Trattoria Stella is one of the most acclaimed restaurants in northern Michigan, operating out of the ground floor of the former Northern Michigan Asylum's Building 50 in the Village at Grand Traverse Commons. The Italian menu changes with the seasons and leans heavily on local ingredients — northern Michigan produce, Great Lakes fish, local meats — prepared with real technical skill. The setting alone is worth the visit: vaulted brick ceilings, thick walls, and the peculiar atmosphere of a Victorian institution repurposed into something genuinely beautiful.
Reservations are strongly advised, particularly in summer. The pasta is made in-house and the wine list has good depth in northern Italian and Sicilian bottles. It is a meal that would hold its own in any city; finding it in a former psychiatric hospital in northern Michigan makes it memorable.