Spring 2022 | Dining OUT
Family Traditions
Harwood Gold offers maple-sweetened goodies at its downtown Charlevoix café
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By Amy S. Eckert | Photos by Michael Murphy IV Photography
n the heart of downtown Charlevoix, sandwiched between Lake Michigan and Round Lake, sits Harwood Gold Shop and Café. Featuring marble-topped tables, a tin ceiling, and russet-colored barn wood, the café exudes warmth and hospitality. And the rows of maple syrup-filled bottles lining the walls remind visitors that the centerpiece of this café is maple syrup. “We’ve been making this maple syrup
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in our family since 1898,” says Amber Parsons, a fifth-generation owner of Harwood Gold. “Maple syrup is kind of the backbone of our business.” In elegant script on a blackboard behind the counter, the café’s menu touts its hot hand pies, a customer favorite since the shop and café opened in 2016. The savory treats, stuffed with beef brisket and mushrooms, braised lamb shank, or lentils and vegetables, have become Harwood
Gold’s most popular café item, served on mismatched antique plates or served as take-away items, hot or frozen. Diners can also fill up on hot chili and rich fruit smoothies, freshly baked bars and cookies, locally sourced salad greens, organic, locally roasted coffee, hot teas, and espresso drinks — the latter two can be flavored with maple syrup. Maple finds its way into every item Harwood Gold sells. “Everything is maple
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3/9/22 1:38 PM
