Michael's Genuine Serves Peter Cottontail for Easter

By Sara Tayte Fri., Apr. 6 2012 at 10:06 AM

House-made rabbit pate at Michael's Genuine.

Michael's Genuine is known for many of their staple servings, but one sporadic menu item in particular keeps guests chatting, well after it departs the building. Popping up on the menu (or shall we say, hopping on?) every so often, are rabbits from Rabbit Man Farms. They tend to lure both local foodies and curious bystanders, alike.

But this semi-rare culinary experience is challenging the universe's rules of irony this weekend.

Easter Sunday is fast approaching. The holiday's mascot is usually, well, a fluffy, smiling bunny. Rabbit isn't exactly a customary Easter feast in any culture. In fact, sticking your fork inside of little Bunny Foo-Foo on Easter Sunday evokes a morbid visual. It may be hard to swallow at the traditional family table, considering you very well may be surrounded -- everywhere -- by cute, cuddly visuals of bunnies.

Chef Bradley Herron, chef de cuisine at Michael's Genuine, is proposing you get out of the house and enjoy a slightly different version of an Easter meal.

Herron's take on the whole "Bunnies for Easter" debate is leaning towards, a glass half.... roasted? This week, he plans to roast whole rabbits in a wood burning oven. Served alongside will be fresh lemon and salsa verde.

The chef himself explains:

New Times: So you guys are familiar with sometimes serving up rabbit at Michael's Genuine, huh? How do your patrons feel about it?
Bradley Herron: Our guests like rabbit a lot. Whenever I run a dish featuring rabbit, it most always sells out the first night.

Rabbit isn't a customary Easter dinner, is it? So, why?
It's no what most people think of when they think of spring and Easter. But I think of asparagus, mushrooms and rabbits. It's just one if those things I love to cook in the springtime.

How big will they be?
One to two pounds.

Do you save any of the feet for good luck?
No.

Try it for yourself this weekend. The Easter rabbit dinner will be priced anywhere between $34-$38. Sadly, if you happen you miss the feast, you can always see if they are serving up their house-made rabbit pate. The board includes cornichon, dijon, mostarda like golden raisin, as well as a slice of grilled sourdough bread.

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Michael's Genuine Food & Drink

130 NE 40th St., Miami, FL

Category: Restaurant

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Easter, Michaels Genuine

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elisemoore

Since when do we eat pets in the US? There are upwards to 2 to 4 million (depending upon the source) rabbits kept as pets in this country. House rabbits are becoming very common in urban areas and the rabbits are housed just like a cat or dog with a family in their home. They are the third most popular mammalian pet in the US, UK and Canada. Domesticated rabbits can be litter box trained like a cat, learn their names and other words just like any dog or cat, learn tricks like dogs (clicker training), are very affectionate, and bond for life with people, other pets and of course other rabbits. Of course, you can eat a bunny. People will eat anything. In some parts of Asia dogs and cats are regularly consumed. But as pet ownership of these animals is on the rise so has the resistance to eating them has increased. Rabbits are established as pets in the US so why do we objectify them as food and not dogs or cats. If tradition were a reasonable argument then we should applaud some Asians for poaching puppies and boiling cats. But we don't. The breeds considered so called "meat rabbits" are the same breeds who make the best pets like the Dutch, New Zealands, Californians, etc. There is no difference between a meat rabbit and a pet rabbit. In fact, some rabbits from closed backyard meat operations are now living in homes as pets. Recently, American Rabbit Breeders Association Inc. presented Samanatha, a zoo gorilla in Erie, PA, with a certificate recognizing her "great compassion as a responsible rabbit caregiver and friend," (The Dutch rabbit lives with the Gorilla as a companion in the zoo enclosure.) So even a gorilla knows that rabbits are best suited as friends not food. What does that make us?