out to eat
Dinin
round the D
Twisted Tavern
Esther Allweiss Ingber
Writer
Contributing
I
I
t was getting old for Mark
McConnell running Boogie Fever
Cafe and Disco in Ferndale. So,
although the dance club was still
popular, he and his business partner
Rob Potter closed it in April 2012 to
get ready for a change of format — a
"twist:' if you will.
The result is Twisted Tavern, a hand-
some, contemporary restaurant in the
front of the building
and the chic Twist
Night Club down the
hall. Twist also has a
separate entrance. Both
spots are energizing
the city's night life on
Woodward Avenue at
Withington, one block
north of Nine Mile
Road. Imagine, 15 years
ago this lively corner
just had a drugstore.
McConnell has said
bye-bye to disco (most-
ly) because the music played at Twist is
from "the '90s to now." He hopes that
timeframe, plus the upgraded decor,
will bring out a more mature, but still
fun-loving crowd, this time around.
Twist had its grand opening on Oct. 25,
and club hours are 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Fridays
and Saturdays.
Guests at Twist Night Club are treated
to state-of-the-art, computerized sound
and light systems. The look of the space
is constantly changing due to the revolv-
ing, multi-colored overhead spotlights
and the patterns projected on the dance
floor. Up to 400 can party in a spa-
cious room that is partially covered in
ruby red fabric panels. Twist offers two
well-stocked bars; and anyone order-
ing a bottle of wine can enjoy it sitting
with friends on light gray, lounge-style
couches. Other seating is available, too.
The sand-colored, driftwood brick
on the outside of the building shows
up inside Twisted Tavern, which also
features purple walls and sliding picture
windows. Four huge screens for watch-
ing sports are mounted at the marble
bar, above liquor shelves set against a
tiled backsplash. The 150-seat restau-
rant under an exposed ceiling includes
a polished wooden floor, triple-banded
pendant lights and high-top mahogany
chairs with brown seats.
Twisted Tavern opens at 4:30 p.m.
daily, helmed by manager Dan Wallace.
Happy Hour is big here, focused on
the 14 items that comprise the restau-
rant's signature small-plates menu, as
well as categories of salads, flatbreads
and sweets.This isn't typical bar food.
Executive Chef Kyle Hanley, formerly
of the Detroit Golf Club, makes sure of
that with his from-scratch approach to
cooking. The kitchen uses fresh, sea-
sonal ingredients.
To mention a few of the small plates,
Asian Calamari comes with peanuts
and apricots in a sweet-and-sour
sauce; Fried Polenta Sticks also include
Beemster garlic cheese and red pepper
aioli; Risoto Balls are prosciutto-stuffed
with tomato jam and truffle aioli, and
the Roasted Mushrooms
that I tried came with flat-
bread crisps for scooping
a leftover sauce made with
sherry cream. Another
flavorful plate, Fried
Brussels Sprouts, get their
tang from sweet balsamic
vinegar.
Twisted Chicken
Sliders, two per order,
come with a single natural
chicken breast slice, pro-
sciutto, Provolone cheese
and honey-mustard dress-
ing. Grilling the brioche rolls is my sug-
gestion for improving these otherwise
tasty sandwiches.
My favorite menu item so far is the
Oktoberfest Flatbread. It is topped with
bratwurst, knockwurst, braised cab-
bage, parsley, mustard-cream sauce and
Moody Blue cheese, for subtle, smoky
undertones. Three more choices served
on the grilled, house-made flatbread are
steak, roasted veggie and white chicken.
The latter includes fresh spinach and
herbs, artichokes and creamy Boursin
cheese spread.
Arugula, chopped and Caesar are
three of the salad options. Because I
adore beets, I will return for the beet
salad. It features candy-striped beets,
bibb lettuce, hazelnuts and Chevre
cheese teamed with a lemon vinaigrette
dressing. For dessert, Pumpkin Spice
Bread Pudding, including white choco-
late and juniper cream Anglaise, sounds
awfully good to me.
The usual club cover charge of $5
Friday and $8 Saturday is waived for
those dining at Twisted Tavern.
❑
Twisted Tavern
22901 Woodward
Ferndale, MI 48220
(248) 545-6750
www.thetwistedtavern.com
$$ out of $$$$
Twist Ballroom
(248) 541-1600
www.twistnightclub.com
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November 6 • 2014
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