her back. Usually, she does it in an industrial space, where she said it helps put something domestic — like a woman being a mom — right in the middle of something that’s explicitly associated with masculine work.
“Suddenly there’s a lot of wonderful things happening in my career,” she said. “And so that’s always this really strange maneuvering situation.”
Cano Villalobos is living at peak life right now, quitting the adjunct art professor circuit and going full-time pro. Since late last year, she’s landed a string of opportunities from New York to Mexico City. It’s a little bitBut,overwhelming.shesaid,it’s been worth it. The former Calvin University art prof is now succeeding as much as she’d dreamed she might. And even though her schedule is full — extremely full — the balance between her life with her family and her work around the country is thrilling. She uses words like “triumph” and “community” when she describes it (she said she’s lucky to have a wonderfully supportive husband).
This is the kind of thing that Cano Villalobos is great at. She has another performance piece called “Polluere,” in which she steps between two bowls — one with water and one with mud. “The purity of the water and its connotation of cleanliness disappears as the mud pervades the body, floor and basins,” her website says. In another, she repeatedly ties knots to mark the passage of time. Her site also has a long list of other art — a set of cloth balls with colorful stitching, all mounted on rods and all variously named “Cor,” or another with branded pigs’ feet called “Cuzco School.” And with her recent spate of positive attention, Cano Villalobos said she’s still doing her best to balance it all.
GRMAG.COM 49 Work in progress by Mandy Cano Villalobos
KenN Vidro Kenn Vidro wants people to be happy when they see his art. Case in point: When one of his pieces was stolen at ArtPrize last year, he just hoped whoever made off with it liked what they were getting — part of his “Pop goes Grand Rapids” series, which features playful groups of cartoon characters at Grand Rapids landmarks.
Vidro’s work will be in ArtPrize again this year, in five four-by-four-foot paintings called “The GOOD, the BAD and the NOT SO GOOD LOOKING.” It’s another set of character panels, with five total — two featuring heroes, two featuring villains, and another featuring characters that, in Vidro’s words, are “not so good-looking.” “I’m very, very happy when somebody stops and looks and says, ‘this is nostalgic,’ or ‘this just makes me smile,’” Vidro said. “And that’s kind of how I almost paint that way. I’m a very animated person. I’m very much that way, and to share that joy is a cool thing.”
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“I’m pretty free (with my work) anyway,” he said, joking that if the piece never got returned, he could always just make another. “I mean, I understand that probably isn’t the right attitude. But I thought, well, if somebody really wanted that bad enough, you know, maybe that’s meant to be theirs.”
It was back in 48 hours, Vidro said, when someone contacted the police and told them they had it in their apartment. They didn’t know how it had gotten there, he said, after a party the previous night. This all captures a little bit of the whimsy in Vidro’s work. He’s a retired art teacher in Grandville who spent decades in Rockford schools, and he describes his work as cartoon and fan-art based.
When he was a kid — one of seven — he was “always the one with the crayons.” His mom was always impressed with his work, and he loved the feeling of someone taking an interest in what he’d drawn. Vidro has had a long career, but his favorite piece was a recent commission that came through Peter Secchia, after the late Grand Rapids statesman and philanthropist saw his work and hired him to design the front of a pamphlet for a Parkinson’s disease fundraiser. The final work, drawn like a comic book’s cover, featured fundraiser guest of honor Kirk Gibson — the Michigan State football and Detroit Tigers baseball alum — standing over his opponent “Parky” in the boxing ring, the two of them drawn in obvious reference to Muhammad Ali’s victory over Sonny Liston. “I would probably say that was my proudest moment,” Vidro said, because it was such a remarkable bit of attention from someone who knew him only through his work. Who doesn’t like seeing their passion grow big enough and important enough to catch the public’s eye?
GRMAG.COM 51 "The Good" by Ken Vidro
Steiner is a dental hygienist by day, but spends as much time as she can manage in her studio. She grew up in Byron Center, she said, and fell in love with art early. She’s been serious about it for nearly 30 years now. It’s a place and a space that’s all hers, and her husband is a big help around the house, helping free up time for her to pursue her passion.
“It’s just me seeing the world through my eyes,” she said. “It’s not a photograph, it’s not the way anybody else sees it. It’s just the way I see it.”
There’s a tiny row of people on a ridge in the left foreground, recalling the moment when her father’s ashes were scattered in a West Michigan field.
“If somebody else happens to like it, awesome,” she said. “But I like to do it.”
“You hearing that, boss?”
“He used to work for a farmer, and he would plow that field sometimes,” Steiner said. “He always wanted to be out there.”
Steiner said she never pursued a career in art, even though she loves to paint. But she also doesn’t want a job that confines the work that she does — like, say, a graphic design job would do. She just wants to see the world as she sees it, through her eyes at her studio.
It’s a profoundly personal piece, part of a portfolio that’s as wide and dynamic as her interests. One series, recently popular at ArtPrize, captured the city’s most famous landmarks — like Van Andel Arena, the downtown library and Fountain Street Church. But other pieces are still life, or detail work. One piece in her collection is a close-up study, in beiges and browns, of ornate stone column tops.
“This is just weekends and nights. But I would like it to be full time,” she said, pausing on the phone call good-naturedly across the room at work.
Steiner will be in this year’s ArtPrize, with a piece called “Grand.” It’s a four-foot-high oil painting of the Grand River, featuring Grand Rapids bridges. “I had a really good response to doing the city last year, and everybody really liked it,” she said. “And I wanted to do it from a different perspective, not just the city line, but more focused on the really cool bridges that we have in Grand Rapids.”
Judy A. Steiner, an artist based in Ada, has a favorite painting that she finished years ago. It’s dawn over a field, and the grass is waving in the breeze as the sun pokes through the low clouds.
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Judy A. Steiner
"Grand" by Judy A. Steiner GRMAG.COM 53
The skeletons, Grand Rapids printmaker Alynn Guerra said, are really only half of what she does. Guerra’s online shop is full of them: a skeleton riding a bicycle through the desert, wearing a cowboy hat; a print called “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie,” in which a cat skeleton, draped across the back of an armchair, droops a bony paw down to a dog skeleton curled up on the seat. In “Dog’s Life: Patience,” a human skeleton taps away on a laptop, while yet another dog skeleton is curled on the floor alongside.
Alynn Guerra
One of the pieces that Guerra is most proud of is a circular, with a sunrise over mountains. In the center, a woman with snakes for hair is nursing a baby. It’s partly a meditation on how the world sees women; in a matriarchal culture, Guerra said, powerful women are beautiful. In a patriarchal one, they’re monsters.
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“This all made me think: who decided that fertile and giving mother earth should be turned into a female monster who also eats the sun every day?” Guerra pursues her printmaking full-time, which she said can be a long and sometimes stressful road to travel. She’s just as much an artist as you’d imagine: income doesn’t always come easy. But she says she’s looking forward to an upcoming printmaking show at the Tanglefoot Building, and she’s glad she gets to be part of such a strong arts scene in Grand Rapids.
“This is based on the Mexican mother earth Coatlicue, who instead of a head has two snakes coming out of her neck, a necklace made of human hearts, and a skirt of snakes,” Guerra wrote on her online store.
“It took a while for (the art scene) to be where it is now,” Guerra said. “But I feel like it’s great for me to witness what it has become, and not just coming here when it’s better.”
“In the Mexican tradition, there are two sides to skeletons. It relates to the Day of the Dead, but it’s also been a very common way to talk about difficult issues — political issues, things that are historical,” she said. But they’re the part of her work that baffled people for years. At least, until the movie “Coco” came out, and offered a little more insight into Mexican heritage — with its own cast of talking skeletons that grounded the idea for popular audiences. And, as Guerra is quick to point out, it’s hardly the only note she’s playing. Her printmaking leans heavily on black-and-white, light-and-dark, with just the barest snatches of color — but it’s varied, from a red burst of a poppy flower over black-and-white stalks to a child, peering through a window, watching a bird on theGuerrasill. spent most of her early life in Mexico City, and only moved to the United States at age 25 — first to Georgia, and then onward to Grand Rapids, where she said she found a community of people who supported her vision for her art and her artwork — a scene that’s only grown over the years.
by"Mangrove"AlynnGuerra
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He began to leverage the nationwide network of the theaters, including Wealthy Theatre, which Ringnalda said is a strong model of how a healthy theater anchor could help revitalize a neighborhood. “Whether small towns or big cities, a lot of these buildings fell into disrepair, neglected and not used,” he said. “All signs point to (a) nonprofit is generally how you make it work.”
Opened as a 925-seat, single-screen theater in 1939, the Four Star Theatre was a gathering space for the neighborhood for nearly 60 years; first as the theater, then as a music venue and finally as a nightclub. Now, after nearly five years of work, it’s ready for events. Earlier this year, the Grand Rapids Planning Commission approved the building for a limited capacity and Ringnalda hopes to eventually host hundreds of events a year in the building, ranging from concerts to movie nights to local art shows. Ringnalda first toured the building in 2014, while he was working with a construction company. He was walking the theater with a local pastor and architect, hoping to create a worship space. “My first impression was it could be a church on Sunday, and so much more,” Ringnalda said. “That was the feeling walking in, the bones are good — and they were excellent. But long story short, that project never came to fruition. I wasn’t going to be the general contractor, so it was like the one that got away.”
At the same time, he was beginning to establish the roots of the nonprofit organization. He took part in a robust planning initiative by the city for the area the theater calls home, the South Division Area Specific Plan. The process identified a great need for community use, nicely aligned with the plans starting to develop for the theater. Its historical presence as a place for gatherings was perfect for Ringnalda. He said after the original theater closed in 1969, it became the Great Northern Music Hall.
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This summer, the organization moved on from the close friends and family round of fundraising and started hosting events and working to get the word out for grant applications and other forms of funds from city, county, state and federal organizations. Eventually, the hope is to raise $5 million to create a “world class space.” “We can piecemeal it as the funds roll in,” he said. “We’re in this interesting spot that is so exciting because we can start planning, but we have so long to go to make the most impact. We want this to be a regional draw, if not statewide and national.
“I’ve had a number of people in their 60s remember seeing concerts here, impressionable concerts,” he said. By the mid-80s, however, the music venue was closed and three iterations of nightclubs (and a short stint as a youth center) used the structure before it closed in 1993.
He kept tabs on the building and ended up buying it the day it went on the market in “I2017.bought the building without a plan other than I love the old building,” he said. “I had practical goals from the start, to see that marquee lit up again and an old iconic building restored. But in 2017, I had no idea of what a successful operation would look like.”
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Incredibly, despite most of the inspection stickers reading 1994, Ringnalda said most of the building was in fine shape. “It wasn’t a tear-out-and-replace-everything project. It’s not that old and never vandalized,” he said. “So, we shifted gears from the big, huge renovation to get open, reactive and show people what we can do here.”
“That’s one part of helping the community we’re in, drawing visitors, because there haven’t been a lot of reasons to visit Burton Heights for decades and we see this as a catalyst to changing that. “But what we’re trying to do is create a space that starts to define itself. We don’t want to say this is the plan for now and evermore. The mission is to get people through the doors and build a sustainable business that is making the most positive impact in the city.”
ince the mid-1990s, the Four Star Theatre largely has sat empty. But a new life is emerging for the historic theater building, 1944 S. Division Ave. Marcus Ringnalda is hoping to take the blueprints from theaters across the country — including one right here in Grand Rapids, the Wealthy Theatre — to create a community gathering space.
Ringnalda said artists like Joan Jett, Eddie Money and Flock of Seagulls came through.
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Why are we the only Grand Rapids-area hospital included among the nation’s “Best & Brightest Companies to Work For” for 2022? Our culture at University of Michigan HealthWest is what sustains us and differentiates us. It’s how we provide an inclusive, innovative, high-performing and supportive environment, so the best and brightest people can do what they do best: care for our patients. Find out what working in a “Best & Brightest” environment can mean for you. Visit https://uofmhealthwest.org/careers/
In a recent survey, 80 percent of students pointed to a half-dozen reasons behind their final decision. These included affordability, desired program, career outcomes, reputation/ academic quality, value, and proximity to home. Other factors included a sense of community on campus, the flexibility of schedules, an opportunity to gain real-world experience in a curriculum, and a feeling that they’ll fit in.
There are many factors students will use in this decision, and even those will be different for each student. For example, some may want a warmer climate, while others want to stay close to home. Some want a big campus where they can go to football games on Saturday afternoons, while others prefer a small, more intimate setting.
Finally, parents should make an appointment with a financial aid counselor at every college visit to see what they may be eligible for and how much a particular school will cost. Find out when to start applying for scholarships and what the application deadlines are. Make sure you research private scholarships, as well, because they can help cover the cost of a meal plan or gas if you have a commuter student, or they can cover part of the residential costs. Start early, do your research, and you and your student will be prepared for making the leap to higher education. When helping to decide on a major or what field/career to pursue, some long-term research can be beneficial – and this is where a parent can get involved without stepping on any toes. The key is providing information that will be useful and can be factored into the equation such as career opportunities, pay scale, job growth and potential, even locations where certain types of jobs can be found.
hile there are no rights and/or wrongs for parents who want to help their student choose a college or university, because every student is different, there are ways parents can help make the decision, and the process, less stressful.
Once your college-bound student has defined their passion and field of interest, help them better define their goals by showing them data on what they can expect in the job market and earning potential with that degree.
Parents should ask about campus safety and security, career services for students, opportunities for getting employment upon graduation, and even about transferring credits, just in case they decide to go elsewhere down the road.
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Parents also should encourage their teen to do some soul-searching before making a list of colleges. Ask them what they like about high school and what they don’t like. It’s important for parents and their prospective student to determine what their “must haves” are to help with their Parentsdecision-making.shouldn’tstress about finding the so-called perfect college because, in truth, there is no perfect college — but hopefully, there are a few colleges that appear to be a best fit for your child. And remember, be a guide for your child but understand the ultimate decision is theirs, and make sure they know that.
It’s YOUR ME!g W x
Davenport University 6191 Kraft Ave. SE • Grand Rapids, MI 49512
For more than 150 years, Davenport University has stood apart from other universities because of its unrelenting focus on ensuring its graduates rise to the top of the job market. Its unique approach to education offers students a careercentered curriculum featuring more than 80 certificate and degree programs, and empowers them with real-world experience.
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THE STATS Year Founded: 1867 // Current Enrollment: 5,000+ // Student-Faculty ratio: 13:1 // Number of Undergraduate Degrees Offered: 37 // Number of Master’s Degrees Offered: 23 // Subject Matter of Expertise: Business, technology, health and urban education // In-state and Out-of-state Tuition: $26,550 // Top Three Awards/Recognitions: Davenport was voted the No. 1 safest campus in Michigan and among the top safest universities in the country by YourLocalSecurity. com. The NCAA has named Davenport among the top 10 universities in the country for student-athlete academic performance. Davenport was named the 2020 Michigan Performance Excellence Award recipient by Michigan Performance Excellence (MIPEx). Aquinas College 1700 Fulton St. E, Grand Rapids, MI 49506-1801 Undergraduate Enrollment Information: 616-632-2900, go.aquinas.edu Graduate Enrollment Information: 616-632-2900, aquinas.edu/apply-now Aquinas College is an inclusive, nationally ranked liberal arts institution and is considered a top performer on social mobility. Students are taught directly by faculty, 76 percent of whom have the highest degree in their field. Faculty and staff provide close mentorship and guide students to internships and service opportunities. Aquinas has 40 student organizations and 30 varsity sports. Ninety-three percent of its graduates are employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation.
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THE STATS Year founded: 1886 // Current enrollment: 1,400 // Student-faculty ratio: 11:1 // Number of undergraduate degrees offered: 50+ // Subject matter of expertise: Nationally ranked liberal arts college in the Catholic and Dominican tradition, with a global perspective, emphasis on career preparation, and a focus on leadership and service. Education students pass the MTTC at a rate of 90 percent, and 100 percent of graduates in nursing and chemistry are employed within six months of graduation. AQ has the first undergraduate program in sustainable business in the nation and provides abundant internship opportunities. Financial aid and scholarships are available.
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Undergraduate Enrollment Information: 800-686-1600, davenport.edu/go
Davenport’s academic programs meet today’s demands and anticipate tomorrow’s needs. They’re so confident in their curriculum, they offer several career guarantees, ensuring students earn a position in their field or are given the opportunity to come back and earn a graduate degree at no cost. Davenport’s innovative approach and commitment to quality will help you get where the world is going — and arrive ahead of the pack.
Future-focused degrees, and so much more. You might have heard that Davenport University offers more than 60 high-demand degrees, and that 90% of our graduates are employed within six months of graduation. But that’s not the only reason we stand out. Our small, safe campus features apartment-style residence halls with private rooms. We also have more than 36 athletic teams, including 21 NCAA Division II teams, plus all kinds of clubs and activities. With 100% of our incoming freshman students receiving scholarships and an average student/teacher ratio of 13:1, our students get the resources they need to succeed. Check us out at davenport.edu/newstudent or call us at 800.686.1600 Business | Technology | Health | Urban Education
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THE STATS Year founded: 1997 // Current enrollment: 75 // Studentfaculty ratio: 8:1 // Number of undergraduate degrees offered: 2 // Subject matter expertise: Film & media // In-state tuition & Out-of-state tuition: $18,450 // Top Awards/ recognition:
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You might not know their name, but you definitely know their work. For 25 years, Compass College of Film & Media has been educating storytellers by taking a hands-on approach. The school’s alumni have gone on to work in television, motion pictures, marketing, sports, not-for-profit programs, and much more. Compass College’s hands-on approach to education will help transform you as you make the journey from prospect to professional. With access to industrystandard equipment and a vast network of industry professionals with whom to connect, you’ll dive into real-world experience in your first few weeks. Classes are built around a 60/40 split. In the classroom, you’ll learn about the skills and theories needed to be a successful film and media professional. You’ll then have opportunities to put those skills and theories into practice by working on pre-production, production, and postproductionCompassprojects.College is a private, not-forprofit, Christian college that welcomes students from all walks of life. College of Film & Media Visual Storyteller Sheldon Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 616-988-1000, compass.edu
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if you wanted to sit in A classroom all day, you would have gone to a traditional college.
41 Sheldon Ave SE Grand Rapids, MI 49503 616.988.1000 www.compass.edu Our students are “doers”. When you attend Compass College, you don't sit on the sidelines and watch, or in this case, sit in a classroom. Our hands-on learning approach helps fuel your passion for filmmaking and gives you on-set experience as you start your journey. This approach has you operating cameras, rigging lights, writing scripts, editing film . . . Compass College has you “doing”!
YOUR FUTURE IS FORWARD We’re here to get you there, whether you’re ready to get started on a career you know you’ll love or just starting to explore your options for a major. Learn hands-on in your choice of 180 degree programs crafted by our industry advisors. Work side-by-side with expert faculty who’ve worked in the fields they teach. Let our experience and partnerships become your edge in the job market. Learn more at ferris.edu/move-forward . #2 BEST-VALUE COLLEGE in the United States, 2022 —COLLEGE CONSENSUS#3 NATIONAL TOP 10-RANKED degree programs, 2022 —COLLEGE FACTUAL9 Ferris State University is an Equal Opportunity institution. For more information on the University’s Policy on Non-Discrimination, visit ferris.edu/non-discrimination. MICHIGAN COLLEGE in Social Mobility, 2021 —COLLEGENET
■ Ferris State University THE STATS Year founded: 1884 // Current enrollment: 10,361 // Studentfaculty ratio: 16:1 // Number of undergraduate degrees offered: 169 // Number of master’s degrees offered: 19 // Number of doctoral degrees offered: 4 // Subject matter expertise: Business, computer systems, criminal justice, design, education, engineering technology, health care, heavy equipment, hospitality, HVACR, information security, nursing, optometry, pharmacy, public
Ferris State University is a mid-sized four-year public university known for its quality of instruction and large selection of academic programs, ranging from associate to doctoral degrees. The university aligns its practices and resources to support its core values of col laboration, diversity, ethical community, excellence, learning, and opportunity. Fer ris State’s mission is to prepare students for successful careers, responsible citi zenship, and lifelong learning. Through its many partnerships and its career-oriented, broad-based education, it serves our rapid ly changing global economy and society. Students have exceptional access to faculty thanks to the university’s low stu dent-faculty ratio and small class sizes, which promote engaging instruction, oneon-one career advice, and professional con nections. Courses are taught by creden tialed, dedicated instructors with real-world experience in their fields, and include rele vant, adaptive hands-on coursework. Ferris is committed to ensuring stu dents build real-world skills and work with alumni and industry and professional lead ers for program direction and networking. The school also requires internships in most bachelor’s or more advanced degree programs.Morethan any institution in the state, Ferris State has connected with Michigan community colleges, creating partnerships on multiple campuses and expanding its online offerings to allow students to com plete coursework at local community col leges toward a Ferris degree. health, State St., Big Rapids, MI 49307
social work, welding. // In-state/Out-of-state tuition: $13,808 1201 S.
