Restaurant Review: Tom's Oyster Bar

Things have Changed and it's for the Better

Update 8/3/16 below. . .

It's been years since we have eaten at Tom's Oyster Bar. While I love visiting restaurants in downtown Royal Oak, sometimes the food isn't as good as it could be, but why would a restaurant put in that extra effort when they can be jam packed every night anyways?

Tom's Oyster Bar, in my opinion, was kind of boring before. . . Now for those that really enjoy oysters that might not be the case but I like a variety of seafood and oysters just aren't on that list for me. Don't be discouraged though because Tom's is not old boring Tom's anymore. This is a new place.

I had read that the menu had been updated due to a new chef but I kind of filed that away. The impetus to go there was a gift card that I won. Yes, I won a gift card to Tom's Oyster Bar by guessing the closest number to the actual number of Flaming Spanish Coffees sold in January! 

We waited until the first night the patios were open in Royal Oak. The weather was a little crisp but still wonderful to celebrate the official end of winter! A jacket and a cocktail can always counteract the chill in the air on a spring evening.

We started with an appetizer of Calamari which was lightly battered with brown butter, mirepoix, Thai bird chili, garlic aioli and arugula. That calamari featured both rings and tentacles which I think is much better than just one cut. I loved the garlic sauce for dipping which had a little heat. I did think the mirepoix was just a tad too much as I also ordered a salad, it was more of a chopped salad than a garnish. I wanted to find my calamari a little easier but it made for a treasure hunt of sorts. I don't want to be too critical because this was still very good - perfectly fried so it wasn't too crisp or greasy.

The Caesar salad was generous with two wedges of Romaine lettuce. While I have had many wedge salads I haven't seen too many Caesar versions but this was very good as the lettuce was incredibly fresh. I can't stand a wilted salad and this structure could stand up to dressing as well as nice shavings of Parmesan. The wedges were topped with buttercrumb and two anchovies. I will confess I did not touch those little fishies but the salad was very good and I would definitely order this again.

My husband loves fish and chips and these did not disappoint him. This is a generous portion, served in a whimsical metal bucket with newspaper for decoration (it wasn't to blot up any extra grease because they were fried perfectly). Tender and flaky, this was fresh. The fries were delicious as well with a nice outside crust. I personally enjoyed the little side of coleslaw. Cole slaw is either very disappointing or very good to me. This was a good version with a cream base that had just a little bit of spice that complimented the crisp cabbage. This wasn't the least bit soggy which really emphasized the freshness of everything we were served that night.


I saved the best for last. I really thought these scallops were divine. There's no other way to describe them. First, let me start with this was a difficult decision to order these as I was torn between scallops and Fisherman's Stew (I will have to go back). Secondly, I had disappointing scallops the previous weekend elsewhere (and that's my own fault for eating at a well known chain and expecting that the scallops would be good?). These scallops were everything the disappointing ones were not. Perfectly seared on one side, wonderful translucent color that just let you know that they were going to be the most perfect texture. . . yes, that's a lot of "perfect" but it was well deserved. Not only were these scallops so very good, the plating for the entire dish made this just more than scallops and I actually enjoyed everything in that bowl. These gems sat on top of curried carrots, cauliflower (both white and purple), peas, lemon oil and cardamon walnuts. I don't even like peas but I ate every last one that was there. I was hoping for a tiny wedge of bread to scoop every last bit of the sauce that formed at the bottom. I even tried to make roasted curried cauliflower and carrots at home but I don't think I could ever get this right (mine wasn't even close).

Now, it would be completely negligent of me not to try the drink that got us there in the first place right?  While I did have a beer with dinner I thought that it was appropriate to have a Flaming Spanish Coffee to finish up this memorable meal. It did not disappoint either. I have to imagine that the rum is 150 proof to get that nice crusty cinnamon sugar rim. Often I find that coffee drinks can have an overpowering amount of alcohol that does not allow them to go down smoothly. It could just be me. I can hear the retorts right now. This drink was a nice balance and I got the warmth of the alcohol without sacrificing the good coffee flavor or that delicious sugar after-note. Good stuff.

