Top Ten

Local Cigar Lounges Caught in COVID-19 Catch-22

And you thought Michigan’s pandemic restrictions were tough on restaurants. Seems the current Gatherings and Face Mask Order is also wreaking a special kind of havoc for Michigan cigar bars and lounges, requiring patrons wear masks at all times. In what is perhaps an acknowledgement of the impossibility of smoking through a mask, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services recently sent a memo to clarify the order, stating in part, “This means tobacco specialty retail stores, hookah lounges, cigar bars, and other venues … cannot permit smoking in their facility.”

You can see the problem here.

Alex Engelman, owner of Ernesto’s Cigar Bar & Lounge, in Petoskey, and Andy Hyde, coowner of Nolan’s Cigar Bar, in Traverse City, certainly do.

“This threatens revenue in a way that is not sustainable in the long term,” says Hyde. “We have invested in floor space and equipment designed for people to enjoy a cigar and an adult beverage, which has been out of service for nearly six of the last 12 months. Now, as most other businesses get to open back up, we’re told we can no longer allow smoking.”

The situation is a little like permitting a restaurant to open without allowing it to serve foods or drinks, an irony that isn’t lost on cigar bars like Nolan’s: “Our interpretation is that we are licensed to sell food and beverages and can allow customers to remove their masks to consume those foods and beverages,” he says. “We are exempt from Michigan’s Smoke-Free Indoor Air Law, so customers can certainly smoke a cigar while they have their mask off.”

Pieced, Layered & Stitched

Unless you’re a quilter, when someone invites you to check out a quilt exhibit, your response probably: yawn. That’s probably because you haven’t yet seen something like the Jordan River Arts Council’s show of small quilts exhibiting now. Focused on an architectural theme, the quilts here showcase structure and scenes that are anything but square. See a downtown cityscape, domed palaces, a witch’s hovel pulled up by the roots, and one whose cut and ruffled cloth seems to hide a heckuva story, Sarah BearupNeal’s first-prize-winning “He Burned the House Down on the Way Out” (pictured above). Check out the exhibit in person 1pm–4pm Saturdays or Sundays through April 2 or make an appointment at www.jordanriverarts.com.

Stuff we love Eagles Coming North to Roost — and Rehab

The first tribal eagle aviary center east of the Mississippi River is coming to Harbor Springs. Doug Craven, director of natural resources for the Little Traverse Bay Bands (LTBB) of Odawa Indians, and Rebecca Lessard, founder of the Leelanau nonprofit Wings of Wonder (WOW) raptor rehabilitation center, officially announced they’re partnering to build Migizi Aviary and Rehabilitation Center. The center, whose design is already underway with guidance from tribally owned Seven Generations Architecture + Engineering, in Kalamazoo, will be located on LTBB land just north of Harbor Springs. Lessard, who closed WOW in November after 30 years of operations, will oversee the raptor rehab and provide training expertise as Craven and his team earn their required hours of eagle handling. “Migizi, eagles, are highly revered within Odawa culture and are central to many Photo courtesy of Alred Kenneal traditional teachings. We take great pride in and are honored to take a leading role in safeguarding and caring for these sacred birds,” said Craven in a release about the project.

“Looking into the eyes of eagles, watching them take flight as they are released back into the wild, it is no wonder that Native Americans revere them,” adds Lessard. “What a joy to be able to help the tribe establish a space of sanctuary and healing for these extraordinary creatures.”

Dine In TAKE-OUT

Three restaurants. All individual. All uniquely remarkable.

bottoms up Ethanology’s Hipster Water

Let the kids have their green beer. You, mature hipster, need neither artificial food colorants nor a kiss-entreating T-shirt proclaiming your adopted-for-a-day national pride. You need only a sweater befitting mid-March in Michigan and a short glass of Ethanology’s Hipster Water. Its amalgam of ingredients — muddled coconut and rosemary, butterfly pea flower tea, coconut cream, and vodka — are utterly refreshing in and of themselves but in this era of fruit-andcitrus-dominated vodka cocktails, a recipe for downright delirium. Making the innovative mix even more complex, a light addition of a lavender tincture turns this beauty a brilliant blue. While you can certainly stay inside the distillery to sip your Hipster Water ($12) — or any of the top-tier-tasting cocktails just revealed on Ethanology’s spring menu — we recommend you take advantage of cozying up in one of the six-person yurts, complete with wood-burning stove, for 75 minutes of spectacular sipping. (Note: Reservations will only be granted upon arrival to a single household of 6 people or fewer.) Find Ethanology at 127 Ames St., in Elk Rapid. (231) 498-2800, www.ethanologydistillation.com Northern Express Weekly • march 15, 2021 • 5