Vintage Tavern
- Admin
- Feb 9, 2018
- 3 min read
Hello peeps! I'm back from a holiday hiatus...I know the holiday season was over more than a month ago. But I'm back! And this time we are reviewing what I consider, at this point at least, to be the premiere fine dining restaurant in Port Huron: Vintage Tavern.
Upon entering Vintage you are immediately greeted by a warm and inviting bar lit with primarily ambient light, with a small section of tall wooden tables. The walls are original brick with tall ceilings and wood accents through out the main floor. The real party piece of Vintage however, is the upstairs dining room. After making your way up the staircase and down the hall you are met by another large, wooden bar and another section of tables, again lit with a very warm, ambient feel. the upstairs dining room has a few special tricks though. During the warm summer evenings the dining room can be completely opened to the outside air to essentially give you the experience of dining on an open air balcony. This makes for a fantastic environment and in the winter when they button it up tight to keep the cold out, the environment is equally as pleasant with plenty of windows to overlook the city.
Then we come to the food. The food at vintage is different from a majority of the restaurants we are used to in our area. That's not to say you won't recognize the ingredients or the meals, but there is a definite sense of cohesiveness to the food at vintage. What do I mean by that? In my mind, one of the key factors that separates a high end restaurant from your run or the mill place is the amount of thought that has gone in to creating a dish. When you are ordering at Vintage you are working off a menu that has been crafted with care to ensure the ingredients of each dish have been paired to compliment each other in one bite. You aren't ordering an entree and side dishes, you are ordering a pairing of food that has been combined to accentuate flavors so that the whole dish can come together in one cohesive bite. It may sound strange as I have described it here, but it's really not. The key to it all is the care with which the dishes on the menu have been put together. The planning that goes in to a recipe. And that is certainly a recipe for success.
My wife's favorite dish at Vintage is the Cajun Chicken Tortellini, she orders it every time. The cream sauce that coats the noodles is rich and delicious while the Cajun flavoring of the chicken adds a heat to every bite that is powerful but not in the least overwhelming all while combining asparagus to add some earthy depth to the flavor profile. The Cajun Chicken Tortellini is definitely not a dish that will disappoint. Personally I have sample a few dishes on the menu. The jambalaya packs some heat but is a very well crafted meal with deep and well developed flavors that will be sure to impress. Another quality aspect of Vintage as a restaurant is the idea of specials. The specials at Vintage are actually special, and they aren't always the same dishes as well like you find with other restaurants at times. When you order something of the specials menu it feels like you are eating a meal that the chef crafted in his mind while shopping for ingredients. Something born out of passion and not simply a meal. Case and point, the Pork Roulade I had the opportunity to sample. Essentially pork roulade is a stuffed pork that is cooked as a large piece and served in slices. The pork was served with warm, glazed apples to add sweetness to the pork which almost stole the show from the pork. And finally I can't close out the review without covering the desserts. Vintage Tavern has a fantastic dessert menu and they create delicious desserts that are truly special. In fact, it's worth stopping off at vintage for dessert alone if you are craving a sweet fix.
Overall I would highly recommend Vintage Tavern to any and all looking to enjoy a delicious fine dining meal in a friendly, casual dining environment. The food is phenomenal, the service is great, and it truly is a gem in the Port Huron culinary scene.
Keep an eye out for future reviews as I drop back in to a more regular schedule, and be sure to subscribe to the mailing list to stay updated as reviews drop!
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