Birmingham Restaurant Week: Forest Grill

Photo courtesy of Enjoy Birmingham

Things in Birmingham tend to slow down in February.  Holiday lights are packed up.  The window shoppers have migrated to the warmth of The Somerset Collection.  The festivals, events, and gatherings at Shain Park have pretty much dried up.  Thus, it is very opportune that Birmingham kicked off their eighth annual Birmingham Restaurant Week earlier this week.  The lure of $30 fixed-price three-course dinner menus ($15 for lunch) at 20 different Birmingham restaurants tempts the hibernator in us all.  

Naturally, we took advantage bringing our friend, Amy, to Forest Grill (where we spent the 2010 Restaurant Week).  While we let Amy choose from the restaurant list, she narrowed it down to Forest Grill or Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse.  While the latter would have been a new restaurant for us to check off the list (and is a newer restaurant to the town), we just didn't feel like taking someone to a steakhouse really represents the kind of quality food and dining experience that Birmingham has to offer.  To me, steakhouses are a thing of the past, but yet, I'm sure they'll be ever-present.  We did have our doubts about Forest Grill though because they were going through a chef transition as their Executive Chef David Gilbert decided to leave the restaurant that he probably could have owned one day to start his own restaurant in Grosse Pointe.  Nevertheless, their restaurant week menu offered an interesting take on Gilbert's notable veal cheeks with the Veal Cheek Lasagne offering.  

Photo courtesy of Forest Grill's Facebook page

Not much changed since our last visit as the service was spot on (except for some reason, it took us awhile to get our check), the atmosphere was warm and bustling (but not so loud that you couldn't hold a good conversation), and menu didn't disappoint.  Well, another exception on the latter as I frowned a little when I saw the veal cheeks were replaced by a Salmon with Watercress Bouillon, Green Onion and Oranges.  It's hard to go with Salmon when you're in the mood for veal cheeks, but the other option  was a meat dish that I knew Scottie would order but not me!  For starters, Scottie and Amy both opted for the Baby Heirloom Beet Salad with Warm Goat Cheese and Candied Walnuts, while I chose the Tomato Bisque soup.  Lastly, we also split up on the desserts as Scottie and I ordered the Creme Brulee and Amy was fired up over the Bread Pudding.

After reading more about the chef transition, it sounds like chef that was hired to replace Gilbert didn't work out, so now they're on to a native Michigander who they picked up from Chicago that seems promising.  It's hard to know who was cooking that night, but everything tasted quite well, and you would have never known that there was a chef transition (except maybe from their lighter standard menu options but maybe that's just all they want to serve).