The Raven's Club's new fare

My wife, Gretchen, and I joined friends at The Ravens Club in downtown Ann Arbor.  They specialize in "classic cocktails" and have gourmet eats to compliment the cocktails.  I ordered a Hemingway Daquiri, made with overproof Rum and grapefruit that was simply delicious and refreshing.  Gretchen ordered a Dark N Stormy, made with some hair-growing ginger beer and rum that was equally delicious and had serious staying power.  We had a homemade chorizo and cornbread appetizer (served with a sunny-side-up egg on top!) while one of the other couples ordered a cheese plate, which came with...a homemade pickle.  Slightly sweet, with visible dill leaves and mustard seed.  Very good crunch, probably an 8 out of 10 on the McClure's crunch scale (my benchmark for crunchy pickles).  Since it wasn't my plate and was only offered a taste, it wasn't a very extensive taste test.

Our waitress was surprised (tickled?) when Gretchen mentioned (bragged?) to her that I write a blog about pickles and that the Ravens Club should consider getting these things more prominently on the menu.  The waitress went back and apparently talked to a manager and a bit later, they both came out with an impromptu pickle plate!

The Ravens Club impromptu Pickle Plate,
with one of their homemade sweet dills,
pickled red onion and
pickled jalepeño peppers.

The plate was explained as something they were considering including as part of their regular appetizer menu.  It included half of one of their sweet dills, some pickled red onion and pickled jalepeño peppers.

Sweet Dills.  As you can see, they're a pretty rustic-looking pickle, but with lots of mustard seed and dill clinging to the pickle.  What you see is a half-pickle, but the edges sorta curl a bit due to the loss of some water during the pickling period in the middle of the cucumber itself.  There's no "musty" taste to these, so they seem like they're a vinegar pickle.  The brine obviously has some sugar in it to give it a very lightly sweet flavor.  If you combined a fresh dill pickle with a bread'n'butter sweet, you might have a good idea of the flavor.  The manager gave me the card of the managing partner with the chef's name and the manager's name and contact info on it, and invited me to inquire about the recipe...I think it'd be interesting to know what they did with them.

Pickled Onion. Next to pickles, onion is one of my very most-favorite flavors, so combining them in a pickled onion draws me in like moths to a light.  Crunchy, and full of onion flavor, the flavors have been tempered by what seems to be the same brine that the pickles use, minus the dill and mustard seed.  Sweet, crunchy, savory all combine to create... yummy!

Pickled Jalepeño peppers.  These looked like pretty ordinary jalepeños, but like the onion, they were pickled in the lightly sweet Ravens Club brine.  Heat was a concern, but it was largely dependent on how many seeds the slice of pepper had...the more seeds, the hotter it was.  Some in our party, who grabbed pieces that had very few said that it was not that hot at all and the pepper flavor blended nicely to produce a nice "kick" after the crunchy-sweet pepper taste.  If you picked up a piece with more seeds, you still get the crunchy-sweet pepper taste, but the heat really lingered on past your bite.  All in all, a nice contrast to the onion and pickle choices.

Needless to say, we had a great time at The Ravens Club, with its wood, brass & leather "old money" cozy feel, eclectic cuisine and upscale cocktails and spirits.  Prices are a little higher than we were prepared for, but the food and drinks were prepared with care and served in a cordial and professional manner suiting the mood of the establishment.

Thanks are well-deserved for Chef Frank Federan, Jon Tipton the General Manager and our fine waitress, Lizzy!

The Ravens Club
207 S. Main Street * Ann Arbor, Michigan * 48104 * 734-223-7132
http://www.theravensclub.com