Moral of the story? Give local restaurants a second chance. Often things change and it can be for the better. I am glad we have this place back on the radar and plan on having it be a summer hang this year. Eat local!

Update 8/3/16 

What would possess me to update a perfectly good review? More important information in the form of delicious updates! Pineappletinis! Pineapple infused vodka makes for a summer treat. . . This drink is so light and tropical without being overly sweet. Think of it as pineapple juice with a kick and just remember that even if you don't notice that "kick" it's there. This is potent stuff but oh so good!

Book Review: The Fiery Cross (Outlander Series) by Diane Galbadon

Book 5

It's been a commitment 

Even as I write this I am admonishing myself for being so whiny. As I have mentioned before, the first book is the best, but I've made a commitment to see this through. I have thought about how I would review this one because while I wouldn't recommend it, I have started Book Six - A Breath of Snow and Ashes, and it's already so much better than this one. I don't think you can actually skip this one but I would do my best to skip it.

Premise? Well that's just it. There really isn't much of one. It's set in pre-revolutionary America and it's the background for what is imminently coming. As Claire knows the history, as well as Roger and Brianna, they are trying to get ready for what is to come.

In so many ways this book is more mundane that the rest and it's almost as they get a little more boring as we continue on with the story. I'm just hoping that Book 6 continues to be better than the last few.

I can't really recommend this but I can't dissuade you either. If you are like me, and you have gotten this far, you just want to see it through.

Home: Kitchen Makeover Phase 2

Rustic Farm Kitchen

Phase 2 - Cabinets

 

As we progress into Phase II of this home project, I'm rethinking my label of "Rustic Farm Kitchen". Those chickens are not going anywhere but maybe it's not the defining component of what we are going to achieve here. As I look at my cabinets they may be a nod to a barn red color but the color is Emperor's Silk and really is a little brighter. I'm thinking we are going to now call this "Vintage Kitchen" or just call it "My Kitchen". My Kitchen works for me because really this is going to be more about me, and what I like, than any genre. In most situations, I don't have a label or a time period for what I do in this house. I just do what I like. Color makes me happy, repurposing makes me feel that I am at least trying to be green, and I get a kick out of old stuff.

If you are reading this for the first time and have not been following my adventure you may want to go back to Phase 1 which was all about wall color. This post today is dedicated to cabinets. Cabinets are a bitch. Yes, I'm saying bitch because they truly are. As I write this I have exactly one set of overhead cabinets done but I'm so proud of them I'm not waiting until this whole Phase is complete. Rather, my plan is to update this once they are all done. I estimate that will be at least a month. Why? I told you, cabinets are a bitch.

Now as I say that I should mention that I know I could have had it much worse. The original plan to paint over the wood was nixed after I found out most of our research demonstrated best practices that included TSP to clean them, sanding them, priming them one way, sanding them again, priming them again, sanding a final time, and then painting. Then there was talk about using saw horses to keep the doors level. It was funny, even with all these steps, the article at This Old House (which is very informative) describes this as a weekend project. I'm not convinced that it can ever be a weekend project because my first set of overhead cabinets took me more than one weekend.

After nixing the original describe plan of action above, I was going to give up but we thought about perhaps spraying the cabinets instead. In asking around on social media to see if we could borrow a sprayer, I found out from a friend about chalk paint. If you are like me, I pictured that paint you use to make a chalk board. That isn't what this is. Chalk paint is a specially formulated paint that you can use in different applications and has a chalky finish. You can then wax it to protect it for applications such as - wait for it - kitchen cabinets.

The advantage to chalk paint is that there is no preparation involved, so those cabinets that I am describing as a bitch are really not as bad as they could be. Half empty vs half full. . . I cleaned them with 409 as opposed to TSP because the idea of harsher chemicals and trying to protect the rest of my kitchen was overwhelming. I did not have to prime. Prepping was limited to filling some preexisting holes for the original hardware and sanding those small spots. The rest was really two coats of paint (some areas did get closer to three) and then two coats of clear wax with some dark wax for distressing. This still took a full weekend and some hours over the course of this past week. I write this as I am starting our second set of overhead cabinets.

