The Cedar Rustic Inn

Dec. 28, 2008

As near as a hairdresser is to your ear, your stylist might slip in a word about his or her favorite place to dine and drink.
You should listen up.
Hairdresser Mark Lizenby, owner of Hair Force One in Traverse City, has been planting good words about the Cedar Rustic Inn in Cedar. Lizenby is one of many Leelanau County locals who have discovered Cedar’s secret treasure.
“Mark is here every other day, to eat dinner or for carry-out,” says Nikki Ackley, who with husband and chef, Aaron, runs the Cedar Rustic Inn in Cedar. “We didn’t expect local loyalty so early—local people are our bread and butter. We couldn’t make it without them.” said Nikki Ackley.
The Ackleys have an impressive resumé of restaurant and bar experience. Aaron, a four-year graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, has been in the restaurant business since 1989. He has worked at Art’s Tavern, La Senorita, the Homestead, the Casino, Boone’s Prime Time, the Village Inn and the Cove. “We wind up knowing everybody because we’ve worked in so many places,” says Aaron.
“I have bachelor’s in English,” says Nikki. “I tried to find a job teaching, but it didn’t work out, so I waitressed. It prepared me for now.”
Nikki is the restaurant’s front-of-the-house manager. “In the winter I work mostly weekends.” She spends time with the couple’s two children, Annabelle, 4, and Adrienne, 5 months. “In the summer I work full-time.”

ALL IN THE FAMILY
The restaurant is a family affair in more ways than one. The Cedar Rustic Inn sits next to the award-winning Longview Winery owned by stepdad, Allan Eaker; Aaron’s mom, Linda Ackley-Eaker, has her foundry behind the restaurant. “My mother is a sculptor,” says Aaron, “She bought the old Eddie G’s in 2002 and thought she would turn it into a foundry and studio, possibly a gallery. But people kept suggesting she put in a breakfast-coffee shop.”
“We decided that a foundry front and center wasn’t the best use of this property,” says Aaron. Ackley-Eaker moved her foundry to make space for a restaurant. “My mom knew it was a long-time dream of mine. We bulldozed the old structure and in 2005 built this restaurant on the site. We opened for business in May 2006.”
Ackley is a happy chef even though he works 12-hour days. The Cedar Rustic Inn is open year-round. “You have to make a statement that says ‘we’re open, we’re here,’” says Ackley. “We live in town. I get to see my daughters and if I have to zip home I can. This is not like a regular job where you feel deprived.”
Chef Ackley is serious about food. “I’m a cook, always been a cook. My motto is ‘less more often’ so we make less food more often and it stays fresher. We hardly use anything boxed—all the sauces, soups and vegetables are homemade. We even make our own slaw and dressing.”
On Sunday the restaurant hosts two all-you-can-eat family style meals. Breakfast ($8.95) from 8 a.m. ‘til 12.30 p.m. complete with eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, ham, biscuits, sausage gravy, pancake and a beverage served at your table. From 1 p.m. ‘til 8 p.m. it’s a fried chicken dinner ($13.95), reminiscent of Frankenmuth, with cornbread, soup, coleslaw and macaroni salads, house-fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, buttered noodles, vegetables and a beverage.

WHAT’S COOKIN’
With seating for 60 (28 on the patio in summer), the Cedar Rustic Inn offers a full bar.
Lunch is soup, eight sandwiches like the Dagwood with turkey, ham, corned beef topped with cheddar, Swiss and coleslaw ($6.95) and burgers and hotdogs like the charbroiled, Plevalean burger ($5.50); five lunch salads like the Caesar ($6.25) and “munchies” like French fries, onion rings and chili cheese fries.
Dinner offers salads and a perch sandwich ($7.50) or Cedar burger ($7.95); The Blanco Burrito ($11.95) and Tex-Mex tacos with beef ($10.95) or chicken ($11.25) that comes with Spanish rice, salsa and refried beans. Entrées include Hudson Valley Pot Roast ($13.50) with mashed potatoes and gravy, Grandma’s Chicken and Biscuits ($12.50), a stew of chicken breast and vegetables; and Mauna Loa Salmon ($15.95) broiled with pineapple and topped with macadamia nuts. Chef Ackley urges you to try his St. Louis Style Spareribs (half $14.50) that are “fall off the bone” tender.
Cedar Rustic Inn does carryout pizza from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Their Greek (12-inch $10) is topped with feta, tomatoes, olives and artichokes; the BBQ chicken pizza (12-inch $9.50) has grilled chicken and BBQ sauce.
“When my mom was looking at buying this corner (County Roads 643 and 651) a developer friend of hers said, ‘This location gets so much traffic—you’re on the corner of Main and Main,’” says Ackley. “I couldn’t think of a better location. We have two main north and south arterials. We draw from Empire, Northport, Leland, Maple City and Suttons Bay. It’s the center of the county—around thirteen miles from everywhere.”

Cedar Rustic Inn, 8699 Good Harbor Trail, Cedar - phone number 231-228-2282.