Otus Supply

Since Otus Supply opened in Ferndale, Michigan, I have been dying to try it.  Not only did the food look and sound great, but the restaurant looked like one of the coolest, most unique in the area.  In a world when a lot of restaurants are housed in old warehouses, it’s really something to go into an eatery that put a lot of thought and effort into design.

On the beautiful evening, Mom and I sat in the room nearest the patio with large windows that let the sun pour in.  Even on a sunny winter day, that would be a great room to hang out in.

Our waitress Stephanie arrived promptly and took us through the menu.  She was super friendly and answered all of our questions.  Mom began with ginger beer, which is made in house and you can totally tell with the spice of the fresh ginger.  It is addictive.  I had the Queen of Tarts to celebrate summer with grilled peaches.

And then we ordered food.  I’m not sorry to say we ordered a ton of food to try many of the different dishes.  It all began with the bread and butter.  You might think bread and butter, so what?  But I had heard how outstanding their housemade sourdough was and I had to try it.  It did not disappoint.  The crusty outside and tender interior make me call it the best bread I’ve ever had.  The green garlic house whipped butter didn’t hurt either.

It was onto pizza from there.  We ordered the Filthy Animal with mozzarella, parmesan, guanciale, pesto, and pinenuts.  All that gooey cheese stole our hearts along with the crust and the buttery nuts.  In order to save room for the rest of the food, we took some home for Dad and he loved it too.

The salads were up next.  The sweet and sour cucumbers were a revelation.  I love acidic foods that are super bright and refreshing, but they are hard to find in restaurants.  This made my taste buds sing, and those sesame crackers on top were the bomb!  We also loved the light and crispy zucchini fritters that came to the table piping hot and were paired with a super creamy parsley mayonnaise.

For our main courses, Mom ordered the pork shank, slow cooked and falling off the bone.  Though there was a hint of a spice we didn’t love, the succulent meat won us over.  Plus we took the rest home for Dad and got a couple more meals out of it.

I had the woodfired octopus, perfectly charred, not at all chewy, and served with peaches and citrus for a great summer dish.  I also ordered the roasted carrots.  That seems to be a hot menu item these days and the carrots turned out to probably be my favorite dish of the evening.  They were tender but not soft, the pecans added the perfect crunch, and the oil on the bottom of the plate had me grabbing a piece of bread to sop it up.

We finished the night with buying a loaf of bread to take home and buying a round of whiskey for the kitchen, a cute menu item and a well-deserved reward for amazing food.

I have only one criticism.  The food is on the salty side, and that is after I asked for no salt to be added to our dishes on top of what is already in sauces and such.  I would have happily devoured the two zucchini fritters I left behind, but they were too salty.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved my meal and so did Mom, but if they eased up on the salt, I think Otus Supply would achieve restaurant nirvana and be a long lasting hotspot in the ever more crowded Detroit restaurant scene.