As locals continue to gravitate to carryout — and families across the county adjust to fall schedules — these Leelanau restaurateurs and caterers are filling the gaps with family meals to serve at home.

In Burdickville, Trattoria Funistrada’s dining room remains closed, but co-owners Holly and Tom Reay are offering take-away Wednesday through Sunday.

The Italian gathering place now offers a regular to-go dinner menu, released weekly, plus dishes suited to serve four, such as a take-and-bake lasagna Bolognese ($50); chicken Vesuvio par-roasted to finish at home in the oven, with roasted potatoes and peas ($42); and Tuscan dry-rubbed ribs with anchovy-caper potato salad ($36-$59). All family meals include salad and bread.

Holly Reay explains that their “scheduled ordering is just like making a reservation, but for take-out,” and notes that some of the family-sized offers do sell out quickly. “The dry-rubbed ribs have been especially popular. A lot of times, people will order regular dinners and then get a family meal to cook the next night. Several people have grabbed lasagnas to take back home or to freeze.”

At Blu in Glen Arbor, chef Randy Chamberlain and wife/co-owner Mari Chamberlain, have evolved their fine-dining experience to a curbside take-away restaurant serving dinner Tuesday through Saturday, 4:30pm to 8:30pm. A new menu is published each Monday for the week.

Randy Chamberlain tells the Leelanau Ticker they started a family meal with their very first takeout menu back in May, and it’s been a runaway success. “And certainly, it’s allowing me to get into some foods that I wouldn’t normally do, but foods that I love,” he says. “The recipe book is wide open and not limited to fancy ‘Blu’ dishes. We will see even more of this as we slow down through the fall...if it ever does slow down.”

For example, this week’s family meal at Blu  — which is $54 and serves four-plus people — is a roast pork loin with a blueberry mostarda sauce, caraway sauerkraut, roasted potatoes and vegetables. Chamberlain says a homemade 10-inch banana cream pie — “my favorite dessert” — is included in the meal.

Caterers Melanie and Timothy Griffith of Mel & Fell in Empire (pictured above) were ahead of the curve with a meal subscription service they started with two local families last fall. It has grown into a full roster of clients, with ready-to-heat meals delivered to Glen Arbor and Empire households that prefer sheltering in place to dining out, and to those who just need a break from the daily task of home cooking.

Their menus are emailed and posted on Fridays; with orders placed by Sunday night for meal delivery on Wednesday. Check out the menu or sign up to receive it weekly here. Entrees (such as house-smoked salmon fettuccine; or Stormcloud Nightswimmer Stout-braised brisket with cheddar grits and greens) come in single or double orders and can be requested in multiples to feed a family.

Deliveries are between 2pm and 5pm on Wednesdays and — true small-town service — leaving a cooler with ice on the porch or access to a garage fridge are options. Those outside Mel & Fell’s Glen Arbor and Empire delivery area can also make arrangements for pickup.

Photo: Mae Stier Creative