Still looking for a place to have dinner with your valentine this weekend?  The Rock House in Houghton is offering some dinner specials: In addition to filet mignon there’s a chicken breast stuffed with spinach, artichoke hearts and a blend of cheeses.  If you want to add some surf to that turf, they’ll be happy to give you shrimp in lemon butter as an add-on to any meal.

Probably not the lowest-fat dishes ever concocted, but Valentine’s Day only comes once a year, right?  Besides, once you’re done you can go next door to the Mine Shaft and work it off with a few frames of bowling.

It’s nice to see some new options on the Houghton dining menu, perhaps enough to tide us over until De La Terre French bistro opens in Lake Linden in the spring.

Update: We did actually eat dinner there tonight, though none of the three people in our group ended up having the Valentine specials.  Two of us had dishes that featured flat iron steak (one a salad with candied walnuts, gorgonzola, romaine and roasted tomatoes, the other a more standard steak with veggies and rice).  The third person had a cheeseburger.  In every case the meals were fine, even pleasant, about what you’d expect from a restaurant attached to a bowling alley and arcade.

What wasn’t pleasant was the wait – it took about 30 minutes to get our three meals, and of course by that time they were no longer completely hot.  True, the restaurant was busy (as was the Mine Shaft), which is absolutely great to see, but it’s the kind of thing that will drive Houghton diners away if not corrected.  We get very used to not having to wait for anything around here, it’s one of the advantages of small town living.  The Rock House can do better; we’ll check back soon to see whether the timing issues have been resolved.

It’s sad to say, but summer’s clearly giving way to fall in the Upper Peninsula.  The leaves are starting to turn, the nights are getting cooler, the days noticeably shorter.  Worse than any of that, we just discovered an amazing frozen yogurt stand — on its last day in town until next summer!  

Merry Berry Frozen Yogurt sells a sweet-tart, fresh-tasting version of the icy concoction that is absolutely refreshing and delicious (like Pinkberry, for those who are familiar with the popular chain).   When we visited there was a choice of passionfruit or “plain” yogurt, with a wealth of toppings including fruit sauces and chocolate chips — 100 percent delicious and grown-up tasting, though the 11-year old we had along loved it too.

The brainchild of a West Coast native and former Chassell, MI resident spends her summers in the Houghton area, the yogurt is sold out of a large trailer that is something like an updated, slightly less mobile version of a traditional ice cream truck.   If all goes well she’d like to franchise the trailers and spread yogurt cheer far and wide, and if there’s any justice in the world she should have a chance to do that.

In the meantime, we’ll be counting the days until Merry Berry’s trailer appears again in Houghton next summer.  PS for Merry Berry: We’d love it if you’d leave us a comment here and let us know the date you’ll be back!

With this post we introduce a new section to Home Sweet Houghton, Quick Bites, in which we’ll offer brief reviews or suggestions on where to go for a good meal in the Keweenaw.  The peninsula is a little short on fine dining establishments, but there are plenty of great places to get a tasty meal and if you’re a fan of breakfast you’ll feel right at home.  Whether it’s French toast, pancakes, eggs or sweet rolls the diners and similar establishments in the Copper Country offer an embarrassment of riches.

Suomi Restaurant

My favorite is still Suomi Restaurant and Bakery in Houghton for Finnish French toast, made with a Finnish egg bread called nisu, and pannukakku, which is often called a pancake but is really more of a baked custard.  Visits there, particularly during the winter, are a fun distraction for our family, and Suomi’s become a regular stop for us when we have guests in town – a delicious meal, loads of local color and a guaranteed introduction to the Yooper accent (PS: Don’t miss the meatball sandwich if it’s lunchtime).

This past weekend, however, it was time for a field trip and the decision, on the occasion of a birthday, was to head 40 minutes south of Houghton to the Baraga County township of L’Anse, which is home to the Hilltop Restaurant and its famed sweet rolls.  Recognized by readers of the Detroit News as the #2 sweet treat in the state of Michigan, these things must be seen – and tasted – to be believed.  It was the first time I’d ever been brought a knife with which to slice a sweet roll, but the minute the pastry arrived at the table the logic in the knife was evident: One roll can easily feed 3-4 people.

www.sweetroll.com

According to the restaurant’s Web site they bake these rolls fresh all day, so you’re guaranteed to get a fresh one whenever you go.  Never mind the calorie calculation, these things are decadent and delicious (I did the math but trust me, you don’t want to know.  Ok, if you really want to know leave a comment to that effect and I’ll tell you.).

They’re best eaten warm from the oven and dripping with frosting at the restaurant, but failing that they ship anywhere in the U.S. twice a month.  If you’re in the area though, do yourself a favor and stop by.