I came here with my family during the holidays -- it is such a lovely space, and they do try so hard to make this a really fancy, upscale place -- and I guess, it is. I mean it is for the North Country. Shit, they had two dishes with foie gras on the menu! When I told my family that (long time North Country peeps) they nearly fell out of their chairs. BUT -- and this is where things get real -- BUT if this restaurant was in NY it would get 2 stars, maybe 1 -- and those stars would be for the service and decor. Not for the food.
The place is lovely, a huge roaring fire, civilized seating and reservation system. There are two spaces: the fine dining room and the bistro. An extensive and very expensive wine list. But the food is just plain -- sorry to say it -- underwhelming and not good. If we had just ordered grilled chicken or steak, something simple, we might have been happy. But the fancy stuff sounded like so much fun... what we got was overdone, over sauced, with so much stuff smeared together that the taste became a mess. I had a foie gras appetizer with some brioche and apricot accent, I don't remember the intended effect, because what came out was a hot mess. Oily stale brioche, dry and ridiculously overdone foie, and a ton of balsamic. It was way too much vinegar, the foie gras could hardly been seen, let alone tasted. I also had something else not even impressive enough to remember, I just know it was disappointing, and incredibly overpriced. The biggest disappointment was my hubby's main, which was quail stuffed with foie gras and chestnuts --or something very similar -- salsify puree, etc etc. I may not have every detail of this special memorized ( in case the chef is reading this ) but it was an ambitious special, and it sounded AH-MAZING. Priced at $49. Well, it was the big meal out for our holiday, it was such a fancy well reviewed place, it should have tasted delicious ( and would have, if we had gotten it at Gramercy Tavern) but it was a disappointment. Too much fuss, became homogenous with no individual flavors, and over-done. It tasted good - but not $49 good. It's like someone's idea of great food is to take expensive ingredients, cook/alter them beyond the most optimal, freshest and simplest approach which would make them shine, add a lot of extra stuff like candied fruits and nuts, then cover everything in a ridiculous amount of balsamic reduction. Ick. Didn't Gordon Ramsey do several years of TV programs helping restaurants to STOP serving food this way?
The restaurant was not what I would call busy -- only 4 tables in the formal dining, and several in the bistro -- but not busy at all.
When our (very nice young) server asked how the meal was we were honest (in a non-offensive way, much nicer than this review) and there was no effort to make us happy, just an apology and a promise to tell the chef. Well, ok, I guess. But when the $260 meal is not really, really happily received, you might want to make some sort of tiny gesture, like buying us coffee. Or comping a dessert. However, nada.
Additionally, I had a NYC priced martini ($15) in the bar beforehand -- and because it was the hols, got an "apple cider Martini" - omg. It was terrible, and so overpriced. But I didn't send it back because they just can't help it. It's the North Country *sigh* I think this passes for good, normally, and they were clearly working so hard and were so nice. But it was a crap drink.
Overall though, a very pleasant evening. Honestly, to find this level of pseudo-sophistication north of Lake George and South of Lake Placid ( I know - I am a super snob - go ahead, you can hate me) was such a complete shock, and so WELCOME, I mean honestly a physically charming OASIS IN THE DESERT of culture, I would totally go back. But I would be VERY careful about what I order, keep it simple, I would get all sauce on the side, and I would send it back if it wasn't done right. Because the prices are Michelin Star high.
(There is mercifully a kids menu with very reasonable prices. It's chef boy-ar-dee tasting, my kid wouldn't even take the leftovers home, but priced accordingly) read more