PETOSKEY — A local Petoskey duo has set out to offer locals traditional Greek food this summer with a pop up eatery in High Five Spirit’s downtown tasting room.
The pop-up has been dubbed The Fatted Calf and is the brainchild of locals Tai Drury and Adam Powrozek and is largely inspired by Drury’s recent trip to Greece.
“I had just gotten back and the manager at High Five knew I loved to cook and asked if I wanted to do a pop-up thing at the tasting room,” said Drury.
“I was all about it,” he said.
Drury added he also wanted to offer something like this for Northern Michigan as he doesn’t feel anyone out there really knows what traditional Greek food is.
“Everyone always just thinks baklava and gyros but it’s so much more,” he said.
Everything on the menu is an actual dish that Drury had while in Greece and has been recreated to the best of his abilities while also sourcing most of his ingredients from local farms.
“My uncle owns Local Eats in Good Hart and so I’m starting to understand where our food really comes from and it’s been revolutionary to me as a kid that’s grown up on mac and cheese,” he said.
“It’s been great working with local farms and community on this. It’s a win-win for everyone as I get to support local business and in turn get much better ingredients to use in these dishes that deserve it.”
Some of the local farms and purveyors the duo is working with includes Local Eats, The Farmer’s Creamery, Bear Creek Organic Farm, Sugar View Farms, Second Spring Farm, Providence Organic Farm, Omena Organics and Champion Hill Honey.
The menu will feature traditional Greek dishes such as tzatziki, spinach pie with feta, souvlaki and much more.
The pop-up’s name — The Fatted Calf — is also a resemblance of how the duo is crafting the experience.
“Adam came up with it and I think it’s awesome,” said Drury.
“It’s a kind of biblical reference or metaphor for a celebration or a party which is the whole reason we are doing this. It’s all for fun and because we love to cook, feed people and have a good time doing it,” he said.
The Fatted Calf will only be available and open three Sundays out of the summer, including June 12, July 17 and Aug. 7. The pop-up will open at the High Five Spirits tasting room in downtown Petoskey at 4 p.m. and will stay open until they’re out of food for the evening.
Menu items can be purchased individually with prices ranging from $4 to $15 or can all be purchased for $45 and will arrive to your table with three appetizers, two main courses and one dessert.
“When it comes down to this, it’s all really because we love cooking and feeding people and if there is a way to get people to learn more about culture and where their food comes from then I’ve done what I want to do,” said Drury.
“Really though I just want to cook, make great food for people and have fun doing it.”
Contact reporter Sean Miller at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter, @seanmillerpnr, and Instagram, @sean_everest.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey duo to open Greek food pop-up this summer