COOK— Every owner has a vision for their restaurant. Matt and Mark Litherland and Sahand Elmtalab know where they want to take The Landing, which reopened for the season this week under their new ownership and management.

“People want to come out and have a beer and a burger and be able to look at a great view,” Matt Litherland said. “It’s about having fun and being able to enjoy life. I’m really excited.”

The family bought the Lake Vermilion restaurant earlier this year after the previous owners put it up for sale.

“I remember coming here with my family for many years,” Litherland said. “It was nice to see that it was up for sale. It gives us an opportunity.”

The Landing won’t just be about burgers and beer. It will offer plenty of other food options as well, including sandwiches, salads, and weekly specials to choose from. The kitchen staff plan to work with the Cook Farmers Market to bring fresh local produce to the restaurant for the first time.

In keeping with their vision for a family atmosphere, kids meals will be offered for just $4.

Matt said they are also planning events throughout the summer to entertain both locals and visitors to the lake.

“We want this to be a place for everybody to come, eat and relax.”

On Tuesday, Mark was finalizing menus as workers from a local pop distributor were finishing the installation of the bar’s new soft drink system.

Mark said the first few days would be about training new staff and acclimating to the new point of sale system as customers arrived.

If re-opening a restaurant isn’t a big enough job, the trio is also in the process of renovating and expanding Moosebirds, the long-time gift store and ice cream shop located just down the road from The Landing, which they recently purchased from the previous owner.

“We are making very big changes at Moosebirds,” Litherland said. “We’re going to bring food big time to the lake. When we heard Zup’s burned down, we wanted to give people another place to get food.”

Work is being done to bring a small grocery to the lakeside shop, along with a bigger cooler to hold more flavors of ice cream to keep visitors cool in the summer.

New futures for the two lakeside businesses aren’t the only reason the family has gotten into the restaurant business. They say they also want to help preserve family memories, both for themselves and other families around the west end of the lake.

“About 17 years ago my dad came up here looking for a place to build a cabin,” Litherland said. In the end, his father built that cabin less than a mile from The Landing, so it was a frequent spot for family gatherings. “This is where we came. We knew a few previous owners,” Litherland said.

The Landing had a soft opening this week;a later opening date for Moosebirds has not yet been set.

More information can also be found on the restaurant’s Facebook page at “The Landing on Lake Vermilion”.