Here I am another morning after a divine dining experience courtesy of the White Horse Tavern’s General Manager Gary Swanson and Chef Rob Coutu. I was fortunate to get a reservation-Coutu told me they had done 100 lunches and over 90 dinners yesterday-if anyone doubts the power of restaurant week the “proof is in the pudding” as they say!
My favorite table is by the fireplace in the bar. They had saved me that table-so sweet! My friends and I sat down to an experience my friend Pat says is, “close your eyes and savor it food”-and that was just about the soup-an Autumn Bisque-full of fall flavors-apples, sweet potatoes, caramelized shallots and essence of cinnamon and spice.
I enjoyed a fine Caesar salad with toasted foccacia croutons. Their offering for entrees were a tough choice-flat iron steak over polenta in mushroom broth-beautiful rosy sliced steak-my friend Rich enjoyed every last bite and would not share!
I opted for the grilled pork loin over and apple and parsnip puree with sautéed spinach and braised red cabbage in a spiced apple reduction-it had me with just the vegetables! The pork was tender with just enough sauce to flavor the delicate meat.
Other offerings included seared salmon and skillet roasted chicken. They cleverly added some regular favorites like their beef wellington with an up charge of $20-still a wonderful deal.
Desserts were their infamous triple silk of chocolate with raspberry coulis-so light I could swear there were no calories-we’ll see at the end of this week! Bread pudding with their butter bourbon sauce and vanilla ice cream and a spiced pumpkin charlotte with dry fruit conserve and cinnamon ice cream rounded out the dessert choices.
My compliments to the chef! If this is how our restaurants are receiving NRW I say bravo. The chefs are realizing this is a time to get the locals to come out and try a restaurant they might not regularly be able to afford or had not tried before. Each restaurant I visit is much busier than they would normally be giving a big shot in the arm for their November business and they are grateful for your patronage! Go out and eat!