Undergraduate Enrollment Information: 231-591-2000, ferris.edu
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Grand Valley State University prepares its more than 22,000 students for whatever is next so they’re ready for both a fulfilling career and a life of impact. It starts with the opportunities offered through more than 300 areas of under graduate and graduate study. Outstand ing faculty members are focused on indi vidual student achievement, and unique learning opportunities abound — from student-directed research projects to inthe-field training and a study abroad pro gram that’s one of the best in the nation forGVSUparticipation.alsohelps shape students’ futures through a philosophy that emphasizes critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and cultural understanding, preparing stu dents for life in a fast-changing world. State-of-the-art facilities promote aca demic achievement and a fulfilling living experience. The main campus in Allendale is home to modern classrooms and labs, outstanding fitness and sports facilities, a comprehensive library, and more. Just 15 miles east, the Robert C. Pew Grand Rap ids Campus and the growing Health Cam pus put students in the heart of Grand Rapids’ central business district as well as along the Medical Mile. The combination of cutting-edge facili ties and academic rigor leads to success on Grand Valley’s campuses, where the graduation rate is consistently one of the highest in the state. Valley State University STATS Year founded: 1960 enrollment: 22,406 faculty ratio: 17:1 of undergraduate degrees offered: 96 of master’s degrees : 42 of doctoral degrees : matter expertise: Business, engineering, health care, tuition: $13,952 tuition: $19,856 three awards/ recognitions: One of U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 Best Colleges. One of the Princeton Review’s 2022 Best Colleges: Region by Region. One of Money magazine’s Best Colleges for Your Money 2022. Dr., Allendale, MI 49401 616-331-5000, gvsu.edu
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WHATEVER IS NEXT
gvsu.edu/next
For Grand Valley students, next is opportunity and innovation. Next is global, connecting and uniting us. It’s local, shaping the spaces in which we work and live. It’s a commitment to progress. Next is where minds are free to imagine what could be. At GVSU, next is now. And whatever’s next for you, we will empower you to reach higher so you can get there.
CREATE YOUR FUTURE THE PATH TO A CREATIVE CAREER IS CLOSER THANK YOU THINK. You already love making—now it’s time to make your way in the world. KCAD’s specialized degree programs in design and fine art transform your creative passion into a marketable skill set, and from there, a dynamic career. Discover more at kcad.edu. BACHELOR OF ARTS: Art History BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS: Collaborative Design Digital Art and Design FashionDrawing Studies Graphic LifeInteriorIllustrationDesignDesignSciencesand Pre-Medical Illustration SculptureProductPhotographyPaintingDesignandFunctional Art MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE MASTER OF ARTS: Design MASTER OF FINE ARTS: Painting CERTIFICATES: Design and Innovation Management Visual and Critical Studies ASSOCIATE OF ARTS: Art History ASSOCIATE OF FINE ARTS: Design Studies 800.676.2787 kcad.edu
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COLLEGEGUIDEPARENTS’TO promotional content Your path to a creative career is closer than you think. Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University offers all the advantages of a conservatory college of art and design — creative im mersion, expert faculty, and personalized instruction — without sacrificing the vital support systems and educational value of a state Fromuniversity.itsroots as a talent pipeline for West Michigan’s furniture industry, KCAD has grown in harmony with a region dom inated by innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurial thinking. Its accessible ur ban campus in the heart of Grand Rapids’ vibrant creative community and thriving design industry is the perfect environment transforming your passion for making into a marketable skill set and dynamic career opportunities. Learn more at kcad.edu ■ Kendall College of Art and Design THE STATS Year founded: 1928 // Current enrollment: 562 // Studentfaculty ratio: 11:1 // Number of undergraduate degrees offered: More than 180 // Number of doctoral degrees offered: 15 // Number of master’s degrees offered: 3 // Subject matter expertise: At KCAD, students learn by doing through hands-on experiences, industry interactions, collaborative real-world projects, and community engagement. Programs include: digital art and design, fashion studies, graphic design, interior design, life sciences and pre-medical illustration, master of architecture, painting, photography, product design, and more. // In-state tuition: $23,078 (U.S. and Canada) // Top three awards/ recognitions: KCAD is fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The interior design program is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation. The Master of Architecture Program is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. 17 Fountain St. NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 Enrollment Information: 616-451-2787, kcad.edu
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Northern Michigan University, located in Marquette, is a dynamic four-year, public university that has grown its reputation based on its award-winning leadership programs, cutting-edge technology initiatives, and na tionally recognized academic programs. The university has a population of more than 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It offers over 170 degree pro grams, including 28 graduate programs. More than 75 percent of NMU’s 300-plus full-time faculty members have doctor ates or the highest degree in their fields. A hallmark of the NMU experience is that full-time faculty members teach at all lev els, from freshmen-level through graduate courses. Its 1,100 employees view helping students succeed as not only a university priority, but a personal goal. NMU’s 360-acre campus features 52 fa cilities including a university theater, award-winning laboratories, a newly up dated university center, a solely-dedicat ed technology and occupational sciences building, and a three-structure sports and recreation complex that includes the Su perior Dome, the world’s largest wooden dome. NMU’s hometown, Marquette, is located along the southern shore of Lake Superior; the Upper Peninsula region is known for its safe, friendly, and natural environment. Finally, the Marquette com munity and NMU are intricately inter twined, which adds to the vitality of the area and to the opportunities available to NMU students. Michigan University Most Affordable in Michigan. No. 4 Best in Michigan. Presque Isle Ave., Marquette, MI 49855 906-227-1000,
Online College
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THE STATS Year founded: 1899 // Current enrollment: 7,200 // Studentfaculty ratio: 20:1 // Number of undergraduate degrees offered: 170+ // Number of master’s degrees offered: 28 // Subject matter expertise: biology nursing, medicinal plant chemistry, indoor agriculture, forensic anthropology, education, construction management, theater and dance // In-state tuition: $12,648 // Out-of-state tuition: $18,144 // Top three awards/recognitions: Top 20 Best Public Universities in the Midwest. 2nd
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More in Four. More in a Lifetime.® kzoo.edu/admission Discover the world at a place that feels like home. “At K, I found an amazing community—great friends and professors I could talk to. With the K-Plan, I was able to take a poetry class, study Ancient Greek and play in the jazz band, even as a STEM student. The world is yours to explore here.” Annie Tyler ’22 Majors: Chemistry and Religion Next Destination: Yale University to pursue a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry of graduates have studied abroad 70% are represented on campus 39 STATES 29 COUNTRIES 13 Concentrations 31 MAJORS 22 MINORS
PROMOTIONAL CONTENT Kalamazoo College 1200 Academy St., Kalamazoo, MI 49006 Undergraduate Enrollment Information: 269-337-7000, kzoo.edu Highly selective, nationally renowned and globally oriented, Kalamazoo College is the home of the K-Plan, an individualized and integrated approach to the liberal arts and sciences. The K-Plan combines excep tional scholarship, study abroad, career de velopment, civic engagement, and indepen dent research in an open curriculum that allows students to make the most of their unique interests and gifts. At K, adminis trators and faculty embrace the school’s motto — “More in Four. More in a Lifetime.” — by offering more opportunities to explore, more faculty and staff mentorship and sup port, and more preparation for meaningful careers that make a positive impact on the world. Wherever students want to go in life, their K-Plans can take them there. ■ THE STATS Year founded: 1833 // Current enrollment: 1,398 // Student-faculty ratio: 13:1 // Number of undergraduate degrees offered: 31 majors, 22 minors, five special programs, and 13 concentrations // Subject matter of expertise: Nationally known for the K-Plan, which integrates an open curriculum with study abroad, experiential education, career preparation, and independent research. // In-state/Out-of-state tuition: $56,412 // Percentage of students on financial aid: 98% // Top awards: Named a Best Value College by the Princeton Review; Fulbright Top Producing Institution; listed among the 44 Colleges that Change Lives.
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GRMAG.COM 81 DIVE INTO THE CITY’S GREATEST EATERIES AND BARS » PLUS: SEAFOODREALHISTORICPIZZALITTLEBIRD Dish up this extremely fresh, colorful bowl for a tasty, healthy lunch. food+drink PHOTOGRAPH BY STACY FEYER-SALO Mix it up CREATE page 88
TABLE Real Seafood Company adds to company’s growing Grand Rapids portfolio. Fresh catch BY PAT EVANS // PHOTOS BY ARRAE CREATIVE 82 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
The Ann Arbor-based Main Street operates much like a local company here in Grand Rapids and Mainstreet CEO Kevin Gudejko said it hopes to add to the increasingly vibrant culinary options in Grand Rapids. “We made the commitment almost 20 years ago with The Chop House. I feel really strongly about the city and west side of the state,” Gudejko said.
Mainstreet has multiple concepts, so the Real Seafood Company was the next logical step in Grand Rapids.
Gudejko said he had been interested in the new retail space in the redeveloped Fifth Third Building. The location was slated to be a Brazilian steakhouse chain, Texas de Brazil, but Gudejko said that ownership group couldn’t make the commitment to Grand Rapids. As Mainstreet has a solid relationship with CWD Real Estate Investment, which owns the building, Gudejko said they were able to claim the open space because of the COVID19 Pickingpandemic.what went into the space was not a cakewalk, however. Thankfully, Mainstreet has multiple concepts already proven in various markets across the Midwest his summer, Grand Rapids welcomed a high-end seafood restaurant ready to serve an underserved niche in the downtown food scene.
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The fact Real Seafood Company is delivering should not be too much of a surprise, as its parent company, Mainstreet Ventures Restaurant Group, has delighted plenty of Grand Rapids diners over the years at The Chop House and Palio.
Above: John Gibson creates a Cherry cocktail.Blossom
Opposite: Crispy Whole Fish.
Michigan is not exactly a haven for seafood — the nice fish from the Great Lakes notwithstanding — so it’s no surprise there is not a huge array of restaurants serving a vast lineup of seafood. Leo’s has checked the box since the early 2000s, Fish Lad’s is a dynamic retailer in the Downtown Market, and Beacon Corner Bar recently opened to fill the niche, but the May opening of the Real Seafood Company, 141 Lyon St. NW, was a welcome addition. So far, it is delivering on its promise to add quality seafood to the marketplace.
The Chop House has been a staple in the downtown Grand Rapids dining scene since 2004. In 2017, the company opened the Italian-focused Palio on Michigan Street NE, near the edge of the Medical Mile as the company anticipated the accelerating growth of the city’s health care industry. “Those both have exceeded our expectations and it’s been a businessfriendly environment,” Gudejko said. “The city has done a great job of welcoming us and a lot of industries in town. The community has made it a positive experience to come in and it’s a great market to hire in. There are a lot of great people in Grand Rapids.”
food + drink / table
"We want to colors."andtexturesflavorsworldaroundondinerstakeaspinthewithand Brent Courson
While it’s not here in Grand Rapids, the restaurant has been open in Ann Arbor for more than 40 years. It continues to carry on and evolve, at least as much as a seafood restaurant can. “Chef [Courson] has done a great job of anticipating what we’re seeing in the market,” Gudejko said. “You go back 20 years ago in the Real Seafood Company world, even 1975, and the tastes have changed. It’s not just real great fish and proteins coming in with a great choice of sides. It’s a great job of composing overall dishes.”
84 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
Real Seafood Company has history.
For years, one of Grand Rapids’ favorite restaurants was Charley’s Crab — which for its time was a high-end seafood restaurant, a quintessential date night for many Grand Rapidians. Since its closure, Leo’s has continued to carry the torch for high-end seafood in Grand Rapids. But as a growing city, there is more than enough room for multiple quality seafood menus. While Mainstreet was opening a concept with multiple locations already, Mainstreet Executive Chef Brent Courson said that did not mean it was destined to be exactly the same in West Michigan. “We do have a bunch of restaurants, but it’s not cookie-cutter for us,” he said. “The people of Grand Rapids are different than the people of Ann Arbor and even the seafood available in South Florida is different than that in Michigan. All the menus are unique. “It’s a combination of all those great menus. It’s the top performers from those locations and some colorful plates with new ideas.”
food + drink / table
The menu starts with a small selection of raw bar options, including market fresh oysters, served with a strawberry mignonette. There also are broiled oysters, oyster shooters and a chilled seafood platter that comes at a relative bargain compared to other seafood spots in town ($70). The starters were an interesting collection of options. Some were better than others. The calamari was an uninspired fried version seen in multiple restaurants across town. The shrimp cocktail was, of course, simple, but the cocktail sauce added a nostril-clearing rush. The crab guacamole sounded interesting, and while its presentation was less than spectacular with what looked like store-bought tortilla chips, the taste was eye-opening after the initial impression. The server was unsurprised by the starter opinions and let us know her true and Florida. Real Seafood Company has locations in Ann Arbor, Bay City, Naples, Florida, and Toledo, Ohio. “One of the benefits we have is having four different concepts, so we can evaluate a market and determine what to do next,” Gudejko said. “The city of Grand Rapids, we felt strongly about. We were already looking for what else we can do here that fits the need and the market. There’s not a lot of seafood to be had, so this was a no-brainer.”
Real Seafood also stays on the fresh side of products, which of course can be a pricing and supply challenge now. “I liken this to shopping in the grocery store,” Courson said. “The supply chain on the food side is not unlike what we experience in almost everything. If I had bananas on the list, but the bananas might not be great on the shelves, so you have to pivot to what does look great and that’s what we’re going to serve. “There will be times we don’t have fresh baby snappers. If the high-quality fish wasn’t available, we won’t have it on the menu. Those outages will happen and, thankfully, it does seem like people are more forgiving in these times opposed to feelings about items, which helped guide our next orders. Servers guiding diners is an underrated feature of restaurants and they should not be shy in their opinions to help diners have the best experience at the establishment.Thereoftenare at least six options of fresh fish dishes. The signature entrees also have a few tantalizing options. The scallop risotto — which includes two food items that are incredibly easy to miss on — was impeccably cooked. The scallops were like perfectly seared coins of butter, while the risotto was cooked extremely well with a fresh vegetable mix, making the otherwise heavy dish rather summery. Other entrees include surf and turf, crab-stuffed salmon roulade and paella, but also more inexpensive dishes like fish and chips and lobster and fries. The menu was similar in a lot of ways of any seafood restaurant across the U.S. But there were more than a few interesting twists on plates that help separate the eatery from similar concepts. “I appreciate the style and concept, the demand it puts on chefs and their abilities,” Courson said. “We are not tied to any one thing. What is the Midwestern taste? We’re honoring certain preparations from countries across the globe with great seafood. We have great Latin American, Mediterranean, Asian, New England and southern states represented in colorful dishes.
needing items all the time. When customers do come in, we’ll have the best, highest quality fish possible.”
While Courson is focused on navigating the increasingly difficult sourcing of highquality foods, Gudejko said he wants the front-of-house staff focused on ensuring customers have a great experience, no matter what is in their glass or on their plate. “We try to focus on the total experience,” he said. “We’re here for people to enjoy their time and I think the table turnover time has increased post-COVID. “It’s not just a meal, but they’re spending time to have a great experience. What used to be a party of four taking an hour and fifteen (minutes) will be an extra half-hour. It’s not just dining; we want to be part of the entertainment.” Swordfish Chocolate Truffle
“We want to take diners on a spin around the world with flavors and textures and colors.”
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food + drink / table Blackened
86 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
food + drink / must-t y
MUST-TRY Little Bird works to push dinner offerings. Flying high
Since Little Bird opened in 2017, the restaurant has made a name for itself with its brunch. Dinner at Little Bird, 95 Monroe Center St. NW, always has been part of the plans — hence development of the bar area, said General Manager Christian Stachel. But the brunch reputation took precedent, so after reopening the restaurant in November 2021 following a COVID-19 pause, it was limited to breakfast and lunch hours. Little Bird, it should be noted, is owned by Sarah Wepman and Joel Wabeke, who also own Eastown eateries That Early Bird and Quarantino’s.
BY PAT EVANS // PHOTOS BY STACY FEYER-SALO Meals at Little Bird are a snapshot in time, as the menu highlights farm ingredients.fresh
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To go with the menu, Stachel also heads up the bar program at Little Bird, which he said maintains a progressive attitude in its offerings. At the moment, the wine list is leaning toward natural wines from small family and farm producers. “We like to emphasize those wines, a nice selection of spirits and cocktails, cider, beer,” he said. “We like to work in support of the little guys as much as possible and put smaller producers on the radar for the beverage curious.”
Put the food and beverages together with the overarching mission for “genuine caring hospitality,” and Stachel said he hopes diners return“Whatregularly.canwedo to improve people’s lives who are spending just a small amount of time with us?” he said. “Hopefully, we can open up unexpected doors within that time with our guests.”
“We are now in a good swing and cadence of monthly special dinners that will change form and take shape with each dinner,” he said. “They will be in line creatively with what we’re doing."
As the normal hours of Little Bird continue to expand, Stachel said the restaurant is beginning to host regular special dinners — like August’s plant-based dinner paired with skin-contact wines — and collaborate with entities and individuals from around Grand Rapids and Michigan to continue to open doors to the culinary curious.
Photos: Known for its brunch, Little Bird is hoping to impress with its beverageexpandandprogramfurtheritsdinnerofferings.
“It was streamlined because we wanted to grow back into ourselves organically and add to it as it made sense,” Stachel said. Now, with an expanding clientele of regulars and new guests alike, Stachel said Little Bird is working to expand its dinner plans. Often, the restaurant is pegged as “European,” but Stachel said he prefers to look at the ever-changing menu as “progressive new American.” Fueling that ethos are partnerships with small suppliers and local farms. “We can incorporate research and experience from the world’s cuisines and mash those up within American cuisine,” he said of the largely scratch kitchen. “We meet ideas that come from far way and combine them and put our own fun, creative twist on them. I’d say we are a little progressive, we’re trying to put ourselves out there to be one of the spots as the city continues to evolve and the population becomes more dynamic.”
food + drink / c eate
5. In serving plates, combine rice, chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, olives (if using), and feta cheese. Top with 2 tablespoons of hummus, 2 tablespoons of tzatziki, ½ tablespoon of fresh parsley and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Serve alongside pita bread that has been warmed.
Ingredients 4 chicken breasts or 8 chicken thighs 2 2OliveFreshFreshGarliclemonsparsleyoreganooilcupsofuncookedbrownrice
BY PAT EVANS // PHOTO BY STACY FEYER-SALO
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved 3 mini cucumbers, chopped 1 red onion, diced ½ cup diced olives
3. Grill chicken on medium heat over a gas grill until cooked through. 4 Let chicken sit for 10 minutes after removing from the grill. Then slice chicken against the grain.
Fresh bowl CREATE 1.Steps
This easy chicken bowl is ideal for a refreshing lunch … or dinner. Most meals have become dominated by a protein or lean too heavily to the vegetable. This easy Mediterranean chicken bowl provides a balanced plate that’s full of protein, carbs and vegetables.Well-designed foods will contain warm and cold temperatures, soft and crunchy textures and, of course, delicious tastes.
PitaFetaTzatzikiHummus(optional)cheesebread SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
In a bowl, combine juice of 1 lemon, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped oregano, ½ teaspoon paprika, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine. Add the chicken to the marinade. Let sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
2. Meanwhile, cook brown rice according to package instructions.
Hancock Hancock had some of the best flavor of the chicken and spice mixture of the chicken sandwiches in Grand Rapids. That said, the heat levels won’t blow you away. Nashville Hot can be, well, HOT! JuJu Bird JuJu Bird at the Downtown Market might be the spicehelpfulofItthelevelrepresentationbestofspiceIhadwhiletastingchickensandwiches.wasanicethickpiecechicken,whichisaswell,andthewasnice.
Broad BreweryLeaf+ Spirits Like JuJu Bird, Broad Leaf nails the chicken thickness and packs in a lot of the flavor. It’s a spin on a hot chicken sandwich and it doesn’t have the little red chili next to it on the menu, but Broad Leaf’s sandwich had a nice kick to it. Still, it didn’t make me drenched in sweat like its Drunken Noodles do.
The fried Hancocksandwichchickenatisasolidlookatthestaple.
While I have yet to taste one in GR that matches up to the Nashville OGs or the amazing, sweat-inducing sandwich I had at my favorite Las Vegas haunt, 595 Craft and Kitchen, there still are some tasty spicy chicken sandwiches around town, Nashville-style or not. Give them a try and then venture on down to Nashville to see how you think they compare.
Nashville Hot Chicken sandwiches have become one of the flavors of the past decade, despite being a staple in the Tennessee city for decades. Unfortunately, few places truly do the sandwich — and now flavor — justice. But, once it hit the real mainstream with the chicken sandwich fervor of a few years ago spurred by Popeye’s Hot Chicken Sandwich, all bets were off.
GRMAG.COM 89 food + drink / top picks TOP 5
Some like it hot BY PAT EVANS // PHOTO BY HANNAH RUSHTON
Try these chicken sandwiches for a nice kick.
7 Monks Also not in the Nashville style, 7 Monks still has a delicious sandwich on its menu. Made with hot honey, the sandwich is sweet and spicy in the best ways, with a fluffy Nantucket bun that makes it go down easy. Jolly Pumpkin Jolly Pumpkin likes its pizzas, but don’t ignore “The Perfect Fried Chicken Sandwich,” which is pretty tasty as well. Again, it’s a little off the Nashville path — flavored with sriracha and spicy pickles — but the sesame cilantro slaw plays well with it.
“The challenge was the beers we were competing against with that beer, like Two Hearted, the Founders portfolio of Centennial IPA and All Day, Huma Lupa from Short’s, not to mention Goose Island IPA,” VanderKamp said. “I don’t want to say the world didn’t need another, but it was a beer that I felt was having a hard time gaining traction in the market. “It’s hard. There are people out there, my wife included, who, it was their favorite beer. But the numbers tell a different story.”
As it turns out, that consumer feedback is accepted and acted upon by the New Holland team. One of its long-time flagship brands, Mad Hatter, was put to bed. It was a difficult decision for VanderKamp to kill one of the brewery’s iconic brands. But it was a read on the massive market of Centennial hopped IPAs in the Midwest.
