Jan 27, 2025
R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press At Horizons Steakhouse in the Island Resort and Casino, Executive Chef Michael Timmins, who has been running the kitchen for nine months, prepares shrimp scampi.
HARRIS — Horizons Steakhouse, located on the 12th and highest floor of the Island Resort and Casino, has developed since its 2021 opening and continues to grow and improve.
Executive Chef Michael Timmins — who has, in his 35-year career, also served as executive chef at the Landmark Inn in Marquette and at the Forest Dunes Golf Club in Gaylord — stepped in to steer the direction of the Horizons kitchen nine months ago. Changes since then have been geared towards cultivating season-specific menus and educating staff and customers to improve the total experience.
Before 2021, fine dining was located down on the ground floor. The expansion that brought the casino’s Palm Tower to new heights, added a nine-hole golf course, built the Splash Island water park and added 128 new hotel rooms also placed Horizons Steakhouse at the top of the tower. Its opening at the end of December ’21 marked a move for the resort and casino’s high-end dining to a venue with panoramic views of fields and trees to the north, forest to the east and Sweetgrass Golf Course to the south.
Though many visitors and employees do enjoy the view, the pride of Horizons for Timmins is the seasonal menus he curates and the transformation the staff has gone through since he’s taken over as executive chef.
“In the last nine months, they have had a crash course in culinary. They have been brought up literally five-fold at least. I’m so proud of all of them,” Timmins said.
“The front of the house manager and supervisor have done a great job in educating the front of the house staff into taking care of the guests, and it’s my job as the chef to teach everybody in the back about food, how to prepare it, and they’ve taken to it like ducks in water,” he continued.
Horizons opens from 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Timmins explained that each time there’s a new special, he sets it up for the staff at 4:45 so that servers can taste it and know what they’re selling to customers.
“And I can tell, (based on) each ticket that comes in, what server liked the special,” he remarked with a chuckle.
Player Services Manager Robin Bourdeau mentioned that items on the menu meet an “array of price points.” There’s even a kids’ menu.
The offerings have changed “tremendously” under Timmins, and they rotate seasonally.
“I’m a chef that likes using local product as much as I possibly can,” he explained, and noted an example: one source is AquaTerra, a hydroponic greenhouse in Hannahville.
Comfort foods dominate the winter menu — dishes like pot roast poutine and steak burger are on now — and lighter fare like salads feature more prominently in the summer.
More involved tastings and discussions among the team are done when menu changes occur.
“We have an evening, and all the dishes are prepared, and then chef will come out and talk about it, and (the servers) all get to eat it,” explained Stephen Gakstatter, food and beverage director for the Island. “So when they’re at the table and someone asks them, they personally can say, you know, what that dish is from their experience.”
One thing management is aiming to do is better educate the public on the different cuts and grades of meat; they’re considering producing an insert for the menu and possibly adding some FAQs to the website.
“We only use the highest cuts of meat — Prime, across the board, for all our meat, which is the highest grade,” Timmins said.
When locals come to the Island Resort and Casino, it may be for gaming, concerts, or to utilize to pool or spa. Many people still are unaware that Horizons, tucked away at the back at the top its tower, even exists. But others have made a point to return time and again, even booking its separate rooms for special events.
A convention space more intimate than the larger one downstairs is attached to Horizons and is available for private parties.
Coming soon is a specialty drinks menu that Timmins and Gakstatter are working on now. It will be available only at Horizons, which has its own bar apart from the other eateries at the resort and casino.
This year, Timmins said he’d like to get in touch with the local chapter of the American Culinary Foundation to see how they might be a resource or provide more connections to local farmers.
With yet another Island expansion underway to grow its convention facilities, further growth is expected as guests from far and near come for the “combination of amenities” that are offered at the Island Resort and Casino.
As Bourdeau stated, “There’s always something on the horizon.”
ESCANABA — With the re-certification as a Redevelopment Ready Community, businesses in downtown Escanaba are now …
WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Jack Bergman is seeking answers why changes have been made in the delivery of …
ESCANABA — The Northern Lights YMCA Delta Center launched its Annual Campaign on Tuesday, January 21 at the …
Copyright © Daily Press | https://www.dailypress.net | 600 Ludington St., Escanaba, MI 49829 | 906-786-2021
