Restaurant weeks are back! It is similar to Shark Week, but with people eating food, instead of being eaten as food by sea creatures in science fiction movies. All right, it may not be that similar to Shark Week, but it is equally as exciting!
Detroit Restaurant Week kicks off its 2014 fall edition this Friday, Sept. 19 and continues until Sunday, Sept. 28. The 10-day event features 21 of Detroit’s premier restaurants. Each of the establishments offer a fall-inspired, three-course meal for $30 a person (drinks and gratuity are not included). All of these dining places are wonderful, but for the sake of time only a few can be highlighted in this article. Here are a few options:
The Grille Midtown, 3919 Woodward Ave., Detroit, gives you a choice of saucy shrimp, basil pesto or a Caesar salad for the first course. Once you consume that, the second course, which is the main course, comes for your tasting pleasure. Patrons may choose between mushroom basil pesto, seared Ahi Tuna, marinated flat iron steak (this would be my choice) or apple cider-glazed chicken (wait, now I’m torn). Make sure to save room for the most nutritious part of the meal, OK, I mean delicious—the third course. You may choose from a bacon-infused brownie or key lime pie. Both please, is that an option?
The Whitney, located at 4421 Woodward in Midtown, is one of the classiest establishments in Detroit, so you should definitely consider it as one of your destinations during this eventful week. The dinner menu includes your choice of a Whitney salad, soup du jour or Shrimp in Love (twin Colossus shrimp, with cocktail sauce). Course two offers tenderloin medallion, crispy fried whole Steelhead Trout, potato-encrusted chicken breast or grilled eggplant. Pick your poison. And by poison I mean goodness. For dessert, you can choose for Eric the pastry chef to whip you something up, or play it safe and order the sorbet served with raspberry sauce.
Fountain Bistro is a European-style bistro located in Campus Martius Park. The first course gets your palate going with zucchini au gratin, herb goat cheese salad, or soup du jour. The next course forces you to choose between pappardelle (pasta), airline chicken Dijon, confit lamb breasts, bronzed salmon, duck confit or beef tenderloin. Wow, so many choices, so little time. Apple Galette served with cinnamon gelato or chocolate crème brulee are your options for sweets. Yum city!
Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria & Cucina, 1777 Third St., Detroit, offers house made pizzas and Italian favorites. Its menu for this Detroit Restaurant Week includes roasted tomato soup, baby arugula salad or house-made ricotta gnocchi. Wolfgang Puck shows its versatility for the main course, as no pizza options are offered. No worries though, it serves crispy chicken Parmesan (sign me up for this), grilled Atlantic salmon, flat iron steak or handmade fettuccine. Mascarpone cheesecake is the sole dessert choice.
Those are just a few of the many courses and restaurants participating in this event. Refer back to the website for more restaurants and keep up with the menus as they come in.
Detroit is not the only city celebrating its restaurants. The 2014 Plymouth Restaurant Week starts on Friday, Sept. 26 and runs until Saturday, Oct. 4. If you live closer to the Plymouth area than Detroit like me, then this is another option. Though, I feel like participating in both sounds like a better idea. As of now, 10 restaurants are listed as participating. Let’s go over a few of these as well.
Compari’s on the Park resides at 350 S. Main St., Plymouth, and is one of my personal favorite Italian restaurants. Four courses are offered here. Course numero uno (you can only write “first course” so many times before getting bored) features an individual Calabrese plate, bruschetta pomodoro, or an individual cheese tasting. The second course gives you a choice of house salad or a cup of chicken pastina or Del Giorno soup. For the main course, pick between chicken picatta, baccala (thick breaded cod season with bread crumbs and covered in a tomato sauce), or the house made lasagna. All of this costs $25.
Ironwood Grill, 840 Ann Arbor Tr., is a Downtown Plymouth staple, so I have decided to highlight it. For a whole $25, choose between seven appetizers, including hummus, chicken quesadillas and Asian chicken lettuce wraps. There are also seven entrees to choose from: center cut steak, rotisserie chicken, pork back ribs and several variations of Neapolitan pizzas, among others are your options for that. Then, good luck choosing between an Oreo brownie sundae, derby pie or seasonal cheesecake for dessert, you’ll need it.
Stella’s Black Dog Tavern located at 860 Fralick St., is yet another Plymouth restaurant with fantastic food. First try roasted red apple and brie bruschetta, Louisiana shrimp or the soup of the day. Next choose either pan-seared pork loin chops with a white wine sauce, starch and vegetables, Mediterranean steak salad or sesame ginger stir-fry. Select from an assortment of cheesecake for your after-meal treat. It also costs $25.
Again, these are just a few places participating, so be sure to look up other options!
Also, be sure to check out Dine, Drink Detroit Thursday, Oct. 2 through Saturday, Oct. 11.
Foodies will be in all their glory during the aforementioned restaurant weeks. Will you?