Toasted Pickle featured on Food Network’s Cooking Channel
By Alexander Sinn
(photo by: Toasted Pickle )
The Toasted Pickle in Grand Haven
If you flip to the Food Network’s Cooking Channel on Thursday, Aug. 23, you might recognize a popular downtown Grand Haven restaurant.
The Toasted Pickle will be featured on “Seaside Snacks and Shacks.” The show airs at 10 p.m.
“We were quite surprised actually,” owner Karen Avery said of the recognition for her restaurant, which opened at 112 Washington Ave. in downtown Grand Haven two years ago.
Avery said she received an email from the Cooking Channel in early spring, and first thought it might be a scam.
What followed was a competition with 30 restaurants from around the Great Lakes to be featured on a new program, “Seaside Snacks and Shacks.” Four restaurants were selected for the episode.
Toasted Pickle chef Adam Davis, who prepared sandwiches in the episode, said the restaurant puts an emphasis on making food that you would eat with your family.
“We do a different take on traditional sandwiches,” he said. ”We don’t have a walk-in cooler or a freezer here. Everything’s fresh. The only thing we have that’s frozen is french fries and chips.”
Davis showed off two Toasted Pickle sandwiches to show host Sabin Lomac, including the Green Goddess Grilled Cheese, which features a unique homemade pesto sauce. Davis described it as sweeter than most pestos.
The Nashville Hottie — which includes in-house breaded chicken smothered in a sweet, spicy sauce and served on homemade waffles — was also featured.
While a cable television audience may bring new business to the downtown eatery, Avery said she hopes the exposure brings a boost to the entire community.
“It’s just amazing, especially because we’ve only been open a couple years,” she said. “We hope it brings greater awareness to Grand Haven as a whole. It’s a beautiful lakeside community.”
