We spent some time with Yumna Jawad, better known as Feel Good Foodie, in her Grand Rapids home. She shared her must-have holiday dish and some super practical tips to help us all survive the holiday season in the kitchen.
Find Yumna's stuffed grape leaves recipe here
Find the landing page for Yumna's episode here
Find The Dish's suggestion form here, or email us at TheDish@MichiganPublic.org

We spent some time with Yumna Jawad, better known as Feel Good Foodie, in her Grand Rapids home. She shared her must-have holiday dish and some super practical tips to help us all survive the holiday season in the kitchen.
<ul>
<li data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><a href="https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/lebanese-stuffed-grape-leaves/">Find Yumna's stuffed grape leaves recipe here</a></li>
<li data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><a href="https://www.michiganpublic.org/podcast/the-dish">Find the landing page for Yumna's episode here</a></li>
<li data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><a href="https://forms.fillout.com/t/fRKCYeDpUJus">Find The Dish's suggestion form here</a>, or email us at TheDish@MichiganPublic.org</li>
</ul>

The Dish, hosted by Mercedes Mejia, brings you behind the scenes with Michigan’s most inspiring chefs and culinary talents. Learn how food connects these chefs to their cultures, and strengthens our communities, one dish at a time.

Support our work: michiganpublic.org/podfund

The Dish, hosted by Mercedes Mejia, brings you behind the scenes with Michigan’s most inspiring chefs and culinary talents. Learn how food connects these chefs to their cultures, and strengthens our communities, one dish at a time.
Support our work: <a href="https://www.michiganpublic.org/podfund">michiganpublic.org/podfund</a>

The Dish, hosted by Mercedes Mejia, brings you behind the scenes with Michigan’s most inspiring chefs and culinary talents. 

The Dish

Cooking through the holidays with Feel Good Foodie's Yumna Jawad

Traverse City has been getting lots of national attention for it's food scene. It was even named Food City of the Year by Midwest Living. But the chefs and wine makers who've shaped this place say the story goes much deeper.

At the second annual Traverse City Food & Wine Festival, The Dish spent time with the people behind the plates. What emerged was deeply rooted to the land, the water, the farms, and the community that lies them together.

Veteran chefs like Eric Patterson of The Cooks' House talked about the decades long relationship with farmers, and one in particular he warmly refers to as "Heirloom Craig."

"We've been with the same grower for 15 years. He provides all of our heirloom tomatoes ... and he brings, between 250 and 500 pounds of tomatoes a week for about eight weeks straight, right around now," he said.

Newer voices, including chefs Cameron Rolka of Umbo and Sarah Bobier of Artisan, described a culinary community that welcomed them in and handed them the keys to the region’s bounty.

Another voice, chef Adam McMarlin of Wren in Sutton's Bay, put it this way: "A lot of the restaurants that have been here before me, like Cooks' House and Trattoria Stella and Tapawingo, really kind of paved the way for what people are seeing when they come to town now, you know?"

You taste that closeness through the food. Whether it's cherries picked at peak ripeness, heirloom tomatoes delivered minutes from the vine, or wines shaped by the cold water surrounding Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas. You can feel it in the way chefs show up for each other in mentoring, collaborating, and celebrating what grows here.

As chef Tony Vu of The Good Bowl put it, Traverse City’s food culture is “by far” defined by its ingredients, and by the people who care for them.

It’s a place where the table keeps getting bigger, and it seems there’s room for whoever shows up next.