Rather than complain though I'm going to rejoice. I love how these look! Technically this is not a Before and After Shot because these are two different sets of cabinets in our kitchen but it's good for a comparison.

I made the choice to not paint the inside of the cabinets. Instead we taped off the cabinets with frog tape and did the outer surfaces of the boxes once we removed the doors. Of course the green paint is not the best look and it's hard to see what the finished project was going to look like but this is the cabinet boxes before waxing, with two coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint.

Looking at this photo I realize that the macro lens was not really ideal as I took this photo from
below. I am sorry for the skewed image but you can get the idea. I also happened to notice that I'm in that reflection of the microwave and I apologize for that too. Really, after painting a kitchen I don't really look my best. 

Back to the paint. There are apparently a lot of versions of chalk paint on the market. Michael's sells their version, along with the accessories but I made a decision for this project to use the one with the reputation behind the name. I know that there are recipes to make your own by adding plaster to latex paint but when doing so many areas of a kitchen I would be concerned about matching it up every batch. Annie Sloan chalk paint is water based, with pigments. It goes on matte, with a chalky finish. There are different ways to apply it but for the look we were trying to achieve (rustic, vintage, distressed. . . ) I put this on with a soft bristle brush and rather than going in one direction we purposefully applied in different directions for texture and cross hatching. Texture is key later for waxing. Brushing took a little longer than perhaps rolling but rolling wouldn't work for this particular task or look.

Waxing is a little bit time intensive and I wanted three coats in areas that would be touched a lot, mostly the doors. I skimped with two layers of wax on the top of our cabinets. Here is a good look at the difference between the door coated with clear wax, and then the addition of the dark wax on the door on the left. After putting a layer of clear soft wax down, I pushed the dark brown wax into areas with grooves, and then wiped back until I achieved the amount I wanted. I didn't want to overdo these cabinets that they looked dingy but I did want a distressed look and to tone down the red a touch so it wasn't too bright and stark, or too modern.

None of these materials - the paint or the waxes - is exactly cheap but I think that if you are going to make a commitment to redecorate a kitchen the paint is a lot cheaper than resurfacing cabinets or replacing them. The sweat equity of priming and sanding also factored into my decision to use the better paint. I think it was a wise investment.

In speaking about investments, there was also the expense of changing out the knobs. As you can see the original hardware was sleek and modern which really wasn't going to work with our new palette or style. We chose knobs for the top cabinets rather than pulls. I actually located these knobs that have a vintage feel from Cost Plus World Market.  They have plenty of variety to choose from and they are relatively inexpensive compared to other vendors. These ran us about 4.00 each. We still will have to decide what to do with the lower cabinets as I'm going to want pulls. I was originally thinking a matte black but I think with this knob, we can go with an antique metal such as bronze if it has enough of a patina in the finish.

As I mentioned before I have one set of overhead cabinets done. I have the second overheads washed and I'm almost through taping them. The doors have already received patch for pre-existing drill holes and painting for all the surfaces begins tomorrow. I am hoping to get the majority of that work done this weekend.

Stay tuned. I will add photos once this phase is complete!

 

 

DIY: Tiki Torches

Custom Made Tiki Torches

Repurposed Liquor Bottles with Plumbing Supplies

 

We thought we were really smart when we splurged for the extra-large Tiki torches at Target. We bought the Island Kings and they were not cheap, and we needed at least seven of them for strategic placement around our deck.

Yes, they looked nice that first summer and we were completely enamored with anything that we could come up with that made our deck a nightime oasis. But over time, the honeymoon period ends and you realize you have a problem.

Tiki Island Torches  Purchase

There are many problems with them. . . things you figure out after you make your first purchase and realize how you could do things differently:

1. It doesn't matter if you buy the special stakes to keep these secure when you have sandy ground under your lawn. These poles are never straight, especially over time.

2. Having a large reservoir is fine and dandy but if you can't tell when it's empty, or that you have overfilled it, it's really a pain. Overfilling leads to ridiculous flares and sizzling that is scary around a wooden deck (as well as plant life, bird feeders, kids, etc.).

