Ryan Walker
The State News
Ryan Walker
The State News
Anyone longing to venture beyond the culinary offerings of East Lansing in search of faraway lands need to look no further than the Traveler's Club International Restaurant & Tuba Museum.
That's right. Tuba museum.
"Variety is the spice of life," co-owner William White said.
It is that mantra that sets the tone for this eclectic restaurant, located at 2138 Hamilton Road in Okemos, which was inspired by a love of foreign delicacies and music.
"It's different from anything you can get anywhere else," White said. "It goes with the philosophy that if you eat something different every day of the week for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you still couldn't try every dish."
Sous chef and kitchen manager D. Thomas has been working at the Traveler's Club for about 17 years.
For Thomas, the best part of cooking at the restaurant is the variety of exciting recipes and ingredients he gets to experiment with.
"Every month we feature a different area of the world," Thomas said.
Thomas works with co-owner Jennifer Brooke Byrom, now living in California, to find new recipes and fine-tune them so they are easy to re-create, yet are still authentic in taste. This month, the restaurant will be featuring special dishes from the Mediterranean region.
"I am cooking with herbs and spices my mom never taught me to cook with, that's for sure," Thomas said.
Thomas has an easier time preparing ethnic dishes now that foreign ingredients have become so readily available. The owners grow ingredients on the property, priding themselves on using quality organic items in their food when possible.
Thomas said stir-fry dishes are by far the best sellers at the Traveler's Club - especially the Indonesian peanut stir-fry, which consists of mixed vegetables and greens sautéed with sesame oil and served over brown rice with a spicy peanut sauce. Diners can add chicken or tofu to the entrée if they choose.
Another patron favorite is the lemon herb chicken, a chicken breast marinated in lemon juice, virgin olive oil and a blend of herbs. The chicken is used in a variety of dishes, from salads to sandwiches.
Thomas said the restaurant's bold flavors make the food at the Traveler's Club stand out from the rest.
The extensive menu also includes vegetarian and vegan dishes.
For something to whet the palette, the restaurant features a wine menu and 120 foreign and domestic beers. They even fire-brew their own label, Tuba Charlie's, on the back patio. Visitors currently can try Tuba Charlie's Adagio Ale, featured on tap.
Thomas came to work at the restaurant after cooking throughout the Lansing area. Before being hired, Thomas was a regular at the Traveler's Club.
"I always liked the place," Thomas said. "The food has always been so good."
The building that houses the Traveler's Club was built in 1950 to be a hardware store. It was converted to Miller's Ice Cream Parlor in 1959.
White bought the building with Byrom in April 1982 with the plan to open a restaurant inspired by foods they had tried on each of their own global explorations. But they haven't forgotten their roots - the restaurant still sells Miller's ice cream.
When it comes to the tubas, they are all owned by White, who calls himself "Tuba Charlie."
He began playing the tuba in 1959, and his instruments were the first displayed at the restaurant when he began leaving them behind for visiting musicians to play. He collected the rest throughout the years from friends in the music industry, patrons of the restaurant and members of the community. Some even stop in just to drop them off.
"I buy them here and there," White said. "I got some from the schools - some old horns that were scrapped out."
To date, White has between 70 to 80 tubas, ranging from a 1915 Austrian double E flat Helicon tuba with a 28-inch bell diameter named "The Majestic Monster" to an entire corner devoted to sousaphones. The walls of the Traveler's Club are currently adorned with 60 tubas.
"We ran out of wall space," White said.
White and Byrom decided to open an international restaurant not only because of their love for ethnic cuisine, but also a desire to share it with the community.
White said when the Traveler's Club opened, there weren't many restaurants serving international fare. He and Byrom felt it was something the community needed to experience.
"That need still exists," White said.
The atmosphere and food are what keep people coming back, White said, making the restaurant a family tradition.
"We've had people bring in their kids at two weeks old, and 15 years later they are working here as a waiter," he said.
Thomas said it also is the welcoming atmosphere that keeps regulars coming back and invites new people to stop in and try the food.
"It's a 'mom and pop' atmosphere, and everything is made from scratch - very little that we buy is premade in any way," he said.
The location also is ideal - Thomas said the restaurant draws a lot of international students from MSU, who, in turn, bring their new flavors to the restaurant.
"That's one thing that has helped us over the years is that the university is right there," he said.