Samaha’s and Hilbert’s Reintroduce Small‑Batch Baklava Mondays in Grand Traverse County
Northern Express recently highlighted the return of Samaha’s small‑batch baklava — a phyllo pastry layered with walnuts, cinnamon, cardamom, lemon zest and Traverse City–made Hilbert’s Honey — now available on Mondays at Hilbert’s Honey House on 5 Mile Road. The collaboration between a neighborhood bakery and a local apiary underscores a seasonal culinary offering that channels foot traffic to small businesses and reinforces local food supply chains in Grand Traverse County.
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Northern Express has turned attention to a local culinary collaboration bringing Samaha’s small‑batch baklava back to Grand Traverse County this season. The dessert, built from thin layers of phyllo filled with walnuts and spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and lemon zest, is finished with honey sourced from Hilbert’s apiary in Traverse City. The sweet is being sold on Mondays at Hilbert’s Honey House on 5 Mile Road.
The return of the baklava is more than a menu update: it is a deliberate pairing of a neighborhood bakery and a local apiary that the regional magazine described as a cozy seasonal treat and a local collaboration. For residents and visitors, the arrangement offers a concentrated opportunity to sample a handcrafted product that ties culinary craft to local agriculture.
Local businesses routinely use partnerships like this to extend reach and manage costs. For Samaha’s, producing small batches reduces inventory risk and preserves artisanal quality; for Hilbert’s, hosting a seasonal offering at its Honey House creates a fixed weekly draw that can increase foot traffic on a typically quieter weekday. Those mechanics matter in a county economy where small enterprises form the backbone of downtowns and outlying commercial corridors.
Beyond immediate sales, the collaboration illustrates how local supply chains can circulate money within the community. When a bakery buys honey from a Traverse City apiary, it retains value locally rather than importing ingredients from outside the region. That circularity supports jobs, bolsters microenterprises and can create spillover spending at nearby retailers and cafes. For a county that blends resident demand with a steady stream of tourists, seasonal specialties can also act as attractions that reinforce Grand Traverse County’s food and hospitality brand.
There are also planning and policy questions embedded in such partnerships. Local permitting, health and safety compliance, and zoning for retail operations influence how easily producers can experiment with new offerings or popup collaborations. Economic development officials who promote buy‑local initiatives or coordinate farmers markets amplify the impact of these micro‑partnerships by reducing transaction costs and widening market access for small producers.
For shoppers looking to try the return of Samaha’s baklava, the offering is available Mondays at Hilbert’s Honey House on 5 Mile Road. As small producers seek sustainable ways to grow, collaborations like this one provide a practical template: modest, locally sourced products that knit together culinary tradition, local agriculture and neighborhood retail — benefits that resonate across Grand Traverse County’s economy.