“On-premises is an exciting place to experiment and get direct consumer feedback.”
“There is something to be said about a founder-led organization. I’m not going to say I’ll never sell, but we’re building a company for 100Plentyyears.”of breweries popped up after New Holland made its debut and then grew larger. Some of those breweries now are owned by multinational conglomerations. Others are closed. New Holland’s growth has been more measured, a bit slower paced to keep tabs on the product heading out into the market. That also has allowed the company to keep shifting its offerings. The strategy involves pushing Dragon’s Milk to the current status of 75% of the overall beer portfolio to make it the keystone of a growing portfolio of beers, as well as touting more products from its distillery — another branch of the company’s growth over the past quarter-century.Andwhileitsproducts can be found in much of the country, VanderKamp said he believes the future of the company might return to its roots. “I am really excited about the on-premises business again.
90 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 PHOTOS COURTESY NEW HOLLAND BREWING
Brett VanderKamp is steadfast in his push to make New Holland Brewing Company one that lasts for the ages. It’s already fair to say few Michigan breweries have impacted the brewing world like New Holland has in its first 25 years. The brewery’s Dragon’s Milk Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout helped define a category as the first to hit shelves year-round. Founded in 1997 in Holland, New CHEERS BY PAT EVANS
VanderKamp said it will continue to evolve and he’s ready for the challenge of navigating the waters. “It’s a never-ending journey,” he said. “It’s interesting to look at brands that are navigating and, I don’t mean, it’s hard to check ego out of it, but if you look across the spectrum of breweries, it’s interesting to observe the landscape as opposed to 10 years ago and the people who said I’ll never sell, to a point of marketing it that way and get loyal followers.
In Mad Hatter’s place in the portfolio, New Holland elevated Tangerine Space Machine, a citrusy, hazy IPA that is growing nearly 50% this year, according to VanderKamp.
New Holland Brewing celebrates a big anniversary in October with an eye toward the future. Dragon's Milk Origin Bourbon is one of New Holland'sbuildingofextensionsnewestitsbrand,onthebigsuccessofDragon'sMilk.
Cheers to 25 years
Holland has spread its beers to more than 40 states and opened a massive facility in Grand Rapids and soon will have an outpost in Battle Creek, as well. To celebrate, there will be a big party in October at the Holland pub, 66 E. 8th St., but VanderKamp is ready to keep exploring the possibilities for the company. In its first 25 years, the craft beer industry has exploded and changed course multiple times as the new “it” styles shifted.
The reason we started it 25 years ago was it was a desert of establishments to go hang out and have a beer,” he said. “These are strange times, there is a bizarre mood out there. But when I reflect on 25 years and where we were, it’s really back in those four walls that gave us stability and the ethos for what we’re trying to do.
“I always want to give oxygen to things, things they think might never scale,” he said. “I can always point back at Dragon’s Milk. We never thought that it was going to be what it is. If you help create a market, New Holland's Ichabod is one of the premier fall beers in Michigan, a brew that truly marks the beginning of autumn. you can be the market. “People releasing beers, they’re doing it in such small quantities the consumer is trained to look at what’s next so (brewers) don’t give a brand the time to get a toehold. And honestly, I think we’ve missed on some brands by not giving it time.”
Oddly enough, he said he believes its potential lay dormant in consumer minds. “There is such rich storytelling behind Dragon’s Milk, even the term predates modern English,” he said. “So somewhere, in our generational memory — and I really believe that — it evokes much more than the liquid inside the bottle. “And I don’t think we’ve explored all of where that brand can go. It can go further with what is in the consciousness of our friends.”
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The New Holland restaurants also give a hint to what could be coming down the pipeline. VanderKamp said the tasting rooms allow New Holland to spot trends before they’re fully in the commercial mainstream — and that is where he said people are simply drinking more spirits. “I would not have foreseen that when we started to be open to that idea,” he said. Between the success New Holland sees with its spirits and the dominance within its portfolio of Dragon’s Milk and its variants, VanderKamp said that information leads the way in how the innovation team looks at products.
BEING BETTER TOGETHER WE’RE
Keeping that in mind, VanderKamp said he thinks Dragon’s Milk can keep growing — even beyond the Origin Small Batch Bourbon that launched this spring.
Our branches are coming to Holland, Muskegon, and Zeeland in 2023! Join us and we’ll be best and brightest together. 4frontcu.com
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Justin Abdelkader always knew he wanted to be a professional hockey player. But getting into the NHL wasn’t without its obstacles. In his new book, he shares his story as a way to show young people that perseverance and hard work do pay off — that dreams do come true. Only $16.95
Justin always knew that he wanted to be a professional hockey player. But did he have what it takes? Sometimes he wasn’t sure. Still, he decided to work really hard on the ice and in school to make his dream come true.
Along with continuing to grow current and future brands, VanderKamp said he also believes New Holland can help some of the societal issues communities are suffering from today. “It’s interesting where we’re at as a society and we seem so divided and it never feels like we’ve been more polarized,” he said. “For the next 25 years, I think we have a role to play in bringing people together within our four walls to facilitate conversation in a disarming way.”
SHOOTGOALFORTHE
By Justin Abdelkader Illustrations by Mary Cindrich THE
ABDELKADERJUSTINSTORYSHOOTFORTHEGOAL JUSTINABDELKADER Cover_Abdelkader2018.indd
institutionEastown
ON-THE-GO
Jenny and yearsRapids,nameownedkeepingLombardoPetearethefamily-Gino'sPizzaaliveinGrandnow50-plusstrong.
92 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 food + drink / on- the -go Pizza night with a slice of history.
BY PAT EVANS // PHOTOS BY STACY FEYER-SALO
In West Michigan, it can seem like there is a pizza place on almost every corner. There are excellent pizza places across town, both old and new. Then there’s an Eastown institution that has cranked out pizza for friends and neighbors since the 1970s. Heading east down Wealthy Street or Lake Drive, a driver is sure to see the old-style Gino’s Pizza ad painted on the side of the pizzeria’s building, complete with a green soda bottle and a prideful, “Open Late!”
The interior screams old-school pizza place, with a few green booths and a counter to place the order. The pizza is the type one would expect if they were dropped into a classic TV show ordering a quick takeout dinner. Think: A caricature of a pizza one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might enjoy. With fairly affordable prices, compared to other local pizza joints, the pies are piled high in toppings. The pizza makers on the line are not light-handed in their style. Additionally, the appetizers are quite affordable, with breadsticks and sauce clocking in at $6 and jalapeno poppers and chicken wings going for $7 and $8, respectively. A decent selection of submarine sandwiches also weigh in below $10, including meatball, pizza, and steak and cheese. Satisfying food and affordable prices are a great win if you’re in the Eastown area and looking for a quick dinner. Gino’s Pizza, 1556 Wealthy St. SE, offers delivery, takeout and eat-in.
All across Grand Rapids and the lakeshore, there are eateries galore. To stand out, restaurateurs must offer an appealing blend of ambiance, cuisine, service, and amenities. At Grand Rapids Magazine, we call this The Art of WhetherDining.it’s signature mixed drinks, craft brews, or specialty wines; inspired techniques combined with exquisite flavors; or thoughtful use of space—or all of the above—these hot spots deliver. Mix and match to create a oneof-a-kind dish—or choose the chef’s favorite. Sip on your favorite potable in a casual or upscale atmosphere. Attend a monthly hosted event to up your gourmand game. Or, tickle your tastebuds with a distinctive weekly special. Whatever you’re hankering for and no matter the occasion, you’ll be satisfied at every turn. For your next date night, workplace happy hour, family gathering, preconcert nosh, or friends’ outing, grab a table at one of these West Michigan gems. the Local Establishments that Are Taking Dining to the Next Level
Art of Dining
Meet
PROMOTIONAL CONTENT Social House
Social House’s craft cocktail menu is also top notch, with a wide range of timeless recipes that have a mixologist’s special twist. Much like their food menu, they also invite guests to put their own signature on their classic perfect margaritas and mojitos, with seven different flavor options available, each incorporating fresh whole and pureed fruit, along with an impressive selection of highend bourbon and tequila. Social House has put their focus on letting their customers take the reins, providing dining unlike anywhere else in West Michigan. Beyond craft-your-own dishes and beverages, Social House also keeps their full-service bar stocked with connoisseur-worthy spirits, wines, and brews. They offer both indoor and outdoor seating with a beautiful patio area, plus attentive service and a welcoming atmosphere. (616) 551-1412
SOCIALHOUSEGR.COM 25 Ottawa Ave SW., Grand Rapids, MI 49503 |
WEST MICHIGAN FOODIES who are seeking the kind of dining experience usually only found in large, globally recognized cities will be excited to know that they can whet their epicurean appetites right in their own backyards. Social House, with a popular, well-established location in downtown Grand Rapids and a newly opened spot in South Haven, offers an exceptional food and drink menu perfect for any occasion, as well as some of the best live entertainment in theDepartingregion. from the traditional knifeand-fork, chef created dishes, Social House provides a completely unexpected, totally customizable main menu, so customers can design their own dish—just the way they like it! Each plate features a choice of a variety of proteins, cooking styles, sauces, and sides, allowing not only for endless experimentation and unbridled imagination, but also a unique, personalized experience with every visit.
The father and son chef duo puts their own unique touch on each dish—whether by adding flavors or using techniques from other regions. Signature menu items include the sea scallops, chorizo burger, and hanger steak. From the bar, there’s a rotating selection of cocktails, including a seasonal smoked cocktail, each made with Bertie’s Bear Gulch bourbon—plus a farmers market fizz, concocted with ingredients sourced from the farmers market each week during the warmer months.
A PUB FOR FOOD LOVERS, Waverly Stone Gastropub brings creative cuisine and a friendly vibe to Holland’s restaurant scene. Though Waverly Stone is recognized for its dark stone exterior, it’s what happens inside that truly sets the pub apart from other dining experiences in the area. From the historic tin walls and ceilings to the beautiful wood detailing, the space has an ambiance that is filled with warmth and reminiscent of the past. Guests are welcomed by friendly staff who take service to the next level.
WAVERLYSTONEPUB.COM 20 West 8th St., Holland,
Waverly Stone also hosts a monthly Wine Night and seasonal Blind Tasting Brackets. Wine Nights feature tastings and food pairings, along with a discussion led by a sommelier from Woodberry Wine Distributors. Tasting Brackets span the course of several weeks, each featuring a different spirit. Both are opportunities to explore lesser-known libations and take home a favorite bottle. The family owned atmosphere comes across in every interaction, supported by a small team of passionate individuals who care deeply about every aspect of their guests’ experiences. Whether it’s the food on your plate or the beverage in your glass, they’ll make sure your experience is extraordinary and your meal tastes amazing. MI | (616) 392-5888
When it comes to the menu, that, too, is nothing short of inspired, with a blend of global fare, seasonal specials, and classic favorites.
Waverly Stone Gastropub
49423
PROMOTIONAL CONTENT
PROMOTIONAL SECTION Enjoy upscale American cuisine made with locally grown ingredients. For more information or to view our ever-changing menu visit www.bistroontheboulevard.com 521 Lake Boulevard, St. Joseph, MI 49085 | (269) 983-3882
PROMOTIONAL CONTENT Reserve Wine & Food RESERVE WINE & FOOD is a celebration of handcrafted plates and pairings. Their menu features the bounty of Michigan farms alongside pairings from their storehouse of 900+ fine wines. With four unique event spaces, Reserve is a premier destination for private dining and warm hospitality. They also offer a robust monthly wine club featuring hand-selected local and global wines. At Reserve, guests enjoy seasonal entrées and indulgent desserts, featuring items like housemade pasta and ice cream, fresh protein butchered in house, environmentally responsible seafood, and hand-picked produce. Their cheese and charcuterie plates feature specialty items from around the world. Reserve welcomes walkin parties and advance reservations for happy hour and evening dinner service. RESERVEGR.COM 201 Monroe Ave. NW , Grand Rapids, MI 49503 | (616) 855-9463
City Built Brewing Company
CITYBUILTBREWING.COM 820 Monroe Ave NW Ste. 155, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 | (616) 805-5755
PROMOTIONAL CONTENT
CITY BUILT BREWING COMPANY originally envisioned its sister brand, Li Grand Zombi, to be a ghost kitchen—in response to pandemicrelated business closures. Instead, it was serendipitously established just as restaurant restrictions began to be lifted. If you’re unfamiliar, the brewery’s Creole-inspired alter ego is part pop-up, part side hustle, and entirely unlike any cuisine you’ll find in West Michigan. A fusion of global influences, Li Grand Zombi is not its own brick and mortar location, but a single, signature dish crafted every week by City Built’s Executive Chef Kyle Murray. It can be found on the menu from Thursday through Saturday or until it sells out— which sometimes happens quickly! If you’re hungering for a little NOLA, you’ll find such favorites as gumbo, crawfish, andouille, grits, red beans and rice, etouffee and more—all with a creative twist straight out of Chef Kyle’s colorful imagination. A sneak peek of each week’s dish is released on Wednesdays, so be sure to follow Li Grand Zombi on Facebook or Instagram to stay in the know. If Cajun’s not your craving, you’ll find plenty of Puerto Rican-inspired menu staples to choose from that stretch the boundaries of what typical breweries offer. And, in addition to a steppedup food game, City Built has a broad selection of delicious beers, from craft lagers—which are growing in popularity—to IPAs, wheats, porters, and fruited sours. They also offer an in-house seltzer, mead, wine, and locally made kombucha. A bevy of bevvies, you might say. Li Grand Zombi has been going strong for two-plus years, and City Built just celebrated its five-year anniversary—a testament to both brands’ ability to surprise, delight, and excite.
BRICK & PORTER Appetizers, burgers, salads, sandwiches and a nice selection of entrées; 20 beers on tap (“the darker, the better”). Open daily. // 47 Monroe Center NW, 2266928. brickandportergr.com. Brunch (Sat-Sun), Lunch, Dinner $-$$ BRICKYARD TAVERN Located inside the historic Boardwalk Building, BrickYard Tavern offers a varied menu with items including a selection of burgers, sandwiches and entrées such as beer-battered salmon and chips, fish tacos and rib eye. Enjoy cocktails and 24 beers on tap. Open daily. // 940 Monroe Ave NW, 805-3280. brickyardtaverngr.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ BROOKLYN BODEGA BAGEL & DELI Bringing the bagel shops and delis of the East Coast to the third coast. Whether a bagel, egg and cheese or a hearty turkey sandwich, Brooklyn Bodega has it. Open Monday-Saturday // 10 Jefferson Ave. SE, (616) 7244275 Breakfast, Lunch $ THE CHOP HOUSE Aged prime beef, seafood, pork, lamb chops, chicken and more. Downstairs is La Dolce Vita dessert and cigar bar. Closed Sun. // 190 Monroe Ave NW, 451-6131. thechophousegrandrapids.com. Dinner $$$ CITY BUILT BREWING CO. Taproom featuring a variety of craft beer. Plus, Puerto Rican-inspired appetizers, small plates, entrées, soups and salads. Closed Mon. // 820 Monroe Ave NW, 805-5755. citybuiltbrewing.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ CINCO DE MAYO Offers the usual Mexican fare plus carnitas and steak asada. Full bar. Open daily. // 114 Monroe Center NW, 719-2401. cincodemayogr.com. Lunch, Dinner $$
COTTAGE BAR Longtime favorite since 1927. Famous Cottage burgers and fries, signature chilis and more. Full bar. Closed Sun. // 18 LaGrave Ave SE, 454-9088. cottagebar. biz. Lunch, Dinner $ DIVANI European-inspired food includes small plates for sharing and a variety of entrées. Full bar. Closed Sun. // 15 Ionia Ave SW, 774-9463. divanigr.com. Dinner $$-$$$ DUBLIN HALL Tapas-style // 820 Monroe Ave NW Suite 100, 616-608-4533. fieldandfire.com. Breakfast, Lunch $-$$ FLANAGAN’S Downtown Irish pub features imported beers, entrées with Irish influence. Frequent live music. Open Daily. // 139 Pearl St NW, 454-7852. flanagansgr.com. Lunch, Dinner $ FORTY PEARL A wine bar serving oysters, cured meats and cheeses, baked goods and sweets, soups and salads, shareables, sandwiches, rice bowls and entrées like salmon, seared scallops and Cornish hen. Open daily. // 40 Pearl St. NW, 608-7741. fortypearl.com. Lunch, Dinner $$$ FOUNDERS BREWING CO. Spacious taproom, serpentine bar and live music Thu and Sat. Menu features appetizers, deli sandwiches. Outdoor beer garden. Open daily. // 235 Grandville Ave SW, 7761195. foundersbrewing.com. Lunch, Dinner $ FRIESIAN GASTRO PUB A cozy neighborhood eatery offering comfort food items with an eclectic twist. Menu items include handhelds like the harissa hot chicken sandwich and vegan Rueben, as well as entrées including ramen bowls and Korean short ribs. Full bar. Patio and rooftop deck. Open daily. // 720 Michigan St NE, 825-3001. friesiangr.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ GINZA SUSHI & RAMEN BAR Wide selection of authentic Japanese cuisine, sushi, ramen, poke bowls, hibachi dinners, appetizers, soups and salad. Open daily. Catering available. // 1015 Michigan St NE, 272-4116. ginzasushiramen.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ dine / estau ants GRMAG.COM 99
$ INEXPENSIVE (UNDER $10) $$ MODERATE (BETWEEN $10 – $20) $$$ EXPENSIVE (OVER $20)
BOBARINO’S AT THE B.O.B. Grill on second floor of The B.O.B. offers everything from wood-fired pizza to upscale entrées. Lunch menu has deli sandwiches, salads, burgers. Full bar. Outdoor seating. Closed Sun. // 20 Monroe Ave NW, 356-2000. thebob. com/bobarinospizza. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ dine
CITYSEN LOUNGE Soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers and small-plate creations. Beer and wine; happy hour 4-7 pm. Open daily. // CityFlatsHotel, 83 Monroe Center NW, 6081725. Breakfast,cityflatshotel.com/location/grand-rapids.Lunch,Dinner$-$$
Downtown GR ANGEL’S THAI CAFÉ Extensive Thai fare. Menu includes your-choice stir-fry option. Vegetarian friendly. No alcohol. Open daily. // 136 Monroe Center NW, 454-9801. angelsthaicafe.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ APERITIVO A wine bar with a small menu that includes cheese and charcuterie plates and monthly sandwich specials. The retail section includes tinned fish, which can be enjoyed on-site with pickled veggies, cultured butter and Field & Fire bread. It is located within the Grand Rapids Downtown Market. Open Daily. // 435 Ionia Ave SW, 259-7045. aperitivogr.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ BANGKOK TASTE CUISINE Thai fare with lunch buffet and kids menu. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // 15 Jefferson Ave SE, 356-5550. bangkoktastegr.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ BEACON CORNER BAR & COASTAL FARE Owned by the group behind San Chez and Roam, the restaurant offers up seafood from the three coasts: East, West and Michigan. // 38 W Fulton St, 383-3800. beaconcornerbar.com. Dinner, $$-$$$ BEIJING KITCHEN Hunan, Szechuan and Cantonese cuisines. Lunch and dinner specials. No alcohol. Open daily. //342 State St SE, 4588383. beijingkitchenmi.com. Lunch (Sun-Fri), Dinner $-$$ 2022 DINING AWARD WINNER BISTRO BELLA VITA Big-city casual; modern French and Italian cuisine, locally sourced and prepared over a wood fire. Mammoth martini bar, nice wine selection. Open daily. // 44 Grandville Ave SW, 222-4600. bistrobellavita.com. Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$
fare, plus house specialties. Patio seating. Full bar, happy hour 3-7 Mon-Fri. Open daily. // 100 Ionia Ave SW, 456-7673. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ FIELD & FIRE CAFÉ This farm-to-table breakfast and lunch spot offers allday breakfast items like breakfast burritos and skillet meals as well as lunch items including sandwiches, soups, salads and toasts. It also offers an array of pastry items including croissants, muffins and tarts. On weekends brunch is available. No alcohol. Open daily.
OUR STAFF'S GUIDE TO THE AREA'S BEST EATERIES
For any additions or changes: // Please email pevans@geminipub.com or write to Grand Rapids Magazine, c/o Dining Guide, 401 Hall St. SW, Suite 331, Grand Rapids, MI 49503.
