Rustica

For my birthday last month, I knew that what I wanted most was a foodie experience. With a bit of research I discovered a restaurant in Kalamazoo that I hadn't heard of before - Rustica. They describe their food as rustic European cuisine.
This restaurant was beautiful and exciting the minute we walked in the door. We did call ahead for a reservation and I'm glad we did - it was packed by 6:00. I would say it is a bit upscale - it seemed like we were surrounded by the theater crowd.

THE FOOD:
We decided to be adventurous and order the mussels as an appetizer. Neither Mike or I had ever had mussels before and it seemed like a popular appetizer - lots of tables had the steaming pot of mussels in front of them. We had a very cool table right next to the open kitchen, so I watched our mussels come together right in front of me. Served with a crusty bread, these were so delicious and flavorful. Well cooked, not fishy tasting at all - with such a lovely white wine sauce.

Mike ordered the handmade gnocchi with sweet potatoes and apples for dinner. It is served with a blue cheese cream sauce that made this dish incredibly rich. The taste had that strong bite of blue cheese, but it married so well with the soft flavors of the sauteed apples and sweet potatoes. Though it was delicious, it was almost too rich and Mike actually did not finish it. Even after 3 or 4 bites, the richness and heaviness of the cream sauce settles in and fills you up fast. A great dish overall, but be prepared to be full.

I ordered the special of the night (this is my favorite thing to do at a new restaurant rather than order off of the standard menu). It was a grilled sturgeon served over a 3 bean ragout. I've since learned more about sturgeon, a Great Lakes fish that is fairly rare. It is more often used for it's roe and served as caviar. It's meat, however, is also very good. My fish was grilled perfectly and reminded me more of a steak than a fish. Sturgeon is very hearty and dense - not fishy at all. The star of this dish, though, was the ragout. There was so much flavor packed into this sauce - and it paired so well with the medley of beans.

Dessert was almost a downer after such a spectacular dinner. I ordered tiramisu, which I have to say was quite average. It tasted good, but wasn't really anything special. Mike's dessert, Rustica bread pudding, was amazing. Really, just so dense and creamy, packed with raisins and nuts with a really strong spice mix - cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg...it was really an excellent bread pudding.

This in not an everyday kind of restaurant and it is certainly not kid-friendly. 1 shared appetizer, dinner, dessert, and drinks probably got us up to around $85. This is special-occasion to be sure. The experience, though, was worth every penny. The restaurant and food were both beautiful and special.

www.rusticakzoo.com