Mulefoot Gastropub, January 22, 2016

My darling wife asked me on a date last week. Our wee boy is still incredibly portable, so we were able to show him off at her plant and then go have dinner at the Mulefoot Gastropub in Imlay City. Mulefoot is a cool little farm to table place that specializes in pork---specifically, pork from the heirloom Mulefoot pig variety. They do pork beautifully, but one of the guys at the plant had mentioned that he was taking his wife out for beer and burgers, so we both had a hankering for a good cheeseburger. Luckily for us, Mulefoot also excels at those. We both ended up getting burgers. I subbed rosemary mashed potatoes for my fries, but they were terribly salty, so I ended up with delicious hand-cut french fries. Jeannene had truffle parmesan fries. The burgers were big enough that we each had half for our lunch on Sunday.

Jeannene almost always gets the smoked trout for her appetizer. I think, though, that they changed the menu. She ordered the roasted garlic, instead, which came in big, beautiful cloves with toast and other accoutrements. She was willing to be generous with her sharing, but I had a cup of scrumptious lentil soup. It was quite a bit smokier and earthier than mine, served in a lovely pottery cup with matching saucer. They have many of the dishes handmade by a guy one town over and they just complement the food perfectly.

I couldn't resist dessert, either. I've been hungry for ice cream and they were offering chocolate ice cream on raspberry French toast with gaufrettes and coffee. I'd not really thought about having potato chips on ice cream or ice cream on French toast, but it was a perfect flavor and texture combo. The portions were fairly dainty, too, so it wasn't overwhelming. I hope they have that on the menu again next time we go!

I can't wait for our bitty boy to be big enough to sample some of these flavors. But, for now, I am content to place him right on the table for our viewing pleasure while we eat. He tends to sleep through most of our outings and people are always amazed at how good he is, so we figure we'll enjoy that while it lasts! The day is coming when dinner out like that will definitely require a sitter!