100 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
ROCKWELL REPUBLIC Diverse menu emphasizes local ingredients from sushi to comfort food. Upper-level outdoor seating. Full bar. Open daily. // 45 S Division Ave, 551-3563. rockwellsrepublic.com. Dinner $$-$$$
GRAND RAPIDS BREWING CO. Organic brews, hard cider, wine and spirits. Farm-totable menu includes sharable plates, sausages, soups, salads, sandwiches, entrées. Open daily. // 1 Ionia Ave SW, 458-7000. grbrewingcompany.com. Lunch (SatSun), Dinner $-$$
chicken sandwich, jackfruit carnitas, meatloaf, veggie meatballs, quinoa bowl and more. Full bar. Open daily. // 123 Ionia Ave SW. 123tavern.com. Lunch, Dinner $$$ PALACE OF INDIA Indian cuisine with a sizeable menu including vegetarian selections. Lunch buffet 11-3. Open daily. // 138 E Fulton St, 913-9000. palaceofindiarestaurant.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ PARSLEY MEDITERRANEAN GRILLE Appetizers, salads, soups, pitas, combos. Catering
LEO’S Fresh seafood, soups, salads and more in elegant yet casual atmosphere. Early dinner menu 4:30-6 pm MonFri. Closed Sun. // 60 Ottawa Ave NW, 454-6700. leosrestaurant.com. Lunch (Mon-Fri), Dinner $$-$$$ 2022 DINING AWARD WINNER LINEAR Riverfront eatery featuring seasonal menu with fresh modern American fare and outdoor-seating options; plus, a display of rotating works by local artists. Full bar. Closed Mon. // 1001 Monroe Ave NW, 200-4343. linearrestaurant.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ LITTLEBIRD Café-style restaurant featuring made-from-scratch breakfast and lunch, including a full coffee menu, house-made sodas and egg creams, and pastries. Full bar. Open daily. // 95 Monroe Center NW, 419-4168. thelittlebirdgr.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (Tue-Sat)
PIND INDIAN CUISINE A fine-dining Indian restaurant offering traditional dishes, such as tandoori, biryani, chicken tikka masala, malai kofta and samosas with gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options. No alcohol. Open daily. // 241 W Fulton St, 805-4767. pindgr.com. Lunch, Dinner $$$ RESERVE Wine bar offers extensive by-the-glass selections and culinary options to match, including charcuterie. Closed Sun. // 201 Monroe Ave NW, 855-9463. reservegr.com. Lunch (Mon-Fri), Dinner $$-$$$ ROAM BY SAN CHEZ BISTRO The San Chez Bistro team introduces global street food, including cuisine from China, Morocco, Spain, France, Poland, U.K., Indonesia and more. Full bar. Closed Sun. // 250 Monroe Ave NW, 288-9129. roambysanchez. com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $$
Part of Studio Park, One Twenty Three Tavern offers starters, small plates and handhelds, large plates, and a kids menu. Offering elevated American fare, including a fried available. No alcohol. Open daily. // 80 Ottawa Ave NW, 776-2590. parsleymg.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
Lively downtown spot opens for dinner at 5 pm Wed-Sat. Appetizers, sandwiches, salads, flatbread pizzas, full bar. Shows start at 8 pm Wed-Fri, 7 pm Sat. Closed Sun-Tue. // 180 Monroe Ave NW, 776-9000. mojospianobar.com. Dinner (Wed-Sat) $$-$$$ ONE TWENTY THREE TAVERN
THE HERITAGE GRCC culinary students prepare gourmet dishes from steaks to vegan. Menu changes weekly. Wine and beer. Open Tue-Fri during school year. // Applied Technology Center, 151 Fountain St NE, 234-3700. grcc.edu/ heritage. Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$ HONG KONG EXPRESS Szechuan and Cantonese. All-you-can-eat lunch buffet. No alcohol. Open daily. // 150 E Fulton St, 235-2888. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ JAMAICAN DAVE’S Chicken, goat, oxtail, beef, fish and vegetarian fare in Jamaican style. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // 530 S Division Ave, 458-7875. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $
GRAND WOODS LOUNGE Eclectic menu with upscale comfort foods. Live entertain ment, pool tables, spacious full bar. Year-round alfresco dining with fireplace. Open daily. // 77 Grandville Ave SW, 451-4300. grandwoodslounge.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
GRAND RAPIDS GARAGE BAR AND GRILL “All-American grub” includes burgers, nachos, sandwiches, soups and salads, full bar. Live entertainment Fri and Sat. Open daily. / 819 Ottawa Ave NW, 454-0321. garagebargr.com. Lunch, Dinner $
$ INEXPENSIVE (UNDER $10) $$ MODERATE (BETWEEN $10 – $20) $$$ EXPENSIVE (OVER $20) dine / estau ants
HERITAGE HILL PIZZA Offers traditional, stuffed and specialty pizzas. No alcohol. Open daily with a few tables for dining in. // 340 State St SE, 742-4773. grandrapidspizza.net. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE Classic American steakhouse in the Amway Grand Plaza. Serves alcohol. Closed Sun. // 187 Monroe Ave NW, 776-6426. chris-steak-house.amwaygrand.com/dining/ruths-Lunch,Dinner$$$ SAN CHEZ BISTRO Spanish fare focusing on tapas-style small plates; sides and entrées. Wine and beer list includes Spanish varieties and sherry. Open daily. // 38 W Fulton St, 774-8272. sanchezbistro.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$
J. GARDELLA’S TAVERN Massive full bar and gargantuan menu includes hearty appetizers, salads, burgers, entrées. Three floors of seating. Closed Sun. // 11 Ionia Ave SW, 459-8824. jgardellastavern.com. Lunch (Mon-Fri), Dinner $ THE KITCHEN BY WOLFGANG PUCK Comfort fare and global classics in a casual atmosphere overlooking the Grand River. Menu includes appetizers, gourmet pizzas, salads and entrées. Full bar. Open daily. // Amway Grand Plaza, 187 Monroe Ave NW, 776-3230. wolfgang-puck.amwaygrand.com/dining/the-kitchen-by-Lunch,Dinner$$-$$$
$ LUNA TAQUERIA Y COCINA Upscale Latin American menu pairs with locally sourced meat and produce. Full bar. Closed Sun. // 64 Ionia Ave SW, 288-6340. lunagr.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ 2022 DINING AWARD WINNER MARGAUX A contemporary French bistro. Fine wines and cocktails. Alfresco dining overlooking the Grand River. Open daily. // JW Marriott, 235 Louis St NW, 242-1448. ilovethejw. com/dining. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $-$$$ MAX’S SOUTH SEAS HIDEWAY A tiki-themed restaurant that includes a raw bar, hot appetizers, salads, sides, land and sea dishes, and vegan options. Appetizers include ceviche and puhahana rock shrimp, and entrées include a poke bowl, citrus-glazed faroe and an island lobster roll. Full bar. Open daily. // 58 Ionia Ave SW, 551-0016. maxstiki.com. D $$-$$$ 2022 DINING AWARD WINNER MDRD Overlooking the Grand River from its location on the 27th floor of the Amway Grand Plaza, this restaurant serves modern Spanish cuisine including tapas and paella. Reservations available. Closed Sun and Mon. // 187 Monroe Ave. NW, 776.6425. amwaygrand.com/dining. Dinner $$$ MERTENS PRIME French-inspired, upscale dining on restored historic site of original, early-20th-century-era hotel. Steaks, chops, seafood, pasta, entrées and small plates. Local wine options. Open daily. // 35 Oakes St SW, 551-1713. mertensgr.com. Brunch (Sat-Sun), Breakfast (Mon-Fri), Lunch (Mon-Fri), Dinner $-$$ MEXO Features tequila/mezcal bar and a modern touch on classic pre-Hispanic foods of Mexico. Full bar. Open daily. // 118 E Fulton St, 828-4123. mexogr.com. Breakfast (Sun), Lunch, Dinner $$ MOJO’S DUELING PIANO BAR & RESTAURANT
PROMOTIONAL CONTENT
Lunch, Dinner $$ THE KNICKERBOCKER –NEW HOLLAND BREWING Craft brewery featuring a variety of locally sourced shared plates, sandwiches, soups, pizzas, barbecue and more. Open daily. // 417 Bridge St NW, 3455642. newhollandbrew.com/knickerbocker. Brunch (Sun), Lunch, Dinner $-$$ LONG ROAD DISTILLERS Craft, small-batch distillery featuring variety of housemade snacks, sandwiches and entrées. Open daily. // 537 Leonard St NW, 228-4924. longroaddistillers. com. Brunch (Sat-Sun), Dinner $-$$ MAGGIE’S KITCHEN Mexican fare in café setting, cafeteria-style ordering. No alcohol. Closed Sun and Mon. // 636 Bridge St NW, 458-8583. Facebook. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $ THE MITTEN BREWING CO. Vintage baseball-themed nanobrewery pairs handcrafted beers with gourmet pizzas. Open daily. // 527 Leonard St NW, 608-5612. mittenbrewing.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ MARU Asian fusion eatery featuring small plates, bentos, rice bowls, raw bar, noodles, soup, salad and more. Wide selection of wine, plus local, domestic and international beer. Full bar. // 415 Bridge St NW, 608-0789. andosushi.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ MONARCHS’ CLUB Starters, sausages, hot dogs, panini, Italian beef sandwiches and Grand Rapids Stackers. Michigan beer on draft. Open daily. // 646 Stocking Ave NW, 2339799. monarchsclubcornerbar.com. Lunch, Dinner $ ONE BOURBON Trendy, two-level restaurant serving creative shareable plates, burgers, hot sandwiches and entrées. Full bar features more than 120 whiskies. Closed Sun-Mon. // 608 Bridge St NW, 608-5766. onebourbongr.com. Dinner $-$$ O’TOOLE’S PUBLIC HOUSE Pub grub includes appetizers, sandwiches and burgers served on a mountain of fries. Open daily. // 448 Bridge St NW, 742-6095. otoolesgr.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ 102
A quaint place to grab a bagel, a schmear and some coffee. The sister restaurant of Terra Bagel and Terra GR in Eastown. Open Daily // 40 Pearl St. NW, terrabagels.com, 616.465.4343 Breakfast, Lunch $ TURNSTILES Bodacious bar food in a music-themed atmosphere. Cocktails, drafts, and the largest selection of nonalcoholic beverages in GR. Nightly live music with no cover. Free on-site parking. // 526 Stocking NW. turnstilesgr.com. 616-330-LIVE. Lunch, Dinner $ WAHLBURGERS Celebrity-owned (by Mark Wahlburg and brothers) burger joint offering up a fast-casual experience. // 10 Ionia Ave NW, 616-719-1788. wahlburgers.com. Lunch, Dinner, $$ Z’S BAR & RESTAURANT Sports-themed eatery known for its BBQ ribs. Soups, salads, sandwiches, entrées. Carry-out available. Open daily. // 168 Louis Campau Promenade NW, 4543141. zsbar.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ West Side BLUE DOG TAVERN West Michigan craft brews on tap. Good selection of tots, dogs and burgers. Open daily. // 638 Stocking Ave NW, 608-6050. bluedogtaverngr.com. Lunch, Dinner $ BROADWAY BAR & GRILL Neighborhood bar known for burgers and holiday decorations, especially at Christmas. Outdoor grilling during summer. Hours change seasonally. // 740 Broadway Ave SW, 454-0565. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $ BURGER THEORY Bright, contemporary restaurant features diverse menu in downtown Holiday Inn. Full bar. Open daily. // 310 Pearl St NW, 235-1342. higrdt.com/dining/ pearl-street-grill. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $$ BUTCHER’S UNION Meat-and-whiskey-centric gastro pub. Full bar. Outdoor seating available. // 438 Bridge St NW, 551-1323. butchersuniongr.com. Brunch (Sun), Lunch, Dinner $$ EL GRANJERO Mexican fare from steak and shrimp to menudo on weekends. No alcohol but tasty virgin coladas. Open daily. // 950 Bridge St NW, 458-5595. Facebook. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $ EL SOMBRERO Offers “the original” wet burrito. Weekly specials. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // 527 Bridge St NW, 451-4290. elsombrerorestaurantmi.com. Lunch, Dinner $ FRATELLI’S KITCHEN & BAR Italian cuisine based on family recipes from Sicily with a “modern twist.” Full service bar. Open daily. // 443 Bridge St NW, Suite 2. 389-4963. fratellisgr.com.
GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
$ INEXPENSIVE (UNDER $10) $$ MODERATE (BETWEEN $10 – $20) $$$ EXPENSIVE (OVER $20) dine / estau ants SANDY POINT BEACH HOUSE GR Originating in West Olive, dishes include “traditional beach house favorites,” such as prime beef burgers, fresh halibut, steak and frites, and roasted chicken and mussels. Full bar. Open daily. // 822 Ottawa Ave. NW, 828-1118. sandypointbeachhouse.com. Brunch (SatSun), Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$ SLOWS BAR-B-Q Detroit-based restaurant offers extensive menu, including barbecue, sandwiches and sides. Michigan and national craft beers on tap. Open daily. // Downtown Market, 435 Ionia Ave SW, 454-1588. slowsbarbq.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ SOCIAL HOUSE A casual pub serving American-style food. Menu features a variety of offerings: starters such as veggie, meat and cheese shared platters, goat cheese fritters, spicy tuna wontons and avocado toast; soups and salads; burgers and sandwiches; and pizza. Full bar. Closed Mon. // 25 Ottawa Ave. SW, 551-1412. socialhousegr.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $$$ SOCIAL MISFITS An interesting concept mashing waffles with other foods. The waffles, whether sweet or savory, can be accompanied by creative cocktails. The business also introduces Great Lakes Coffee Roasters to town. // 43 W. Fulton St, 272-4984. thesocialmisfits.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $$ SPEAKEZ LOUNGE Casual pub setting with eclectic menu, including vegan and gluten-free. Creative starters, soups, salads, entrées (after 4 pm). Full bar. Open daily. // 600 Monroe Ave NW, 458-3125. speakezlounge.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ STELLA’S LOUNGE Award-winning stuffed burgers, plus vegan and vegetarian items. Full bar, known for its whiskey selection. Open daily. // 53 Commerce Ave SW, 7424444. stellasgr.com. Lunch (Fri-Sun), Dinner $-$$ TERRA BAGEL
Lunch, Dinner $$ HARMONY HALL West Side brewpub with a German beer hall atmosphere serves comfort food including sloppy joes, grilled cheese sandwiches, hamburgers and a variety of dishes based on French fries, including poutine. Sausage menu. Vegan and vegetarian options for every dish on the menu. Open Thurs.-Sat. // 401 Stocking Ave NW, 233-9186. harmonybeer.com/harmony-hall. Dinner $-$$ THE HOLIDAY BAR Established in 1905, menu features appetizers and sandwiches. Seating includes 40-foot horseshoe bar, tables and a beer garden in warm months. Open daily. // 801 Fifth St NW, 456-9058. theholidaybargr.com.
Lunch, Dinner $ JOLLY PUMPKIN PIZZERIA & BREWERY Dexter-based brewery offers salads and sandwiches in addition to pizza. Kids menu available. Open daily. // 428 Bridge St NW, 419-4676. jollypumpkin.com.
2021-22 Readers Poll Everyday Flavors: The Salted PupcakesDeathSalted(choc/pb)CupcakeCaramelVanillaBeanRedVelvetbyChocolateCookieDough(fordogs!) 2481 32nd St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512 616-990-9300 thesaltedcupcake.com Thank you for the vote, Grand Rapids! thechophouserestaurant.com Voted BEST Steak
$ INEXPENSIVE (UNDER $10) $$ MODERATE (BETWEEN $10 – $20) $$$ EXPENSIVE (OVER $20) dine / estau ants SALVATORE’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT Sicilian and southern Italian fare. Separate sports bar; patio seating. Food, beer and wine available to go. Delivery and catering. Open daily. // 654 Stocking Ave NW, 454-4280. salvatoresgr.com. Lunch (MonFri), Dinner $-$$ 2022 DINING AWARD WINNER THE SOVENGARD Midwest heart meets New Nordic spirit. This cozy West Side farm-to-table restaurant focuses on seasonal and local sourcing and offers two separate dining spaces/ menus with an outdoor biergarten. Closed Mon. and Tues. Open for brunch Sat. and Sun. Reservations accepted. // 443 Bridge St NW, 214-7207. sovengard.com. Dinner $-$$ TWO SCOTTS BARBECUE Authentic barbecue smoked in-house daily with homemade sides and sauces. Features draft root beer and weekly specials. Catering and food truck available. Closed Sun. // 536 Leonard St NW, 608-6756. twoscottsbbq.com. Lunch $-$$ WESTSIDE SOCIAL “Reimagined” American-style tavern with locally sourced, house-made appetizers, burgers, seafood and other entrées. Full bar. Happy hour specials available Mon-Fri. Open daily. // 2802 Lake Michigan Dr NW, 453-5877. westside.social. Lunch (Tue-Sun), Dinner $-$$ Uptown BASALT Modern Tex-Mex cuisine with a relaxed atmosphere. The menu focuses on breakfast tacos, quesadillas and tortas. Closed Mondays. // 1450 Wealthy St. SE, 719-2146. basaltgr.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (Thurs-Sat) $ BOMBAY CUISINE Traditional Indian dishes with spices and flavors from northern India. Full bar. Open daily. Takeout available. // 1420 Lake Dr SE, 456-7055. eastownbombaycuisine.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ BREWERY VIVANT Beer and food in tradition of French and Belgian country dishes. Housed in a renovated funeral chapel. Most dishes made with locally sourced ingredients. Open daily. // 925 Cherry St SE, 719-1604. breweryvivant.com. Lunch (Sat-Sun), Dinner $$-$$$ BROWN BUTTER CREPERIE & CAFÉ Locally sourced, made-from-scratch sweet and savory crepes and liege waffles. // 1436 Wealthy St SE, 2885038. brownbuttercrepes.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (Wed-Sat) $ CHEZ OLGA Caribbean and Creole fare. Veggie/vegan options. Takeout available. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // 1441 Wealthy St SE, 233-4141. chezolga.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
WEALTHY STREET BAKERY Breakfast pastries; sandwiches, salads and soup; pizza available after 4 pm. Beer and wine. Kids menu. Closed Sun. // 610 Wealthy St SE, 301-2950. wealthystreetbakery.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $-$$
THE COMMONS 1970s-themed restaurant with “retro comfort food.” Full bar, including craft beer and ’70s-inspired cocktails. Takeout available. Closed Mon. // 547 Cherry St SE, 458-2704. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $$ DANZÓN CUBANO Authentic Cuban fare, including vegetarian and vegan options, as well as locally made and Cuban sodas. Full bar; happy hour specials Mon-Thu. Open daily. // 1 Carlton Ave SE, 988-9788. danzoncubano.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ DONKEY TAQUERIA Authentic Mexican food, including tacos, tostadas, botanas and tortas in a former 1920s service station. Full bar. Open daily. // 665 Wealthy St SE. donkeygr. com. Breakfast (Sat-Sun), Lunch, Dinner $-$$ EAST WEST BREWING CO. Traditional American-style beers. Fresh, made-to-order American-style food and seasonal vegetarian menu items from local vendors. Open daily. // 1400 Lake Dr SE, 288-5250. eastwestbrewingcompany.com. Lunch (FriSat), Dinner $-$$ FORTY ACRES SOUL KITCHEN “Authentically American” southern comfort food, featuring po’boys, grits, gumbo and more. To-go catering available. Closed Mon. // 1059 Wealthy St SE, 481-6971. fortyacresgr.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ GOJO ETHIOPIAN CUISINE & DELI Authentic dishes including vegetarian options. Watt (stew) dishes served with injera flatbread. Carry-out available. No alcohol. Closed Sun and Mon. // 421 Norwood Ave SE, 459-3383. gojoethiopiancuisine.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ THE GREEN WELL GASTRO PUB Not your run-of-the-mill New American fare. Full bar with more than 20 rotating draft beers, many from local breweries. Open Tue–Sun. // 924 Cherry St SE, 8083566. thegreenwell.com. Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$ GROVE Fresh, farm-to-table unique takes on American fare in a presentation unlike most experienced before. Multipletime Grand Rapids Magazine Dining Award winner. Open Wednesday-Saturday // 919 Cherry St SE, groverestaurant.com, (616) 454-1000 Dinner, $$$ HANCOCK Nashville hot chicken restaurant with sandwiches, fried chicken, an assortment of Southern picnic sides, salads and desserts. Also serves breakfast. Open daily. // 1157 Wealthy St. SE, 805-4232. hancockgr.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $-$$ HARMONY BREWING CO. Custom brews with a full bar, wine and wood-fired pizzas. Sandwiches served 11 am-4 pm. Dog-friendly patio. Open daily. // 1551 Lake Dr SE, 233-0063. harmonybeer.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ KCM A Japanese/Korean fusion restaurant specializing in sando (Japanese cut white bread sandwiches or open-faced toast with meat, egg salad or other filling); curry and other rice bowls; tonkatsu (Japanese deep-fried tenderized pork loin, tenderloin and shoulder cutlets); chicken katsu; and kimbap (Korean-style fish and vegetable hand rolls wrapped with seaweed). Open Tues.-Sun. // 209 Diamond Ave. SE. kcmgr.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ LITTLE AFRICA ETHIOPIAN CUISINE Hearty vegetable stews; sauces and fixings served on Ethiopian flat bread. No alcohol. Cash or checks only. Closed Sun and Mon. // 956 E Fulton St, 222-1169. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $ MARU SUSHI & GRILL Large menu of Japanese cuisine with a twist, from sushi to hibachi grilled items. Vegetarian options. Full bar. Open daily. // 927 Cherry St SE, 458-1900. marurestaurant.com. Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$ MATCHBOX DINER & DRINKS Breakfast all day, deli sandwiches, burgers, appetizers and seasonal entrées. Also, milkshakes and malts. Carry-out available. Open daily. // 1345 Lake Dr SE, 774-8641.
