Restaurant Week: Summer 2010

Once in the winter and once in the summer great food in Ann Arbor becomes a little bit more accessible. We have places that are cheap and delicious all year round, but down town also has its fair share of more upscale establishments. I rarely make it in to any of them, in part because of the cost and in part because it seems that as the restaurant gets fancier the vegetarian offerings dwindle. There are obvious exceptions, but for the most part I know that if I’m going out for a really nice meal, I can plan to order one of 1-3 fish-based items on the menu, or some kind of cheesy pasta. As a result, I have to know there is something I really want before I’m willing to head in and ask for a table. Enter Restaurant Week: lots of restaurants offer $12/lunch and $25/dinner for fixed price menus, and some even offer 2 for 1 lunches ($12/lunch for two!). Not only are the prices impressive for many of these restaurants (with lunch being the real bargain, but at a time of day I can rarely swing), but the menus are put together to highlight the chef’s specialties and to offer enough variety that everyone can find at least one thing for each course that looks delicious.

Alicia and I had been eyeing Logan, and eclectic looking American restaurant with a bright interior and a simple but delicious looking menu, for quite some time. Their restaurant week menu looked tasty, so we made a reservation. (NB: If you want to eat dinner at one of the smaller restaurants during restaurant week, and there is one day left, you need a reservation. It gets crowded, and then it gets ugly, so call ahead!) We were not disappointed. Between the two of us, we ordered just about everything on the menu. I had the asparagus tempura (but forgot to photograph it), and Alicia had the Logan salad to start, and I had the gruyere salad (not worth a photo, but delicious) and she had the asparagus penne for part two. Finally, Alicia got the pork tenderloin (pictured below) and I had the trout (pictured at the top) for the final course. Everything was delicious, but the jerk sauce with cilantro that surrounded my fish was my favorite part. I like spicy food, but usually jerk spice is used on meats I don't eat. This was so exciting!