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An iconic Lake of the Ozarks restaurant is bidding farewell after a historic 31-year run, and brunch at the Lake will never be the same…

Happily, though, this is not the end of Mike Castle’s culinary journey.

After graduating from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Mike moved to Lake of the Ozarks to be the sous chef at the Blue Heron restaurant and followed that up with a seven-year run as the manager of another iconic restaurant, The Potted Steer in Osage Beach.

Thirty-one years ago, he and his wife, Cheryl, purchased a small bakery in a strip mall just down the street from its current location.

Castle explained, “We just bought this little bakery as a side business, but after it started growing rapidly, our location was just too small, so I located a vacant piece of land down the street and we rolled the dice on building our own place. It was perfect. The lot was located on a downhill slope and the road curved right at our lot… I knew that no matter what direction you were coming from, you would be staring straight at it.”

He recalls searching the country for a wood-fired stone oven.

“There was no Google search or Facebook Marketplace. I was literally calling restaurant supply houses from sea to shining sea. No luck. We had already framed the restaurant when I got extremely lucky and ended up finding one in Springfield, Missouri.

“I recall the day we finally got a crane here to lift this 6,000-pound oven into place. It must have been swinging 25 feet in the air. I recall Mike Glascock, our wonderful contractor, standing beside me as they lowered it in, saying, ‘Well, you don’t see that sh** every day!’”

Mike admits that conventional wisdom would be to keep a profitable, well-established restaurant running as-is, but Castle has always had his eye on his fine-dining restaurant, and he says at 61, it’s probably now or never.

He says 100% of his staff wants to stay on, even though they are changing from working days to going late into the evenings at his new place.

“I’m so fortunate to have a team that wants to follow our dream, and I cannot express just how blessed we have been all these years to have so many wonderful people who have dedicated themselves to being the very best in this business!”

He’s loved the run, but Castle talks with extreme enthusiasm about his next chapter. Preparing for what’s next feels like coming full circle: the teenager who trained at one of Missouri’s most elite, Mobil Four-Star fine-dining restaurants is embarking on his own fine-dining adventure…

On The Rise Bakery & Woodfired Bistro will remain OPEN Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 20 so everyone can experience all their favorites one last time.

Watch for more details about Castle’s plans at LakeExpo.com or the LakeExpo app.