3. Metal containers rust.

I could go on. I really did like them when we bought them but we knew we needed something different. Our first prototype was completed today and it's been a work in progress. For right now I just have a couple of snapshots but I plan on really zooming in and providing some more pictures as we continue in our quest to make ten of these and get into the details of this project. 
While I will continue to update this in the next few weeks let’s start today with some of the basics.

Vessels:

I like using that word every once in a while but I guess “container” would do. We really thought long and hard about the bottles we were going to use. The original plan was to use wine bottles but we realized that we would either have to put a layer of shellac on top of the labels or come to terms that once the labels came off (rain and sun would be hard on them) that the bottles themselves wouldn’t be all that unusual. A wine bottle is a wine bottle after the label is gone.

We decided for liquor bottles instead. The thought was that some of the markings are etched on the bottle and the shapes of each kind of liquor  would make them all a little bit different beyond just the color of the glass. Before you go and comment that I must have a problem with having all of these at my disposal, I must tell you I have a friend who waits tables at a local comedy club and was kind enough to get me these. I didn’t drink all this liquor to start this quest!

Mechanics/Engineering:

I live with MacGyver. I don’t know exactly how he figured this out but we used different plumbing supplies to create the attachments and posts. We have a piece of ¾ PVC pipe (about 1.5 feet deep in the ground, that was then surrounded by concrete. I don’t want to have wavy poles every again! We even used a post level when we drove them into the ground. To make this easier, we sliced a 45 degree angle on the bottom to drive this in easier with a mallet.

To this base, we added a PVC female adaptor to “receive” the copper poles we made out of copper ¾ inch pipe.

PVC 3/4 inch female adapter

The bottom of the copper pipe has a copper ¾ inch male adapter to fit into the PVC.

3/4 inch male adapter

On the top of this copper pipe is another ¾ inch male adapter that screws into a floor flange that is attached to the bottom of each bottle with silicone glue.

Floor Flange

Pebbles:

We used glass pebbles inside each bottle purchasing them from Michael’s with a weekly coupon deal (30% off all regular prices merchandise this week!). We had a more limited selection due to the size of the neck of each bottle but were able to purchase some peach, clear and silver pebbles. The glass pebbles were important to fill the bottom of each bottle so that the torch fuel isn’t at the bottom where the wick can’t reach.

What’s nice about these bottles is we can see when we fill them and know ahead of time when we need to refuel.

Wicks:

We bought wicks for the Tiki torches at Lowe’s in two packs. These are “Long Life Fiberglass” wicks that should last a long time. To fasten the wicks into the bottles we placed through a copper ½ inch to 3/8 inch reducing coupling. This allows the wick to be pulled out through the coupling, and the whole piece sits on top of the bottle opening. We did put a couple of layers of Teflon tape around the bottom section of the coupling to make it more snug as this will prevent water from getting in when it rains. We also added a ¾ inch copper end cap to fit on top of the wick when not in use, again for protection against the rain. We will have to figure out how to leave these somehow attached to the bottle.

Restaurant Review: Cheesecake Factory at Twelve Oaks Mall

3 Hour Wait?

Is it worth it?

We attempted to go to Cheesecake Factory two weekends ago, due to a birthday request, but the wait was at least three hours. Now, I will go somewhere, put my name in, and come back, but this wait included a "check in" an hour in, and that's too much in terms of logistics. So we bailed that time and went to Buddy's Pizza instead.

This past weekend we had a plan. You have to come up with a plan when a birthday wish is involved. . . My husband stopped by the mall on his way home from work, and put our name in. At that time there was an estimated 90 minute wait, with a 45 minute check in. Traveling the rest of the way home, and then BACK to the mall, got us at about 55 minutes. By the time I checked in, I was notified our table was being cleaned off!

