Michael's Genuine Addendum

I know I'm not in the habit of re-reviewing places I've already eaten, but I'll make an exception just this once. Michael's Genuine is one of those holy crap restaurants that is just so freakin good, you can't fathom why you don't go every week. In my case, I'm sorry to admit, its been a whole freakin year since I've been and I will not make that mistake again! 

We took the NY-escapee and this was by far her best meal here.  This was by far the best meal out we've had in months (since Michy's I think).

Not only is this the perfect spot to bring an out-of-towner for a nice low-key night, but it is so. freakin. tasty. that i'd love to go back on at least a monthly basis.  Now if only I can hold my drive to try new things at bay a little harder (we still eat at Ver Daddy's Taco Shop almost every Friday), I'd be all over Michael's more often.

This time around, we opted to dine at a table, rather than at the chef's bar, and it took us 4 days to get a reservation.  We had originally planned to go on a Friday night (I don't know what I was thinking either), and luckily my DH suggested making reservations early.  We looked that morning, and everything was booked solid until Tuesday.  So, Tuesday it was.

We got large plates this time (plus the hominy and potato chips with onion dip so good you want to slather it all over your face). 

I got the fan-freakin-tabulous grilled Fudge Farms pork chop--A nice big, thick, juicy chop grilled to perfection with a sunchoke puree, house smoked bacon & haricot vert hash and light apple salad. This dish was perfectly balanced, seasoned & cooked.  No complaints at all. I can't even think of an entirely valid change, except for maybe possibly some more apple--the apple was diced and cooked to perfection, but I might have added some raw strips to the salad for a punch of acid.


My DH got the slow-roasted Fudge Farms pork shoulder--A falling apart hunk of porky goodness topped with parsley sauce and served with pickled red onions and Anson Mills cheese grits.  This dish did my Southern boy some good.  This was food to feed the soul, and his portion was so large that he regretably had to leave a smidge behind. 

Our snow escapee friend had the pan-roased 1/2 "poulet rouge" chicken served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed escarole.  Again, I was concerned about chicken being boring, but I needn't have worried.  They say (who says? The cooking illuminati, that's who) that the true measure of a chef is how well he or she prepares a simple roasted chicken.  If that's true, Chef Michael and his brigade deserve all the hype & all the praise they already get and more.  Give that man some cash & prizes.

Being gluttons, we then opted for dessert(s).

We had the chocolate cremoso with sea salt, olive oil, sourdough crostini & an espresso parfait topped with bits of crunchy caramelized goodness.  A great dessert.  I'm glad we ate it second. The cremoso was velvety, decadent & fabulous, the crostini & toppings providing a perfect foil and the parfait played a great counterpoint to the dish as a whole.

But the real show-stopper, at least for me (yes, I did my happy food dance/wiggle, made inappropriate noises and thought hard about grabbing the plate and dashing away for a little me time with my dessert--luckily for all I was in tall heels) was the popcorn & peanuts--a chocolate peanut butter candy bar with buttered popcorn ice cream & caramel sauce.  Full disclosure:  Popcorn is one of my favorite foods, is my favorite snack by far, and I also adore peanut butter.  Having said that, I would risk days of ice cream sickness to eat a tub of this ice cream.  Holy freakin crap, this was good.  The candy bar was nice, but it couldn't hold a candle to the popcorn ice cream.  I must eat this again and I may now be in love with Hedy Goldsmith, the pastry wizard @ Michael's. Just a little.

Ooh, and joy upon joys, Michael's now has a food cart!  With my ice cream!  I'm hella excited and will now commence with the Twitter stalking.

Oh yeah, and we had beverages.  My girl had a Shiraz I'm not seeing on the online menu and cappuccino and I had the homemade local strawberry-basil soda and a macchiato.  She loved the Shiraz, and the sommelier was a great help. The macchiato was nice, but was completely eclipsed by the dessert. The soda was too sweet for me (I don't even like sugar, so I'm not 100% on why I ordered it), but the taste was nice.

We must go back & soon.