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OC Restaurant Quest: Sylvan Table

(Crystal A. Proxmire, Oct. 21, 2022)

Sylvan Lake, MI – Sylvan Table is a special place for a lovely dinner, where reservations can be hard to snag because the food and atmosphere are so enchanting. The restaurant is inside a 300-year-old barn imported to Michigan from Maine, sitting on a 5 acre farm where produce is grown onsite.  Visitors are welcome to stroll among the flowers and raised vegetable beds. A friend and I enjoyed a luxurious dinner in a bright sun room.

We started with the cauliflower satay, topped with smoked hazelnuts, cilantro, charred lime, and chili oil.  This perfectly roasted cauliflower tasted amazing with the toppings.  We also ordered craft cocktails.  Mine was the Peter Cocktail, made with Del Maguey Crema de Mezcal, carrot, lime, cinnamon syrup, orange bitters, and pink peppercorn.

My friend had the Sylvan 75 with Hendricks Gin, St. Germain, prosecco, and lemon. Sylvan Table has a nice selection of beverages, including mocktails like the Hibiscus Spritz, the Vir-Gin and Tonic, and the Spicy Vixen which is pumpkin shrub, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.

For the main course my dinner companion had the trout.  This came with quinoa salad with Michigan cherry tomatoes, as well as grilled zucchini.  The trout itself was topped with black garlic, walnuts, basil, and onion.  My friend was impressed with the freshness and the flavor.

I loved the char-braised pork belly with sesame ginger cabbage, smoked apple glaze, and savory walnut brittle.  The indulgently fatty pieces of pork were crispy on the outside and meltingly soft in the middle.  The richness of the meat was met with the coolness of the cabbage and the sweetness of the smoked apple glaze for a meal that was mouth-watering and memorable.

For dessert we each picked something, then split them in half. Her choice was the pear galette with vanilla ice cream, and my choice was a peach upside down cake.  Both were, of course, fantastic.

Other dinner choices include pan roasted duck breast, herb-laced pappardelle, hickory-charred lamb, deckle steak and more. Sylvan Table is located at 1819 Inverness Street in Sylvan Lake. See the full menu and learn more at www.sylvantable.com

Oakland County Times is on a QUEST to enjoy every local restaurant in Oakland County.  This long-term project is a labor of love, supported by our friends at White Castle.  White Castle is a family-owned company that is proud to be one of only 20 large employers to make the Fortune Best Places to work list in 2022.  With steam-grilled sliders, crispy golden french fries, fantastic slides like onion chips or fried clams, and the best chocolate shakes, White Castle is a by far our top choice for a fast food meal.  Check out their website at www.WhiteCastle.com.

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