Do Try This At Home!

     Cooking seems to be a thing of the past around my house. We have been doing the "healthy eating" things around here for the past several weeks and grilled chicken, salad and veggies really aren't blog worthy. I did however have some great food while in Michigan last week. I thought I would share a couple of our favorite meals with you today for Foodie Friday.

     One of the most well known restaurants in downtown Traverse City is Amical. It has a bistro atmosphere and the food has a French/European theme using only the freshest of ingredients.  We have wanted to try Amical on our many visits to Traverse City and we finally took the time to do so. It will now be on our "must do" list. The restaurant isn't large, but the feeling is cozy not crowded. The service was wonderful and we truly felt as if we were having an "experience" as well as a meal. We were there for a late lunch and everything we had was delicious. I had a cup of tomato basil bisque, which I forgot to take a picture of. It was followed by their Farmer's Market Salad, which changes daily based on what is available fresh locally. The Farmer's Market happened to be going on only 2 blocks from the restaurant while we had lunch, so I saw all the fresh goodies before dining.

     My salad was baby spinach, fresh arugula, goat cheese, fresh strawberries (so much better than the Illinois berries this year) and toasted pecans. The dressing was a strawberry-balsamic reduction. This would be easy to duplicate at home and it was delicious.

     My husband had their famous Chicken Pot Pie, oh my! The pastry crust was amazing and the combination of herbs, chicken and cream...yummy!

     Amical's signature dessert is a fabulous  Raspberry Creme Brulee. The custard is actually poured over the fresh raspberries before it is baked. It comes to the table with the sugar topping still warm. Oh yes, it was good.  

     I loved the black and white checked tablecloths. I really wanted to bring one home with me, but they weren't on the menu. Amical is truly not to be missed if you are in Traverse City.

     We also tried a new restaurant in Traverse City. As you can see, it was raining the night we went and the outdoor seating had been closed for the evening. We love southern cooking and the Soul Hole specializes in southern comfort foods. I've seen mixed reviews on this restaurant, but we enjoyed our visit. The place is very small. Seating is for 49 people inside. The night we were there, it wasn't busy which isn't always a good sign for a new restaurant. We would go back however, we were very happy with our food.

     My husband ordered an appetizer of hush puppies because he wanted to try the crawfish tarter sauce that came with them. They arrived looking a bit "toasty" but they really weren't over-cooked. I'm not a fan of them, but these were good and the sauce was good enough to eat with a spoon.

     My dinner was something I will try at home. I had a Fried Green Tomato BLT. It was huge and so good. I actually removed 2 of the slices of bread (there were 3) and ate it with a knife and fork. There was no way that I could pick this up and eat it. The sandwich had fried green tomatoes, bacon, lettuce, red tomatoes and a seasoned mayo on grilled bread. My side was a small order of cheese grits topped with shredded cheese. No calories in this meal!

     My husband had a Shrimp Poorboy and ate every bite. It was huge and came with homemade chips. He loved it. There were actually several things on the menu that sounded very southern and very good. Traverse City has been recognized in the past few years as a wonderful place for "Foodies" to visit. I think you can see why!

Downtown Traverse City

I am joining Michael @ Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday.

Please take some time to stop in and say hello.