Linear in Grand Rapids

We joined two friends for dinner at Linear along the Grand River on August 6. 

We've eaten here a number of times over the past few years. In fact, it has the distinction of being the last place we ate right before the pandemic hit. 

The food is always good, the service spot on and ambience less noisy that most restaurants these days.

One thing to bear in mind is the parking situation. Being close to downtown it suffers from a absence of dedicated parking although there is some parking allocated to the restaurant a short walk away near the public works building along Monroe Street.

My wife had the grilled salmon and I had a very tasty pasta with Bolognese (pork and tomato). The wines were reasonably priced as was the food. 

 

Food in Grand Rapids, Michigan -- this is gonna surprise you!

The variety, quality and sheer volume of food available in Grand Rapids is nothing short of amazing -- pastries so far have yet to be explored and we'll get to that later this summer.

But otherwise, breakfast, lunch and dinner is available in so many places and of such high quality that it makes the move from Providence all that much easier.

Oh, and one place I didn't photograph this trip -- in early May -- but I posted it once before is Nonna Cafe in Ada. Outstanding.

Rose's for lunch

Marco's for dinner:

morels in puff pastry

risotto

Widow's Luncheon: pastries by the French Tarte:

Licari's for lunch with Virginia and Chuck:

Marie Catribe's for brunch, yes that's right with Chuck and Virginia:

Next up in June: that incredible chocolatier in Grand Haven and our search for French pastries.

Stay tuned!

Grand Rapids, Michigan

This city in western Michigan is generally noted for its number of churches but is also home to a very large number of dining establishments as well. In fact, I've been told that Grand Rapids probably has more churches and restaurants per capita than nearly any other place in the US. It's just the most of the restaurants in the city aren't, well, very good.

One that is very good however is the Tuscan Grill on 28th st. in Cascade Township. Chef-owner Dan Chudik has been around the Michigan food scene for lots of years and has always been known for producing outstanding food.

We dined there recently with our friends Stan and Margaret and were surprised to find that Chef Dan had several dishes on the menu with fresh Porcini mushrooms. That's right fresh, not dried. And yes they were delicious.

One of the specials for the evening was pan-seared Walleye, which was so good my mother-in-law, not generally keen on fish, thought it one of the best things she's tasted in years! The Bolognese sauce was by far one of the richest, meatiest and authentic Bologna sauces I've tasted outside of Emilia-Romagna!

Prices are somewhat high: a 3-course dinner for two without wine or drinks could see 100 bucks slipping out of your wallet pretty fast. Service was very attentive and efficient even though they were quite busy throughout much of the evening (it is popular apparently).

Buon appetito!