Today something happened that I have never seen before in a restaurant anywhere.

But, first, a little bit of background about the restaurant.

In the small town of Beulah (pop 350), located in northern Michigan, close to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore we stopped for lunch at The Cherry Hut restaurant, which is celebrating its 100 year anniversary.

For years I have made a point of trying to find eating spots that are local and a little unusual.  One of the books that I use for ideas is Road Food.  In Michigan, The Cherry Hut was recommended, stressing its comfort food, especially its turkey sandwiches and homemade soups and, of course, its cherry pies.

Almost all the dishes are cherry-centric.  Turkey salads have cherries. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches use cherry jelly.  The must-have item on the menu, however, are the cherry pies.  So colorful as the bright red, locally grown cherries ooze out of the sides of each piece of pie.   The taste is out of this world.

Catch this.  They only cut their cherry pies into four slices.  The smallest piece of pie that you can have is ¼ of a full pie.  The pie is spectacular.

The other cool thing about the restaurant are the colors.  Everything is red and white.  The outfits that the waiters and waitresses wear.  The menus.  The place mats.  The walls.  You name it.  The place is red and white to your heart’s delight.

As if this was not enough.  There was something else about the restaurant that I have never seen before.  What was it that was soooooo amazing about the restaurant in addition to what I have already outlined?  Something I have never seen before?

Fully one quarter (25%) of their menu is devoted not to listing food offerings, options and choices, but rather to listing and naming every single one of their staff, whom they call their “helpers”.

They identify each employee by name.  in addition, they identify every person that helps even if they only work on a very part time basis.  On top of providing the employee’s name, they identify the town that the employee is from. In many cases they identify where the employee went to high school or college.

If that was not enough, the proprietors, Andrew and Christy Case, also have created names for what each full time and part time staff do – a category that describes the staff person’s role.  And they have used some creativity and humor in doing so.

For example, Perry Ely lives in Beulah Michigan and he is called “The Change Magician”.  Perry is the cashier.  When I asked him if he was the Change Magician, a smile came across his face as he explained to me that he is the one that gives customers their change back after they pay their bill.  Perry, I am guessing, is well over 70 years old.

The waitresses and waiters are called “Dining Room Attendants” and there are nine of them identified by name and where they went to school.  In addition, there are two “Head Servers”.

Another example, the “Black Hat Operative” it turns out is their part time IT guy.  And the list goes on.

• Paula Stolz is “The Turkey Slayer”.
• Cheryl Andrews is “The Dough Kneader”.
• “The Propoganda Specialist” is Elsa Merrill who lives in Interlocken MI and went to Calvin University
• Neil Marshall is “The WD-40”.  you can imagine what Neil does.
• Corina Snow is “The Salad Whisperer”.
• They have a bunch of “Sanitation Engineers” – six in fact.
• Rick VanHammen is “The Iron Man” with 51 years of service!

Other roles include:

• “The Historian”
• “The Coach”
• “The Taste Tester”
• “The Ranch Expert”
• “The Second Tier Cherry Ade Maker”
• “The Barely Part-Timer”
• “The Front Door Sentry”
• “The Child Laborer”

My favorite though is the role of “Cherry Jerry” who plays himself.  Remember this is The Cherry Hut restaurant, and they specialize in dishes that have locally grown cherries.  I have no idea what Cherry Jerry does, but I love the fact that he is called out.

And that is the amazing takeaway for me.  The owners of this restaurant think all the members of their staff are so important that they have devoted 25% of their menus to highlighting them, calling them out, celebrating them, and treating them special.  And thanking them.  Acknowledging the fact that the restaurant would not be as great as it is without them.

Wow. What a concept.

And this happened in the Midwest.