Tiki Drinks and Tacos
Kingfisher brings hand-mixed cocktails and a creative menu to downtown St. Joe
Historic lake area eateries celebrate the past with modern flair
Blackbird Waterhouse
After acquiring a fortune in Chicago, George Klotter returned to Coloma, Michigan, in the late 1920s, drawn to the popular resort area where his family had owned property on Paw Paw Lake when he was young. A man who dreamed big, Klotter planned on creating “The Venice of the North,” a series of interconnecting channels, bridges and islands covering hundreds of acres, a project expected to cost $750,000, or $12,229,137 in 2022 dollars. Alas, the stock market crashed in 1929 and Klotter drastically downscaled his dream, opening the Wil-O-Paw Station and Inn.
“It was a barbecue place, and you could get your car worked on out front,” says Trip Immer, who with his wife, January, bought the building in 2018. After renovations, they opened Blackbird Waterhouse, with a menu focusing on locally sourced, gluten-free and house-made dishes.
Of course there have been changes over the last 90-plus years—no longer do Model As and two-seater Hudsons wait in the parking lot to be serviced. But if Klotter were to return, he would immediately recognize the large stone fireplace in what was the main room of the Wil-O-Paw and the exterior gabled façade, now the backdrop of the bar area.
At some point during the 60 years it was in business, the Wil-O-Paw was transformed into a supper club serving steak and lobster, according to 1940s advertisements. Today, the menu at Blackbird Waterhouse is creative and eclectic, a mix of comfort and upscale in a casual environment that includes a stage in one of the dining rooms for live entertainment.
Popular dishes include imaginative takes on everyday eats: Smoked Blue Cheese Cheesecake—an appetizer served with house-made berry jalapeno jam, chive oil, arugula and grilled baguette—and Blackened Salmon Tostadas with shredded cabbage, tropical pico de gallo with fresh pineapple and mango, and Cholula aioli. You can still dine on steaks, though with a somewhat more esoteric presentation (New York strip with butternut squash risotto and chili relleno or crab cake) and barbecue (pork ribs in one of the Blackbird’s scratch-made barbecue sauces—teriyaki, guava or Asian). Just like the old days. Or almost.
Blackbird Waterhouse
4896 Paw Paw Lake Rd.
Coloma, Michigan
The Gordon Beach Inn and the Grove Restaurant
Known as the “Catskills of the Midwest,” the string of lake towns on the lower southwest coast of Lake Michigan were hotspot destinations for Chicagoans back in the early 1900s. Unfortunately not everyone was welcome: Fences went up and dogs were unleashed in several surrounding communities. The message was no Jews allowed. Just across the state line, the governor of Indiana belonged to the Ku Klux Klan and that state’s Klan membership stood at about 250,000.
But Louis Gordon, a Chicago physician, was made of strong stuff. In the ultimate show of one-upmanship, he built the Gordon Beach Inn in 1924. Now a State Historical site and just a short walk from the beach, it’s one of the last remaining resort hotels from that era. Perfectly preserved with polished wood floors, a big stone fireplace, wood beamed ceilings and tall casement windows, the inn was the center of the Jewish community as more and more people bought or built summer cottages nearby.
Large doors open from the lobby onto The Grove, the inn’s restaurant that’s overseen by executive chef Eduardo Pesantez. Hailing from Cuenca, Ecuador, Pesantez trained at the Culinary Institute of America and worked as an executive corporate chef in New York before moving to Southwest Michigan.
Like the inn, The Grove is a step back in time. There’s a main room with fireplace, and the walls and ceilings are illustrated with botanical-themed sketches and local, hand-stenciled, Native American designs. The small barroom has an almost Parisian ambience and on either side are porches for dining that look onto the garden areas.
Pesantez’s curated menu features a variety of paellas, Moroccan Lamb Lollipops, Lobster Mac & Cheese, Wagyu Zabuton Steak, plantains and Grilled Caesar Salad.
“It’s American food with a Latin flair,” he says, noting that people are surprised that his dishes aren’t spicy hot. “It’s about flavor, not heat.”
The Gordon Beach Inn and the Grove Restaurant
16220 Lakeshore Rd,
Union Pier, Michigan
gordonbeachinn.com
Barbee Restaurant & Grille
Gangsters, movie stars and ghosts. It doesn’t get much better than this.
The Barbee Hotel, built in 1897 on land that was once, unromantically, a pig farm, is located between Big Barbee and Little Barbee lakes. You can get there by boat or drive up, as Al Capone did before he got sent to prison for income tax evasion.
“This was his hiding place,” says mixologist Donna Pontius, who has worked at the restaurant since 1998.
The story is that when Al came, all the other guests had to clear out. His room, 301, had a connecting door for an easy escape. Other gangsters stopping by, included Indiana’s own John Dillinger (before he was set up by a Romanian gal from East Chicago, Indiana) and Baby Face Nelson.
“Actress Carole Lombard’s uncle lived nearby, and she and her husband Clark Gable used to come here,” says Pontius.
It was a hide-away of sorts for the famous movie stars, too. Not that people wouldn’t notice the glamorous blonde and the man who played Rhett Butler in “Gone with the Wind.”
The Barbee Hotel was a fancy place back then, with chauffeured limousines parked out front. Today, the first-floor restaurant has the swank feel of a supper club offering such gourmet specials as pan-seared scallops served over handmade salmon patties with a lobster mornay sauce, Korean-style braised short ribs accompanied by coconut rice and Asian slaw, and pan-seared European sea bass stuffed with thyme and lemons.
“Our chef hand-cuts our own ribeye and filets,” says Pontius. “We have daily specials and walleye on every weekend. Wednesday is Italian.”
Danny’s Sports Bar, located on the second floor, is for those who want more casual fare such as pizza, oversized burgers, and a choice of three dozen or so craft beers.
Oh, and there’s a ghost.
“‘The Dead File’ on the Travel Channel filmed here,” says Pontius. She has never seen the ghost, nor does she want to. Others say it’s friendly, so we’re guessing it’s not Capone or Dillinger.
Barbee Restaurant & Grille
3620 N Barbee Rd,
Warsaw, Indiana
facebook.com/Barbee-Hotel
Jane Simon Ammeson lives in Southwest Michigan. She writes about food, travel and personalities. Follow Jane at https://janeammeson.blog/.
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