The Winchester, 648 Wealthy SE - 4/26/12

This is one of our "go-to" places when we can't decide where to eat, aren't going to necessarily write-up a review, and just want some interesting and unique food.  So we've been here dozens of times, have already written it up twice, but today decided to share our wonderful lunch.


Our service was superb, as per usual, with a friendly and informative server. We love the changing menu and started with the shrimp nachos, which came highly recommended. Our server did not steer us wrong.

Small pieces of black tiger shrimp came atop curried granny smith chopped apples and guacamole (dig down a little so as to not miss the tart apples that combined wonderfully with the guacamole and shrimp). The drizzled sweet soy sauce and house-made tortilla chips made this an excellent appetizer choice. We did run out of chips before we consumed everything else, but we still had our forks.  


And who could resist a crab BLT? Soft-shelled crab was flash-fried and sandwiched with bacon, locally produced lettuce (Vertical Paradise Farms, a greenhouse farm in Caledonia), nicely spicy mayonnaise (specifically, sesame-sriracha kewpie Japanese mayo), and cherry tomatoes. Served on a toasted vienna roll from a local bakery (Nantucket Bakery), the well-prepared and delicious sandwich required multiple napkins and was accompanied by house-made black pepper kettle crisps. 

When asked for an opinion regarding the ordering the gator po' boy or the fish tacos, our server did not hesitate for a second: fish tacos. It's been several years since we've ordered fish tacos after having a horrifying, fishy experience at another restaurant, so this choice was a bold move. 

As it turned out, our server was right again. Just the list of ingredients will make your mouth water: lemongrass coriander rubbed tilapia, latin citrus slaw, saffron aioli, and grilled locally made El Milagro flour tortillas, served with fire roasted vegetable salsa and house-made plantain chips. Although we preferred the kettle crisps over the plantain crisps, the tacos are highly recommended. 


The Winchester looks for local food sources for its ingredients, and in season, looks no further than across the street at its own garden.

And don't miss their fantastic food truck around town and at special events.

Best Food Truck Name Ever

They have a very active presence on facebook and twitter, both as The Winchester and What the Truck (Twitter as @TheWinchesterGR and @tacotruckGR). Find the ever-changing menu on their website: http://www.winchestergr.com

6/15/12 - Here's a nice shout-out from USA Today.

Cambridge House, 600 Monroe Ave NW - 8/1/11

10/13/11 Update: The owners have announced the closing of the Cambridge House as of 10/15/11


This has been a popular, local bar for a long time that features a comfortable, English-style atmosphere and a huge selection of wine and beer. Hardwood floors, dark wood, and low lighting create an appealing pub ambiance with a lot of character. Typical bar food was always  available but when you thought about dining out, Cambridge House would not come to mind.

Things are changing. The focus is now more on food, with a small and interesting menu, ever-changing, and based on locally-produced ingredients. The pool table and dart boards are still there as is the fireplace seating. There’s a new dividing wall to set the bar apart but everything else looks the same.

We took a high-backed, dark wood booth along the bar around five o’clock and were promptly served with a bottle of water and menus. Scanning the menu, we were impressed by the selections but quickly realized that it was not a full menu with appetizers and entrees. 

Instead we were offered a mix of sides, small plates, and a few other dishes; we needed a few minutes to sort it all out. Most selections are nicely paired with an appropriate beer and wine offerings.

We started with pierogies filled with Michigan potatoes, shrimp, and bacon. Caramelized onions and a pea puree accompanied the dish. Shrimp and bacon flavors were light but we were okay with that. The potatoes were creamy, and when each bite was combined with the onions and puree, it was a mouth-watering treat.

Next up was the Michigan Comfort, a tender filet of beef served with roasted potatoes and crimini (or do you say cremini) mushrooms in a rich gravy. Exquisite flavor and presentation, the beef was beautifully medium rare.

The description of the Goulash was irresistible and it didn’t disappoint as our second selection. Beef, buffalo, and lamb were simmered in a tomato-date sauce and was served with gemelli pasta and Dancing Goat chevre, with a small side salad of peppers, tomatoes, and onion. The pasta was prepared perfectly, the meat flavors were distinct but compatible, the tomato and date sauce was subtle, and the chevre topped it off wonderfully for a very well-balanced and highly recommended dish.

