Sometimes a successful restaurant venture takes a little longer to realize. Entrepreneur and Developer Ben Holland grew up in the scenic coastal town of New Buffalo, Michigan during the summers. Over the past ten years, he had envisioned creating a must-visit restaurant on a particular corner of the downtown area that attracted much traffic. This spot would not only reflect the town’s unique seaside charms, but also “shine a much-needed spotlight” on the Southwest Michigan region.
On November 1, this concept set course into reality when Holland and partner Chef James Galbraith opened PostBoy, a new 10,000-square-foot, chef-driven restaurant in that exact downtown locale, to rave reviews and adoring crowds. “The vision has always been to develop a true gathering place for this community that is both elevated and a lot of fun, and we’re excited to have our doors open and serve that role,” says Holland.
The new indoor/outdoor restaurant also takes advantage of one notable hospitality trend currently ongoing in the Midwest. Residents of larger metropolitan cities with “world-class” restaurants and chefs (Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and others, for example) are venturing out more and more to nearby smaller communities and taking in their fares. In turn, these quainter towns are providing their own spin when it comes to “best-in-quality” cuisine.
A Growing City
New Buffalo is one of the Lake Michigan coastal towns making up Harbor County, which is located about 70 miles (or about a 90-minute drive) from Chicago. The Wall Street Journal recently deemed the area the “Hamptons of the Midwest” because of its “burgeoning wine country, craft spirit producers, charming hotels, and eclectic shopping destinations.” Visitors from larger nearby metropolises arrive daily to experience these amenities.
The region’s restaurant scene is also experiencing a renaissance because of this, which is one reason Holland and Galbraith were eager to launch PostBoy, a high-design space with all-day dining that has something for everyone—including inbound city-based visitors. “It’s literally steps from the Amtrak line, which is great for us, as more Chicagoans want to take the train in to explore Harbor County,” says Galbraith.
Galbraith has made a culinary name for himself with 20 years of restaurant experience as well as studies under some of Chicago’s most acclaimed chefs. His restaurants Houndstooth and Anemel in nearby Benton Harbor have cultivated quite a reputation for offering some of the most serious food in the region.
However, PostBoy is the first time Holland and Galbraith have worked together. After Galbraith created the popular casual Mexican restaurant Anemel, Holland followed him on Instagram. “Coincidentally, we had a mutual friend who I shared my New Buffalo restaurant vision with, and he ended up getting us both on the phone briefly,” says Holland. “We [then] kept up through social media.”
The two did eventually spend time together in person. “I originally met with [Holland] to share advice about the restaurant industry and my experience,” says Galbraith, “but we ended up hanging out a few hours, and it felt like a natural fit.”
Watching Galbraith sketch out a dish, Holland knew he was the right person for his then-still-in-development-stage restaurant. Two weeks after their initial meeting, Galbraith was onboard the PostBoy ship. “[James] raises the bar everywhere he goes,” says Holland.
On the Menu
The idea behind PostBoy is to present “world-class” food, drink, design, and experience normally only found in big food cities for a quaint Southwest Michigan area that Holland believes can sometimes get “overlooked.”
Chef Galbraith has boldly centered the PostBoy menu around his “playful takes” on New American familiar foods accentuated by global flavors. For instance, items like chilaquiles mussels with chipotle broth, chorizo and crispy tostadas, and a whole branzino with Japanese bubu arare rice pearls and miso-yaki can be found alongside a classic fried chicken sandwich with Calabrian chile oil and cacio e pepe mayo.
On the drinks side, adventurous cocktails like the “Necromancer” (tequila, absinthe, plum, and sparkling sake) and “Act Naturally” (gin, bitter blanco, cherry, and lychee) can be ordered alongside unique non-alcoholic options such as the “California Sober” (zero-proof tequila, umeboshi, grapefruit, and CBD tincture).
Galbraith dishes that one of the more challenging things to navigate when putting together the PostBoy’s menu was keeping the chef’s integrity in their plates while still figuring out how to execute those offerings on a quick turnaround. “Especially in the height of the summer season, we need to be able to move dishes quickly,” he explains.
