West Michigan dining: Mia & Grace

[Alex]

For several years now, one of my very favorite restaurants in West Michigan -- which in its broad definition includes the metro areas of Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Grand Haven, and Holland -- has been Mia & Grace, in downtown Muskegon. They're extraordinarily committed to supporting local farmers and other food producers as well as local artists and artisans. They make as much of their creative menu as possible in their own kitchen, including bread, butter, ice creams, pastries, condiments, and sausages/hot dogs. Unfortunately, the area didn't generate sufficient dinner traffic to justify their staying open in the evening (at least I think that's the reason; perhaps the owners just wanted to have more family time), but they're still open for breakfast and lunch 9-5 Tuesday through Saturday, and for special events.

 

And speaking of which, on July 12 they hosted an extraordinary 12-course dinner for Slow Food West Michigan, with guest chefs.

 

The very simplified menu

 

 

 

Farmers and Friends

 

 

 

Small samples from Harmony Brewing in Grand Rapids were served with four of the courses

 

 

First course: bread loaf w/condiments

Condiment plate, clockwise from the duck fat candle (!): Sumatra coffee jelly, blueberry preserves, rhubarb jam, jalapeño jelly, goat cheese rolled in black pepper, bacon jam, and, in the middle, house-made butter w/sea salt

 

 

 

Second course: quenelle of chicken liver pâté, sweet and sour dried cherries, pickled green tomato, poppy seed crumble, purslane, lettuce

 

 

 

Third course: morel and leek soup, crème fraîche, red bell pepper, purslane, truffle flavor potato chip

 

 

 

Fourth course: chilled poached whitefish surrounding a whitefish mousse w/parsley, salt, and pepper cream; yellow summer squash, lamb's quarters, oxalis, nasturtium aioli

 

 

 

Fifth course: hickory-smoked duck andouille, cheddar jalapeño grits, swiss chard, pickled rhubarb, golden raisins, pea shoots, radish, ham glace, cornbread crumbs

 

 

 

Sixth course: tiramisu two ways: 1) housemade ladyfingers, pistachio liqueur w/vanilla, amaretto-coffee glaze; 2) housemade ladyfingers w/amaretto cookie, raspberry glaze, blueberry

 

 

 

Our table, halfway through:

 

 

 

Seventh course: lamb neck and tomato sugo, pecorino Parisian gnocchi, nasturtium leaves

 

 

 

Eighth course: Scotch quail egg (panko + chorizo crust), sweet potato puree, herb pistou, pickled onion, cilantro

 

 

 

Ninth course: Farmers Market vegetables -- new potatoes, redskin potatoes, string bean, sugar peas, snow pea, edible flower, fresh dill, sweet onion-veal broth

 

 

 

Tenth course: "Pork Belly Breakfast" -- braised and maple syrup-glazed pork belly w/ Hollandaise sauce, savory (garlic and herbs) mini-waffle, pickled strawberry, Sumatra coffee jelly, crumbled cured egg yolk, English muffin crumble

 

 

 

Eleventh course: Pizzette -- pizza slice with mozzarella, coppa, crème fraîche, swiss chard, peppadew pepper, roasted garlic oil

 

 

 

Twelfth course: brown butter bread pudding, fennel ice cream, fig, roasted pistachios, golden raisin butterscotch sauce

 

Edited February 16, 2017 by Alex
to fix some grammar (log)

[SylviaLovegren]

Wow!  Looks pretty wonderful.  How was it having a rich sweet in the middle? 

[Shelby]

Nice!  Duck fat candle was neat.  

[Alex]

Wow!  Looks pretty wonderful.  How was it having a rich sweet in the middle? 

 

Thanks for asking. We were told at the start that there'd be a break in the middle for us to stretch our legs, etc. Many of us assumed it'd be after the tiramisu, which would make sense: essentially two six-course meals, both ending with dessert. However, for some reason -- maybe a timing issue in the kitchen -- the break came after the seventh course, the lamb. That said, it was a bit jarring, but not as much as I had anticipated -- maybe because tiramisu, if it's done right (which it was), is light, not rich.

[Alex]

Just as an afterthought, although all the courses were at least good, imo, with some being absolutely wonderful, I would have done this as an eight-course meal -- the first six as presented, except insert the fresh vegetables between the duck andouille and the tiramisu, then have the bread pudding as a second dessert. I'm not complaining, though.

[Alex]

Sad to say, Mia & Grace is no more. However, one of its chef/owners, Jeremy Paquin, is now Head Chef at the excellent (and award-winning) Grove, in Grand Rapids.