I arrived in Flint this morning. Let me set the stage by saying I am from below the Mason-Dixon Line and it's February. There is snow.  I've packed gloves and a hat. I am not euphoric but brace myself for a winter wonderland. 

After doing the work thing, it is time to check into Dow / Dolce Group's H Hotel in Midland. Yeah me. I say that sarcastically, but I am greeted by beautiful people in a modern, beautiful hotel. They have good parking. They have lovely chandeliers. They have complementary snacks. And they have Table. 

Table is the H's fine dining establishment. Normally, I steer away from hotel dining. As I said, I'm in Midland and in the snow, so I am staying put. Please oh please don't disappoint. 

Let me set this up first by saying I accidentally booked the table at Table for the night before on Opentable.com. I so goofed... got the dates wrong and all. I made the reservation at Table for last night, not tonight. When I received the cancellation notice, I called up in arms. Rudy totally put me at ease and said there must have been a techo-isue. I knew it was my fault entering the wrong dates, but he was terribly gracious.  

I arrived tonight to find my two dining partners there already. Rudy had them in the foyer lounge, beers in hand and totally comfortable. Originally from Newark by way of Miami, Rudy know how to make a group feel comfortable and classy, but never stuffy,  at Table. This restaurant doesn't have a bar. It has a lounge similar to a living room. It is brightly decorated but not garish. Comfy beige benches line the walls, red winged back chairs and ottomans combine to make intimate seating areas. The whole area is built around a lovely fire place.  I could have stayed all night enjoying my pinot noir but Rudy gently reminded us that our table was waiting, so into the dining room we went. 

Our waiter took us through the menu. There were a few misses on the gluten-free issue. The amuse bouche that was brought, a smoked trout mouse with fried shallots on top, was not ok. The shallots would have made me run for cover... or the ladies' room. He brought another sans fried shallots. Very good but not great, it reminds me a salmon mousse a friend makes for a party.

For out second course, there was a brief oops on salads. My friend, Traci,  was brought the wrong one. Nick, Table's manager, came and rectified the issue quickly. When we all got our food, we were really happy with our choices. Leonard had a butternut squash soup with crab. a bit of avocado puree was swirled into the mix, giving it a lovely color kick. He had never had butternut squash, but really enjoyed it. Traci and I had a peekytoe crab and avocado salad. It was beautiful...finished with a light, citrus vinaigrette and topped with greens and parsley - fresh and totally enjoyable. I was in awe by the beauty of the presentation. It was apparent that there is a hot house growing killer greens somewhere in Michigan.

For the next course, our true colors showed through and so did the chefs' at Table. Traci doesn't eat meat or sugar. I don't eat red meat or gluten. Leonard is a 100% carnivore and tried all of the three breads presented to the table. Out came Carnarolli risotto, scallops and foie gras, and a  ribeye steak dressed with short ribs. 

Oh my yummy yum goodness. This was too delectable for my limited vocabulary. I had the scallops. Seared and succulent, these three Maine Divers were topped with the foie gras, over risotto, and finished with a port wine sauce. Somehow they were rich and wintery but light at the same time. I was  bit worried the foie gras might be too heavy for the scallops, but the buttery taste played right into the seafood's texture. That's the kind of meal I needed at the snow. The Table at H was serving it up big time but leaving me room for dessert. 

Traci couldn't have dessert. I felt bad... but not so bad to avoid them myself. Leonard had a celiac-toxic tart. Pretty, but I couldn't try it . I went for the raspberry and passion fruit meringue accompanied by a tawny port. 

Now here's the deal. A few years ago, I had a fruit and peach meringue "soup" at Met, the 2 Michelin-starred restaurant in Venice. It was my most memorable post-diagnosis dessert to date. That's a pretty tough order to beat. The Met is just that good. How would Table serve it up? Michigan is lovely... the people here are great! But in a town of 30,000, how close will we get to  Michelin-starred territory?

The dessert came out. There was an artistically arrange presentation of raspberries on the bottom in what tasted like passion fruit puree and maybe a liquor (Alize?). This was topped by whipped cream and dotted with Hershey-kiss like pieces of meringue. Cute. Pretty. But could it beat the competition? I dived in, only to find passion fruit sorbet tucked in the whipped creme crown of the dessert. What an excellent surprise!!!

Honestly, it was amazingly one of the best desserts I have ever had. It ties in my memory with the "peach soup" at the Met. It was worthy of that oh-so-sough-after star in my opinion. I let the server know. I told Nick. I was so gushing about my food to Rudy it was embarrassing. 

Honesty, I'm not sure it was that big of a deal. The folks at Table know they are good and there are bigger fish to catch up here in Midland. We have a celebrity in town. Taniya Nayak from HGTV is here to redecorate one of the neighbor's home as part of a Mohawk Custom Weave Sweepstakes. That may be harder to beat in Midland than a Michelin star. 

And that, my friends, is the restaurant report from right here in Michigan.