It was also important for Galbraith to figure out a menu that appealed to everyone. This meant working to put nostalgic flavors into dishes with fun deliveries. “Our Loaded Potato Gnocchi is a good example of this, capturing the flavor of a classic baked potato in a new presentation,” he says. “It channels the flavors of a baked potato with cheddar mornay, citrus cream, and bacon.”
Galbraith says he is most proud of his kitchen’s Prawn Tiradito. “Creating it was a big ‘eureka!’ moment for me,” he exclaims. “It’s a great blend of Japanese and South American flavors. People also like the Fried Chicken Sando and the Chicken Thighs, in addition to our burger. The savory donut holes are also a rising star.”
Holland is amazed by the innovation that Chef Galbraith and his culinary team have brought to PostBoy—something that was important to him when assembling their fifty-member team (which includes seasoned professionals from MICHELIN-recognized restaurants in Chicago and the most popular bars in the Harbor County area). “Their creativity and attention to detail take our cocktails and dishes to that next level,” he says. “That also goes back to the relationships they’ve forged with our suppliers and industry connections.”
Galbraith believes that, as the Southwest Michigan region grows, there is a real call for ambitious, chef-driven dining, so he is curating a series of monthly guest chef dinners at PostBoy for the local community to enjoy, featuring some of his favorite nationally acclaimed chefs. This started with Chicago’s Zach Engel of MICHELIN-starred Galit on November 17 and plans are already in place for David Posey of MICHELIN-starred Elske and Stephen Gillanders of S.K.Y. to guest in 2025.
“Having these chefs in for ‘takeovers’ allows us to give New Buffalo residents a one-night show of culinary creativity, which is not only a lot of fun for us in the kitchen but also gives our guests the chance to taste some of the greatest plates from other areas of the country right in their own backyard,” says Galbraith.
Community is very important for the PostBoy co-owners. The DNA of New Buffalo can be found throughout the restaurant. For starters, it’s named after the founder of New Buffalo, Captain Wessel D. Whittaker, or more specifically his ship, Postboy, which crashed back in 1834 on the shoreline near where New Buffalo stands today.
Awash in Design
The restaurant’s design was put together by 555 International, a Chicago-based design agency that specializes in “functional, immersive” guest experiences.
Holland explains that the PostBoy design evolved quite a bit when Galbraith joined the project. Originally envisioned as more of a “cottage” feel, the duo landed on a combination of retro nostalgia with Danish modernity—an elevated modern farmhouse, if you will. The finished high-design experience at PostBoy ends up blending New Buffalo’s coastal charm with Danish aesthetics. “We both liked that clean, minimal look enhanced with retro diner-like touches,” says Holland.
Meanwhile the restaurant’s bar is made from custom concrete with about 500 pounds of glass from Kokomo Opalescent Glass in Indiana and their plates custom-made by Myrth of Rhode Island. The outdoor patio space features two outdoor fire pits and a custom pergola from Italy. “Just like Chef [James] leaves no stone unturned in the kitchen, our team left no stone unturned when it came to finding unique design materials and décor elements,” says Holland.
All About Fun
You may have noticed a recurring word throughout this story that Holland and Galbraith point toward being relative to the foundation of PostBoy—“fun.” One example of this is a restored 1949 Ford mail truck parked in the patio space and now retrofitted to sell PostBoy merchandise.
“Our mail truck comes from Eureka, Montana by way of Facebook,” says Holland. “I was doing some digging into different groups of step van enthusiasts. We managed to scoop one up that was for sale and [had it] shipped it to nearby Stevensville, Michigan. As fate would have it, one of the top vintage van restoration experts in the country lived just 20 minutes away from New Buffalo and was able to rebuild it into the beauty it is today.”
The patio space also strategically includes a stage for live music and entertainment, a further mix of “elevated” and “fun” that the co-owners have stived to achieve. “Our future event programming and live music will enhance that feeling and open the doors even further to have PostBoy be a community staple for a post-work drink, a family lunch spot, or a night out with friends,” says Holland.
PostBoy is currently open Wednesday through Sunday from 11:30am to 10:00pm, and reservations are encouraged through Tock.
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