Hey look, I finally went to a new (for me) restaurant, The Laundry (formerly The French Laundry) in Fenton, Michigan! I recently went there to celebrate my friend Tara's birthday with Tara, her husband Mike and her sister Ashlee. It was a lot of fun and the food was great!
We sat outside as it was a beautiful summer evening. They have a HUGE drink menu, so I sipped on a Huma Lupa Licious (one of my favorite IPAs from Short's Brewery in Bellaire, MI) while I contemplated which cool drink to get.
I finally settled on the Boulevardier (Bourbon, Amaro & Sweet Vermouth) which was very good and came with the biggest, coolest ice cube (literally cool since it's ice and figuratively cool because of how big it was!).
While waiting for our entrees, we enjoyed 2 of their appetizers: Artie Dip (housemade spinach, mushroom and artichoke dip blended with Brie, Boursin and gorgonzola cheeses) with fresh bread and Goat Cheese Arancini (Panko-crusted fried risotto balls stuffed with goat cheese and served with housemade marinara sauce). I really liked both of them, but enjoyed the arancini more than the dip (I had to pick the fungus out of the dip since I hate mushrooms). I am a big an of risotto balls and the goat cheese really gave them a lot of flavor.
Our entrees then arrived and my friends Ashlee & Tara shared the Crispy Falafel with Curry Cream (a crispy chickpea cake surrounded by curry cream & garnished with chopped cashews & a zucchini squash slaw) and the Fried Green Tomato Napoleon (green tomatoes soaked in buttermilk, dusted in cornmeal & panko, then fried until golden topped with olive tapenade, roasted red peppers, baby spinach, housemade marinara sauce & fresh mozzarella). They enjoyed both entrees, but thought that the falafel was better. I tried each of them as well and agreed with them.
My friend Mike chose one of the specials which was a pork-based pasta dish that I cannot remember the name of. I sampled this as well & thought it was good. Mike thought it was good, but a bit too heavy and would have tried a lighter dish had he known exactly what this dish entailed. But he still liked it.
I am a big fan of seafood, especially scallops. While we were waiting for our table, a couple was sitting at the bar and the husband was eating a scallop dish that looked fantastic & he vouched for how good it was. So that's what I ordered, the Scallop Risotto (pan-seared diver scallops on a bed of creamy goat cheese risotto tossed with sundried tomatoes & spinach). It was one of the best scallop entrees I've ever had! The flavor was perfect, due in large part to the goat cheese. The scallops were huge and cooked perfectly...it was excellent!
Since it was a birthday event, we HAD to get dessert! We shared 3 different desserts: White Chocolate Cheesecake (fluffy white chocolate & cream cheese cheesecake with a slivered almond & graham cracker crust topped with a blueberry compote), Key Lime Pie and a very unique choice, Ice Cream & Olive Oil (three scoops of cinnamon-vanilla ice cream served with estate-bottled extra-virgin olive oil topped with Fleur d'Sel French sea salt)!
All 3 desserts were very good, with the cheesecake being my favorite and the ice cream having a very interesting (in a good way!) taste.
All in all, the Laundry is an excellent restaurant that I plan on visiting again. For more information, check out their website at: www.lunchandbeyond.com
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