The first night on Mackinac Island, even though we were staying at Mission Point Resort, a group of us went out for dinner at Woods, part of the The Grand Hotel group. Since the conference was starting the next morning, all of the participants that arrived the night before were on their own for dinner, drinks and good times. There were ten of us, that decided to go out for dinner at Woods and we had to call for a “taxi” and it was a good thing that we did. While The Grand Hotel may have been a two mile walk from our hotel, Woods was way beyond the normal grounds of the hotel, on the other side of the airport and golf course; in fact the poor horses had to stop several times along the way to rest.
When we arrived at Woods, we were greeted by a Tudor style mansion with a Bavarian air to it. This building at one time was used by the children of the families staying at The Grand Hotel and to maintain that tradition in concept instead of white tablecloths, the tables were covered with white paper and there were crayons for people to doodle between courses. The building is also home to America’s oldest operating duckpin bowling alley. They did a fine job converting the building to the current situation with a bar on the side, and a very ample size restaurant on the other side of the anteroom. There were also photographs of America’s favorite child Shirley Temple featured on the wall, while in the dining area there was a pianist and a taxidermist’s haven.  We started off by ordering a Chicken Liver and Pork Pate plate, but it like the other appetizers started circling the table, so we tried Baked Escargot, Smoke Mackinac Trout, and a Vidalia Onion Tart as well. Then we tried to Lobster-Shrimp Bisque during the salad course and it was very rich, and thankfully not over salted as some bisques can be. My Bride enjoyed Pecan crusted Mackinac Whitefish with Black Beluga Lentils, while I had to enjoy the Pan Roasted Farm Raised Duck Breast, Duck Confit Bread Pudding, Hazelnuts and PlumGastrique. This was followed by a Grand Marnier Crème Brulee and coffee.

A couple of the wines on the wine list sounded intriguing and after decided on our dinner selections, I had to find the right wine. I asked if I could have a taste of two of the wines, to decide on the right one. Imagine my surprise when the tastings were full pours of both wines. The two wines that had caught my eye were both from Austria, a country that I had not really (if ever) had the pleasure to try their wines. The first wine that I will discuss was the wine that did not make it, but I put it aside to have later along with my entrée was Weingut Brundlmayer Pinot Noir Reserve 2011. This wine carries an appellation from Kamptal in Austria. I was aware that Pinot Noir was a favored red in both Germany and Austria, so I was curious about it. The wine was more fruit forward then I thought would be a good choice for my Bride’s whitefish, but it was very good with my entrée.  The other wine that I tasted and decided to go with, was a varietal that I have read about from several of the other Wine Bloggers that I follow, and it goes to show that I do read what they write about. We had a Fass 4 Gruner Veltliner 2013 by Weingut Bernhard Ott GMBH from Wagram, Austria. This was a very enjoyable wine with some spice and acidity and it worked very well with both of our dinners. I also shared some with some of the other diners who had just ordered a bottle of Chardonnay, so they could try a different white wine and perchance look for it, the next time they were out dining.

Afterwards, the restaurant manager had called for a “taxi” to take us back to the hotel, and we were given quite a tour of the island, even though it was late, the evening sky illuminated very well so we could appreciate a lot of the homes that we passed, including the mansion that is for the Governor of Michigan when he is up on the island. We were also given a grand view of the port from up on the bluff on our way back, and I could feel for the horses, as our driver was constantly applying the brakes on the wagon as we were going down hill.