Nittolo's Seafood & Social

Is This The Best Restaurant In Northwest Michigan? If not, it's certainly one of the best! Nittolo's Seafood & Social has recently opened in Lake Leelanau and it is outstanding. You may recognize the name as it shares a hallway that connects it with Nittolo's Pizza, which is owned by the same person. However, this is fine dining at its best. I will describe some of the dishes we had, but the menu varies with the best local fare available. I was told that it will be updated frequently, on a 2 to 3 week basis. So, this description of particular dishes is more to explain the thinking and skill brought to the food, rather than promise that any particular recipe will be available on a given night. Attached are pictures of 4 items, a Morel Bisque, Chilean Sea Bass, Conoli and Oysters Rockefeller. Look at the Morel Bisque. It's packed with morels, which is a bit astounding in itself given how other restaurants portion them out more like precious jewels than mushrooms. The morels are complemented with portobello mushrooms and flavored with whisky, cream and truffle. The combination of flavors cause the morels to resonate with what I can only describe as a thick, creamy, succulence. The same with the Chilean Sea Bass, This fish is wonderful as is, but the chef has layered it with a large scallop, yams, a morel (more morels!) risotto, pieces of succulent oxtail, and a saffron vermouth cream sauce. These two dishes demonstrate skill rising to a level of pure culinary art! I have also included two pictures of more prosaic items simply because they are the best of these I have ever eaten - the Oysters Rockefeller and the Connoli. Both are examples of the best these dishes can be. The menu is a fixed price of $79 for three courses. Both the oysters and the connoli cost extra. So, is it this the best restaurant in Northwest Michigan? There are only a few competitors in its class, but without a doubt, you will not be disappointed.

Excellent!

Absolutely amazing dinner!! Chef Eric delivers a superb dining experience in this beautiful venue. Starting with the mussels in cream sauce and beef tartare then a unique salad chock full of local ingredients. Entrees were out of this world, lamb chops and potato crusted halibut. Finished off with chocolate soup for dessert, so creatively delicious. And of course the wine selections are top notch. We love dining like this and Nittolo's did not disappoint!

The oysters Rockefeller and steak tartare were amazing. The halibut was expertly prepared. Very impressive wine list for anyplace especially in northern Michigan. Chef Nittolo has done it again.