The Best Restaurant Ever... and a Recipe

I promised to tell you about the restaurant we found on our weekend away.  A little restaurant overlooking the beautiful Saint Clair River called The Marine City Fish Company owned by a young couple named  Jeremy and Melissa.  You know how sometimes you go out to eat and end the meal feeling you could have really done better cooking at home? Not here. Earl and I know our way around the kitchen but I found myself wondering how much we could get for our home and what blogging would be like from this little town.

 There are only about twelve tables but they are expanding this summer. A cute little place with kitschy fishing art on the walls, Dean Martin and other real oldies playing in the background, and dark wood tables. It was cozy and warm. We sat at a table where we could look across the street at the view of the river. Pretty.

 We decided to have a "light" lunch of appetizers. They smoke their own fish so Earl had the smoked salmon and cheese appetizer.

 I had the herb grilled feta bread with blackened tenderloin tips, but we shared, so we got a little of each dish . 

These things were huge, and we loved every bite.  We had the same waitress for lunch at 11:00 and dinner at 7 p.m. and she was as sweet and cheerful after working hard all day as she was when they opened.  She informed us that everything on the menu, right down to the pasta and potato chips, is home made!

We loved the herb grilled feta bread so much that we decided to try to make our own at home!  I used my Whole Wheat Honey French Bread recipe, but I used all white flour. I let it rise once and then rolled it into thin, 10" rounds brushed olive oil on one side, and threw it on the grill oil side down.  It grills very fast about 2-3 minutes per side.  I liked it hot off the grill with a little butter. Chewy and warm and the smokey flavor brought out the sweetness of the bread.

 I thawed some of our frozen pesto and added olive oil. My pesto recipe doesn't have oil in it to begin with, so it is thicker than regular pesto.  The oil helped me spread it on the crust.

 Sprinkle with fresh chopped chives and fresh thyme, or whatever herb you like. I was winging it without a recipe and this is what we had.

 Add Feta cheese,

 Add fresh sliced tomatoes (I can't wait for real garden tomatoes for this!)

 Some thinly sliced onion.  The restaurant used red onions, but I had some vidalias so I used them!

 And slice and eat! I looked at the photo I took of my restaurant appetizer and it looks like they added more herb/basil oil on top of the toppings. I would do that next time for the extra flavor:>)

Not exactly like the restaurant dish, but I'll keep tweaking it, and I still love it!

If you are ever on the East side of Michigan I highly recommend a visit to this restaurant. It is worth the drive:>)