MUSKEGON, Mich. — As summer vacations begin and plans are made, many people have their sights set on our lakeshore communities. Fox 17 did a mad dash from Muskegon down to Holland to find unique businesses showcasing what our neighborhoods have to offer.
After a day at the beach near Muskegon, consider visiting Lumberman's Vault in downtown, a newly opened restaurant collective that debuted in December.
Lumberman's Vault features a variety of dining options, including Soul Filled, where General Manager Alisha Brown showcased their signature turkey knuckles and catfish for Fox 17. Referencing the collection of restaurants in one room, Brown said, “For me, it shows a lot of equity in our community. I think it celebrates the cultures and diversity within our community, where you have the soul food, you have the American food, the Asian cuisine, and then also the Hispanic food. So it's very collaborative.”
Michael Elliott, the assistant manager at The Press within the collective, expressed his appreciation for the community engagement aspect. “It's just super cool. And I love the personal relationship,” he said. “I was a chef for 15 years. I was back in the kitchen, you know, by myself. It's just creating moments for people and curating the community vibe that we're really going for, and it's been going well.”
Elliott also highlighted the café’s breakfast and lunch offerings, which begin at 7 a.m. The Press serves an array of coffee beverages. He showed us their iced butter caramel dalgona.
Another restaurant in the collective is Up Leaf, owned by Marylou Nguyen, who prepared Korean beef rolls and Vietnamese pork bowls during our visit. She said, "A lot of people have not been around the world in Asia, so I traveled a lot, and so I thought it nice to give everybody a little glimpse of each region and show what wonderful Asian food we have."
“It's very awesome, because even myself, after work, I can wind down, close down, have a drink at the bar, and everything is made from scratch, with them as well. It's very high quality,” she said.
At the heart of the culinary hub is Liquid Assets Cocktail and Wine Bar, which features an original bank vault door, as the space occupies a former bank within Core Plaza.
Further south, if you're visiting Holland and can't decide where to eat, consider joining a walking tasting tour that features six different restaurants.
"A walking food tour is the best way to experience any location, because in three hours time, you taste a bunch of different authentic food from that location, you learn about the history, the art and the architecture of the location," explained Linda Kaiser, the owner and operator of Holland Tasting Tours. "I love Holland history. I tell it in story form. It's not the boring history you remember from high school. This is stories, and I think it's fun."
One of the stops is Waverly Stone in downtown Holland.
They showed us their made-in-house smoked salmon spread. It's one of the offerings on the lunch tour.
The tours, available year-round from Tuesday to Saturday, accommodate groups ranging from two to twelve people, with prices starting at $50 for adults and $28 for kids. Private tours can be as low as $40 per person. In addition, tour guide Linda also offers a cemetery walking tour for those interested in local history.
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