QUARANTINO’S Detroit-style pizza restaurant offering unique pizza options finished with Satori Wisconsin Parmesan. Vegan and gluten-free options are available. No alcohol. Closed Sun and Mon. // 1444 Lake Drive SE, 734-6833. quarantinosgr.com. Dinner $$ THE PUB AT PADDOCK “Happy hour all the time” with elevated pub fare. Full bar. Closed Mondays. // 1033 Lake Dr SE, thegilmorecollection.com/pubatpaddock.356-2627.Dinner$-$$
GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
TERRA Eastown eatery features food from local, ethically raised and sustainable sourcing. Specialty cocktails, Michigan craft beers, wines from small wineries. Open daily. // 1429 Lake Dr SE, 301-0998. terragr.com. Brunch (SatSun), Lunch (Mon-Fri), Dinner $$-$$$
matchboxdiner.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $$
THE WINCHESTER Locally sourced menu includes sharable plates in century-old space. Craft brews on draft. Full bar. Open daily. // 648 Wealthy St SE, 451-4969. winchestergr. com. Breakfast (Sat-Sun), Lunch, Dinner $-$$ YESTERDOG Specializes in the “good old-fashioned hot dog.” Cash or check only. Catering available. Open daily. // 1505 Wealthy St SE, 336-0746. yesterdog.com. Lunch, Dinner $ 104
CAFÉ MAMO An American restaurant inspired by grandma's garden. Classic Midwestern dishes paired with tasty wine in a warm, comfortable setting. Open daily. // 1601 Plainfield Ave. NE, 350-3430. mamohsp.com. Brunch (Sat-Sun) Dinner (Mon-Sat) $-$$
FUJI YAMA ASIAN BISTRO Hibachi grill tables or eat in dining room with Chinese, Japanese and Thai selections. Full bar. Open daily. // 1501 East Beltline Ave NE, 719-1859. fujiyamabistro. com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ GAIA HOUSE CAFÉ A neighborhood vegetarian café offering items like the Mean Green Burrito and Gaia cookies, as well as freshpressed juices and specialty coffees. Open Wed-Sun for take-out only. // 1553 Plainfield Ave. NE . Visit on Facebook. Breakfast, Lunch. $ GOLDEN WOK Chinese cuisine with some Hunan-spiced dishes. Sunday specials. Full bar. Open daily. // 1971 East Beltline Ave NE (Knapp’s Corner), 363-8880. goldenwokgrandrapids.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ GRAVITY TAPHOUSE GRILLE Menu items pair with craft beer suggestions. 64 craft beers on tap. Open daily. // 3210 Deposit Dr NE (East Beltline at I-96), 719-4944. gravitytaphouse.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ GRAYDON’S CROSSING Global pub serves traditional English pub food and world-inspired dishes. Full bar with large selection of microbrews and imported beers. Open daily. // 1223 Plainfield Ave NE, 726-8260. graydonscrossing.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ JAKU SUSHI Japanese and Korean fare, including a large selection of sushi; plus, bento, bibimbap, hibachi, katsu, udon and more. Open daily. // 2289 East Beltline Ave NE, 6490407. jakusushi.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ KITCHEN 67 Large menu uses Michigan ingredients and includes Brann’s sizzling steaks, sandwiches, salads, small plates, pasta and more. Full bar with craft beers. Open daily. // 1977 East Beltline Ave NE, 272-3778. kitchen67.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ LA HUASTECA Authentic Mexican restaurant offering burritos, tacos, enchiladas, flautas and more. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // 1811 Plainfield Ave NE, 447-7733. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $ LAI THAI KITCHEN Vietnamese, Thai and Japanese fare. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // 1621 Leonard St NE, 456-5730. laithaikitchen.net. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ LICARI’S SICILIAN PIZZA KITCHEN Specialties include thick-crust Sicilian pizza and stuffed pizza with a crispy crust. Also pasta, entrées, calzones and desserts. Full bar. Open daily. // 2869 Knapp St NE, 608-6912. licarispizzakitchen.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ 106 2022
CHARLIE’S BAR & GRILLE Well-rounded menu features dinners from ribs, steaks and seafood to kielbasa and kraut. Also, Mexican fare and sandwiches. Full bar. Closed Sun. // 3519 Plainfield Ave NE, 364-0567. charliesbarandgrille. com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ CHEER’S GOOD TIME SALOON Menu offers something for everyone in a log-cabin environment. Takeout available. Full bar. Open daily. // 3994 Plainfield Ave NE, 363-1188. cheersgrandrapids.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $ CRESTON BREWERY More than a dozen house-brewed beers on tap at all times; plus, seasonal menu, featuring chicken, pork and beef entrées; tacos, burritos and quesadillas; soups and salads. // 1504 Plainfield Ave NE, 805-4523. crestonbrewery.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
$ INEXPENSIVE (UNDER $10) $$ MODERATE (BETWEEN $10 – $20) $$$ EXPENSIVE (OVER $20) dine / estau ants ZIVIO Modern European tavern and grill serving Bosnian cuisine melded with Turkish, Greek and other Central European countries' cooking traditions. Salads, wraps, gyros, dinner entrées. Full bar. Open daily. Catering available. // 724 Wealthy St SE, 608-3534. ziviogr.com. Lunch, Dinner $$$ East Grand Rapids BIG BOB’S PIZZA Neighborhood pizza parlor in EGR’s Gaslight Village also offers appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, subs. Full bar. Open daily. // 661 Croswell Ave SE, 233-0123. bigbobspizza.com. Lunch (Tue-Sun), Dinner $-$$ BOWDIE’S CHOPHOUSE An upscale steakhouse “perfect for date nights, business dinners and late-night cocktails.” The restaurant serves various items: starters; soups and salads; shareables; and entrées, including chicken, salmon and steak. Full bar. Open daily. // 2237 Wealthy St. SE, 805-5044. bowdieschophouse.com. Dinner $$$ CAROLINA LOWCOUNTRY KITCHEN Coastal South Carolina-inspired fare, including seafood, chicken, pork, beef and greens. Full bar. Open daily. // 2213 Wealthy St SE, 805-5231. carolinalck.com. Dinner $$ JOSÉ BABUSHKA’S Starters, salads, burritos, chimichangas, flaming fajitas, tacos and special plates. Full bar. Open daily. // 2232 Wealthy St SE, 272-4472. josebabushkas.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ OLIVE’S Seasonally inspired menu of creative fare and comfort foods featuring local produce and meats. Full bar. Alfresco balcony. Closed Sun. // 2162 Wealthy St SE, 451-8611. eatatolives.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ ROSE’S Dockside dining on Reeds Lake with varied menu, including pastas and wood-fired pizzas. Three-season porch. Serves beer and wine. Open daily. // 550 Lakeside Dr SE, 458-1122. thegilmorecollection.com/ roses. Lunch, Dinner $$ Northeast GR 7 MONKS TAPHOUSE Beer bar with more than 50 taps and gastropub food, including pretzel bites, burgers, salads. Open daily. // 740 Michigan St NE, 265-5417. 7monkstap.com/ grand-rapids. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ BIRCH LODGE Menu includes wet burritos, sandwiches, burgers, gyros, fish baskets. Daily specials. Full bar. Open daily. // 732 Michigan St NE, 458-1918. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $
GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
BLUE WATER GRILL Entrées include steaks and fish, wood-fired pizzas. Nice wine selection. Lakeside views, outdoor patio. Beer, wine and cocktails. Open daily. // 5180 Northland Dr NE, 363-5900. thegilmorecollection.com/bluewater. Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$ BUD & STANLEY’S Extensive menu includes Mexican specialties, pasta, burgers and more. Daily specials. Takeout available. Serves alcohol. Open daily. // 1701 Four Mile Rd NE, 361-9782. budandstanleys.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
DETROIT WING CO. Serves classic wings, boneless wings and chicken tenders with 19 house-made sauces. Its menu also includes mac n’ cheese, poutine, coleslaw, cornbread muffins and cheesecake. Detroit Wing Co. was founded in Detroit. Open daily. // 2004 East Beltline Ave. NE, 214-8331. detroitwingco.com. Lunch, Dinner $ FLO’S PIZZERIA RISTORANTE & SPORTS BAR Pizzas, sandwiches, salads, Italian and Mexican entrées, full bar. Big screen TVs; takeout available. Open daily. // 1259 Post Dr NE, Belmont, 785-1001. flossportsbar.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
FRED’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT Longtime favorite offers Italian fare, including fresh pasta and gourmet pizza. Full-service bar. Closed Sun. // 3619 Plainfield Ave NE, 361-8994. fredsitalian. net. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
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$ INEXPENSIVE (UNDER $10) $$ MODERATE (BETWEEN $10 – $20) $$$ EXPENSIVE (OVER $20) / estau ants whitelake.org | 800-879-9702 Home of breathtaking scenic drives, year-round recreation, and unique shopping & dining experiences. PLANNING YOUR FALL GETAWAY! LUCY’S CAFÉ Family café offers breakfast, lunch and baked goods. Crepes, omelets, deli sandwiches and build-your-own breakfast plates. Open daily. // 1747 Plainfield Ave NE, 591-3149. lucyscafegr.com. Breakfast, Lunch $$-$$$ MAI’S THAI Thai fare for counter service only. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // 820 Michigan St NE, 451-3441. maisthaigr. com. (Mon-Fri), Lunch, Dinner $ MILL CREEK TAVERN Comstock Park eatery offers appetizers, soups, sand wiches, full dinner options. Full bar with separate dining room. Closed Sun. // 3874 West River Dr NE, Comstock Park, 784-3806. millcreektaverngr.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ POKE TOKI Build-your-own bowls featuring a fusion of Hawaiian, Japanese and Korean cuisine. Catering available. Closed Sun. // 5150 Northland Dr NE, 729-4414. poketoki.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ PALIO Ann Arbor-based eatery with an expansive menu of Italian fare. Full bar and happy hour. Open daily. // 545 Michigan St NE, 719-0660. paliograndrapids.com. Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$ REDS AT THOUSAND OAKS Large menu features sandwiches, salads, artisan pizza and entrées. Extensive wine list, craft beers, full bar. Patio with fire pits and covered deck. Open daily. // 4100 Thousand Oaks Dr NE, 447-7750. eatatreds. com. Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$ REZERVOIR LOUNGE Full menu of appetizers, pizzas, sandwiches and entrées, some with Cajun flavor. Serves alcohol. Open daily. // 1418 Plainfield Ave NE, 451-0010. rezlounge. com. Lunch (Tue-Sun), Dinner $-$$ RIO GRAND STEAK HOUSE & SALOON Texas-style barbecue ribs, steaks and more. Full bar. Open daily. // 5501 Northland Dr NE, 364-6266. riograndsteakhouse.com. Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$ RIVER NORTH PUBLIC HOUSE A “family-friendly” pub serving a variety of shareables, burgers and sandwiches. You’ll also find entrées, including Knapp Mac & Cheese and grilled sirloin tip steak. Full bar. Open daily. // 2115 Plainfield Ave NE, 288-7888. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $$$ THE SCORE Restaurant and sports bar with large menu, more than 100 beers on tap. Open daily. // 5301 Northland Dr NE, 3010600. thescore-restaurant.com.
dine
HUMMUS & FALAFEL MIDDLE EASTERN GRILLE Located near the Allendale campus of Grand Valley State University, eatery serves “healthy and tasty” Mediterranean food, including hummus and falafel starters; salads; lentil soup; sandwiches, entrées and more. Closed Sun. // 10897 48th Ave., Suite B100, Allendale. hummusandfalafel.org. Lunch, Dinner $ HUNAN CHINESE RESTAURANT Full menu of Chinese options. No alcohol. Open daily. // 1263 Leonard St NE, 458-0977. hunangrc.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ THE LANDING Casual atmosphere with views of the Grand River. AllAmerican favorites and monthly specials. Full bar. Open daily. // 270 Ann St NW (Riverfront Hotel at U.S. 131), 363-9001. restaurant.riverfronthotelgr.com/dining/the-landing-Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner$$
$ INEXPENSIVE (UNDER $10) $$ MODERATE (BETWEEN $10 – $20) $$$ EXPENSIVE (OVER $20) dine / estau ants SHESHCO GRILL Mediterranean cuisine, including surf, turf and vegetarian options. No alcohol. Open daily. // 2121 Celebration Dr NE (Knapp’s Corner), 364-0600. sheshcogrill.net. Lunch, Dinner $$ THAI CHEF Knapp’s Corner restaurant has large menu, including duck, seafood and vegetarian options. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // 1971 East Beltline Ave NE, 570-0032. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $$ VANDER MILL Seasonal menu with locally sourced ingredients. Starters, salads, entrées and large plates served family style. Hard ciders on tap. Open daily. // 505 Ball Ave NE, 259-8828. vandermill.com. Lunch, Dinner (MonSat) $$-$$$ Northwest GR AMORE TRATTORIA ITALIANA Regional Italian dishes using local products and Italian imports. Italian wines and liqueurs. House-made desserts. Banquet facility. Closed Mon. // 5080 Alpine Ave NW, 785-5344. amoretrattoriaitaliana.com. Dinner (Tue-Sat) $$ CHINA CHEF Family-style restaurant with Szechuan-style entrées and Hunan choices. No alcohol. Open daily. // 4335 Lake Michigan Dr NW, 791-4488. chinachef49534.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ CHINA CITY Chinese cuisine; lunch prices all day. No alcohol. Open daily. // 1140 Monroe Ave NW, 451-3688. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ DEHOP’S BREWING CO. AND CAFÉ Specialty and build-your-own burgers, “authentic Mexican” tacos, salads and sharable appetizers. Closed Sun-Mon. // 363 Cummings Ave NW, Walker, 805-3363. dehops.com. Dinner $$ EMPIRE CHINESE BUFFET II All-you-can-eat buffet. Seafood buffet Sat-Sun. No alcohol. Open daily. // 4255 Alpine Ave NW, 7858880. empirechinesebuffet2.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
MR. GYROS Family-owned restaurant offers Mediterranean specialties. Drive-thru, takeout, delivery and catering available. Closed Sun. // 2260 Alpine Ave NW, 7916660. mrgyrosdrivethru.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
PERRIN BREWING CO. Comstock Park craft brewery/taproom menu includes tacos, salads, burgers, panini and more. Kids menu available. Open daily. // 5910 Comstock Park Dr, 5511957. perrinbrewing.com. Lunch, Dinner $ STAN DIEGO BAJA TACO KITCHEN Baja California-inspired menu, featuring a-la-carte taco menu, chorizos, tamales, handcrafted margaritas and kids menu. Full bar. Open daily. // 355 Wilson Ave NW, 591-9806. standiegogr.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ SWAN INN RESTAURANT Home-cooked meals, huge breakfasts. Cygnet Lounge offers cocktails and nibbles. Open daily. // 5182 Alpine Ave NW, 784-1245. swaninnmotel.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $-$$ THREE HAPPINESS RESTAURANT Cantonese, Mandarin and Szechuan fare. Daily specials. No alcohol. Open daily. // Green Ridge Square, 3330 Alpine Ave NW, 785-3888. threehappinessgr.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
WALKER ROADHOUSE Diverse menu with interesting twists on classic fare. Full bar. Closed Sun. // 3272 Remembrance Rd NW, 791-9922. thewalkerroadhouse.com. Lunch (Mon-Fri), Dinner $$ Southeast GR 7 MARES Authentic Mexican dishes including breakfast. No alcohol. Closed Mon. // 1403 Kalamazoo Ave SE, 301-8555. Facebook. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $-$$$ AL-BOS EUROCAFE-BAKERY Authentic southeastern European cuisine. Menu includes appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, pasta, entrées and kids options. Daily specials. Open daily. // 2930 Shaffer Ave SE, 325-2800. al-bos.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ ASIAN PALACE Chinese and Vietnamese fare with extensive menus for each. No alcohol. Closed Mon. // 141 28th St SE, 5347770. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ BELTLINE BAR Americanized Tex-Mex menu, including wet burritos. Full bar. Curbside service. Open daily. // 16 28th St SE, 245-0494. beltlinebar.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ BRASS RING BREWING Small-batch, style-specific brewery in the Alger Heights neighborhood. // 2404 Eastern Ave SE, 460-1587. brassringbrewing.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ BROAD LEAF BREWERY & SPIRITS Pub fare including snacks, meat and veggies on a stick and entrées like drunken noodles, burgers, tempeh and more. Open daily. Brunch on Sun. // 2885 Lake Eastbrook Blvd. SE, 803-0602. broadleafbeer.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ CABANA TRES AMIGOS Authentic Mexican fare including vegetarian selections. Full bar. Takeout available. Open daily. // 1409 60th St SE, 281-6891. cabanatresamigos.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ CAFÉ DE MIRO A café offering Kurdish, Armenian and Greek foods. The menu consists of traditional Mediterranean breakfast and side dishes, such as skillets, scrambles and acai bowls; pastries; toasts; soups; sandwiches; salads; Turkish coffee; tea; desserts; and more. No alcohol. // Breton Village Shopping Plaza, 1878 Breton Rd SE, (616) 719-1462. Facebook. Open daily. Breakfast, Lunch $ CANTINA MEXICAN GRILL Menu offers extensive Mexican specialties. Full bar. Drive-thru window. Outdoor patio. Open daily. // 2770 East Paris Ave SE, 949-9120. cantinamexicangrill.biz. Lunch (Sun-Thu), Dinner $$ DADDY PETE’S BBQ Slow-smoked ribs, pulled pork, brisket and other meats. No alcohol. Catering available. Closed Sun and Mon. // 2921 Eastern Ave SE, 818-5522. daddypetesbbq.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ EAST GARDEN BUFFET Cantonese, Hunan, Szechuan cuisine. Daily buffet. No alcohol. Open daily. // 6038 Kalamazoo Ave SE, 6988933. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ EL ARRIERO MEXICAN GRILL Extensive menu offers specialty dishes, à la carte selections. Mexican and domestic beers, margaritas. Open daily. // 2948 28th St SE, 977-2674. elarrieromexicangrill.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
108 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
Lunch, Dinner $$
HIBACHI GRILL & SUPREME BUFFET Pan-Asian cuisine, including Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian and American. No alcohol. Open daily. // 785 Center Dr NW (Green Orchard Shopping Center), 785-8200. hibachigrillsupremebuffet.letseat.at.
FRICANO’S PIZZA RESTAURANT Famous for its thin-crust pizza. Pasta dinners with sauce that made its way to the retail market. Full bar. Closed Sun. // 5808 Alpine Ave NW, 785-5800. fricanospizza.com. Dinner $-$$
Authentic Ethiopian dishes, traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Buffet lunch and dinner on Sat. No alcohol. Open daily. // 4301 Kalamazoo Ave SE, 350-0009. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $$ HALL STREET BAKERY Breakfast pastries; sandwiches, salads and soup served for lunch and dinner. Beer and wine. Kids menu. Closed Sun. // 1200 Hall St SE, 214-7604. hallstreetbakery. com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $-$$ INDIA TOWN Indian fare including vegetarian and vegan. Lunch buffet Mon-Sat. No alcohol. Open daily. // 3760 S Division Ave, 243-1219. indiatowngrr.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
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$ INEXPENSIVE (UNDER $10) $$ MODERATE (BETWEEN $10 – $20) $$$ EXPENSIVE (OVER $20) dine / estau ants EL GLOBO RESTAURANT Authentic Mexican fare; weekly specials. No alcohol. Closed Mon. // 2019 S Division Ave, 734-6869. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ FIREROCK GRILLE Guests can cook signature dishes on 500-degree lava stone. Offers soups, salads, sandwiches and entrées. Full bar. Brunch on Sundays. Open daily. // 7177 Kalamazoo Ave SE, 656-9898. firerockgrille.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ FLORENTINE PIZZERIA RISTORANTE & SPORTS LOUNGE Italian fare with American and Mexican choices and thin-crust pizzas. Full bar. Open daily. // Towne & Country Shopping Center, 4261 Kalamazoo Ave SE, 455-2230. florentinespizza.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
GANDERS Features American cuisine with a twist and Michigan products, including craft brews. Open daily. // 4747 28th St SE (inside DoubleTree Hotel), 957-1111. Facebook. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $-$$$ GURSHA ETHIOPIAN RESTAURANT
weiweipalace.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ Southwest GR 84TH STREET PUB & GRILLE American fare from pizzas to steaks. Full-service bar. Kids menu. Daily specials. Open daily. // 8282 Pfeiffer Farms Dr SW, 583-1650. 84thstpub.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ ALEBIRD TAPHOUSE AND BREWERY Community-focused brewery offering creative sandwiches along with a variety of burgers and entrées, including summer chicken and pea ravioli. Open daily, lunch on weekends. // 2619 84th
vipizza.net.
