A new Mediterranean restaurant is set to open in the former G’s Pizzeria building at 1500 US-31 in Traverse City. The Ticker has a first look at the project, plus updates on other restaurant and retail openings, closings and moves across the region.

Calypso Mediterranean Grill
Following several months of building renovations, the former G’s Pizzeria building is set to reopen as a new restaurant called Calypso Mediterranean Grill (pictured).

Restaurateur Todd Gokey and Beth MacLean bought the property last fall with the goal of fixing it up and either flipping the parcel to another restaurateur or opening their own business at the site. The duo – who also own the former Copper Falls Steakhouse building on South Airport Road – are going the latter route, bringing on Copper Falls Executive Chef Serkan Erginkara to prepare “Mediterranean cuisine with a Turkish flare.”

“The concept is going to be 70 or 80 percent Mediterranean,” says Erginkara. “We don’t want to turn people away, so we will also have prime rib, filets, burgers, salmon, New York strip, things like that.” Preview photos of the restaurant’s dishes posted on Calypso’s website describe “fresh and wholesome Mediterranean-inspired dishes hand-prepared daily,” such as chicken shish kabobs, stuffed red peppers, pork tenderloin with couscous and veggies, and scallops, shrimp and other seafood dishes.

Calypso will also have a liquor license, offering six craft beers on tap, bottled Michigan beer, a wine list and a cocktail menu. The “no reservations” restaurant will accommodate both walk-in and carry-out business for lunch and dinner seven days a week, with listed hours of 11am to 10pm. Erginkara says the company is completing final preparations and should be open within the next week or so.

In other business news...
New Cuban-centric breakfast and lunch café Traverse Bay Café has opened its doors at 810 East Front Street in the former Piccolo Forno building. Co-owners André Villoch and Andy Weaver are serving up Cuban sandwiches, bread and coffee – “just like my tía (aunt) taught me to make it,” says Villoch – along with breakfast and lunch staples such as cinnamon rolls, frittatas, pancakes, salads, BLTs and burgers. The restaurant is open daily from 6am until 3pm.

Children’s clothing store Gymboree is set to close its doors in the Grand Traverse Mall. The closure is part of the chain’s national restructuring and is one of nine Michigan locations slated to be shuttered. A store employee Monday said a closing date hasn’t yet been determined for the store, which is currently holding going-out-of-business sales. Also in Grand Traverse Mall, northern Michigan food truck Cheese & Company has opened a brick-and-mortar location in the mall’s food court. The eatery serves gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, mac & cheese, and cheesecake bites, as well as beverages from Light of Day Tea Farm, Higher Grounds Coffee, and Northwoods Soda. Dunham’s Sporting Goods is also nearing its grand opening in the mall, with hiring signs posted around the store entrance. Mall representatives did not return a request for comment on an exact opening date, but previously stated the store would open this summer.

Chef and owner Jason Gollan, who formerly owned Crescent Bakery in Frankfort, opened the doors to his new Common Good Bakery at 537 West Fourteenth Street (next to Kap N Keg Party Store) in Traverse City Friday. The self-described “neighborhood bakery” offers fresh-baked daily bread, croissants, scones, muffins, and pastries, plus breakfast sandwiches and other “morning comfort food” and soups and sandwiches for lunch. The company offers online ordering and a weekly bread club (with six-month and annual memberships available). Common Good Bakery operates Tuesday-Sunday from 6am to 3pm.

In downtown Traverse City, Chris Fifarek has opened Antiquities Barn at 211 West Grandview Parkway in the Warehouse District. The store specializes in the repurposing of “one-of-a-kind architectural objects and curiosities from around the world,” particularly unique doors, artwork and European antiques. “We’re one of the nation’s top reclaimed door sellers…we cater a lot to builders and interior designers,” says Fifarek. The store is a spinoff of Phoneix-based Antiquities Warehouse, which is owned by Fifarek’s family and has been featured on the DIY Network. The Traverse City location boasts a unique addition – the presence out front of a Nicholas Farm and Vineyards stand, featuring fresh produce for sale from Fifarek’s Old Mission Peninsula farm.

Around the corner downtown, partners Christine and Taylor Keefe and Glenn Durfee have opened a new speakeasy at 123 West Front Street. The unnamed, historic-themed cocktail lounge – first reported on by The Ticker in February – is fronted by a tea shop called Teetotallers, which hides the 80-capacity Victorian-furnished bar accessible by a revolving bookcase. The cocktail menu, inspired by different Traverse City historical moments, features house-made bitters and infusions and locally sourced ingredients. The speakeasy accepts online reservations as well as walk-ins on a first-come, first-served basis.

A popular Cadillac liquidation center is opening a new Traverse City location. Hi-Lo Outlet opens its doors today (Wednesday) at 1253 West South Airport Road next to Play It Again Sports. Owners Kathy and Fred Moomey offer department and big-box store items at discounted prices, acquiring closeout sale, overstocked, irregular, seasonal, surplus, discounted and customer-returned items and reselling them. Products – which are changed weekly – include health and beauty items, housewares, clothing & footwear, pet supplies, home décor, hardware and automotive, toys and games, snacks & dry goods, and more. A grand opening event is scheduled for August 26.

Cartridge World has reopened its doors at a new location in Traverse City. Formerly located across from the Grand Traverse Mall near the intersection of South Airport Road and Crossing Circle, the world’s largest ink and toner retailer now has a new home at 1077 South Airport Road near Garfield Road. The company offers printing products and services as well as cartridge recycling.

Finally, two new East Bay Plaza tenants are nearing their opening dates. Developer Tom McIntyre says Arby’s hopes to open in the Munson Avenue complex “by Labor Day,” while The Soup Cup is targeting a September opening. The plaza – home to Tom’s East Bay, a new Tropical Smoothie Café and several other businesses – still has one unclaimed retail space available in the development’s newest buildings, according to McIntyre.