As I was looking at some of the mementos that I keep, there was a generic blank white matchbook that I had inscribed Windows/Traverse City 6/7/95.  I smiled because I remembered the dinner we had there.  We had gone on a trip to Traverse City, firstly because my Bride had business up there, and then we decided to spend a couple of more days there on our own, rather then hurry up and go home as the area is quite lovely.  This was before the explosion of new restaurants that changed the appearance of this resort town.  I had some customers that had a summer home in Traverse City and Windows was one of the restaurants that they had touted me on, so we decided to check it out.

The restaurant was on the water, and I do believe that it was called Windows, because the entire waterside of the restaurant was encased in windows, so there was a lovely panoramic view to enhance the dining experience.  We started with a couple of different pate dishes made from fish, which is proper for a waterfront Michigan restaurant.  Then we each enjoyed a salad, my Bride had a “Michigan” salad that had nuts and cherries in it, while I had a classic Spinach salad with hot bacon dressing (a classic dish found everywhere in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  My Bride then had a dish of Whitefish, while I had a plate of Perch.  Two very simple but perfect dishes when you think of dining off of Lake Michigan.

For our wine selection that evening we had a charming Bolla Chardonnay 1993 from the Puglia district of Italy.  This wine was a crisp Chardonnay from a very larger wine shipper of Italy.  I describe it as crisp, because it was not the buttery, oakey Chardonnay that was the rage out of California at the time and I found it to be a nice change of pace and paired very well with the fish dishes.  Alas this restaurant is no longer in business, and from what I gather the owner/chef has found a new location in the city.