As you can see by the photos, these are not huge servings but they were reasonable portions. There is still a huge alcohol menu (it’s still a bar after all) and you can’t stop by for lunch; they don’t open until 4:00 p.m. Service was exemplary.

We’re fans of Derby Station and Graydon’s Crossing and their owners also own Cambridge House. We’re not fans of unattributed quotes but will leave you with theirs: “To be without good food and good drink...is a paltry existence.”

www.cambridgehousegr.com
              

The Winchester, 648 Wealthy St SE - 6/30/10

We’re fans of this restaurant but haven’t been there since 12/30/09 (see previous review). We’ve attempted to have dinner there many times on various weekends, but could never get in. (If by some chance you would get in, you won’t be able to hear over the din.) It’s a popular spot, no doubt about it. So lunch is a better bet, and a later lunch time is all the better. Today was a sunny day in the 70's and we wanted outdoor dining. It was time to revisit The Winchester.

The patio alongside the restaurant is long and narrow; it holds four tables for 4 near the front and another three for 4 in the rear. Four small tables for 2 are attached to the exterior wall and a long counter runs through the middle with about two dozen bar stools facing each other. There’s also a counter along the parking lot side with about eight bar stools. Although that counter was in the sun, diners face the small parking lot; not so great. The sunny tables for 4 were all occupied so we opted for a table for 2 against the wall. After about 10 minutes, one table was freed up and we quickly moved to the sunny side of the patio. From our point of view, adding more tables and reducing the counters would be an improvement, but claiming to be more pub than restaurant, the Winchester is probably fine with how things are.

The menu doesn’t match the online menu but we enjoyed the humorous preface to the undercooked food warning, “the legal stuff.” (They really should say, you won’t get anything medium-rare, sorry.) The menu isn’t very large but for us that’s a positive; they concentrate on making a few dishes really well.

We started with the Pierogies: handmade, containing butternut squash and goat cheese, and served with braised cabbage, drawn brown butter, and Sobie Meats (local producer) bacon. You may have had Pierogies during Pulaski days or otherwise, but these are the Winchester version and are incredibly delicious. The dough was perfect - thin and not overdone. It was a real taste treat.

Our first main dish was Surf and Turf: grilled tri-tip steak, handmade crab cakes, avocado puree, and smoked paprika aioli. In our experience, when we order beef medium-rare, our odds are less than 50% that we’ll get it. Today was no exception. The steak still retained flavor but was medium at best, and closer to medium well. Tri-trip steak was an interesting offering (see hanger steak at Blue Water Grill); it’s a part of the cow that used to be consigned to ground beef or soup meat. The trick is that it’s so lean it is easy to overcook, as it was today. The avocado puree was a little overwhelming for the very good crab cakes but was easily corrected by portion-control.

Our second dish was Chicken Bhuna: blackened chicken breast with red curry spiced tomato sauce, haricot verts (french green beans), and basmati rice. A few minutes after we  ordered, our server returned to offer an alternative for the rice: mashed potatoes or a vegetable medley. The chef had informed her that the rice would be 13 minutes to prepare. We’re fine with 13 minutes (and loved the specificity) and it was definitely worth the wait. The dish was great - nice spice level, tasty chicken, fresh beans from their garden across the street, and perfectly prepared rice. It was a wonderful combination and blending of flavors.

Each dish was beautifully presented, and service was prompt and friendly but not rushed; our tab was under $40.00. If you appreciate creative cuisine based on fresh, locally produced ingredients, you will love The Winchester, particularly on a nice, sunny day on the patio.

And one last note: the owners took the name of the restaurant from the hilarious, zombie cult classic, “Shaun of the Dead,” which is a wonderful touch. "Come and get it -  it’s a running buffet!" "If we hole up, I wanna be somewhere familiar, I wanna know where the exits are, and I wanna be allowed to smoke."

It’s not a buffet, and you can’t smoke, but you can quite comfortably hole up here. And don’t say the zed-word.

www.winchestergr.com

The Green Well, 924 Cherry St SE - 5/4/10

The Green Well is a favorite of ours and, like The Winchester, labels itself a Gastro Pub (more pub than restaurant but with really good food). To us, The Green Well is more restaurant than pub but perhaps later at night, it becomes more pub. Regardless, it’s a great place to eat. (Also, in its pub defense, the bar has very large wine and beer selections and, in keeping with their philosophy, includes some local micro brews.)

