You've been driving by the corner of South Airport and Garfield Avenue and wondering, “What is going into that old Big Eazy building?” The Ticker sat down with the owner, chef and general manager of the soon-to-be-open restaurant to find out.

First of all, it’s not a LongHorn Steakhouse or a Golden Corral, as rumored. The higher-end restaurant will be called Copper Falls and its owner says guests will have a dining “experience” from beginning to end.

“It will not just be a place to go have a meal,” says owner Todd Gokey. “This will be a no-rush dining experience, from the atmosphere to the food to the front of the house.”

It will be a restaurant with a bar, not the other way around, he adds, referring to the former grill. It will serve lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m., depending on the season.

Gokey bought the building in the spring from Simpson Investments LLC. He and his Northland Signature Homes crew went right to work, gutting the windowless, dated interior down to the bare walls and rebuilding it with an open vibe. In addition to lots of windows, an exterior courtyard will let even more light in. A large, rock waterfall inside the courtyard is one of the restaurant’s unique details – but other state-of-the-art features won’t be divulged until the restaurant opens sometime around the first of the year.

A northern Michigan native, Gokey has been building in Traverse City for 30 years and is no stranger to refurbishing aging buildings. He converted two old Munson Avenue properties into the Knights Inn and Howard Johnson.

Jeremy Martinchek manages those hotels for Gokey and is now general manager of Copper Falls. He opened and directed Northwestern Michigan College’s Hagerty Conference Center and previously was food and beverage manager of the Perry Hotel in Petoskey.

“Our goal will be unmatched service,” Martinchek says. “We say it and believe it.”

Don’t expect to find kids menus or crayons, though; this will be a white linen tablecloth kind of place, with candles, a polished wait staff and highly visible chef. Chef Josh Benedict will circulate throughout the restaurant and share his cooking techniques on the website.

And everything will be made from scratch.

“No can openers here,” says Benedict, who spent the last 12 years honing his craft at Apache Trout Grill in Traverse City and also opened Ciao Bella in downtown TC. “People aren’t being taught how to cook…I want to be able to teach our staff how to cook. This is not just a job, it’s a passion.”

The team also includes sous chefs Christine Boerma and Pete Siagkris, as well as prep manager Tim Benedict.

Fresh and local will be of utmost importance, Benedict says. The kitchen will use only prime northern Michigan beef and incorporate as much produce from local farms as possible. Fresh seafood will be flown in daily and the crew will create specialty dishes from around the world.

Some 4,000-5,000 bottles of wine will be encased in the dining room wine room. Beer lovers will find 16 brews on tap, including craft beers and 75 percent made in Michigan.

Copper Falls will seat approximately 320 in the summer, when the front deck is open, and 260 in the winter, and can accommodate groups. Gokey plans to hire approximately 50 employees.

Brief timeline:
Late 1970s - The Garfield Avenue site opens as Great Lakes Steak.
1990s - Local restaurateur Barry Boone re-opens it as TC Traders.
2003 - George Falaras re-opens it as the Big Eazy Rhythm & Blues Grill.
2008 - The Big Eazy is shuttered due to a slowing economy.
Spring 2012 - Todd Gokey buys the site from Simpson Investments LLC.