IT’S JUST A matter of weeks, maybe less, until Marquette’s new Asian restaurant opens up on US-41, where the Great Hunan used to be located.
It’ll be called Jasmine Asian Cuisine, brought to you by Art Werachai Thammasiri and May Matinee Thammikakun, the same people who operate the Thai House and Teriyaki Bowl.
The Jasmine, they say, will be Asian fusion–mostly Chinese but some Thai and some Japanese. That means familiar Chinese American fare but also pork belly, curries, pad Thai, sushi, and May hopes, possibly some dishes featuring the entire fish.
And if a deal can be worked out with a supplier, they’ll offer dim sum, little dishes of Chinese food that you’ll only rarely find outside of big cities. You order several little plates of bite-sized food and then share them. Delicious. It’s usually a much anticipated weekend feast.
The restaurant has been completely remodeled and the equipment is in place but as usual, there are inspections to be finalized, and last minute glitches that crop up.
The staff has been hired, including a chef who was brought here from Thailand the day after Christmas.
The permanent exterior sign hasn’t been installed yet.
Art and May had been hoping to open on January 9th…It’s been pushed back to the 15th…A further delay? Well, we’ll see. Hold on to your taste buds until then.
THE VERDICT IS in, and it appears that the much publicized Be Local Buy Local campaign in Marquette County was a stunning success.
Here are the numbers:
Nearly 100 independent, local businesses took part in the three-month campaign.
They gave away $4600 in gift certificates…$300 a week for 12 weeks, then $1000 to the final winner at the end of the year.
2100 people downloaded the Be Local Buy Local app, and submitted 8500 store receipts in the contest.
And, get this: those receipts represented $549,000 in purchases from the local stores. That’s a big chunk of change.
The contest, sponsored by the Marquette and Ishpeming/Negaunee Chambers of Commerce, featured a digital twist. You downloaded the app, then took photos of your receipts, and submitted them into the contest hopper digitally.
It’s not the way Grandma and Grandpa used to do it, that’s for sure.
But it worked. 2100 people did it, and some of them walked away with extra Christmas money.
No surprise, Jason Schneider, the Marquette Chamber executive director, says four other chambers are now inquiring about the campaign. They may want to try it themselves. The local chambers, in the meantime, are licensing the idea as intellectual property. With luck, they may make additional money off of it.
But most important, they found that a focused effort can get shoppers to buy locally. We want to buy at small, local shops and restaurants. Expect more such campaigns in the year ahead.
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A FAMILIAR VOICE at the Radio Results Network got his walking papers during his Christmas vacation.
Nicky Smaby, the sales manager, occasional on air personality, and a former newsman, is out. This, after working there for 30 years.
So it goes in the radio business.
He prefers not to elaborate on the reason for the termination. No reason to get into it. It’s just business. RRN management hasn’t provided a comment on the termination, either.
Smaby has voiced countless commercials over the years.
He also did a stint with TV6 news a couple of decades ago and has been active in civic and political life in Marquette County over the years.
And now? He’s got plans but he’s not disclosing them yet. The good news, though, is that he’s staying in Marquette.
THE LATEST ON Greg Peterson, the U.P’s rampaging, crusading, passionate, and sometimes reckless online journalist.
He had his day in court a few weeks ago when he was ordered by the judge to take down a couple of posts that publicized confidential information about a man who’d been issued citations by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Peterson immediately complied. And now, although he’s been assigned an attorney and will likely have to return to court, he admits he doesn’t know exactly what happened in court nor what might happen next.
Regardless, he hasn’t skipped a beat in his reporting on Upper Peninsula Breaking News. He seems to be on the scanner or in his vehicle every day, covering police-related news all over the U.P.
He’s worked for mainstream news outlets throughout his career–mostly recently as news director at ABC 10–but now is strictly a one man operation.
He’s not getting rich. In fact, he says he’s losing money every month on gas and the purchase of public documents.
But you gotta give it to the guy. He seems to love his work.
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You got news? Email me at briancabell@gmail.com.