We heard from:

Brad Morgan: Wine Club Manager, Mari Vineyards

Myles Anton: Executive Chef & Owner of Trattoria Stella

Amanda Danielson: Founder of Trattoria Stella

Eric Patterson: Co-Chef Owner of The Cooks’ House

Bryan Ulbrich: Left Foot Charlie

Sarah Bobier: Executive Chef at Artisan in ther Delmar Hotel

Cameron Rolka: Chef & Owner of Mink in Detroit, Owner of Umbo in Traverse City

Tony Vu: Chef & Founder of The Good Bowl

Whitney Waara: Event Director, Traverse City Food and Wine

Traverse City has been getting lots of national attention for it's food scene. It was even named Food City of the Year by Midwest Living. But the chefs and wine makers who've shaped this place say the story goes much deeper.
At the second annual Traverse City Food &amp; Wine Festival,&nbsp;The Dish spent time with the people behind the plates. What emerged was deeply rooted to the land, the water, the farms, and the community that lies them together.
Veteran chefs like Eric Patterson of The Cooks' House talked about the decades long relationship with farmers, and one in particular he warmly refers to as "Heirloom Craig."
"We've been with the same grower for 15 years. He provides all of our heirloom tomatoes ... and he brings, between 250 and 500 pounds of tomatoes a week for about eight weeks straight, right around now," he said.
Newer voices, including chefs Cameron Rolka of Umbo and Sarah Bobier of Artisan, described a culinary community that welcomed them in and handed them the keys to the region&rsquo;s bounty.
Another voice, chef Adam McMarlin of Wren in Sutton's Bay, put it this way: "A lot of the restaurants that have been here before me, like Cooks' House and Trattoria Stella and Tapawingo, really kind of paved the way for what people are seeing when they come to town now, you know?"
You taste that closeness through the food. Whether it's cherries picked at peak ripeness, heirloom tomatoes delivered minutes from the vine, or wines shaped by the cold water surrounding Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas. You can feel it in the way chefs show up for each other in mentoring, collaborating, and celebrating what grows here.
As chef Tony Vu of The Good Bowl put it, Traverse City&rsquo;s food culture is &ldquo;by far&rdquo; defined by its ingredients, and by the people who care for them.
It&rsquo;s a place where the table keeps getting bigger, and it seems there&rsquo;s room for whoever shows up next.
We heard from:
Brad Morgan: Wine Club Manager, Mari Vineyards
Myles Anton:&nbsp;Executive Chef &amp; Owner of Trattoria Stella
Amanda Danielson: Founder of Trattoria Stella
Eric Patterson: Co-Chef Owner of The Cooks&rsquo; House
Bryan Ulbrich: Left Foot Charlie
Sarah Bobier: Executive Chef at Artisan in ther Delmar Hotel
Cameron Rolka: Chef &amp; Owner of Mink in Detroit, Owner of Umbo in Traverse City
Tony Vu: Chef &amp; Founder of The Good Bowl
Whitney Waara: Event Director, Traverse City Food and Wine

Exploring the local food and wine culture of Traverse City

There's a small restaurant near Western Michigan University where, for a lot of people in Kalamazoo, lunch is also an introduction to gobit doner, to lahmacun, and to a whole cuisine some customers didn't even know they'd been missing.

Ayasofya is Kalamazoo's only Turkish restaurant, and its owners, Halil and Fatma Dursunoğlu, feel that responsibility every time someone walks through the door.

"When you are the only one responsible to represent the Turkish food... you need to think like 100 times more than normal," Fatma said. "I have more responsibility to let them taste good food."

They didn't set out to run a restaurant. Fatma's an environmental engineer who spent ten years working with the United Nations on desertification and erosion. But when she moved to Michigan she was pregnant and craving lahmacun, Turkish flatbread topped with minced meat. She couldn't find it anywhere, so she decided to make it herself. The couple opened Ayasofya while Fatma was nine months pregnant. One day, while preparing food for a customer, she went into labor. After giving birth she was back in the kitchen within two weeks.

"Actually, she went to labor literally from the kitchen," Halil said. "I still remember that day."

The restaurant sits in the old Bruno's pizzeria space, a spot generations of WMU students knew and loved. Fatma and her husband Halil, who teaches computer science and cybersecurity at Western, kept the plates, the forks, even the oven. "We respect their memory," Fatma said.