110 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
LAST CHANCE TAVERN AND GRILL Appetizers, soups, burgers and sandwiches and a huge selection of Michigan craft beers. Open daily. // 1132 Burton St SE, 719-4270. thelastchancetavern.com. Lunch, Dinner $ LE KABOB Soups, salads, sandwiches, large choice of entrées and combos. Kids menu. Carry-out available. No alcohol. Open daily. // 3122 28th St SE, 272-4135. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ MI TIERRA Traditional Mexican, eat in or drive-thru. No alcohol. Open daily. // 2300 S Division Ave, 245-7533. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $ MIKADO SUSHI Sushi and sashimi à la carte. Dinners offer full range of Japanese cuisine. Lunch specials. Serves alcohol. Closed Sun. // 3971 28th St SE, 285-7666. mikadogr.com/main. Lunch (Mon-Fri), Dinner $-$$ NU-THAI BISTRO Appetizers, soups, Thai salads, fried rice, seafood, duck, curries. No alcohol. Open daily. // 2055 28th St SE, 4520065. nuthaibistro.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
THE OLD GOAT Creative cuisine from Electric Cheetah owner Cory DeMint includes appetizers, entrées, sandwiches and salads. Kids menu. Full bar. Open daily. // 2434 Eastern Ave SE, 288-6976. baaaaaaaa.com. Breakfast (Mon-Fri), Lunch, Dinner $-$$ PAL’S INDIAN CUISINE Authentic Indian food, including lunch buffet 11-3. No alcohol. Open daily. // 2915 28th St SE, 957-2271. palsindiancuisine.com. Lunch, Dinner $ PHO ANH TRANG Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai cuisine. Daily specials. Catering. Open daily. No alcohol. // 3633 Eastern Ave SE, 246-9966. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ PHO SOC TRANG Wide selection of Vietnamese offerings. No alcohol. Open daily. // 4242 S Division Ave, 531-0755. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ PIETRO’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT Regional and contemporary Italian cuisine. Tuscan wines, desserts and cappuccinos. Kids menu. Takeout available. Open daily. // 2780 Birchcrest Dr SE, 452-3228. pietrosgr.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ STEAK & SPICE BY CURRY KITCHEN Authentic Indian cuisine. Daily lunch buffet. Open daily. No alcohol. // Located inside the Plaza Hotel Grand Rapids at 5700 28th Street SE. 957-1775. currykitchengr.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ SUSHI KUNI Japanese and Korean cuisine, Asian fusion fare. Traditional Japanese tatami room for groups. Serves alcohol. Closed Mon. // 2901 Breton Rd SE, 2414141. sushikuni.net. Lunch, Dinner $-$$$ TAQUERÍA EL RINCÓN MEXICANO Wide variety of Mexican breakfast, small plates, dinner dishes and soups, including several vegetarian options. No alcohol. Closed Mon. // 2055 28th St, 246-7000. Facebook. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $ THAI EXPRESS Thai specialties, spiced to customer specification. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // Towne & Country Shopping Center, 4317 Kalamazoo Ave SE, 827-9955. thaiexpressgr.com. Lunch (Mon-Fri), Dinner $ THAI FUSION Thai cuisine and fusion specials with good selection of starters and salads. Kids menu. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // 3097 Broadmoor Ave SE, 301-8883. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ TOKYO GRILL & SUSHI Tatami rooms, sushi bars. Hibachi, teriyaki, udon, tempura. Sake, Japanese and American beer and wine. Open daily. // 4478 Breton Rd SE, 455-3433. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ VILLAGE INN PIZZA & SPORTS GRILLE favorite for pizza, pasta, burgers, chicken, Mexican. Daily specials. Mon-Fri pizza lunch buffet. bar. Open daily. 2215 44th St SE, 281-1444. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ WEI WEI PALACE seafood restaurant features Cantonese cuisine, dim sum and barbecue. No alcohol. Open daily. 4242 S Division Ave, 724-1818. St SW, 288-7888. alebird.com. Lunch, Dinner $$$ BLUE GINGER ASIAN KITCHEN Noodle-based Thai dishes, chicken, seafood, beef and pork entrées, curries. Vegetarian options. No alcohol. Open daily. // 5751 Byron Center Ave SW (Bayberry Market), 261-8186. bluegingerkitchen.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ FAR-EAST CHINESE RESTAURANT Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean dishes. Carry-out and catering available. No alcohol. Open daily. // 3639 Clyde Park Ave SW, 531-7176. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ FRANKIE V’S PIZZERIA & SPORTS BAR Appetizers, subs, stromboli, pizza, pasta, burgers and Mexican. Outdoor patio. Full bar. Open daily. // 1420 28th St SW, 532-8998. frankievs.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ GOLDEN 28 Szechuan, Hunan, Mandarin, Vietnamese cuisine. No alcohol. Open daily. // 627 28th St SW, 531-2800. Lunch, Dinner $$ 3 GATOS BREWERY German-style beers with Brazilian bar food. Closed Sunday and Monday. // 1760 44th St SW, 307-2215. 3gatosbeer.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
Thank you to our 2021 Sponsors! CHAMPAGNE SPONSOR SOMMELIER SPONSORS CABERNETMarkSPONSORS&Lara Evans CHARDONNAY SPONSORS ExpressErhardtAmeritasAARPConstructionEmploymentProfessionalsFifthThirdBankHaloHaloHungerford Nichols CPAs + Advisors Mercy Health PNC SpectrumHealthPriorityBankHealth West Michigan Community Bank SYRAH SPONSORS Arlen-Dean & Sandra Gaddy BHS Insurance Dominican Sisters Grand Rapids Founders Brewing Co. Meijer October 6, 2022 Learn more and purchase grwrc.org/wine-women-chocolatetickets The High Five La Grave Ave SE Grand Rapids, MI 2022 Sponsorships now available! Contact Tatum Hawkins at thawkins@grwrc.org to learn more about 2022 sponsorship opportunities. The proceeds from this annual event support women on their journey to financial stability, economic independence and workplace success. The contributions from our generous supporters provide our programs at no cost to any woman in need of services at Women’s Resource Center. We think being recognized as one of West Michigan’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For speaks volumes about our commitment to employee growth and work-life balance, diversity and inclusion, community engagement, and more. We accept the award with gratitude and share the recognition with our employees because, together, we’re changing lives.LIVESCHANGEHEREWE’RETO Join one of West Michigan’s Best and Brightest employers. UofMHealthWest.org/Careers
RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
NOCO PROVISIONS Laid-back, regionally inspired comfort cuisine. Outdoor seating on the patio. Full bar. Open daily. // 4609 Cas cade Rd SE, 747-0300. nocogr.com. Lunch, Dinner $$
MICHIGAN MOONSHINE DISTILLERY A distillery with starters, sandwiches, salads and sides with a barbecue theme. Many of the items include Bobby Q sauce. Closed Sun. and Mon. // 4005 Chicago Dr SW in Grandville, 259-1000. michiganmoonshine.us. Dinner $$ FLAT RIVER GRILL Casual atmosphere in turn-of-century building. Comfort food, wood-fired pizzas. Full bar plus The B.O.B.’s House of Brews beers. Alfresco dining on patio. Open daily. // 201 E Main St, Lowell, 897-8523. thegilmorecollection. com/flatriver. Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$ JU SUSHI & LOUNGE Sushi and sashimi, Japanese hibachi, tempura, soups, salads and entrées in elegant surroundings. Full bar, huge sake selection. Takeout, catering and banquets. Open daily. // 1144 East Paris Ave SE, 575-5858. jusushi.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$$ LA LAGUNA Authentic Mexican dishes including shrimp, wraps, salads, kids menu. No alcohol. Open daily. // 6250 28th St SE, 805-8821. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ LITTLE BANGKOK Extensive Thai standbys, plus some unique items. Kids meals available. Serves beer and wine. Closed Sun. // 850 Forest Hill Ave SE, 808-3153. littlebangkokgr.com. Lunch (Mon-Fri), Dinner $-$$ MAIN STREET BBQ Wood fire used to smoke ribs, brisket, chicken, sausage and pork. Rubs and sauces are gluten-free. Also serves sandwiches, wings, salads and soups. Catering. Takeout/ delivery at 1539 Plainfield Ave NE. Full bar. Open daily. // 210 E Main St, Lowell, 987-3352. bbqlowell.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ MYNT FUSION BISTRO Thai, Korean and Chinese. Renowned for its curries. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // 800 W Main St, Lowell, 9879307. myntfusion.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
$ INEXPENSIVE (UNDER $10) $$ MODERATE (BETWEEN $10 – $20) $$$ EXPENSIVE (OVER $20) dine / estau ants SAPPORO RAMEN & NOODLE BAR Fresh, traditional Japanese “soul food” with an innovative twist. GF options available. No alcohol. Takeout available. Closed Mon. // 5570 28th St SE, Cascade, 608-6657. sappororamenbar.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ SCHNITZ ADA GRILL Schnitz Deli by day, casual fine dining by night. Full bar, happy hour 3-6. Closed Sun. // 597 Ada Dr SE, Ada, 682-4660. schnitzadagrill.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$$ SHEPARDS GRILL & TAVERN Bar food with flair, from appetizers to sirloin. Open daily. // 6246 28th St SE, 350-9604. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ THORNAPPLE BREWING CO. Brewpub features a wide selection of original beer, cider, wine and spirits brewed in seven-barrel brewing system. Plus, artisan pizza, appetizers and dessert. Brunch on Sun. // 6262 28th St SE, 288-6907. thornapplebrewing.com. Lunch (Sat), Dinner $$ VINTAGE PRIME & SEAFOOD Intimate setting with upscale menu that includes prime steaks and fresh seafood. International wine list. // 5500 Cascade Rd SE, 949-0570. vintageatcork.com. Dinner $$$ ZEYTIN Turkish and Mediterranean cuisine. Full bar, beer and wine lists. Takeout. Open daily. // 7437 River St, Ada, 6822222. zeytinturkishrestaurant.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ Grandville/Hudsonville Area BANGKOK TASTE Thai fare. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // 674 Baldwin St, Jenison, 667-8901. bangkoktaste.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ EL BURRITO LOCO More than 70 Mexican selections, plus a few American options. Daily food and drink specials. Full bar. Open daily. // 4499 Ivanrest Ave SW, Grandville, 5309470. elburritoloco4.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ HUDSONVILLE GRILLE Varied menu includes Mexican favorites and breakfast. Full bar, catering and banquet services. Closed Sun. // 4676 32nd Ave, Hudsonville, 662-9670. hudsonvillegrille.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $-$$
Lunch, Dinner $-$$ CORK WINE & GRILLE Contemporary dining with indoor and outdoor seating. Seafood, steaks, burgers, fish, sandwiches, salads. Extensive wine list, specialty cocktails. Open daily. // 5500 Cascade Rd SE, 949-0570. corkwineandgrille. com. Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$ THE EURO BISTRO European bistro fare includes entrées, small plates, salads, wood-fired pizzas. Takeout available. Full bar. Closed Sun. // 6450 28th St SE, 719-2017. eurobistrogr.com. Lunch (Mon-Fri), Dinner $$-$$$ 112 GRAND
NONNA’S: THE TRATTORIA Fresh, European-style pastries, salads, soups and entrées made from scratch. Breakfast and lunch served seven days a week. Pizza available during lunch TuesSat. Brunch specials available Sat-Sun. // 584 Ada Dr SE, Ada, 920-7028. eatwithnonna.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (Tue-Sat) $-$$ NOTO’S OLD WORLD ITALIAN DINING Elegant décor, extensive classic Italian menu. Special wine cellar dinners. Lounge menu features lighter fare. Closed Sun. // 6600 28th St SE, 493-6686. notosoldworld.com. Dinner $$-$$$ OSAKA STEAKHOUSE & JAPANESE RESTAURANT Asian fare, including sushi, hibachi, shabu-shabu and more. Full bar. Open daily. // 4977 28th St SE, 4194628. Facebook. Lunch, Dinner $$ LINDO MEXICO RESTAURANTE MEXICANO Fresh food with “real Mexican flavor.” Kids menu. Serves alcohol. Open daily. // 1742 28th St SW, 2612280. lindomexicogr.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ LITTLE BANGKOK Extensive Thai standbys plus some unique items. Kids meals available. Serves beer and wine. Closed Sun. // 2359 Health Dr SW, Suite 140, 929-2306. Lunch (Mon-Fri), Dinner $-$$ MONELLI’S ITALIAN GRILL & SPORTS BAR Southern Italian cuisine. Sports bar plus family-friendly dining room with fireplace. Open daily. // 5675 Byron Center Ave SW, 530-9700. monellis.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ NOBLE Breakfast favorites along with vegan and gluten-free options, handhelds, burgers and small bites. Open daily. // 1851 44th St SW, Wyoming, 530-8750. eatnoble.com. Breakfast, Lunch $$ PETE’S GRILL & TAVERN Casual bar and grill with tavern burgers, Detroit style pizza, sandwiches and entrees. Open daily. // 2588 84th St SW, Byron Center, 878-9582. petesgrillandtavern.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ WOODY’S PRESS BOX Complex includes two bars, patio and bowling. Sandwiches, pizza, Mexican and more. Full bar. Open daily. // 5656 Clyde Park Ave SW, 530-2400. spectrumlanes. com. Breakfast (Mon-Sat), Lunch, Dinner $$ Ada/Cascade/Lowell Area BIG BOILER BREWING Brewpub features a wide selection of original beer and cider. Plus, new American cuisine, including burgers, fish, sandwiches and kids menu. Open daily. // 318 E Main St, Lowell, 987-3155. bigboilerbrewing.com. Dinner $$ CASCADE ROADHOUSE Relaxed atmosphere with a diverse menu of traditional fare. Full bar. Closed Sun. // 6817 Cascade Rd SE, 2597439. cascaderoadhousemi.com.
Lunch (SatSun), Dinner $$-$$$ BOULDER CREEK RESTAURANT Golf Club restaurant has varied menu. Golf course views from inside or deck. Serves alcohol. See website for seasonal hours. // 5750 Brewer Ave NE, Belmont, 3631330, ext 2. bouldercreekgolfclub.com/restaurant. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ CEDAR SPRINGS BREWING CO. German-style brewery features American pub and tradi tional Bavarian menu. Open daily. // 95 N Main St, Cedar Springs, 696-2337. csbrew.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ GRMAG.COM 113
$ INEXPENSIVE (UNDER $10) $$ MODERATE (BETWEEN $10 – $20) $$$ EXPENSIVE (OVER $20) dine / estau ants FIND YOUR CALLING! FORMERLY UMRC & PORTER HILLS SCAN HERE TO www.MyBrioCareers.orgAPPLY! THE ONLY SENIOR SERVICE ORGANIZATION TO HAVE RECEIVED THIS AWARD 20 consecutive years! MORE THAN A JOB! Best Fall Wine Festivals in North America You Don’t Want to Miss. “ OSGOOD BREWING CO. Craft brewery serves shareables, specialty pizzas, sandwiches, pasta and salads. Kids menu. Open daily. // 4051 Chicago Dr SW, Grandville, 432-3881. osgoodbrewing.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ PIKE 51 BREWING CO./HUDSONVILLE WINERY Craft brewery and winery under one roof. Appetizers, salads, sandwiches and entrées. Open daily. // 3768 Chicago Dr, Hudsonville, 662-4589. hudsonvillewinery.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ RAINBOW GRILL Breakfast, soup and sandwiches, daily lunch specials, chicken, fish and other dinner staples. No alcohol. Closed Sun. // 4225 32nd Ave, Hudsonville, 8960033; 4158 Chicago Dr SW, Grandville, 534-8645. rainbowgrillmichigan.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $-$$ RUSH CREEK BISTRO Diverse menu in club-like surroundings. Weeknight and happy hour specials at full-service bar. Open daily. // Sunnybrook Country Club, 624 Port Sheldon Rd, Grandville, 457-1100. rushcreekbistro.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ WHITE FLAME BREWING CO. Small production brewery with taproom. Sandwiches, wraps, appetizers and a couple twists on the classic macaroni and cheese. Open daily. // 5234 36th Ave, Hudsonville, 209-5098. whiteflamebrewing.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ THE WIN TAVERN A family-friendly restaurant offering fresh ingredients and cooked-to-order meals, including starters and salads, burgers, sandwiches, and steak and onion meals. It also offers a Sunday breakfast from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. with a build-your-own hash bar and more. Full bar. Open daily. // 7628 Georgetown Center Dr, Jenison, 734-6724. thewintavern33.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $$ Rockford Area BOSTWICK LAKE INN Menu includes steaks, pork, fish, chicken, mac and cheese, pizzas, sandwiches, soups and salads. Large deck. Full bar. Open daily. // 8521 Belding Rd, 8747290. thegilmorecollection.com/bostwick.
$ INEXPENSIVE (UNDER $10) $$ MODERATE (BETWEEN $10 – $20) $$$ EXPENSIVE (OVER $20) dine / estau ants GRILL ONE ELEVEN American-with-a-twist menu, full-service bar and lounge. Open daily. // 111 Courtland St, 863-3111. grilloneeleven.com. Lunch, Dinner $$-$$$ HONEY CREEK INN Pub setting offers beyond pub fare and daily specials. Closed Sun. // 8025 Cannonsburg Rd NE, Cannonsburg, 874-7849. cannonsburgvillage.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ MARINADES PIZZA BISTRO Wood-fired pizzas, salads, pastas, sandwiches. Michigan craft beer. Catering. Open daily. // 109 Courtland St, 863-3300. marinadespizzabistro.com. Lunch, Dinner $ RAMONA’S TABLE Gourmet sandwiches, salads, soups, burgers, small plates, homemade desserts. Farm-to-table specials. Michigan beers, wine. Kids menu. Open daily. // 17 Squires St Square NE, 951-7100. ramonastable.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ ROCKFORD BREWING CO. Located alongside Rogue River. Menu features wings, salads, gyros, burgers, as well as gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options. Handcrafted brews on tap. Open daily. // 12 E Bridge St, 951-4677. rockfordbrewing.com. Brunch (Sun), Lunch, Dinner $-$$ TIMBERS INN Appetizers to meat ’n’ potatoes fare in lodge-like surroundings. Full bar. Open daily. // 6555 Belding Rd NE, 874-5553. timbersinn.net. Lunch (Wed-Sun), Dinner $-$$ THIRD NATURE BREWING COMPANY Located near the White Pine Trail and the Rogue River, Third Nature Brewing is a rustic brewery and taproom offering “comfort foods” such as pizzas and hot sandwiches, as well as healthier options like power bowls and salads. Open daily. // 7733 Childsdale Ave. NE in Plainfield Township, 616-512-9314. thirdnaturebrewing.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ Multiple Locations ANNA’S HOUSE Breakfast, sandwiches, baked goods and exceptional desserts; dinner menu, too. No alcohol. Open daily. // 3766 Potomac Circle, Grandville; 3874 Plainfield Ave NE; 2409 East Beltline Ave SE, (866) 672-6627. annashouseus.com. Breakfast, Lunch $$ BAGEL BEANERY Bagel and coffee cafè offering healthy whole grain and sugary sweet bagels, breakfast and lunch sandwiches. Magnum coffee. No alcohol. Open daily. Catering available. // 455 Michigan St NE, 235-7500; 2845 Breton Rd SE, 245-4220; 5316 Clyde Park Ave SW, 249-9500. bagelbeanery.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $ BRANN’S STEAKHOUSE & SPORTS GRILLE Famous sizzler steaks, small plates, sandwiches, salads, gluten-free and vegetarian choices, bar munchies. Full bar. // 401 Leonard St NW, 454-9368; 3475 Fairlanes Ave SW, Grandville, 531-6210; 4157 S Division Ave, 534-5421; 5510 28th St SE, 285-7800. branns.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ ELECTRIC CHEETAH Eclectic menu with an emphasis on locally grown fare and creative combinations. Beer and wine available. Open daily. Cascade location closed on Sun. // 1015 Wealthy St SE, 4514779; 6450 28th St. SE, 265-5301. electriccheetah.com. Brunch (Sun), Lunch, Dinner $-$$ FIRST WOK Mandarin, Hunan, Szechuan cuisine. Full bar. Open daily. // 2207 44th St SE, 281-0681; 6740 Old 28th St SE, 575-9088; 3509 Alpine Ave NW, 784-1616. firstworkgr.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ GRAND CONEY Classic diner offering custom hot dogs, traditional breakfast items and comfort foods. No alcohol. Open daily. Downtown location open 24 hours. // 809 Michigan St NE, 776-5580; 5121 28th St, 9303596; 6101 Lake Michigan Dr, Allendale, 895-9999. thegrandconey.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $ HERB & FIRE PIZZERIA Fast-casual atmosphere with Italian accent. Signature and create-your-own pizza options, flatbread sandwiches and salads. // 3180 44th St SW, Grandville, 7731443; 2121 Celebration Dr NE, Suite 250, 773-1895. herbandfirepizzeria.com. Lunch, Dinner $$ HOPCAT Crafted brews with some 50 beers on tap and 150 bottled. Full bar and creative fare, including sharables, signature fries, burgers, wraps and more. Open daily. // 25 Ionia Ave SW, 451-4677; 84 W. Eighth St in Holland, 965-9780; 2183 East Beltline Ave NE. hopcatgr.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$ MORNING BELLE This “garden-themed” brunch spot is part of Meritage Hospitality Group. Its menu features breakfast entrées; lighter options, such as salads and grain bowls; glazed doughnut waffles; specialty beverages, such as freshly squeezed orange juice and breakfast cocktails; and more. Limited bar. Open daily. // 1600 East Beltline Ave NE, 301-8171; 434 Bridge St NW, 855-6907. morningbellebrunch.com. Breakfast, Lunch $$ MR. BURGER Breakfast, burgers, chili dogs, sandwiches, homemade soups and desserts. // 2101 Lake Michigan Dr. NW, 453-6291; 950 44th St. SW, 538-0363; 1750 44th St. SE 455-8604; 5181 Northland Dr. NE, 363-3888; 2300 28th St. SW; 538-4439; 5835 Balsam Dr., Hudsonville, 662-5088. mrburger.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $ 114 RAPIDS 248-268-8026COMPASSMEDIA.COM
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PEPPINO’S PIZZERIA AND SPORTS GRILLE Italian/American menu. Full bar. Open daily. // 130 Ionia Ave SW, 456-8444; 1515 Eastport Dr SE, Kentwood, 554-8880. peppinospizza.com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$$ PITA HOUSE Sami’s gyros, Middle East specialties. No alcohol. Open daily. // 1510 Wealthy St SE, 454-1171; 3730 28th St SE, 940-3029. thepitahouse.net. Lunch, Dinner $ REAL FOOD CAFÉ Fresh, locally sourced traditional favorites, scrambles and made-from-scratch baked goods; plus, soups, sandwiches and salads for lunch. Cash only. Closed Mon. // 2419 Eastern Ave SE, 241-4080; 3514 Plainfield Ave NE, 3611808. Facebook. Breakfast, Lunch $ RED GERANIUM Breakfast and lunch favorites, omelettes, pancakes and burgers. No alcohol. Open daily. // 6670 Kalamazoo Ave SE, 656-9800; 5751 Byron Center Ave SW, 5328888. redgeraniumcafe.com. Breakfast, Lunch $ SUNDANCE BAR & GRILL Southwestern-infused cuisine, margarita bar. Open daily. // Waters Building, 151 Ottawa Ave NW, 776-1616; 5755 28th St SE, Cascade, 956-5644. sundancegrill. com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (Mon-Sat) $$ TACOS EL CAPORAL Mexican fare, with menudo Sat and Sun. No alcohol. Open daily. // 1260 Burton St SW, 246-6180; 1717 28th St SW, 261-2711. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $ TACOS EL CUÑADO Fajitas, tacos, burritos and other Mexican fare. No alcohol. Locations are individually owned and operated. // 1342 Grandville Ave SW, 452-1266; 455 Burton St SW, 248-9099; 1024 Bridge St NW, 475-800. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
MUDPENNY Coffee bar with all-day breakfast, sandwiches, burgers and salads. Catering available. Closed Sun. // 570 Grandville Ave SW, 259-5353; 496 Ada Dr SE, 2595353. mudpenny.com. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $
TAMALES MARY Tamale-centered Mexican restaurant featuring 18 types of tamales, plus other Mexican dishes and daily buffet specials. No alcohol. Open daily. // 1253 Burton St SW, 288-5007; 1551 Wealthy St. SE, 724-4269. tamalesmarygr.com. Lunch, Dinner $ THE OMELETTE SHOPPE Fourteen signature omelettes, selection of quiches and baked goods. No alcohol. Open daily. // 545 Michigan St NE, 726-5800; 1880 Breton Rd SE, 7267300. omeletteshoppe.com. Breakfast, Lunch $ UCCELLO’S RISTORANTE, PIZZERIA & SPORTS LOUNGE Italian specialties, including pizza, entrées, burgers, sandwiches. Full bar. Open daily. // 122 Monroe Center NW, 773-1687; 2630 East Beltline Ave SE, 954-2002; 3940 Rivertown Pkwy SW, Grandville, 249-9344; 4787 Lake Michigan Dr NW, Standale, 735-5520; 8256 Broadmoor Ave SE, Caledonia, 8911100; 19 N Main St, Rockford, 866-0666. uccellos. com. Lunch, Dinner $-$$
2022 @con uencegr CONFLUENCE IS A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL IDEAS FESTIVAL that explores what’s possible when art, music, science and tech converge. We bring world-class thinkers and doers to Grand Rapids to explore the remarkable high-tech innovation currently underway throughout the www.conregion. uencefest.com
Future
SEPTEMBER 23 & 24 Music Showcases SEPTEMBER 24 Innovation Showcase Innovators Zone Art@Con uence Maker RoboticsExpoExpo STUDIO PARK 123 Ionia SW, Grand Rapids, MI dine / estau ants
GRMAG.COM 115
VITALE’S PIZZERIA Multiple locations serving pizza, pasta and more from family recipes. Full bar. // 6650 E Fulton St, 676-5401, vitalesada.com; 5779 Balsam Dr, Hudsonville, 662-2244, vitaleshudsonville.com; 834 Leonard St NE, 458-8368, theoriginalvitales.com; 3868 West River Dr NE, Comstock Park, 784-5011. vitalessportsbar.com.
