The Lark

by John on March 23, 2009 · 1 comment

Very rarely do many people of my age and income get to visit a restaurant that is regarded as one of the best in the country. This past Friday I had the opportunity to visit The Lark in West Bloomfield, MI. The Lark is in its 25th year and is serving, by far, some of the best food I have ever eaten. Every course was absolutely incredible, and it represented one of the few times where I have been amazed by a restaurant. Their chef, John Somerville has been the head chef for 3 years and is up for a James Beard award. If you get the opportunity, I HIGHLY recommend you visit. The cost is around $80 or so per person excluding wine which is pretty expensive, but honestly it is well worth it. This was definitely a top 5 dining experience for me.

Oh, I apologize for the quality of these pictures. The restaurant is a tad on the dark side and I am not working with the greatest camera in the world.

The wine list at this place is incredible. They offer a main list and boast of a supplemental list with includes over 1,000 additional bottles. My father chose a 1988 Chateau Lynch Bages, which went well with the meal. I am not much of a wine person, but my father is a rather large wine lover. We also begun the night with a glass of Krug champagne.

The meal begun with the with the cold appetizer with oysters, shrimp, salmon, curry duck salad, and feta salad. Basically how this works is they wheel around a tray with these options and you can pick which ones you want. I, of course, opted to try everything and had seconds of the salmon. I’m not usually a big fan of raw foods, but I had my mind changed for me.

We then moved on to the warm appetizers. The choices were a pepper bisque soup with feta cheese, scallops or a pasta dish that I can not recall. I chose the pepper bisque which was absolutely delicious. The pepper was slightly sweetened and the feta cut the sweetness perfectly. My father ordered the scallops and apparently enjoyed them because he would not share them.

The meal then moved to the salad, which always offers a challenge to me. I could count the number of salads I have eaten in my life on one hand, so if a restaurant can create a salad that I will eat it’s one hell of an accomplishment. I chose the spinach salad which came with beats and goat cheese. All I can say about this is I ate it, and that is the highest compliment I could possibly pay to a salad.

For dinner, the choice was easy. The Lark is famous for their Rack of Lamb Ghangis Khan. This dish has been featured on Emeril and is known across the country as some of the best lamb available. You even get a certificate saying which number lamb you are eating (i believe mine was around 66,000) and the recipe they use. It was surprising how simple the recipe was. The secret seemed to be the quality of the lamb and the hoisin sauce, which is brushed on for the last five minutes of cooking. I was amazed at how delicious and tender these things were. It is completely possible that this was the best dish I have ever eaten. It was served with dauphinoise potatoes and glazed carrots.