On this episode, we're in the kitchen for the making of gobit doner, a Turkish sandwich filled with shaved meat, fries, pickles, lettuce, tomato, onions, mayo and fresh-baked flatbread. And Fatma and Halil talk about that it means to be the only ones carrying the Turkish cuisine's reputation on your shoulders.

There's a small restaurant near Western Michigan University where, for a lot of people in Kalamazoo, lunch is also an introduction to gobit doner, to lahmacun, and to a whole cuisine some customers didn't even know they'd been missing.
<a href="https://ayasofyarestaurants.com/">Ayasofya</a> is Kalamazoo's only Turkish restaurant, and its owners, Halil and Fatma Dursunoğlu, feel that responsibility every time someone walks through the door.
"When you are the only one responsible to represent the Turkish food... you need to think like 100 times more than normal," Fatma said. "I have more responsibility to let them taste good food."
They didn't set out to run a restaurant. Fatma's an environmental engineer who spent ten years working with the United Nations on desertification and erosion. But when she moved to Michigan she was pregnant and craving lahmacun, Turkish flatbread topped with minced meat. She couldn't find it anywhere, so she decided to make it herself. The couple opened Ayasofya while Fatma was nine months pregnant. One day, while preparing food for a customer, she went into labor. After giving birth she was back in the kitchen within two weeks.
"Actually, she went to labor literally from the kitchen," Halil said. "I still remember that day."
The restaurant sits in the old Bruno's pizzeria space, a spot generations of WMU students knew and loved. Fatma and her husband Halil, who teaches computer science and cybersecurity at Western, kept the plates, the forks, even the oven. "We respect their memory," Fatma said.
On this episode, we're in the kitchen for the making of gobit doner, a Turkish sandwich filled with shaved meat, fries, pickles, lettuce, tomato, onions, mayo and fresh-baked flatbread. And Fatma and Halil talk about that it means to be the only ones carrying the Turkish cuisine's reputation on your shoulders.

Inside Ayasofya, Kalamazoo's only Turkish restaurant

Peterson’s Fish Market in Hancock is a family‑run operation built on one guiding principle: freshness. Pat Peterson and her family, catch, fillet, smoke, and serve Lake Superior whitefish just miles from where it’s pulled from the water.

The Petersons come from generations of commercial fishing and are members of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. After early pushback when they arrived in Michigan, the community eventually embraced their market. Today, locals and visitors line up for fried whitefish, smoked fish chowder, and other homemade dishes at Four Suns Fish & Chips.

They fish year‑round, work with biologists to protect the lake, and credit their success to the people who show up day after day. For the Petersons, it’s simple: respect the water, serve fresh fish, and take care of the community that takes care of them.

Give us your suggestions!
Email us at TheDish@michiganpublic.org
Find our submission form here

<a href="https://peter2cr.wixsite.com/petersonsfishmarket">Peterson&rsquo;s Fish Market</a> in Hancock is a family‑run operation built on one guiding principle: freshness. Pat Peterson and her family, catch,&nbsp;fillet, smoke, and serve Lake Superior whitefish just miles from where it&rsquo;s pulled from the water.
The Petersons come from generations of commercial fishing and are members of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. After early pushback when they arrived in Michigan, the community eventually embraced their market. Today, locals and visitors line up for fried whitefish, smoked fish chowder, and other homemade dishes at Four Suns Fish &amp; Chips.
They fish year‑round, work with biologists to protect the lake, and credit their success to the people who show up day after day. For the Petersons, it&rsquo;s simple: respect the water, serve fresh fish, and take care of the community that takes care of them.
Give us your suggestions!
<ul>
<li>Email us at <a href="mailto:TheDish@michiganpublic.org">TheDish@michiganpublic.org</a></li>
<li>Find our submission form <a href="https://www.michiganpublic.org/section/stateside/2025-12-19/share-your-favorite-michigan-restaurant-with-the-dish">here</a></li>
</ul>

Cooking through the holidays with Feel Good Foodie's Yumna Jawad

The Dish

In 1 playlist(s)

The Dish

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips