About Us

Chef Perry

What sets my biscotti apart from all others is that even though I twice bake it I bake it just long enough to have a pleasing crunch yet still be some what soft in the center. As soon as you bite into one of my biscotti the luscious flavors from northern Michigan and beyond burst into your mouth.

All of my biscotti are made with natural wholesome ingredients such as creamery butter, pure cane sugar and choice local fruits. I pride myself on using as many local ingredients as possible in my products. I buy from local suppliers such as Graceland Fruit and Cherry Capital Foods who supply my dried cherries, cranberries and blue berries, Olds Brothers my supplier of maple syrup and Sleeping Bear Farms who supplies my honey.

I have my classic flavors of biscotti - Dried Cherry White Chocolate, Lemon Dried Blueberry, Double Dark Chocolate and Orange Dried Cranberry . I also create seasonal and limited edition runs through out the holidays and winter months with such favorites as Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Maple Walnut and Peppermint bark to name a few.

My trail mix came about because I was tired of paying top dollar for a bag of granola that was nothing more than a bunch of oats with very little fruit tossed in and nothing else. My recipe is loaded with four kinds of nuts and three dried fruits as well as organic flax and sunflower seeds and sweetened with only local honey and maple syrup.

People are discovering that my Slab Town Flats are the perfect crunchy party snack for pairing with beer and wine and they are great with spreads, cheeses, hummus and dips.

Give all of my products a try and you will taste the difference that comes from being passionate about making good food and going the extra mile to give my customers the very best products I can create.

In May of 1990 I honeymooned in Paris, France with my wife Kristen and it was there in that City of Lights that I felt the desire to become a chef. Upon returning to the states, reluctantly I might add, I enrolled in and completed culinary school and a apprenticeship program through the American Culinary Federation.

After graduating with honors and being offered various chef jobs I worked in some high caliber kitchens honing my skills over the next ten years. Along the way I developed a passion for creating specialty foods.

After much thought, a little luck and the support of Kris I founded Way North Foods in 2006. Soon I was baking my first signature product, handcrafted artisanal biscotti, day and night in a rented church kitchen. By the summer of 2007 word got out that this was not just ordinary biscotti, oh no it is much more...so so much more... it was extraordinary! Way North Foods moved into a new production facility in the winter of 2007 to keep up with demand and have some room to grow my product line of handcrafted specialty foods.

Way North Foods is now housed in a large production kitchen in the south side of Traverse City and now has other artisan food companies sharing space to make their own gourmet products.

I live in Traverse City, Michigan with my family who are all self proclaimed “Product testers”. I am is also a partner with Chef Harlan "Pete" Peterson in "Fun Fine Dining" as well as holding the position of Executive Chef at Chateau Chantal Winery on Old Mission Peninsula.