Episode 7: Northern Delights

In 1982 DeAnne Loll decided she wanted start her very own natural foods restaurant in a place that had more trees than people. After moving to Traverse City and starting the deli at the Oryana Food Co-op, she partnered with Robin Webb-Bransky and Betty Demers to create Northern Delights in the heart of Benzie County. The restaurant was hailed as an ‘oasis in the middle of nowhere.’ Northern Delights was later sold to a young Jim Barnes. He hired a vibrant group of students who ended each shift with a communal meal and a cool plunge into Lake Michigan. That oasis in the middle of nowhere became somewhere, and now the Grand Traverse region is recognized as one of the premiere culinary destinations in the United States.

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