Lunch, Dinner $-$$
O ONE OF THE BEAUTIES OF MICHIGAN THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR YOUR NEXT GETAWAY
LAKE SUPERIOR THE UPPER PENINSULAMICHIGAN UPTRAVEL.COM If you’re reining in your spending these days, taking a vacation may rank lower on your priority list. The good news is, you don’t have to give up enjoying some time away. Come to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula! We specialize in relaxation that doesn’t empty your wallet, with an abundance of free things to do for couples, friends, and families. Visit our 40+ historic lighthouses or learn about history and culture at our free museums, from Ironwood to Drummond Island. Marvel at our more than 300 waterfalls or paddle our many streams and rivers— there are 12,000 miles of winding waterways up here. The U.P. also has thousands of miles of free hiking trails, plus bicycling, mountain biking, and winter sports trails from one end of the peninsula to the other. Of course, we have plenty of seasonal beach and water recreation on the Great Lakes and inland lakes, too! UPPER PENINSULA TRAVEL AND RECREATION GuestASSOCIATIONInformation:P.O.Box400, Iron Mountain, MI 49801 906-774-5480 | uptravel.com Travel Destinations
2 SELF-GUIDED COLOR ROUTES TO TOP FALL SIGHTS FALL GOLF PACKAGES & DEALS 200+ MILES OF TRAILS TO WORLD-CLASSEXPLORE LAKE & RIVER FISHING ENJOY THE SOCIAL DISTRICT, FOODIE, BREW & SPIRITS TRAIL cfalllrinCadillac,MI CadillacMichigan.com SUBSCRIBE AND STAY UP TO DATE ON THE LATEST FALL COLOR UPDATES IN THE AREA!
Travel Destinations
CADILLAC
AREA VISITORS BUREAU Guest Information: 201 N. Mitchell St. Suite 102, Cadillac, MI 49601 231-775-0657 | cadillacmichigan.com
Golfers flock to Cadillac for their variety of links, offering eight beautiful courses within 20 minutes of downtown. Fall is ideal for taking a swing, with the crisp air, picturesque settings, and late season deals. Make it a mid-week stay and you’ll save more while avoiding the crowds! It’s not too early to start thinking about winter getaways, too, and Caberfae Peaks is the go-to ski spot with family friendly, on-site accommodations and new rental equipment, as well as continued renovations and investments in snowmaking technology.
Just a short, 90-minute drive from Grand Rapids is a four-season gem awaiting visitors who want a northern Michigan feel without several hours of travel. Cadillac is the furthest south of the Up North destinations and it’s filled with an abundance of recreation opportunities, as well as sightseeing, dining, affordable lodging, and more. Built around Lake Mitchell and Lake Cadillac and flanked by the Big Manistee and Pine Rivers, it’s a water-lover’s wonderland—whether for floating, paddling, boating, or angling.
Cadillac is known for its world-class fishing, and fall is an excellent time to cast a line and snag a steelhead, whether on your own or with one of the local experienced outfitters. Fall colors are also a big draw for the area, and there are designated self-guided routes in and around Cadillac, which offer shorter stints or longer excursions—and many stops along the way for shopping, farm visits, refreshments, and one-of-a-kind finds. Those particularly interested in the foliage can check cadillacmichigan.com/fall for the most up-to-date color conditions. Recently designated as a Pure Michigan Trail Town, Cadillac has more than 200 miles of both non-motorized and motorized trails that can be accessed all year. Whether it’s hiking, fat tire biking, ORV riding, snowshoeing, or walking there’s a trail for every outdoor enthusiast in each season.
FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN OFFACESTHE 120 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
ANESTHESIA PRACTICE CONSULTANTS ...................... 1 25 AUDIOLOGY ............................................................... 138 BREAKF AST ............................................................... 123 BREAS T CANCER CARE ............................................... 131 BUSINESS BANKING ................................................... 128 B USINESS LENDING ................................................... 155 C AKE AND DESSERTS ................................................ 154 C ANNABIS ................................................................. 134 THE CANNABIS COMMUNITY ...................................... 149 CHIROPRACTIC CARE ................................................ 150 COLLABORATIVE LAW ................................................ 1 44 CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT ................................. 133 DERMATOLOGY .......................................................... 151 EARL Y CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ................................ 139 FIN ANCIAL AND ADVISORY SERVICES ........................ 14 6 FINE JEWELRY ........................................................... 129 FITNESS .................................................................... 14 1 INTERVENTIONAL PAIN MANAGEMENT ..................... 124 KIT CHEN AND BATH DESIGN ...................................... 152 MEDICAL SERVICE FOR THE UNDERSERVED .............. 132 MEDSPA ..................................................................... 122 MICHIGAN SOFTWARE LABS ....................................... 140 NONPROFITS .............................................................. 153 PHILANTHROPY ................................................ 126 & 127 PRIVATE AVIATION ........................................... 136 & 137 PROPERTY MANAGEMENT .......................................... 14 7 REAL ESTATE, ENERGY, AND HOSPITALITY ................ 14 3 RESIDENTIAL BUILDING ............................................ 14 8 RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE ...................................... 145 SENIOR LIVING .......................................................... 130 T ALENT ...................................................................... 135 WEALTH MANAGEMENT ............................................. 14 2 121 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 • FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 121
Felicia Steimel founded Ageless Beauty in June 2012 and has built it up exponentially over the past 10 years. Focusing on results-driven aesthetics, she continues to educate herself and seeks out new certifications to ensure her clients can achieve the skin of their dreams. What sets Ageless Beauty apart from many other spas is its specialization in medical-grade treatments and ingredients that deliver results that last, not just a temporary glow. Ageless Beauty offers services ranging from acne treatments to chemical peels, microdermabrasion, Plasma Fibroblast Skin Tightening, and filler enhancements. Steimel and her team work with their clients to design individual treatment plans to help them reach their skin goals. Apart from skincare, Steimel is passionate about community outreach. Last winter, Ageless Beauty teamed up with Dégagé Ministries to provide cold-weather necessities to the homeless community of Grand Rapids; this year, Steimel plans to turn that focus to kids in need.
MED SPA THE FACE OF FELICIA STEIMEL — AGELESS BEAUTY 1144 WEALTHY ST., GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49506 | 616-266-5865 | GR.AGELESSBEAUTY@GMAIL.COM 122 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
BREAKFAST THE FACES OF ANNA’S HOUSE 5200 PLAINFIELD AVE. NE, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49525 | 616-447-1201 | MARKETING@ANNASHOUSEUS.COM | ANNASHOUSEUS.COM 123 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
T he Anna’s House team, over 500 strong at nine locations, is genuinely delighted to serve their guests. Their passion is evident whether they’re in the front of the house with cheerful smiles, greeting their guests, or in the heart of the house, where they prepare delicious dishes with fresh, high-quality ingredients. The “Anna’s House Experience,” with its warm, welcoming atmosphere and delicious food options, all served by friendly people, has helped Anna’s House receive multiple awards and keeps guests coming back. Anna’s House invites everyone to experience their mission to “Save the World from an Ordinary Breakfast!”
The bright décor and retro style at Anna’s House creates a f un environment where guests enjoy delicious food from a dietary-inclusive menu. While these are important components of the “Anna’s House Experience,” the team knows their guests’ visits can’t be exceptional without an extraordinary group of people.
The philosophy at Haven Spine+Pain is to personalize a pain management treatment plan around a patient’s goals and priorities. Dr. Korn takes an integrated approach to pain management that focuses on interventional treatment along with physical therapy, behavioral health care, social supports, clinically-proven medications, and self-care techniques. Haven Spine+Pain is conveniently located, and provides easy access to care for patients. Dr. Korn is currently accepting new patients. Visit havenpain.com to find real hope and lasting change. FACE OF MARC KORN, M.D. — HAVEN SPINE+PAIN 2680 LEONARD ST. NE, STE. 3, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49525 | HAVENPAIN.COM
Dr. Marc Korn isn’t just the face of Haven Spine+Pain in West Michigan; he’s its heart and soul. Dr. Korn earned his medical degree at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine after receiving his bachelor’s degree from Kalamazoo College. He completed residency and fellowship in Chicago at Northwestern University, where he became dual board-certified in anesthesia and chronic pain. Once his formal education was finished, he was drawn back to the allure of West Michigan. Since opening Haven Spine+Pain, his passion has been helping patients relieve pain, restore functionality, and resume their favorite activities.
INTERVENTIONAL PAIN MANAGEMENT THE
124 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
Anesthesia Practice Consultants has been a staple of the West Michigan medical community for decades. Offering services throughout West Michigan, APC providers are experts in cardiac, general, obstetric, pediatric, and regional anesthesiology. They’re trusted by hospitals, surgical centers, and offices to improve the lives of patients in the communities they serve. APC believes in advocating for their patients and their own team members. Creating a culture of equity and inclusion, they take care of and work for one another. Striving to always provide the highest level of clinical excellence and innovation, they currently perform more than 150,000 anesthesia procedures annually, while continuing to grow their practice each year. ANESTHESIA PRACTICE CONSULTANTS THE FACES ANESTHESIAOF PRACTICE CONSULTANTS 3333 EVERGREEN DR. NE, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49525 | 616-364-4200 | INFO@APCPC.NET 125 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
Over the last 100 years, people who care about the future of Kent County have built the Grand Rapids Community Foundation to improve the region. The Community Foundation helps its partners use the tools of philanthropy to respond to community needs by providing grants to nonprofits, scholarships to local students, and other forms of support to communities experiencing inequities. Because of the time, financial resources, and thought partnership of countless West Michigan philanthropists, the Community Foundation has awarded more than $260 million in grants and scholarships since its inception.
As the Community Foundation kicks off a new century of service and impact, it’s working toward a renewed West Michigan: One with a deeper, more sustainable commitment to racial, social, and economic justice; One where everyone has equitable access to opportunity, prosperity, and belonging; One with a more inclusive philanthropic culture and practice.
PHILANTHROPY THE FACES OF GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION 185 OAKES ST. SW, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49503 | 616-454-1751 | GRFOUNDATION.ORG 126 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
“We’re grateful for all the individuals, families, nonprofits, community leaders, and more who have kept coming together to commit their resources, skills, networks, influence, and dollars to create a better community,” says Diana Sieger, Community Foundation president. “Our community benefits from the passion and commitment of these philanthropists, who represent many backgrounds and traditions of giving.”
Pictured are: (Seated, L-R) Nolan Rauser, Lindsey Younglove, Breanna Chase, Robin Beckwith, Terri Prince, Jack Verville; (Standing, L-R) Nicolette Happie, Alex Crow, Stephanie Wilson, Carrie Seifert, Tammy Karas, Randi Claybaugh, Kara Vugteveen.
Being a local bank is more than just locations, it’s about caring for the community. United Bank has done just that for more than 130 years, and it continues to be a trusted business banking partner throughout West Michigan.
“It’s rewarding to bring fresh ideas and solutions that directly support their goals and vision to local businesses,” says Nicolette Happie, Vice President and Treasury Management Officer. “Having the privilege to walk alongside a business partner as they grow and create success in their business is the ultimate professional satisfaction.”
BUSINESS BANKING THE FACES OF UNITED BANK OF MICHIGAN 900 EAST PARIS AVE. SE, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49546 | 616-559-7000 | UNITEDBANK4U.COM 128 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
United Bank is committed to creating solutions to the diverse challenges its clients face every day. It does this by offering a comprehensive suite of business and treasury management services that simplify your banking. Member FDIC.
FINE JEWELRY THE FACE OF KENDRA PFAFF — PFAFF JEWELERS 4000 CHICAGO DR. SW, GRANDVILLE, MI 49418 | 6 16-532-4435 | KENDRA@PFAFFJEWELERS.COM | PFAFFJEWELERS.COM 129 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
As a leader in West Michigan’s jewelry industry, Pfaff Jewelers thrives on great value, quality craftsmanship, and personal service. They’re settling into their new location in downtown Grandville, to better serve the surrounding communities. Owner Kendra Pfaff says they take jewelry to the next level. With the newest technology and knowledgeable staff, they’re confident they can exceed their customers’ expectations. Pfaff Jewelers provides a large selection of engagement rings, precious gemstones, and estate jewelry. And if they don’t stock it, they’ll find it or make it. Unlike bigger stores, they look for products that are made in America, and carry precious jewelry in all price points. Pfaff Jewelers has a team of skilled jewelers who can bring any vision to life and repair pieces that others might claim are unrepairable.
W hen it’s time to celebrate life’s special moments, choose Pfaff Jewelers. They’re located on the corner of Wilson and Chicago Drive in downtown Grandville.
Beacon Hill at Eastgate is a premier retirement community located in the heart of the Eastgate neighborhood in Grand Rapids. Led by President and CEO Jeff Huegli, Beacon Hill is home to more than 400 residents in independent living, assisted living, memory support, and skilled nursing units. It employs over 225 people. Beacon Hill is known for its high standards for both social and clinical services, and its excellence in hospitality. Huegli emphasizes the importance of distinctive dining in four on-campus restaurants. “Extraordinary resident satisfaction can be achieved by coupling personal care with a flexible and exceptional culinary program,” he says. Throughout his 19-year tenure, Huegli’s vision hasn’t changed. His mission is “to ensure that Beacon Hill is a joyful place where the combination of ambience, activities, meals, the gardens and campus, our location in the Eastgate neighborhood — all of it — adds to the tremendous emotional contentment that resonates with residents.” HUEGLI MI 616-245-9179
49506 |
| BEACONHILLGR.ORG 130 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
SENIOR LIVING THE FACE OF JEFF
— BEACON HILL AT EASTGATE BEACON HILL AT EASTGATE, 1919 BOSTON ST. SE, GRAND RAPIDS,
BREAST
131 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022 With more than four decades dedicated to care, the Cancer & Hematology Centers of Western Michigan (CHCWM) have grown to include more than two dozen oncologists as well as five centers and regional practices. This makes CHCWM the largest physician-owned oncology practice in Michigan. Among their many subspecialties, CHCWM’s breast cancer team offers comprehensive services. Physicians Amy Vander Woude, Haritha Reddy, Eric Batts, Britni Souther, Thomas Gribbin, and Kathryn Alguire lead the charge, alongside a cohort of 10 crucial advanced practice providers. The dedicated team in West Michigan was able to treat more than 1,400 new breast cancer patients across all sites in 2021.
“The breast team at CHCWM is designed to provide rapid access to state-of-the art care and cutting-edge research opportunities,” Dr. Vander Woude says. “Physicians specialized in the treatment of breast cancer work with a dedicated team of advanced practice providers, care navigators, oncology-certified nurses, medical social workers, and financial coordinators to support patients during their cancer journey. We believe that compassionate care in a caring environment close to home is what every patient deserves.” CANCER CARE THE FACES OF CANCER & HEMATOLOGY CENTERS OF WESTERN MICHIGAN GRAND RAPIDS, HOLLAND & MUSKEGON, MI | 800-411-7999 | CHCWM.COM
MEDICAL SERVICE FOR THE UNDERSERVED THE FACES OF EXALTA HEALTH 2060 DIVISION AVE. S, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49507 | 616-475-8446 | EXALTAHEALTH.ORG 132 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
Exalta Health is a faith-based nonprofit clinic that serves people who are uninsured, underinsured, and refugees through an integrated health model. An integrated model provides medical primary care, dental primary and preventive care, behavioral health care, vision care, and spiritual support. Exalta Health has provided this service for more than 25 years in the Burton Heights area of Grand Rapids.
Dr. Laura VanderMolen has been involved as medical director for 21 years, and has been an integral part of what Exalta Health is and does. She’s board-certified in internal medicine and, after receiving her medical degree from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, she completed her residency at Spectrum in Grand Rapids. Other Exalta Health team members include Doyle Hayes, chairman of the board, and Ed Postma, president of Exalta Health. Please help Dr. VanderMolen and the rest of the staff continue to help the community by supporting Exalta Health through prayer, volunteerism, and donations.
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT THE FACES OF FIRST COMPANIES 4380 BROCKTON DR. SE, STE. 1, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49512 | 616-698-5000 | FIRSTCOMPANIES.COM 133 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
First Companies’ CEO, Jeff Baker, and president, Craig Baker, grew up watching their father expand the business from a small real estate firm to a 4-in-1 construction, real estate, development, and property management company. Their latest project in Ada speaks to the values the familyowned organization is committed to: community, local investment, and buildings that foster connection.
C onstruction on the Ada Village project began in 2016 and will wrap up in 2023. Fourteen historic buildings will hold offices, restaurants, salons, a grocery store, a hotel, and a beloved ice cream shop that was carefully moved and remodeled to preserve its original charm. Thanks to local partnerships, First Companies successfully navigated challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic to keep the project on time and on budget, making Ada Village a destination for families and a place where local business can thrive. Learn more at fi rstcompanies.com.
