Just Cured - Experience Fine Foods

In this post last week, I briefly mentioned the relationship between fine dining restaurants and their many relatives that implement portions of the complete fine dining experience.† In that post, I said that experience with fine dining restaurants provides the context to evaluate the experience of these other restaurants.† In this post, I will enumerate the specific deviations from the fine dining restaurant employed at one particular place and how those deviations fit into what the proprietors of that restaurant want to accomplish.† Or at least what I think they hoped to accomplish.

This restaurant is not located in Cincinnati; and, as it is brand new in its present incarnation, I suspect that no local readers have any experience with it.† As a result, I will let it remain nameless.

This week, my wife and I are tucked away in a remote corner of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York.† Our home for the week is a rustic, yet elegant cabin a few feet from a frozen lake, with mountains and forest beyond.† (You may read about our visit last February here.)† Our hotel recently completed a major rebuilding project including the new upscale restaurant that is the subject of this post.

The restaurant is a carefully constructed series of contradictions that result in an experience unique and satisfying in the extreme.

The room consists of three tiny rooms, providing perhaps 35 seats total.† The paneled walls and ceiling, the rectilinear beaming and iron and stained glass light fixtures combine to give the room a formal, faintly Japanese feel.† The long glass wall overlooking the dining terrace, lake and mountains pulls the outdoors into the room.† There is a large sculptural flower arrangement in the center room.† The walls are free of art; the view surpasses any painting.† The room makes clear that you are entering a serious restaurant; the room itself could be in New York City, Paris or London.

The furnishings stand in almost stark contrast to the elegance of the room.† The tables are constructed of birch log legs, twig and bark trim and a highly polished wood top.† Chairs are made of the same materials and have neither seat nor back cushions, yet are surprisingly comfortable even after several hours.† There are no flowers on the tables; linens consist solely of a linen coaster and napkin.† The juxtaposition of elegant and rustic, formal and informal synthesizes into a feel that while clearly not fine dining is immediately welcoming and comforting.

The menu is small, with perhaps six appetizers and six main course selections.† The ingredients reflected in the menu are immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with fine dining restaurants and menus.† Like the room, the food is serious.† The presentations of that food, however, are somewhat simpler than one might find in New York City and reflect perfectly the remote and rustic sense of place.† Importantly for any restaurant with aspirations, the food is terrific.

The service in the restaurant reflects the same contrasts evident in the decor and the food.† It is professional and attentive, but laid back, almost homey in demeanor.† There is more interaction with guests than the fine dining model affords; and that interaction is more likely to be personal in nature.† There are fewer bodies and their roles are not clearly defined by captain, waiter, back waiter, busser.

How does all this fit together?† Very, very well.† The Adirondacks are a series of contradictions.† Majestic beauty unspoiled by large scale development only a few hour drive from Manhattan.† Home to campers, trappers, and recluses as well as the cream of society who built the Great Camps of the region.† Modern coexists with rustic.† The owners and staff of this restaurant understand these contrasts and the pure fine dining model.† They have developed a restaurant that departs from that model, yet perfectly reflects the place they have chosen and the contrasts of the area — and created a restaurant experience that is unique, memorable and satisfying. dostinex download traffic dvd

What do you notice in your favorite restaurants?