The restaurant is not large and is slightly divided between bar and dining. Tables are close together (ok, maybe it is more pub-style) and it was crowded at 1:00 p.m. The outdoor deck has tables more spaciously placed and seeing that it was a sunny day, we headed outside. They may put more tables out later on but today there were only six, and three to four stayed occupied. If you know anything about this well-documented restaurant, you know it’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, and as its website states: “it’s environmentally safe, ultra efficient, and leaves behind the smallest possible carbon footprint.” Tables from recycled materials, food from local suppliers, many local brews and wines, and more, prove the Green Well lives up to its claims.  

And the food?  Wonderful. Creative, fresh, and beautifully presented; what more can you ask for? If you want the best burger in town, order the Kobe burger (but if you’re going to order it anything more than medium-rare, just take a run to McDonald’s instead). The cheese plate is lovely with a great combination of tastes, and is highly recommended. Today we started with the smoked chicken and goat cheese crepe. It consisted of mushrooms, spinach, roasted vegetable hash, and bacon buerre blanc. Interesting and delicious.

Several specials are always available but this time we stayed with the menu. It changes frequently and every description is enticing. Our first choice was the barbequed braised pork (sweet corn, andouille, braised greens, and creamy polenta). It was a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds (the polenta with corn was particularly notable). The second dish was jambalaya. We haven’t had jambalaya since our last visit to Louisiana and this was a great midwest version of the famous dish (braised pork, andouille, shrimp, roasted peppers, sweet corn, tomatoes, onions, and basmati rice); great combination, and if the shrimp were frozen, they still retained flavor.

Service is always great; servers are friendly, helpful, and informative. Menus differ slightly for lunch and dinner and both are found online, as are complete wine and beer listings, and all pricing. The Green Well consistently offers unique dishes with fresh ingredients, and although some customers may complain about the prices, you won’t be disappointed with the quality.
                        
www.thegreenwell.com


                   

The Winchester, 648 Wealthy SE - 12/30/09

A new restaurant in 2009 and advertised as a Gastro Pub, The Winchester was recommended by a friend so we dropped in for lunch today. It’s a beautiful place, brick interior walls, open ceiling, all-wood bar, and wooden tables & chairs. It reminded us a little of O’Toole’s but smaller. It’s long and narrow, bar on one side, small tables on the opposite wall, two high tables in the middle, high tables for six, more tables for two, and a couple of booths in the rear. The small tables are the major problem. If you take one of them, you are dining with the people next to you; uncomfortably close. Even though we were only two, we took a high table for six so we could talk, just to ourselves. If we had to move, we would have headed to the bar to sit but they let us be. Summer dining would be better as there's a large outdoor patio.

What exactly is a Gastro Pub? There was no information on the menu so we looked it up. Apparently it’s a British term that combines Pub (Public House) with Gastronomy, i.e., a pub that specializes in serving quality food. So more pub than restaurant but with really good food. It makes sense, but then is the Green Well really a Gastro Pub? It's more restaurant than pub. But that's for another time.

Service was prompt, friendly, and informative, and we started with Cast Iron Skillet Shrimp. Featuring Tiger Shrimp (native to West Pacific and widely farmed in southeast Asia), with freshly chopped garlic, red pepper flakes, and roasted red peppers, it was great; the flavoring was subtle and didn’t overwhelm the shrimp.

For our main dishes, we ordered one of the day’s lunch specials, Skirt Steak Tacos, and one off the menu, the Pulled Pork Sandwich. We like to think that the specials will be “special” but sometimes they are just items the restaurant wants to move. Today that was probably not the case. The two Skirt Steak Tacos came nicely presented with fresh tomato, shredded lettuce, sour cream, house-made vegetable salsa, and a wedge of lime. The meat was medium-rare in one taco and medium in the other - not sure how that happened but they were good. Tortillas are made in-house, which is unusual in a non-Mexican restaurant, and the lime wedge was a nice touch.

The Pulled Pork sandwich fared equally as well. The slow-cooked pork came with haystack onions and house-made barbecue sauce on ciabatta bread. The barbecue sauce had a nice kick to it and the ciabatta was fresh and soft. Plaintain chips accompanied the sandwich and they were interesting.

The food is fresh, from local food sources, and/or homemade and the menu is varied and creative. Pricing is reasonable with each sandwich priced at $8.50. It's a great spot for lunch and a nice addition to the Eastown area.

www.winchestergr.com