Soe Cafe, Sawyer, MI

Just had lunch at the So<long e>e cafe, at the junction of Sawyer Rd. and Red Arrow highway in Michigan. The chef is Justin White, formerly of the Custom House.

The food was pretty good. My wife and I each had a "Snack" (menu category), and an Appetizer, a brew, and a dessert. We passed on the sandwich plates, because the other two categories had some interesting mixes we had to try.

My wife had the Country Meat Snack, which was a ramekin of chicken liver mousse, with a dab of caramelized onion, and some oven blasted crusty bread. It was immensely rich (the bomb), and the slightly charred bread helped balance the taste. The dab of almost cooked black onions were not to bad either. Almost black, and I have to thick reduced in a sweet sauce.

Her appetizer was butter beans on biscotti with blue cheese. The bread was quite thick, and very crusty. Held up well to the very pale and tender butter beans in a sauce with a nice tang of blue cheese. A light meal in itself.

I had the cheese appetizer (don't remember the exact name.) The cheese had a name including "...Wild Rice...". There were many flecks of something dark, but I couldn't tell if they were toasted spice, or really bits of wild rice. I would have like a bit more than 2 slices. Eating some plain, not on the warm toast, I couldn't quite get the flavor. It was a nice buttery white cheese with a faint nutty and spice flavor.

For the appetizer I had the lentils with feta and almonds. It came with a stack of fresh bread thins, big bubbles and oven browned, for dipping. The lentil mix was very smooth, and very mild. The biggest taste was from the almonds, which was surprising.

We still had some room left for dessert. My wife had the blackberry cheese cake. Good, tangy, not a heavy slab of cheese. I had the peanut butter and banana cream pie. Two rounds of fluffy stuff on top of a nilla wafer crust. Light, very tasty, and I had a noticeable sugar buzz at the end.

The service was good. We ate on the back porch, with a view into the woods just behind. A nice touch, children are offered colored pencils and paper. The wall was decorated with framed childrens' drawings, which were nice. There was a drawing of what seemed to be an eggplant still life. A big purple friend plant.

Overall, a good meal, and a nice place. The background music was was a mix of 60's most psychedelic light (very curious). The closest to a rocker was the Standells' "Dirty Water." During the Moody Blue's "Tuesday," during a mellotron bit, as I was sucking down some of the chicken liver mousse, I thought "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" might have been more appropriate.

Fall hours, open at 4 pm.

Soe' Cafe
12868 Red Arrow Highway
Sawyer, MI 49125-9173
(269) 426-4878

We had a very good dinner there last month and I thought that we need to go there more often.

I don't remember many details but my wife also had the butter bean appetizer and loved it. I had a variation of you pate and it was also really good. I don't remember our entrees other than we thought they were delicious.

Soe continues to be the best restaurant in Harbor Country, the only place worthy of not eating in cooking with stuff from Local and the farmers markets/stands.

Lots of good cocktails that I haven't had before. I still love the rillete (currently pork) and duck confit apps.

Just heard Soe Cafe closed November 4th. Very sad news to lose the best restaurant in the area. I really hope someone reopens with a similar menu.

Just saw this on their Facebook page:

Hello friends, some exciting new to share - Chef Brandon Baltzley will be doing a weekend pop-up restaurant at Soe Cafe starting on January 17th for several months.

This is taken from The Chicago Eater press release:

The menu inspiration will be the Home cooking bible "The Joy of Cooking" cookbook, says Chef Baltzley.

"It's pretty much all focused on 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s Americana food. We're going to run a menu that will change every week, but it will all be 99% from the Joy of Cooking cookbook. Inspired by the oddball recipes from that book. We'll tweak them a little bit to make them nicer," Baltzley says. The menu will change from week to week.

So what can people expect from the menu? Appetizers, which will range in price from $6 to $12, will include pig tails, smoked herring and Scotch egg. Dinner will have homey dishes such as fried chicken, stuffed cabbage and beef stew, and will range in price from $12 to $24.

For those that want to feel even more like they're in an episode of Mad Men, the drink menu will include such classics as White Russians, Tom Collins and Negronis.

Reservations for Soe Cafe, which can be made by calling 508-367-9762, are highly encouraged.

The restaurant will be open on Friday and Saturday with service from 5:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. with a bar menu offered from 10 p.m. until 12 a.m. Sunday brunch hours are 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.

From Soe's Facebook page:

Hi friends and neighbors, I have some really exciting news to share with you! Mesa Luna will open in the space in late April. I will keep you posted with the details of the opening day as it becomes firm. Many of you may already know Sam Luna and his talents from Mesa Luna in Three Oaks a few years back. Sam has designed an amazing menu that will consist of a lot of small plates and full or half size entree options. He is working to finalize the opening menu and we will post that within the next few weeks. We welcome both Sam and Denise to the neighborhood!!!!

I remember having some very good meals at Mesa Luna many years ago. Looking forward it.