“We just try to keep the menu small and simple, and do a handful of things well, there’s definitely a handful of different influences,” said the owner of Wren in Suttons Bay, Adam McMarlin.
One of those influences is his own culinary curiosity.
“I never cooked octopus before and I wanted to,” he said.
The octopus is tossed in the pressure cooker so it’s tender to the tooth, and plated perfectly.
“Kind of balanced, the brightness of the marinade, lots of lemon, shallot, garlic, olive oil and some oregano,” he said.
It’s the perfect start before an entrée, like the scallops.
“We want it to be balanced so we have a little spicy curry cauliflower, the richness from the parsnip, the sweetness from the raisin, and the pistachios are also a little bit spicy but all together, an explosion of sensation in your mouth,” he described.
Every great meal ends with dessert of course.
“My dad makes the best key lime pie in the world but he won’t give me the recipe, of course,” Adam said. “So I have been missing it, so we just made our own version of that.”
It’s finished off with candied lime zest, and some bee pollen.
Family was the inspiration for the restaurant’s name, too, coming from his second daughter.
“Her middle name is Wren, so I thought that would be cute to name it after one of my kids and also it gave us a logo,” he explained.
Wrens are a migratory bird.
“So they come up here and go down south, kind of like a lot of people here,” Adam said.
But they’ll always have a home here in Suttons Bay.
“We just do a few so we know we are doing these few things well,” Adam said.
You can find Wren at 303 N. St. Joseph Street, or call them at 231-271-1175.
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