I have been to Cheesecake Factories before, including Indianapolis and Chicago, but it was years ago. . . This was the first time for the rest of my family. Our fifteen year old likes cheesecake as this was his birthday request, but I'm not certain that was why he requested it. I'm thinking it had more to do with Penny and Bernadette working at Cheesecake Factory on Big Bang. . . Let's start by saying the set on Big Bang is NOTHING like the restaurant. Actually my son described it best; he said it looked like a casino to him. Being that he's fifteen, he must have this impression from television shows, but I think he's right about the opulence.

I started with a cocktail. The menu is extensive and even the drinks are overwhelming. As I like grapefruit, I tried the Ruby Red Sunrise. This featured Tito's Vodka, Fresh Grapefruit Juice, Lime juice, and St. Germaine, all over crushed ice. It was light and refreshing, and a good salute to the upcoming summer weather we are looking forward to. Next time I may try one of their margaritas as they had a few to pick from.

Fresh bread was brought to the table. There were two varieties. One was really good dark bread, similar to Outback Steakhouse. The other one was more of a sourdough with cracked wheat. While the bread was soft and warm, it was disappointing that the butter pats were frozen. It took us a few minutes to defrost them with our hands to use on the bread, while the bread was cooling.

We ordered calamari for an appetizer. If you can wait, I urge you to do so. The calamari was delicious but there was so much food, I wish I had waited. The calamari had a light batter, and came with a really good garlic dip as well as a cocktail sauce that was not the usual one from a bottle. Really nice flavors and the calamari itself was a combination of the tentacles and the rings which is always a nice surprise.

We ordered very different dishes. We had a Pasta Carbora which was good but nothing extraordinary. There were very nice chunks of bacon in it but the noodles were spaghetti and it was just plated by sticking it in a bowl. I'm not sure how they could have made it more attractive but it was just there. It was a generous portion but quantity can't be a selling point. . .

The bacon hamburger was really delicious. The bacon made it . . . thick slab bacon with a peppery hint along with a brown sugar crust. I could have eaten a plate of just the bacon. This was a nice size burger and it also came with fries that were nice and crisp.

The chicken and biscuits was very different than what I imagined. This is no Cracker Barrel! The chicken was pounded very flat, like a scaloppini, and came with hearty gravy filled with really fresh vegetables. Large juicy mushrooms and carrots were featured prominently. I don't do chicken but my daughter said it was delicious. I can tell you the vegetables, red skin mashed potatoes, and the biscuits were really good.

I ordered a crispy shrimp sandwich. The bread was like a brioche, a soft texture that played very well with the very crispy shrimp. The shrimp was loaded on this sandwich and reminded me of a Po Boy. However, I should have asked for the Siracha on the side. It should have said "SPICY Crispy Shrimp Sandwich" because for me, that overpowered the remoulade. I would try this again without the siracha just so I could enjoy the shrimp fully. I also ordered this with a salad instead of the fries. I love Caesar but this one was really drenched in dressing and I didn't eat it after one bite.

Cheesecake? Well I'm not a super cheesecake fan and would have preferred one of the other desserts but it was a birthday celebration and two kids had other ideas. The fifteen year old loves classic cheesecake. He's a purist and ordered it with a fresh strawberry topping. The eleven year old is not a classicist and she wanted lots of chocolate. She ordered the Black Tuxedo Cheesecake which has mascarpone cream and cookie crust. Both were decadent and both were completely devoured.

If you are going for the cheesecake it may be worth the wait and the drive. There is also a lot to choose from, varying from healthy options such as complex salads to down south kind of comfort foods. By the time we were done I was full and unpleasantly stuffed even if I left more than half my food to take home. I think I would pace myself better next time and make the small plates part of the menu my friend. . .

This wasn't a cheap meal and while it was fresh and good quality, I can personally think of several restaurants I like better if I'm going to spend that type of money. . . It's definitely an experience but not something I would do on a regular basis.

Home: Kitchen Makeover Phase 1

Rustic Farm Kitchen 

Phase 1 - Wall Color

For years, I have had a Mexican cantina theme in my kitchen. Think adobe colored walls, fun and festive chilies, and a good dose of kitsch. Many of our kitchen elements came from our former home and because it still worked (largely because the walls of the new kitchen were a similar color) we continued the decor. I am a firm believer that there are some advantages in delaying painting until after you have moved into a new house because it takes a while to see what you may want to do. I know that if I had painted before we moved our own belongings in here, and made it our home, I would have regretted it. Blank canvasses don't speak to me and it wouldn't have had our personal touch until our objects made the move.



