Staymaker features local fare and Journeyman cocktails in Three Oaks
Staymaker allures local food lovers
Restaurant • Three Oaks, Michigan
Three Oaks, MI, welcomes Patellie’s Pizzeria and P&E Bottle Shop
The plaintive question heard from Local New Buffalo’s customers last fall was: “Why on earth are they closing?”
Like so many others, I was accustomed to stopping by for housemade Hap’s thick-cut bacon, freshly smoked turkey breast and bacon-cured ham, not to mention carefully sourced local produce, cheese, maple syrup and more. This spring I sat down with Local’s owners, Pat and Ellie Mullins, to ask why they morphed their must-visit destination shop into Patellie’s Pizza and P&E’s Bottle Shop in Three Oaks, MI.
It wasn’t done lightly. Pat and Ellie had poured their hearts and souls into Local, delivering delicious, local, sustainable foods. When early customers told them that they “didn’t get” what the store was about, Pat and Ellie replied, “Just try things. You’ll get it and you’ll trust us.”
Over time, many who questioned the store’s viability came around, transforming from skeptic to devoted customer. During Local’s final weeks, a customer mourning the shop’s closing said to Ellie, “You and Pat and Local changed the way we eat.”
Leaving Local behind was hard for everyone.
The owners had begun to realize their sustainable shop wasn’t creating a sustainable way of life for them. They thought for more than a year about reshaping its operation, but in the end, they decided to end Local and re-emerge as Patellie’s—Pat and Ellie’s—offering pizza, salads and sandwiches.
Patellie’s was built on the couple’s on-the-fly learning at Local. The backbone of their consistency is the group of local purveyors they still rely on, including Iron Creek, Gunthorp Farms and Granor Farm. And while P&E’s Bottle Shop was an opportunistic reuse of former storage space, it recreates the handpicked wines, beers and hard ciders offered at Local.
The Mullinses’ desire to be happy was at the heart of the change. Happiness, for them, means running their business exceptionally well and planning for growth while claiming and preserving a satisfying personal life in their hometown. Oddly enough, they again face customers who, smarting over Local’s closing, say they “don’t get” why Pat and Ellie chose pizza-making and a bottle shop. Again, their reply is: “Just try things. You’ll get it and you’ll trust us.”
Slowly, that is happening.
“I spent the last seven years listening to people tell me how they wanted me to cook them dinner,” Pat says. “Now I’m cooking them dinner.”
Patellie’s features housemade items including pizza dough, lemon vinaigrette dressing for the bitter greens salad, and sausage for pizza and sandwiches. And it’s probably the only pizzeria where you’ll find whole, perfectly roasted, carry-out chicken on the menu.
Pat and Ellie are approaching their new businesses, Patellie’s and P&E’s Bottle Shop, intentionally. Now that herbs and veggies are starting to pop out of the ground, Pat says they are getting creative with pizza toppings. The kitchen is running smoothly on busy days and slower ones. Ellie is carefully augmenting her beverage stock with crackers, cheeses and more.
Once they’ve achieved their current goals, they might expand to have multiple Patellie’s, or offer frozen pizza, or something they’ve not even dreamed of. But that’s for the future.
P&E’s first shop converted skeptics, thrilled locavores and built a loyal customer base. They are happily doing it all again, just in a different tent.
Patellie's
28 N. Elm St.
Three Oaks, MI
patellies.com
P&E's Bottle Shop
2 Maple St.
Three Oaks, MI
pebottleshop.com
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