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Lansing, Michigan, United States
I am a Lansing townie, lawyer, and restaurant reviewer for the City Pulse. I love traveling, reading, yoga, and baking, but my favorite hobby is stuffing my face.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Morels- Farmington Hills

A few months ago I bought a Groupon for $40 to eat at Morels, a fancy joint in Farmington Hills (Oakland County.) I'm sure many people would buy a $40 Groupon and think "Great! I can have a pretty nice lunch with my bestie! Maybe we can even squeeze in a dessert."

I, on the other hand, thought "YEEEEEES! $40 to spend all on myself. I am going to eat everything." And eat everything I did.

I don't understand why people don't like to eat by themselves. I love to have that time to meticulously read the menu, to eat as slowly as I wanna eat, and (of course) to people-watch. People-watching is high on my list of hobbies. Must be all that time I spent in France.

So I took myself out to lunch one rainy, snowy afternoon. My waiter, Devin, was a dreamboat. Upon sitting down I explained to him that I was going to order a lot of food, too much food for one person, but it's because I had a Groupon and I don't eat lunch in that area of the state very often and, let's face it, I'm kind of a hog. He was into it.

He brought me a little bread basket with slice of sourdough (not my favorite) and a tiny cranberry brioche roll. I really tried to restrain myself from gobbling up the entire roll, since I knew that I was going to order two complete lunch entrees, but it was just too good. Nibble by nibble, the roll disappeared.


My first meal (ordered after obtaining the advice and consent of Devin, who called it his "go-to salad") was the duck breast and brussels sprouts salad. I couldn't figure out if the b. sprouts were raw or had been blanched, but either way they ha a nice bite to them and were separated into petals, like tiny little lettuce leaves. I haven't made myself a salad at home yet copying this technique, but you better believe it's in the works.

The radishes were peeled and boiled. But still crunchy. I don't love radishes, but I loved the candied, spiced pecans. Quelle shock, I know.

I also love duck. It's a little bit greasy, a little bit dark, like a chicken that's been reading too many vampire novels. It's easy to roast for a crowd but people think you're fancy when you serve it to them. It made for a luxurious lunch.


For my next entree, Devin and I chose the Scottish Salmon Rockefeller. I'm ashamed to admit that it had never occurred to me to take a piece of grilled salmon, cover it in Parmesan, and stick it under the broiler. You know that I don't walk around eating pieces of cheese, but it's hard for me to turn down a juicy, flaky piece of salmon covered in bubbly Parmesan.

The accompaniments were good too, nothing noteworthy. But then, who needs a knock-down drag-out side when you're eating salmon like you're going to the electric chair the next day?

After these two meals, Devin told me that we had a problem. "We're only at $32," he said. "You've got to spend more money."

OH DANG.

I told him that I had given up sugar for Lent, but Archangel Devin told me that this was a special occasion, and God would understand. He brought over the dessert tray.

Now, I knew that I was going to be making my first-ever cheesecake in the next few days for the Little Prince (my brother)'s birthday, so in the name of research, I ordered the mascarpone cheesecake.


Holymolythiswasdelicious. I have two favorite bites of cheesecake- right on the point, and the flat end of it. I will admit that I took those two bites, plus about 5 more. It was rich and velvety and the caramel sauce on top was incredible.

Morels, dear reader, are a type of wild mushroom that grow in Michigan. They are seriously expensive- not truffles expensive, but you're not going to find them sitting in the produce case at Meijer either. My mother has a friend, a little old lady all the way up in Boyne City, who hunts for morels every year. Then she dehydrates them and sends them to Mom, wrapped in a plaid gift bag. Morels have a distinctive earthy, spicy flavor, and the mushroom cap looks like a honeycomb.

The attention to detail at Morels wasn't lost on me.


It was a gorgeous lunch. I felt like a celebrity. Keep your eye on those Detroit Groupons, eaters.

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