|
Back Issues |
|
Good
Eats What?
Where?
Chefs: Mary Bates & Sandy Fairbrother I'd been by the Bridge Restaurant before. I think I may have even stopped in for a sandwich once. But when I'm out that way, I'm usually on the way to somewhere else, so just never took the time ... until we stopped by one Sunday evening. I'm glad we did. ... Laura and I were out taking photos of Xmas lights for this month's issue and got hungry, real hungry. So the Bridge Restaurant turned out to be a solid choice in that respect: The portions were generous, and the service was friendly and prompt. When we took our seats, Kolleen Hobbs, our waitress, came over with a broad smile and some menus. She took our drink orders and left us to look at the fare. Before we knew it, she was back with the drinks. Hungry as we were, the hard part wasn't finding something that sounded like it would be satisfying. ... It was trying to decide which of the dishes to order. I love veal, so I was tempted by the veal parmigiana ... then by the roast pork with stuffing, which is a house specialty. But I was finally swayed by the promise of scalloped potatoes that came with the baked ham special that night. Laura went for the chicken -- terriaki insetad of bar-b-q. Any which way, you can't go wrong, since the meats are all roasted on the premises. When Kolleen came back for our order, I added a cup of the pea soup, my companion, the salad, and we both went for the green beans.
The Baked Ham & Scalloped Potatoes: While we were between courses I saw ... and smelled ... a dish of the roast pork as Kolleen went by. But when she came with our dinners, I was happy to see baked ham. The portions, as I said, were very generous. The ham was piled high, but sliced nice and thin ... and the scalloped potatoes filled the rest of the plate. The ham was sweet & delicious, not too salty ... and the scalloped potatoes were great, just right ... a tasty mix, moist, and with a nice proportion of them browned without going over that fine line. **** [4 stars] The Chicken Terriaki: Laura could have sworn someone had taken a kitchen mallet to the chicken; that's how tender it was. Several times during the meal, she repeated herself. "Umm ..." Obviously she was pleased. The chicken was served up with a a garnish of orange, and a good portion of fries, nicely browned. The terriaki flavor was "subtle," Laura said, so the chicken came through. **** [4 stars] The Pies: At one point, before our dinners had come, Kolleen was going by balancing several plates ... each with a gorgeous slice of pie. She must've seen me looking and knew what I was thinking because she turned and said, "Want to skip dinner and go straight to desert?" So, no question. ... When Kolleen came back and asked if we wanted desert, I barely let her finish her sentence when I asked, "What kind?"
She ran them off: "Blueberry, raspberry, apple, mince, maple cream, coconut custard, lemon meringue ..." I stopped here there. I was tempted to say one of each, or at least name a second since Laura was too full to go for desert. But then I figured it would just be a good excuse to go back and try another next time. The lemon meringue pie was served with a side garnish of sweet whipped cream on a lemon wdge. And the meringue? It looked like it was headed for heaven ... and once I took a bite, I thought I could've sworn I would follow. The meringue was light but full, and the lemon filling was tangy, sweet, but not overly so. Even the whipped cream seemed like it must've come from one of the dairy farms in the area. ... We're definitely going back. ***** [5 stars] After dinner, we talked with Kolleen and Mary for a bit. Many of the pies, it seems {though not the meringue}, are made locally, by Yvette LaBombard of Vergennes. {Word has it that her maple cream is out of this world. ... I intend to find out.} We also talked with some folks at the next table -- three first-year students at Middlebury who were taking refuge from campus food. ...
They definitely seemed to be enjoying their meals. But when desert time came 'round for them, they suddenly turned into a single voice and said, "Cheesecake ..." to which one of them added, "with strawberries." ... Good Lord, i thought to myself. I might have to move closer to Addison. A couple of days after our visit, I finally got a chance to catch up with the owner of the Bridge Restaurant, Lisa Cloutier-Fleming. Lisa's owned the restaurant for about 2 1/2 years now, and she'd managed it for 2 1/2 years before that. I asked her if things slowed down during the off-months when the marina was closed. "Not really," she said. "We get folks ice fishing. And for some reason ..." She paused a moment, then continued. "For some reason, any time there's something going on in Lake Placid, we get busier." Evidently, as she's found out from these folks, someone across the Lake has been recommending to passers-by that, if they're headed across the bridge, they should stop by the restaurant. "I really have to find out who's been doing that," Lisa said." "And thank them." We're sure she will. But meanwhile, we'd like to thank Lisa, Mary, Kolleen, and Mary's kitchen companion who we didn't get to meet, Sandy Fairbrother ... not only for some great food, but for a wonderful, easy-going down-home atmosphere. ... If you haven't been by the Bridge Restaurant yet, you really ought to stop in. You'll be glad you did. . ******* ******* When we go some place to eat, we don't announce ourselves or our intentions. We want to be sure we're getting -- in quality and otherwise -- what anyone coming in would get. In that light, not only was the food good, but the service was first-rate. We were waited on promptly. And there was a good space between the soup and the entree. When I called back a few days later, to get more info about the Main St. Diner, I had a chance to talk a bit with Gerry Dougherty. He was great to talk to. And his obvious love of what he does came through. "We like to have fun here," he said, and then went on to talk about the kinds of dishes he prepares. "I have a pretty good repertoire," he told me. Indeed. In addition to the dishes we mentioned, Gerry is at least slightly obsessed with playing with food the way some folks fine tune their cars. You can usually find something Indian on the menu. And one of Gerry's "latest obsessions" has been with Caribbean food -- black beans, yellow rice, etc. He also loves fresh seafood {there was a crab cake on the menu the evening we called}, and always has dinners completely veg for those who want them. So, if you want to have some fun, too, you owe it to yourself to take a trip to the Main St. Diner. Mange forte! {Roughly translated: Eat heartily!} lmc If you know of any dishes at restaurants around the area, or if you'd like to submit a review of your own, don't hesitate to let us know. ******* ******* If you would like to submit a recipe or write a feature for our Food & Dining section, don't hesitate to let us know. Simply e-mail us at food@downstreetmagazine.com. The e-mail should contain your name, address, and a phone number where we can reach you. You may also send a copy of your proposed article. The text can either be included in the body of the e-mail, or you can send it as an attachment in just about any word processing format. If your piece is accepted, we will pay a small honorarium for your interest & your time. [See Freelancers Wanted for more details.] ******* ******* If you would like to advertise in this section, or throughout the magazine, please visit our Advertising Info Pages ... or call, write, or e-mail ads@downstreetmagazine.com. ******* ******* |
|
*******
******* ******* ******* For more information, contact DownStreet Magazine by ...
Phone
(802) 453-5124 All
material copyrighted © 2000-2001. All rights
reserved. |
