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Hot Springs The Waterwheel
Restaurant Fed
by Warm Spring Run, the old waterwheel rotates constantly outside this
1900 gristmill, now transformed into an appealing restaurant with
barnwood walls, beamed ceilings and ladderback chairs at tables on
different levels. Gears and cogs of the gristmill are still in evidence,
but free-standing candles, fresh flowers, linens and service plates
emblazoned with a waterwheel logo create an elegant ambiance. Off to one
side is a small, ten-seat tavern called the Simon Kenton Pub, billed as
“the best little bar in the world.” One
unusual touch: there’s no wine list. Instead, diners descend to a wine
cellar to pick their choice from bins of bottles. The hazard is that in
winter, the cellar occasionally gets so chilly that the red wines have
to be warmed before serving. Innkeeper
Janice McWilliams’s son Bruce oversees the dining operation, which is
highly regarded. His wife Gloria is the chef. Among appetizers, we liked
the mountain trout smoked over hickory chips and the country pâté of
sausage, chicken livers and pork tenderloin blended with brandy and
spices and served with the house chutney. Entrées range from baked
stuffed trout and broiled swordfish to veal cordon bleu. Our choices
were tenderloin en croûte and New York sirloin with horseradish butter,
each accompanied by a sprig of plain steamed broccoli and nothing else.
Profiteroles, cheesecake, zabaglione, bourbon pie and walnut torte were
dessert choices. (540)
839-2231. Entrées, $18.75 to $24.75. Dinner nightly, 6 to 9 or 10.
Sunday brunch, 11 to 2. Closed Tuesdays, November-April. Elliot's California
chef Josh Elliott runs the area’s best small restaurant, a delightful
place where we were well satisfied as early customers. A graduate of the
San Francisco Culinary Institute, Josh traveled and worked in Utah
before ending up in Virginia at the Homestead. He left the resort in
2001 when the space launched by leading local chef Ed McArdle – a
gourmet restaurant in Chef Ed’s Community Market – became available. He
seats upwards of 36 people in a narrow space squeezed between a drug
store and a liquor store. It’s casual and relaxed yet country elegant,
with light yellow walls and white-linened tables. From the open kitchen
comes an array of creative contemporary treats. His
latest winter dinner menu featured baked trout stuffed with cxrab and
served with a whole-grain mustard beurre blanc on chive risotto,
oven-roasted duck breast with sundried cherry and apple chutney atop
creamy polenta, and grilled pepper filet of beef with zinfandel demi-glace.
We were well satisfied with the sea bass with shiitake and oyster
mushrooms on chive risotto and the roasted pork with white truffle
aioli. Expect
starters such as crab cakes served on greens with whole-grain mustard
beurre blanc and grilled ahi tuna on ginger cabbage salad with soy-honey
glaze and pineapple salsa. Desserts
could be chocolate truffle cake with hazelnut sauce, sautéed sesame
bananas with vanilla ice cream, and raspberry and lemon sorbet with
fruit relish and a tuile cookie. (540)
839-3663. Entrées, $18.95 to $23.50. Lunch, Tuesday-Saturday 11:30 to
2. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday 5:30 to 9.
The
menu takes a golf theme, from chip shots for starters to the 19th hole
for beverages. Dinner items range from pecan-crusted mountain trout with
pecan crust to T-bone steak. Start
with Buffalo wings, crabmeat chimichanga or a Gulf Coast shrimp
cocktail. Finish with berry shortcake, ice-cream pie or rainbow sherbet. (540)
839-7666. Entrées, $12.50 to $21.95. Lunch, Thursday-Sunday 11 to 4.
Dinner, Thursday-Sunday 5 to 10. Hours vary. Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places / Mid-Atlantic, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2003. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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