The brunch bunch— April 8 is Easter Sunday, and it seems everybody wants to do your cooking for you. Ferndale's Josephine Creperie & Bistro (241 W. Nine Mile Rd.; 248-399-1366) will host a brunch buffet from 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. with three seatings. Expect roasted Atlantic salmon, glazed baked ham and a complete omelet station. Reservations required; adults $21.95, kids 4-10 $9.95, under 4 free.
Sterling Heights' Best Western Sterling Inn (34911 Van Dyke; 586-979-1400) is throwing a buffet brunch in their 15,000-square-foot ballroom. Call for reservations; adults $22.95, kids 4-10 $8.95, 3 and under free.
Bloomfield Hills' Fox & Hounds Restaurant (39560 Woodward Ave.; 248-644-4800), will have an Easter buffet 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., offering guests an array of foods in a comfortable dining atmosphere. Call for reservations.
Further afield is the Historic White Horse Inn in rustic Metamora (1 E. High St.; 810-678-2150), just north of Oakland County. The inn is hosting an Easter Sunday brunch, 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; adults $18.95, kids 2-10 $8.95, 2 and under free; call for reservations.
Or, if you want to dine in without all the cooking, Roseville's Lazybones Smokehouse is offering a carryout "Easter Feast," a complete dinner to-go package customers can order until April 6 and pick up on Easter morning. For $99.99 plus tax you get enough to feed 10 diners. For more details, see lazybonessmokehouse.net.
Eat the Page
If you haven't eaten Scharffenberger chocolate, you are deprived. It is some of the purest, richest, most delicious we've tasted, great for baking and eating. Now John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg have written Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate (Hyperion $35) an excellent source of recipes, both sweet and savory, that will please any self-respecting chocoholic. Although many of the recipes are sophisticated, several are uncomplicated and appeal to the kid in us.
A Tasty Beverage
Out west where Interstates 94 and 96 meet lies the sleepy town of Marshall and a Michigan beer treasure. Dark Horse Brewing Co. is known for strong beers, perhaps none more so than its Reserve Special Black Bier Ale. Not quite a stout or a porter, it pours black with a foamy thick malted milk ball head. A swallow is balanced and soft, tasting of roasted coffee, chocolate buttercreme and walnuts, with just a hint of herb. Never mind the camp charm of the label. This beer is elegant enough for dessert.
It Works
If you love homemade French fries, you know the nuisance of hand-cutting potatoes to uniform size with a chef's knife. The starch causes the potato to stick to the blade, making the whole process tedious. Fret no more. For $35 (chefscatalog.com), you can own a restaurant quality, make that heavy-duty, fry cutter. With two removable grids, you can opt for thick or thin fries. We recommend using sweet potatoes too. Sprinkle them with brown sugar while they're still hot to glaze them. There might be a counter-top fryer in your future.
Know of any new restaurants, special dinners or food-related events? Let us know. Send materials two weeks in advance to [email protected].