Now its two years later and I'm ready to tackle this kitchen. Say goodbye to hanging chili peppers and old bottles of decorative cooking oils. I want a completely new look. Inspiration? Sometimes Pinterest, combined with Facebook, provides that first spark. I recently came across this pin on a friend's Facebook page and it just resonated. Who knew I wanted a country kitchen? Really, I have decided I prefer "Rustic Farmhouse Kitchen" but there are a lot of the same elements.

My favorite boots.

If you knew me, you might be shocked that I want this kitchen. I'm not country in any way unless you count my love for overly decorated cowboy boots like these. It's funny but somehow, along the way, we have managed to collect a few chicken related items that have ended up in our kitchen, along with an old depression style glass butter dish with a cow. How did this happen? I'm not really sure but as I looked around my "before" kitchen I did notice that a lot of farm elements had crept in over the last two years. We have more than one vintage scale in our house, doubling as candelabras, as well as a metal basket that alternately holds bread and root vegetables, so I decided to embrace it. It is kind of ironic but when I saw the original posting of our house when it was listed, there was a huge rooster in the dead space behind the kitchen sink that I sort of made fun of. Now, since I'm embracing this whole new look, I have bought my own rooster to go in that same spot. Mine's cooler by the way, he even has red Christmas lights in him so he glows. Incidentally, because I have been toying around with this for a while, we have begun adding red accents in the kitchen already. . .

Now this kitchen makeover is going to be a big project with at least two more phases. The largest and scariest part of this is going to be painting the kitchen cabinets. This really is the catalyst to all of this. These cabinets are completely serviceable and overwhelmingly boring. My plan is to paint them much like the original pin, so that they are a dark bright red. I am unsure how those in the picture were painted but I know that I'm going to use chalk paint and it's going to be an adventure. One other funny thing to note, I was going to go out and get the magazine issue that was referred to in this pin but realized later that this was a magazine issue from 2010! It is not likely that I could find it. . .

Because we know we are going to be using chalk paint I decided to really strategize how to take on this project and I decided the walls would be our first step. That might seem counterintuitive but I thought the walls were equally important and I didn't want to put painter's tape on those cabinets once they are completed to mask them for the walls. Because of this I painted the walls first and will wait at least a month for them to completely cure before I tackle those cabinets.

As you can see from my "Before" and "Phase 1" photos, I decided to go for a bright color called "Pageant Green" by Behr in their Marquee line. I was going for a Robin's Egg Blue and this color really did it for me. I actually had painted the inner panel of a cupboard to test out chalk paint colors and took that with me when I went to look at paint swatches. Of course you won't be able to see my vision with the red cabinets until it's completely done (next phase) but you will have to trust me on this.

Now you may wonder why I didn't go with a buttery yellow wall with these planned red cupboards. . . After all that kitchen in the pin was pretty nice and those colors did look good together. Two reasons: 1. I just can't copy someone else's kitchen even if we have a lot of similarities. I couldn't do it. 2. My daughter commented that red with creamy yellow looked like McDonald's. While I don't think that is quite the McDonald's decor, I couldn't get that out of my mind.

I did want to add that the Behr Marquee paint was worth the extra money for this project. One coat of paint covered those adobe walls. I was able to do this whole kitchen with less than one gallon of paint because it had such good coverage. I chose an eggshell finish as a gloss would look a little out of place with the chalk paint shabby chic cupboards we have planned. I honestly think we spent more money on frog tape than we did on the paint (3 rolls!).

I do think that the kitchen looks better already. I like color and there's a little more of it without having adobe walls with wood cupboards.  Cupboards are definitely next and we have done a lot of research that I will share in our next post about this project. Stay tuned for Phase II that should be sometime this spring. It's going to involve a lot of chalk paint, tape and brushing!