By Justin Flagel
A well-known former gas and service station in Sawyer has been transformed into a local gathering spot for food, drink, and community.
Penny Duff, Michael Slaboch and Molly Kobelt opened Out There last year after renovating the building to match their use, while maintaining many elements from its days as a historic Shell gas and service station.
“It’s just such a cool building, there’s not really anything like it in the area,” said Penny.
They kept the memories of the building in mind as they built out a kitchen and renovated the space for use as a restaurant and retail shop.
“This place for people has so much history and meaning,” said Molly, recalling visitors who shared memories of service station proprietor Carl Franzon working on their cars. “We tried to keep as many of the elements as we could.”
The original signs from the Shell station still adorn the brick outside. Throughout the dining area, shop hooks and nails are visible protruding in high up places. New windows were chosen to match those that had existed previously and, near the bar, garage style doors open up onto a patio with seating and firepits.
The trio had witnessed other examples of adaptive reuse of buildings around the country and had dreamt of the station as the location of their wine bar idea long before it was actually available. After passing the location numerous times, the dream became reality when they spotted a “For Lease” sign.
All three previously lived in Chicago, with backgrounds in hospitality, catering, live music, and floristry before opening Out There. As many do, they fell in love with the Southwestern Michigan region after visits for business and pleasure and opted for a change in pace and lifestyle.
Michael and Penny started a small catering business from their home in Galien and, drawing on Michael’s history working in the music business and running The Hideout in Chicago, they built a house concert series. The series quickly outgrew the “house” and spilled over into local venues such as The Vickers Theatre and the ballroom at Lakeside Inn. At one point, the attendance to the events grew to 150 people.
Molly worked previously as a florist and flower farmer, with a farm in the Michiana region. She became friends with Michael and Penny during the pandemic and, falling in love with the area and ready to move on from the city, they leapt toward their shared vision of creating an environment to draw people in to enjoy life and feel at home.
What exists now in the building they dreamt about is a cozy destination restaurant, with an intimate dining room enhancing connection between regulars and new visitors alike. Diners can enjoy a variety of small plates and an extensive menu of wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages while sitting at the bar, at intimate tables, or outdoors, when the weather permits. Visitors may also stop in for the retail section to purchase bottles and cans to fill their coolers or refrigerators.
Fresh food with local, seasonal offerings make up much of the menu, with seafood options, including oysters, and weekly specials such as Sunday night chicken thighs and Bang Bang! Pot Pies from Chicago filling out the options. Drawing on previous relationships from their days catering, much of the produce comes from small organic farms in Berrien County. The smaller plates and snacks are designed specifically to be shared, much like a bottle of wine.
“It’s better if you share it with friends,” said Penny.
Wine is at the forefront of the beverage menu, with offerings changing regularly with the seasons, balanced between local wineries and independent organic wine makers from around the world. A selection of ciders and beers focus on local brewers, such as Transient, and special releases like Out There’s quarterly collaboration with Farm Club Brewery out of Traverse City.
Out There also offers a large menu of spirit free beverages.
“We try to have a little bit of everything, try to have it be as inclusive as possible,” said Penny.
In addition to beverages to-go, the retail shop one room over from the bar offers items like books, records, and flowers. A game table offers a space to enjoy puzzles and board games. A variety of unique items draw diners into the space to browse.
“It’s a representation of things we like, things we have in our homes, thighs you can’t find elsewhere,” said Molly.
The retail space also serves as a location for events. Wine tastings, intimate concerts, and DJ dance parties have already filled the room. Michael draws on his connections from the music industry and focuses on a high production event in a non-traditional space.
“The shows are pretty charged because they’re so intimate,” he said.
Names like Sun Ra Arkestra have already visited and others, including Bill Callahan and Bonnie “Prince” Billy are scheduled to visit this year.
“Music is very much a part of this space,” said Michael. “It’s as much a part of this space as the food and the drinks.”
Whether it’s cozy shows with legacy musicians, BINGO nights, dance parties, or tarot readings, there seems to be something new happening in the Out There event space regularly.
Those occurrences, the menu, and the architecture itself are all part of the mission of Duff, Slaboch, and Kobelt, which is to create “the low key house party of our dreams” and to give people a place to gather and build community.
More information on Out There can be found at outthere-mi.com.