49514 | INFO@KUSHCANNABISCO.COM | KUSHCANNABISCO.COM 134 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
CANNABIS THE FACES OF KUSH CANNABIS COMPANIES P.O. BOX 141726, GRAND RAPIDS,
Kush is Michigan born and raised. Founded before the onset of the state’s legalization of marijuana, Kush has evolved into a vertically integrated group of companies that include Kush Consulting, Kush Design Studio, and Kush Development Group. Each of these three unique business units are tailored specifically to meet their clients’ needs, from conception to completion.Kushbelieves the key to success is a delicate balance between simplicity, structure, and organization. They’ve continued to provide clients with solutions that save money, time, and resources. Whether you’re looking to start a cannabis business, need customized operational support and training, want to create a marketing and branding identity, or require help getting your facility designed and constructed, they have you covered. With over 2 million square feet of cannabis space designed and built, the guys from Kush can help turn your cannabis dream into a reality. MI
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WARD — HIRE FOR HOPE 49 MONROE CENTER ST. NW, STE. 200, GRAND RAPIDS,
HIREFORHOPE.COM 135 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
Hire For Hope believes in the relentless pursuit of top talent. They’re focused on helping clients recruit the best executive leadership and subject matter experts by utilizing top evidence-based selection practices, behavior analytics, and intensive vetting processes to ensure each client gets the right person in the right seat, at the right time. To give back to the community, the company donates 10 percent of its profits to community partners that help women who are experiencing domestic violence. Founder Ashley Ward serves as a board member on the City of Grand Rapids’ Downtown Improvement District committee and has been recognized as a 40 Under 40 Business Leader and one of the 50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan by the Grand Rapids Magazine Tasia Allison, the firm’s managing director, specializes in executive search and organizational development functions. She also leads Hire For Hope’s recruiting and talent consulting teams. OF ASHLEY MI | 616-881-3309 |
TALENT THE FACES
TASIA ALLISON AND
49512 | 616-485-2351 | INFO@WARDAV.COM | WARDAV.COM 136 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
PRIVATE AVIATION THE FACES OF WARD AVIATION 4211 CASSARD LANE, GRAND RAPIDS,
Brothers Mark and Sam Ward have used their lifelong passion for flying to fill a business segment void in the West Michigan market. Founded in 2017, Ward Aviation partners with current and potential aircraft owners to match tailored solutions to their mission and values. Transparency throughout the management team creates a clear picture of aircraft ownership, from operating costs and expenses to pilot vetting and hiring, and maintenance and compliance oversight. In 2022, Ward grew its administrative staff with the addition of Zach Edgar and Nate TenBrink. The Ward Aviation team now has more than 85 years of industry experience and a managed portfolio of over 10 jet, turboprop, and piston aircraft. In the years ahead, the Ward Aviation team hopes to introduce more West Michigan families and companies to the lifestyle enhancements and business results possible with private aviation. MI
AUDIOLOGY THE FACE OF DR. STELIOS DOKIANAKIS — HOLLAND DOCTORS OF AUDIOLOGY 399 E. 32ND ST., HOLLAND, MI 49423 | 616-392-2222 | HOLAUD.COM 138 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
Dr. Stelios Dokianakis is a licensed and board-certified doctor of audiology with more than 25 years of clinical and research experience. He founded Holland Doctors of Audiology, an independent private practice in Holland, in 2011. “It’s extremely gratifying to help patients reduce their tinnitus, hear clearly, and improve their quality of life, especially when they’ve been told there’s no cure and they have to live with it,” Dr. Dokianakis says. Focusing on challenging hearing disorders, tinnitus, and decreased sound tolerance, he’s been voted the No. 1 “Best of West Michigan” by readers of the Holland Sentinel every year for the past 10 years. D r. Dokianakis serves on the State of Michigan Board of Audiology and the American Tinnitus Association’s board of directors. He holds the Board of Audiology’s prestigious Tinnitus Management Certification, leads the Holland Tinnitus Support Group, and has been recognized as an Academy of Audiology Scholar.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION THE FACES OF WHITNEY MOONEY, HEATHER PHELPS, ALEXANDRA MOONEY THE GODDARD SCHOOL, KNAPP’S CORNER, 2911 KNAPP ST. NE, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49525 | 616-208-9292 | GODDARDSCHOOL.COM 139 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
Whitney Mooney, owner of The Goddard School – Knapp’s Corner, along with directors Heather Phelps and Alexandra Mooney, know the importance of early childhood education. At the Goddard School, Whitney Mooney and her team of highly educated and innovative teachers create individualized opportunities for exposure to new ideas and materials that are specifically designed so your child can embrace authentic learning in its most natural way: through play and exploration. From engaging with science, technology, engineering, art, and math concepts to growing socially and emotionally, Goddard’s safe, flexible, and caring environment gives your child the space to take chances, make connections, and experience authentic learning so they can become school-ready, careerready, and life-ready. “We’re a family owned business that’s focused on giving back to the community we love by educating its future leaders,” Whitney Mooney says. “We’re arming (our students) with the tools they need to be successful throughout their schooling and life.”
MICHIGAN SOFTWARE LABS THE FACES OF JOSH HULST AND MARK JOHNSON — MICHIGAN SOFTWARE LABS 7471 RIVER ST., ADA, MI 49301 | 616-594-0269 | MICHIGANLABS.COM 140 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
As managing partners and co-founders of Michigan Software Labs, Mark Johnson and Josh Hulst are key members of the leadership team. Their expertise lies in designing and developing custom software, and providing oversight of client projects. For more than 11 years, Michigan Software Labs has served clients by developing custom mobile, web, and Internet of Things software for clients ranging from locally-owned businesses to Fortune 500 companies. With a thriving team culture, the company has received the Inc. Best Places to Work award and has been named among the 100 Best Workplaces by Fortune magazine. It was recently named one of Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing companies. Whether you have a custom software project or need advice for growing your business using software, Michigan Software Labs can help. The company has specialized teams for software development, software UX design, and project management, and while it continues to expand nationwide, it remains committed to serving the local community.
MVP’s local facilities feature a variety of tennis courts: 12 outdoor, 21 indoor, and two platform courts heated year-round. There are also several indoor and outdoor pickleball courts. Offering a wide range of programming for all ages and skill levels, MVP’s certified tennis and pickleball pros lead private and small-group lessons, camps, and tournaments. The clubs also host and coach over 45 travel teams under the United States Tennis Association. With programs available for everyone from youth as young as 4 through skilled adults, MVP is proud to be West Michigan’s leader in racquet sports. MI
FITNESS THE FACES OF MVP SPORTS CLUBS 4085 BURTON ST. SE, STE. 200, GRAND RAPIDS,
49546 | 6 16-575-6221 | MVPSPORTSCLUBS.COM 141 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
Built on a foundation of quality services, innovative programming, world-class equipment, and excellent customer service, MVP Sports Clubs have been providing fitness, sports, and wellness to West Michigan since 2005. As an area leader in racquet sports, its tennis and pickleball offerings serve more than 24,000 members annually.
WEALTH MANAGEMENT THE FACE OF LYNN CHEN-ZHANG — ZHANG FINANCIAL 5931 OAKLAND DR., PORTAGE, MI 49024 | 269-385-5888 | LYNN.CHENZHANG@ZHANGFINANCIAL.COM | ZHANGFINANCIAL.COM 142 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
As the CEO of Zhang Financial, Lynn Chen-Zhang has played a critical role in leading the fee-only wealth management group to the summit of the independent advisory world. Her impressive educational background includes an MBA from Northwestern University, as well as executive education from Columbia University and the Wharton School of Business. In addition, she holds multiple prestigious designations in the financial industry, including the titles of certified financial planner and certified publicChen-Zhangaccountant.has dedicated a tremendous amount of time to helping the community’s nonprofit organizations. She serves as the president of Western Michigan University’s board of trustees and served as the president of the WMU Foundation’s board of directors for three years. She also serves as a member of the board of directors and is the chair of the Investment Committee for the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. In 2020, Chen-Zhang received the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Invest in Others. Other accolades include receiving the 2019 Women of Achievement and Courage Award from Michigan Women Forward, and she was selected as one of the 50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan for 2020 by the Grand Rapids Business Journal.
Ryan and Emily Leestma have emerged as one of the new power business couples in the West Michigan market. Together they own and operate more than $60 million of real estate and operating entity assets in the commercial real estate, real estate development, hospitality, and renewable energy sectors under the brands of Leestma Management, Adelaide Pointe, Adelaide Energy, and Ibex Hospitality. REAL ESTATE, ENERGY, AND HOSPITALITY THE FACES OF RYAN AND EMILY LEESTMA — LEESTMA MANAGEMENT, ADELAIDE POINTE, ADELAIDE ENERGY, AND IBEX HOSPITALITY 1204 W. WESTERN AVE., MUSKEGON, MI 49441 | 616-633-6020 | RML@LEESTMAMANAGEMENT.COM 143 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
Courtney Quist, of Quist Law Firm, says her mission is to provide the highest quality legal services to those who want to divorce differently. The Quist Law Firm is dedicated to making divorce less adversarial, more efficient, and less damaging to the family dynamic. Using a collaborative approach to divorce, the firm tailors the process to the specific needs and circumstances of a family. Quist says the collaborative process minimizes involvement in the court system, provides privacy, teaches methods for conflict preserves family social ties, and eliminates the need to choose between divorce and financial security by providing fixed fees. If you’re ready for a new beginning, without the damage caused by an outdated divorce process, the collaborative process might be the right choice for you. MI
resolution,
COLLABORATIVE LAW THE FACE COURTNEYOF QUIST — QUIST LAW FIRM, PLLC 4760 E. FULTON, STE. 102, ADA, MI 49301 | 2090 CELEBRATION DR., STE. 202, GRAND RAPIDS,
and
49525 | 616-826-3913 COURTNEYQUIST@QUISTLAWFIRM.COM | QUISTLAWFIRM@QUISTLAWFIRM.COM | QUISTLAWFIRM.COM 144 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
communication and
THE FACE OF With 43 years of residential real estate experience and personal sales in excess of $1 billion, John Postma proudly forges lifelong relationships with his clients through his expert professionalism, honesty, and integrity. A recipient of numerous awards, Postma paves the path to homeownership with detail-oriented real estate standards and exceptional client relations. His experiencebacked approach to residential real estate streamlines the homeownership process and provides unlimited reassurance, resolution, and resources during some of the most important and memorable moments of his clients’ lives. Postma is honored to play a role in generations of client real estate achievements and welcomes every opportunity to assist the families he serves as they progress from first-time, single-family homes to well-earned retirement retreats. RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE JOHN POSTMA — RE/MAX OF GRAND RAPIDS 4362 CASCADE RD. SE, STE. 208, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49546 | 616-975-5623 | JOHNPOSTMA.COM 145 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
REHMANN.COM 146 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
*Derrek Klimek offers securities through Rehmann Financial Network, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Rehmann Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. MI | 616-975-4100 |
FINANCIAL AND ADVISORY SERVICES THE FACES 2330REHMANNOFEPARISAVE.SE, GRAND RAPIDS,
Rehmann is a professional advisory firm that provides accounting and assurance, business solutions and outsourcing, specialized consulting, and wealth management services. Rehmann’s business solutions address essential areas of your organization – technology, human resources, accounting, and financial planning – and ultimately deliver valuable insight and guidance to your team, and improved efficiencies and a better bottom line for your operations, among other benefits. Rehmann helps small- to mid-size businesses as well as larger organizations and corporations. For 80 years, Rehmann has provided forward-thinking solutions to clients. Rehmann is the momentum behind what’s possible, focusing on the business of business – allowing companies and individuals to focus on what makes them extraordinary. Pictured left to right: Jim Bruxvoort; Derrek Klimek, CFP®, CPA*; Elizabeth Williams, SPHR, SHRM-SCP; Mark Taylor, CPA; and Matthew Barczak, MBA, CPA.
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Ultimately, Rockford Property Management connects businesses and tenants with community resources, creating strong companies and better communities.
147 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022 For 35 years, Rockford Property Management has been serving commercial markets throughout Michigan. Offering construction management, development, and property management services, Rockford brings a holistic perspective as owners, builders, and operators, providing greater value to clients. Rockford specializes in asset management, facilities management, and property management, and has more than 3 million square feet of managed space. With recent market trends showing a growing need for these services, Rockford is well-equipped to meet the need through its leadership team, which includes Monica Steimle-App, executive vice president of property management; Bob Van Rees, director of facilities management; Elizabeth Sinclair, director of property management; and Mike Bellovich, controller.
Rockford’s hospitality-centered approach ensures an understanding that property management isn’t just about physical space, but also the people who interact with it.
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT THE FACES ROCKFORDOFPROPERTY MANAGEMENT 601 FIRST ST. NW, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49504 | 616-285-6933 | ROCKFORDPROPERTYMANAGEMENT.COM
HOMES 620 THREE MILE RD. NW, STE. A, GRAND RAPIDS,
Growing up with a father who was a builder, Scott Christopher was no stranger to a construction site. After graduating with a degree in construction management and starting his career as a carpenter, it didn’t take long for him to see opportunity in the marketplace for a builder who could take quality and customer service to the next level. Since its inception more than 30 years ago, Scott Christopher Homes has grown to include a team of over 30 people who provide custom home and renovation services that are anything but standard. Clients of SCH can expect to have one, trusted point of contact to lead their build project from start to finish, with the powerhouse of a team of carpenters, estimators, support staff, and a custom cabinet shop behind them. SCH brings passion for building to every project, and they thrive on providing a building experience that’s second to none. CHRISTOPHER CHRISTOPHER MI |
RESIDENTIAL BUILDING THE FACE OF SCOTT
49544
— SCOTT
616-784-4500 | SCOTTCHRISTOPHERHOMES.COM 148 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
THE CANNABIS COMMUNITY THE FACE OF JAMIE COOPER — SENSI MAGAZINE GRAND HAVEN, MI | 616-414-0890 | SENSIMAG.COM/MICHIGAN 149 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
Jamie Cooper is no stranger to the cannabis industry. In 2014, she moved to Michigan from Breckenridge, Colo., and immediately started working toward her goal of transitioning into the cannabis space. She spent the first couple of years of her cannabis career assisting with legalization efforts, working with municipalities to help them better understand cannabis regulations, and building her robust network of cannabis business owners. In January 2018, Cooper launched CannaBIZ Connection, a networking and lead referral organization, and started hosting weekly networking events throughout Michigan. Later that year, she joined Sensi Magazine and launched the cannabis lifestyle magazine’s Michigan edition in October 2019. In 2020, Cooper merged CannaBIZ Connection with Sensi Media Group and created Sensi Connects, a digital platform to help connect cannabis business professionals during the pandemic. This year, Cooper and her partner, Rebecca Neil, were approved to open a Levels Cannabis Provisioning Center in Grand Haven. Cooper also joined True North Collective as the director of marketing.
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Dr. Matthew S. Phinney happened on a career in health care while playing rugby with the Canadian National team. On a rugby tour to New Zealand, he injured two discs in his neck during a match. The damage was so severe, he was ruled out of any competition by team doctors and was told his career as a rugby player was essentially over. The limited ability of conventional medicine to understand and treat his injury left a strong impression on him. It wasn’t until he returned to his home in Victoria, BC, that a chiropractor was able to help him restore function in his body and get him back into competition. That’s when Dr. Phinney decided to pursue a career in health care.
Dr. Phinney has committed himself to lifelong learning. He reads, attends seminars, and pursues clinical excellence by keeping up with information that might give his patients a winning edge when it comes to their health and their life. He’s dedicated to helping all individuals, businesses, organizations, and community groups that want to experience improved health, vitality, productivity, and performance. His concern for others drives his pursuit of excellence in his work and in service to the community.
CHIROPRACTIC CARE THE FACES OF DR. MATTHEW S. PHINNEY — THE CHIROPRACTIC DOCTORS, PLLC 5747 28TH ST. SE, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49546 | 616-432-3103 | BESTGRANDRAPIDSCHIROPRACTOR.COM
49316
DERMATOLOGY THE
When you think of your health, you want your doctors to be the best of the best. Your skin care team should be no different. That’s why, at The Derm Institute of West Michigan, treatment is never just skin deep. The Derm Institute’s experienced staff and patient-first mindset will ensure your unique skin concerns are diagnosed and resolved not just on the surface, but where it matters most: at the source. Dr. Hawley and her team are excited to announce it’s bringing on a new physician. Dr. Nathan Nartker joined the practice in August, allowing the team to help more patients with the same great care they’re known for. Dr. Nartker completed his academic dermatology residency at Wayne State University and is excited to bring top-notch, innovative treatments and care to West Michigan. Dr. Kristi Hawley has built the practice around putting patients first. Dr. Hawley and Dr. Nartker provide personalized treatments with a patient-focused approach, ensuring each patient receives the specialized care they deserve. FACES OF DR. KRISTI HAWLEY AND DR. NATHAN NARTKER — THE DERM INSTITUTE OF WEST MI SPRINGS BLVD. SE, CALEDONIA, MI | 616-326-0114 |
INFO@DERMINSTITUTEOFWMI.COM 151 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
1661 CRYSTAL
49546 | 616-957-1969 | TRUKITCHENS.COM 152 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
The TruKitchens team is a unique blend of dreamers and kitchen design professionals who are passionate about excellence in design, and understand that the marriage of beauty and functionality equates to the highest-quality final product. With a full spectrum of design expertise, commitment to a seamless process, and a talented team of designers and installers, they’re certain that if you can dream it, TruKitchens can do it. MI
KITCHEN AND BATH DESIGN THE FACES 6744TRUKITCHENSOFCASCADERD.SE,GRAND RAPIDS,
Established in 2007, TruKitchens is a boutique kitchen and bath design studio specializing in custom kitchens, bathrooms, home remodeling, outdoor kitchens, and custom closets. They service clients across the entire state of Michigan and have completed projects throughout the United States. TruKitchens’ design process allows them to work successfully with clients, builders, and interior designers to ensure projects are completed on time and on budget. Their top-of-the-line products and extensive industry knowledge translates into a depth of resources and custom solutions for any project.
With a background in Public Accounting, Economics, and International Business Administration, and over 20 years of work experience in Mexico, Spain, and the United States, Guillermo’s knowledge, and experience in the field of business have helped him find success as President & CEO of the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The Hispanic Chamber focuses on economic and talent development, specifically for the local Latinx community. After five years in his role, Guillermo has grown membership numbers, event turnout, and the overall organization of the Chamber. In the last four years, he launched two long-term vision initiatives, Transformando West Michigan, that focuses on business development for Latinx businesses; and Building Bridges Through Education with a focus on talent development which aims to create a pipeline developing and connecting Latinx college students with area employers. Under Guillermo’s leadership, the organization has grown from two full-time staff to seven staff with a projection to close 2022 with twelve staff. The budget of the organization has increased from $200K in 2017 to $1.4M in 2022.
NONPROFITS THE FACE GUILLERMOOF CISNEROS — WEST MICHIGAN HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2007 DIVISION AVE. S, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49507 | 616-452-3960 | GUILLERMO@WESTMIHCC.ORG | WESTMIHCC.ORG 153 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
Scott and Christine Vogel are the owners of Nothing Bundt Cakes Grand Rapids, which opened in March 2017. They have a unique and simple mission statement: “To Deliver Happiness One Bite at a Time to the Community We Love.” When asked about their greatest accomplishment since opening their store, the Vogels had a quick response. “Two things stand out to us. We’re humbled to share that in just over five years, we’ve donated over $200,000 worth of cake and financial donations to incredible local nonprofits. In addition, we have amazing associates who make our ‘Bundt Journey’ possible, and we’ve been able to support them in their personal journeys,” Scott said. The Vogels say they plan to open a second location in Grandville (at 3060 44th St. SW) in November 2022, and they’re excited to serve more of West Michigan and expand their philanthropic efforts in the community they love.
CAKE AND DESSERTS THE FACES OF SCOTT AND CHRISTINE VOGEL — NOTHING BUNDT CAKES 5121 28TH ST. SE, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49512 | 6 16-734-6995 | GRANDRAPIDS@NOTHINGBUNDTCAKES.COM 154 FACES OF 2022 WEST MICHIGAN
BUSINESS LENDING THE FACES OF UNITED BANK OF MICHIGAN 900 EAST PARIS AVE. SE, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49546 | 616-559-7000 | UNITEDBANK4U.COM 155 FACES OF WEST MICHIGAN 2022
United Bank’s lending team serves a variety of needs including commercial real estate, lines of credit, equipment loans, and more. With flexible terms, competitive rates, local decision-makers, and a quick approval process, they’re dedicated to making West Michigan the best it can be.
Member FDIC. Pictured in the photo above: (Seated, L-R) Tyler Burke, Joe Crittendon, Tim Tyler, Brian Klaver and Andy Bassford. (Standing L-R) Sue Rankin, Paul Kramer, Jason Smith, Brian Kelly and Doris Drain.
Focused on local economic development, United Bank is an advocate for the diverse needs of a thriving business community. They understand the unique challenges in West Michigan and offer real solutions to help you succeed. “Things can change fast in today’s economy and having a strong lending partner can make all the difference. After 28 years, I know the value to my clients of knowing they have a partner that truly knows their business and is always available to help.” says Brian Klaver, Senior Vice President Commercial Lending.
Later, Brown worked as a commercial artist and a muralist, and taught classes on Black history and art at local colleges. In the 1970s, he focused on his poetry, writing prolifically, and doing readings across the state. Brown also was a mentor, friend and business partner to Paul Collins, internationally known artist. A community icon, Brown was awarded the Giants Ethel Coe Humanities Award in 1984, and died in 2010.
members and sold 10 pieces at his first show. Brown soon was traveling across Michigan selling his work and was successful enough to quit his job as a waiter.
PHOTO COURTESY GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY gr gems / histo y
A fine artist and poet, William Randolph (Randy) Brown came to Grand Rapids as a young man. Born in Louisiana in 1925, Brown graduated from high school at 16, and then from Xavier University at age 20. Brown double majored in English and Fine Arts and received numerous awards for his paintings. Shortly after graduating, Brown and his wife, Clemma, moved north to Grand Rapids, following family. Despite his education, talent and success, limited jobs were open to Brown as a Black man, and he found work as a waiter at the Peninsular Club. He convinced the club to let him market his paintings to
BY JULIE TABBERER, GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY
William Randolph Brown went from waiter at the Peninsular Club to a renowned Michigan artist and poet.
156 GRAND RAPIDS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
Poetry in motion
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NIGHTLY RENTALS 539BAYSTREET.COM | 231-500-0539 TRAVERSE CITY LUXURY BY THE BAY As Traverse City 's newest vacation rental property , 539 Bay Street offers 15 fully furnished , luxury vacation rentals . Each unit features luxury flooring , full kitchens with stainless steel appliances and quartz countertops , multiple bedrooms and bathrooms , and at least two private balconies directly facing West Grand Traverse Bay , Only 300 feet from great beaches and in a great downtown Traverse City location with easy access to restaurants , shops , and markets , 539 Bay Street is here for your unforgettable and luxurious Traverse City vacation
