Landon and Nicole McDaid didn’t expect their careers would take them to northern Michigan, let alone to the coffee shop business. When the husband and wife met at Ferris University, he was studying environmental biology and she was pursuing a degree in nursing. But eventually, Landon pivoted his focus to hospitality, and then COVID-19 came along and derailed their plans to relocate from Michigan to Phoenix, Arizona. The two ended up in Suttons Bay, where they are now the owners and proprietors of the village’s newest business: Hive Coffee Co. The Leelanau Ticker has the story of that new establishment, plus other restaurant and retail news from around the county.

Hive Coffee

Hive Coffee Co. officially opened in downtown Suttons Bay earlier this month, setting up shop in the 206 North St. Joseph Street space previously occupied by Mundos. The new café held its soft opening on November 16 and has since adopted a six-days-a-week schedule of operations; Closed Wednesdays, Hive is open 7am-2pm all other weekdays and 8am-3pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The business serves Mundos-brand coffee – including a Hive-exclusive blend – but is bringing its own specialties to the table, too. One big signature? Fresh-made waffles, served on a popsicle stick and following a changing flavor rotation. Current flavors include mascarpone-infused matcha maple and blueberry cinnamon. Other popular menu items so far include a house-made vegan lentil soup, a honey hazelnut latte, and “yogi,” a dairy-free, gluten-free twist on overnight oats.

The Leelanau Ticker reported in July that Mundos would be vacating its space on St. Joseph Street, after the Traverse City-based coffee shared on social media that it was “nearing the time when we will no longer make the daily drive from Traverse City to Suttons Bay” to operate the Mundos North location. Instead, Mundos handed the reins to Leelanau residents Landon and Nicole, to “create their own brand and style for the location.” Mundos North operated through October 31, after which the McDaids took over the space and switched the branding over to Hive Coffee Co.

Beyond just operating a café, Landon tells the Leelanau Ticker that he and Nicole are hoping to bring both “a local and global focus” to their business. The local focus is mental health, and McDaid says Hive is currently working to establish partnerships with organizations like the Leelanau Wellness Collective and Leelanau Investing for Teens (LIFT) to host events, provide support, do philanthropy work, and just generally build Hive into “a place where everybody feels welcome, safe, and part of the community.” The global focus, meanwhile, will be to contribute to the cause of honeybee conservation, mostly through education, awareness, and fundraising.

“Collectively, those two priorities funnel into the idea of the ‘Hive,’ as a place to come home to, a place to feel welcomed, and a place to do good,” McDaid says. “So, with that in mind, our goal for the winter is to establish Hive as a communal space where people are coming in not just to get a cup of coffee or a bite to eat, but also to work on their laptops, to read a book, or just to hang out.”

In other Leelanau retail/restaurant news…

>Fiddleheads in Lake Leelanau is hosting weekly pop-up dinner events throughout the winter, with special menus curated by chef Zak Anderson. Anderson oversaw the restaurant’s food truck, 2nd Fiddle, throughout the summer, and is now presenting rotating Friday-and-Saturday offerings inside the restaurant itself.

“Fiddleheads is only open until 3pm, but on Friday and Saturday, we re-open from 5-9pm with a themed special menu that rotates weekly,” Anderson tells the Leelanau Ticker. “Last week was gyros; this week is cheesesteaks. These menus are all created by me, making stuff I like to eat, for a community I love to serve.”

Per Anderson, the pop-ups came to be after Fiddleheads “relinquished the food truck in September” and “renovated the building interior.” The business reopened in mid-November, with Anderson's menus “leading the way.”

November 17-18 marked the inaugural pop-up – a smash burger theme – and the menus will continue at least until late January. Upcoming themes include the aforementioned cheesesteaks (December 1-2), a food-and-wine pairing with Boathouse Vineyards (December 8-9), “Tacos a la Zak” (December 15-16), Asian cuisine (January 5-6), a smash burger encore (January 12-13), and ribs and beer (January 19-20). Menus are released on the Fiddleheads Facebook page in the week leading up to each pop-up.

Anderson says additional dates could be added beyond January, but encourages customers to “stay tuned” with the Fiddleheads social media accounts for more information.

Each pop-up runs from 5-9pm, and most are open to walk-in traffic. The exception is the Boathouse Vineyards wine pairing, which has “limited seats both nights.” Tickets for that event have been on sale since mid-November, but are still available through Fiddleheads' online ordering system.

While the pop-ups are the wintertime plan, Anderson expects 2nd Fiddle or some version of it will be back next year. “I have a posted schedule of menu events that extends into spring, after which I assume I’ll find a way to set up shop outside again,” he says.

The pop-ups held on the first Friday of each month coincide with recurring Fiddleheads open mic nights, hosted by Mama Bird.

>The Leland Breakfast Bistro has closed its doors at 101 South Main Street. Sunday, November 12 marked the final day of operations at that location. The bistro, which was owned and operated by the Maple City-based Leelanau Coffee Roasting Co., served coffee, waffles, omelettes, sandwiches, and a variety of other breakfast, brunch, and lunch offerings to patrons in downtown Leland.

Owners John and Steve Arens opened the bistro in June 2021, taking over the space that had previously been occupied by the Early Bird, the breakfast restaurant owned and operated by Skip and Lynn Telgard, who also own the neighboring Bluebird Restaurant and Tavern. The Arens brothers struck an arrangement to lease the bistro space from the Telgards after COVID precautions and staffing issues left the Early Bird shuttered and empty for much of 2020.

Neither brother could be reached for comment on this story. Leelanau Coffee also has yet to publicly announce the closure of the bistro either on its website – which still includes a page and menu for the restaurant – or on social media. It isn’t clear whether the closure has anything to do with Brownfield redevelopment plans for the Bluebird property, which would also include the eventual redevelopment of the Early Bird/Leland Bistro space.

>Leland’s Tampico Imports, known for its selection of sterling silver jewelry, Leland blue, and other unique or custom jewelry pieces, has officially called it a day after 36 years. The shop had a big Black Friday sale last week, with products marked down 25-50 percent off, and had its last-everday of regular business on Sunday. Tampico shared on Facebook yesterday (Tuesday) that it was “doing inventory” of everything remaining in stock, sharing photos of a few remaining items. “Call after 10am if you’re interested in anything,” the post added.  

>Finally, Dune Bird Winery in Northport announced on Monday evening that it had “come to the hard decision of closing the tasting room for the winter.” The winery’s last day until spring will be Sunday, December 17. Dune Bird celebrated the second anniversary of its 2021 opening this past weekend.

“Staffing is part of the reason [for the closure], yes, as we’ve had to say goodbye to quite a few of our incredible team this fall,” Dune Bird shared in an email to newsletter subscribers. “But we’ve also been faced with some difficult personal challenges and need to take a step back to rest and re-evaluate.”

“We are looking forward to a great 2024 season and want to thank you, in advance, for your grace and patience as we focus inward for a time in order to better serve outward,” the email continued.

Despite the seasonal closure, Dune Bird will continue fulfilling online wine orders throughout the wintertime.

Pictured: Nicole and Landon McDaid at a ribbon-cutting for Hive Coffee (left); Hive's signature waffles (right)