© 2024 Interlochen
CLASSICAL IPR | 88.7 FM Interlochen | 94.7 FM Traverse City | 88.5 FM Mackinaw City IPR NEWS | 91.5 FM Traverse City | 90.1 FM Harbor Springs/Petoskey | 89.7 FM Manistee/Ludington
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

It's France vs. Italy in Traverse City

Patrons flock to the annual France vs. Italy Dinner at Trattoria Stella.
Credit James L. Russell
Patrons flock to the annual France vs. Italy Dinner at Trattoria Stella.

If you’re a soccer fan, you probably remember the 2006 World Cup Championship between France and Italy. The contest featured a French player famously head butting an Italian, before Italy won the match in a shootout. 

That match got the owners of Trattoria Stella in Traverse City thinking, “Why don’t we do this with food?”

This year marks the eighth year the Italian restaurant has challenged a French counterpart to a friendly dinner competition.

Once again, representing France this year will be Chef Guillaume Hazaël-Massieux of La Bécasse, in Maple City.

Credit John L. Russell
Chef Guillaume Hazaël-Massieux, of La Bécasse

Chef Guillaume grew up in the French West Indies, and started helping his mom in the kitchen as a young child.

“Pretty much as long as I can remember, I’ve always been cooking,” he says. “My mother hated to do vinaigrettes. And you could tell, when she was making a vinaigrette it was pretty tart, pretty bad. So I started when a kid, like 10-12 years old making the dressing at home.”

Chef Myles Anton is not Italian. But, he is part-owner of Tratorria Stella, and has been to Italy a few times. He started cooking while in his teens. 

“I cooked all through high school at a family restaurant, and I went off to college to do other things, and none of them seemed to work out,” Anton says. “I ended up back in culinary school and I’ve been doing this ever since.”

The two chefs serve six courses over about three hours. Each course features a French and an Italian wine, paired with a French and Italian dish centered around a common meat.

For course one, Chef Guillaume chose a French Sancerre. That’s served with a flash fried oyster slider on grilled bread, with a grapefruit butter sauce, and chive and parsley topping.

Chef Myles chose to counter that with a Lahn Sauvignon blanc. He’s pairing that with a baked oyster, with minced celery, onion, chile flake, and focaccia breading.

Chef Myles Anton, of Trattoria Stella
Credit John L. Russell
Chef Myles Anton, of Trattoria Stella

Even though the dinner is a competition, there isn’t a declared winner. Some patrons circle their favorites on the menus, others don’t. 

“This is the joke, people don’t really vote. But no matter what, France always wins, you know that,” says a laughing Chef Guillaume.

“When it comes to white sausages, France always wins, everything else, no,” says Chef Anton, smiling. “He made a boudin blanc last year. It was one of the best sausages I have ever had in my entire life. But other than that, no.”

There will be about 175 people at the dinner. The chefs say guests come from as far away as Wisconsin and Chicago.

The festive event is just about sold out, but Chef Anton says people interested in attending can call Tratorria Stella to find out if there is any availability. 

“Oh and I know some people will try to call me last minute,” Chef Guillaume says. “I’m like, ‘It’s going to cost you double.’”

Dan Wanschura is the Host and Executive Producer of Points North.