Sweet *and delicious!* Lorraine

I opted out of yet another workout last evening and instead headed to Sweet Lorraine's in Southfield to celebrate K-Jo's belated birthday.  We quickly reminisced about the years that have flown by since we met 20 years ago and all the birthdays we have celebrated together since then...

If I were to have what could be considered a "second family" growing up, it would be K-Jo's.  Although my family was fabulous in its own way, I grew up basically as an only child, for my sis was 6-years older than me in grade school.  By the time I reached 7th grade, my sis had moved out.  So instead of the quiteness of my home, I of course longed for a noisy, eventful household, and therefore loved spending time at the K-Jo house.  There was bound to be people and commotion w/ 6 kids, and some sort of artsy project was always going on. 

After quickly updating each other on our lives, we ordered our usual appetizer to start - calamari.  The trio of Asian dipping sauces that came w/ the dish were just a-ok, and we both definitely avoided the most likely Thai-inspired sauce like the plague.  Peanut + calamari = grossness.

We then ordered the portabello ravioli from their regular menu and the lamb shank from their daily special menu and "played split-ties."  The creaminess of the stuffed mushroom and the spicy tomato-based sauce went together perfectly!  And the lamb meat fell off the bone and tasted oh-so-delicious w/ the gravy and a slather of mashed potatoes.  We were definitely in heaven!

And for the finishing touch to a grand evening, what better dessert to order than the one which launched the Sweet Lorraine restaurant to begin with?  If Lorraine Platman herself has been making and selling her Russian cheesecake since 1980, then we wanted a piece of that!  Our version was even better, w/ a strawberry-pomogranate sauce.  Perfect combo of sweet & tart.

Happy Birthday, K-Jo!  Welcome to the "Oh-Crap-We're-Thirty-Next-Year" club!