BEST CHEF - LAKE MAGAZINE JULY 2005

MATT BALMER
EVERYDAY PEOPLE CAFÉ
DOUGLAS, MICHIGAN

HOME COOKING Matt Balmer may have gotten his culinary degree from Grand Rapids Community College, but it's certainly not where he got his love for cooking. "I got polished there, but I got my soul from her," says the executive chef, referring to the influence of his mother, who for nearly 20 years served up home-cooked meals to hungry, blue-collar patrons as owner of the Douglas Dinette. In 1998, Balmer partnered with his mother to transform the dinette into Everyday People Café, spicing up the decor and the menu to offer discerning patrons a hip dining experience minus the usual haughty pretense. "There's a fine line between being fresh, creative and new," he says, "and keeping a base of consistency, a few favorite dishes to rely on.

Balmer, with the help of head chef Curt Bass, tiptoes that fine line masterfully, offering staples like Gorgonzola pork chops, pesto pasta, and one of the best takes on sesame-encrusted tuna you're likely to find anywhere, seared rare, with lemon-ginger beurre blanc, wasabi, and Asian corn cakes. From there, the constantly rotating menu fans out to include gastronomical delights like lobster-scallop risotto and Buffalo strip steak with smoked sea salt-pepper rub, as well as several hearty appetizers like drunken shrimp sambuca, and the restaurant's signature dessert: a rich creme brulee with puffed pastries and a sweet raspberry coulis. It's a menu that's rapidly putting Douglas on the map.

Everyday People Café is located at 11 Center St, Douglas. Open Mon, Tues, Thurs 11am-2pm, 5:30-10pm; Fri 11am-2pm, 5:30-11pm; Sat 8am-2pm, 5:30pm-11pm; Sun 8m-1pm, 5:30-10pm, 269-857-4240.

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