Epicurean Escapes
Inventive cuisine meets rustic charm at these getaways from New
York City.
By Joyce Kehl
Bloomberg Markets, December 2009
Just as financiers J.P. Morgan and Alfred Vanderbilt loved to
embrace the great outdoors at their elaborate Adirondacks camps
and Berkshires cottages during the Gilded Age, today’s New
Yorkers like nothing better than to flee the madness of the city
and lose themselves in the wilderness. The good news is that
it’s surprisingly easy to go north and find bucolic destinations
that reward the foodie and adventurer alike. You can dine on a
stellar root vegetable casserole for dinner after skiing a
black-diamond slope by day.
As you pull into Lake Placid, a serene town of mountains and
lakes in upstate New York, you can smell the freshness in the
air and picture yourself hurtling down the bobsled run at the
Olympic Sports Complex that was constructed for the winter games
in 1980. Make tracks for Lake Placid Lodge, a luxury hotel that
was painstakingly rebuilt and upgraded after a devastating fire
in December 2005 that destroyed the lower level of the main
building. With stone fireplaces, leather armchairs draped in red
and orange blankets and carefully positioned moose heads on the
walls, the new resort is more Ralph Lauren light than rough-
hewn.
Artisans is the formal lodge restaurant where chef Kevin
McCarthy offers farm-to-table New York region-inspired cuisine.
Winning autumnal selections were the sweet roasted parsnip and
pear soup with cider-braised pork belly and crispy sage and pan-
seared breast of guinea hen with truffle risotto.
In temperate weather, sit outside on the stone terrace in one of
furniture artist Barry Gregson’s handcrafted curly maple chairs
and enjoy the expansive view of the lake and Whiteface Mountain.
Across town at The Interlaken Inn, a restaurant and Victorian
guest house, Executive Chef Richard Brosseau offers an extensive
menu of complex dishes that hinge on multiple fresh ingredients.
Combinations can be quirky: Tangy capers surprised me in the
roasted corn salad piled under my sauteed halibut with avocado
sauce. Warm chocolate polenta cake was topped with popcorn ice
cream and corn coulis. I stayed in one of the 10 guest rooms,
making it convenient if not easy to waddle up the stairs after
my three-course feast. The Frette linens were welcome, but the
restaurant is definitely the reason to stop at the inn.
If you’ve spent much time in the Berkshires, you know the pain
of a dining experience like this: You creak down a rickety
flight of stairs and sit down to an overly sweet French toast in
a twee breakfast room as the house varmint winds around your
feet.
A fine antidote can be found in New Marlborough, Massachusetts,
at The Old Inn on the Green. Once a stagecoach stop, the 18-
century building is now an inn and restaurant. Chef-owner Peter
Platt serves a rotating new-American menu with French influences
in the candlelit dining rooms (there’s no electricity) five
nights a week. I sat in a Windsor chair and tackled juicy slices
of veal paired with a tangle of angel hair pasta and savory
roasted multicolor beets. My friend’s hearty portion of halibut
with peas, carrot puree and saffron sauce was lighter but no
less flavorful.
Platt has tweaked his cold-weather menu to include autumn
vegetable risotto with chanterelles and lamb and cod dishes.
He’s a board member of Berkshire Grown, an association that
works to connect area chefs and farmers. He says his local
suppliers are able to keep him in fresh greens through the
December holidays.
If you’re staying overnight, spring for one of the six antique-
filled rooms in the Thayer House. My suite had a fireplace,
Jacuzzi tub and a private porch overlooking the outdoor pool.
And there wasn’t a teddy bear in site.
In Vermont, the focus on fresh, slow and local cuisine was the
norm long before today’s food mania made it a household concept.
In Waterbury Center near Stowe, Michael’s on the Hill combines
the Green Mountain state ethos with European flare to produce
distinctive dishes such as riesling-and-spice-braised rabbit.
Swiss-born chef Michael Kloeti logged hours at Lespinasse in
Manhattan before opening his own restaurant in the 1820s
farmhouse where he also teaches cooking classes. It was there on
a snowy evening in the Trout Room, one of three dining areas,
that I found the perfect pot pie of lobster with a creamy
tarragon and cognac sauce, a flaky crust and sweet root
vegetables. Maple creme brulee was earthy but not cloying.
Entrees start at around $25 for all of the restaurants. Special
holiday menus and packages make these perfect spots for enjoying
end-of-year breaks from the five boroughs. You’ll catch yourself
humming Irving Berlin tunes in no time.
Lake Placid Lodge, lakeplacidlodge.com; The Interlaken Inn,
theinterlakeninn.com; The Old Inn on the Green, oldinn.com;
Michael’s on the Hill, michaelsonthehill.com
Joyce Kehl is a copy editor at Bloomberg Markets.
jkehl2@bloomberg.net
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