|
|
|
|||||||
|
Lake Sunapee Region La Meridiana You can tell there's a culinary master in the
kitchen of this old, rambling farmhouse, its dining room entered via a
long corridor running the length of the building. A collection of
Italian cookbooks is on display in the hall, and the wine list bears
many interesting Italian vintages at affordable prices. You may hear
chef-owner Piero Canuto singing arias in the kitchen. When he makes his
rounds after dinner, he'll show you pictures of his hometown in northern
Peter makes most of his own pastas and encourages sharing of dishes at no extra cost. “Our menu is designed for you to choose as much or as little as your appetite allows.” Prices are so low as not to be believed. Start with crostini with chicken livers, squid salad, hot or cold antipasto or carpaccio. Most entrées are in the $10 range, and veal chop baked with mushrooms and fontina cheese tops the price list at $15.95. When did you last see sautéed trout, calves liver, chicken cacciatore or pork cutlets for $9.95 or less in a top restaurant? Entrées come with fresh vegetable and potato of the day. The menu is supplemented by many specials, among them osso buco and lamb casserole. People come especially for the rack of lamb, we were advised. Desserts might be pumpkin pudding with mascarpone cheese, chocolate mousse cake, frozen chocolate soufflé and tiramisu. The candlelit dining room is country Italian with posts and hand-hewn beams, attractive hanging lights, handsome oak chairs with round backs at white linened tables, fresh flowers and a fieldstone fireplace. (603) 526-2033. Entrées, $8.95 to $19.95. Lunch
in season, Monday-Saturday
Bob and Kathryn Joseph learned to cook at a small B&B in Sutton Mills before opening this small inn and restaurant. Their impressive center-chimney Colonial holds two fireplaced dining rooms seating a total of 30. The candlelit rooms have the requisite beamed ceilings and wide-plank floors, and are done in warm salmon and platinum colors, from the walls to the table linens to the china. Lately, Bob built a new screened dining porch in the rear. With five tables, it is quite elegant and graced, like the other rooms, with oriental rugs on the wide-board floors. Bob, who does the lion's share of the cooking, offers four starters: on a typical night, a sampler of pâtés and terrines, wild mushroom soup, eggplant bruschetta and the signature house salad, a mix of red and green leaf lettuces tossed with dijon dressing and sprinkled with toasted walnuts and blue cheese. The house specialty is tenderloin of beef sautéed with burgundy-shallot sauce. Other main courses could be sautéed sea scallops with lemon butter on a bed of wilted belgian endive, venison loin served with a cranberry compote, and veal rib chop with a rosemary compound butter. Potatoes au gratin and carrots glazed with honey and brandy might accompany. Desserts include apple-raspberry pie, homemade profiteroles with vanilla ice cream and bittersweet chocolate sauce, and chocolate pâté with ground almonds and strawberry puree. Port and stilton are available after dinner. (603) 526-6121 or (800) 805-8504. Entrées, $16
to $26. Dinner by reservation, Wednesday-Saturday 6 to 8.
A lofty cathedral ceiling with skylights lends an
airy feel to this casually elegant American bistro and wine bar that is
popular with the Main courses listed on the large and varied dinner menu run the gamut from quite a variety of pasta dishes to trout amandine, cedar-planked salmon with maple-currant glaze, shrimp satay, calves liver, duck marinated in tequila and lime, grilled lamb steak with ginger and hoisin, and filet mignon. Among appetizers are escargots, crab quesadilla, (603) 526-4201. www.millstonerestaurant.com. Entrées,
$13.95 to $24.95. Lunch daily, The Anchorage “Every summer – the world’s most hectic restaurant.” The menu’s slogan is on the mark at least locally. But as run by owners Jeffrey and Rose Follansbee, who earlier made the New London Inn a mecca for gourmet dining, it’s considered a consistent, casual and all-around eatery right beside the harbor. Here the Follansbees have a total of 140 seats in a couple of dining rooms, the rear bar and outside on an expansive deck at water’s edge. Besides sprucing up the long and narrow main room with deep green booths and yellow walls, they've upscaled the menu from its traditional beer and sandwich days. Jeff oversees the cooking, featuring soups, salads, specialty sandwiches, fresh seafood and steaks – "pretty basic stuff and accessible to a broad clientele." Dinner entrées are served with soup or salad and
fresh breadsticks. They include the likes of grilled salmon with
tamari-ginger sauce, grilled pork chops with Asian marinade and
fire-roasted On summer weekends, the Lately, the Follansbees have expanded their casual
dining concept back to (603) 763-3334. Entrées, $10.99 to $17.99. Lunch
daily, Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places in New England, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2004. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
page |
Full destination index | |
|
|||||||||||||||||||
