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Champlain
Islands Ruthcliffe Lodge Some of the islands’ best meals come from the kitchen of this small but venerable lodge, which also claims the islands’ only waterside deck for outdoor dining. Chef-owner Mark Infante single-handedly mans the kitchen, preparing up three meals a day at peak times and serving far more food than most people can eat, which accounts for the inordinate number of doggy bags seen leaving the premises. On a calm summer evening, we found the deck beside the lake a magical setting for a dinner that began with mushroom-barley soup, tossed salad and good French bread (these come with the entrées, and no appetizers are offered). Choices range from shrimp scampi and chicken marsala to New York strip steak with peppercorn sauce. Mark is known for his herb-crusted rack of lamb, a hefty brace of eight chops. We liked a special of crab cakes with pasta and the signature shrimp marco, served over linguini with sundried tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms. Kathy Infante is responsible for most of the homemade desserts, including raspberry pie, blueberry bread pudding and amaretto cheesecake. Indoor dining is in a rustic, knotty-pine room with a cathedral ceiling that was rather brightly illuminated at our visit. Citronella candles provided all the light needed on a moonlit night outside. (802) 928-3200. Entrées, $16.25 to $25.95.
Breakfast daily, 8 to 10:30. Lunch in summer, Thursday-Sunday noon to 2.
Dinner nightly in summer, 5 to 9, Thursday-Sunday 6 to 9 through
Columbus Day. Closed Columbus Day to mid-May.
The large, pine-paneled dining room dressed in subtle patterned cloths and fresh flowers has a stone fireplace and big windows onto Lake Champlain. Chef Dan Rainville’s menu is short but sweet, and his fare consistent and highly regarded. He uses seasonal produce from a Grand Isle farm, buys the freshest of fish and prepares special dishes for vegetarians. The coconut beer-battered shrimp with apricot glaze is a favorite starter, as are maple-marinated sea scallops wrapped in smoked bacon. Main courses could be grilled tuna steak with mango chive butter, grilled swordfish with roasted peppers and pine nuts, seared polenta-crusted salmon with a roasted pepper coulis and grilled spice-crusted pork steak with chipotle-garlic sauce. Friends who stumbled onto the Shore Acres by chance raved about the beef tenderloin filet with a roast shallot sauce and the rack of lamb with garlic-port-rosemary sauce. The bread is homemade, as is the changing selection of desserts. (802) 372-8722. Entrées, $16.95 to $23.95.
Dinner nightly, 5 to 9, weekends only in off-season. Closed
January-March.
The main dining room has been nicely upgraded in the restoration of this venerable hotel, and the lake is on view from a newly enclosed porch in front and a dining terrace outside. The dining room is handsome in Colonial style, with beige walls above white wainscoting and windsor chairs at nicely spaced tables dressed in blue and white. It’s a stylish backdrop for contemporary American fare. The dinner menu might start with appetizers of crab cakes with chipotle rémoulade or a jerk-spiced swordfish kabob with red pepper relish. Typical main courses are cornmeal-crusted rainbow trout with shrimp creole sauce, stuffed pork loin with cabernet fig sauce, and mustard-crusted rack of lamb with red wine demi-glace. Desserts run from maple cheesecake with candied walnuts to crème brûlée. The rear Greenhouse Room is warmed by a wood stove in chilly weather. In summer, the enclosed front porch and the outdoor terrace are the venues of choice. A lobster buffet is featured on Friday evenings. Although lunch service has been discontinued, a “pier lunch” of lobster rolls and hamburgers on the grill is available in summer. (802) 372-8237 or (888) 525-3644. Entrées, $17
to $30. Dinner nightly, 5 to 9 in summer, 5:30 to 8:30 in off-season.
Lunch on pier in summer, noon to 5. Sunday brunch, 10 to 2. Closed
Sunday-Tuesday, November-April.
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