Farm to Table at The Inn at Pleasant Lake

Hello and welcome to a new week! I thought it was only fitting since I spent the weekend with my family in town that I recap a recent family dinner.  Last month when I was in New Hampshire we had dinner at the Inn at Pleasant Lake and it was definitely worthy of it’s own blog post. This New Hampshire bed and breakfast only has 10 guest rooms (they are so cute) and is located in the adorable town of New London. Besides a handful of guest rooms though they have an incredibly talented chef and a fine dining establishment called Oak & Grain.

From the very start it is a true culinary experience where the chef speaks to all of the guest in the living room of the inn and spends 20 minutes describe the five locally sourced courses in extraordinary detail – just one of his descriptions would put the Food Network to shame.  From the couches in the living room all of the guests are escorted to their table in the dining room and enjoy dinner at the Inn at Pleasant Lake you do not have a choice of the courses, only an option between two entrees – course four. On and I should mention there is only one seating per evening – Wednesday through Sunday but it is certainly an experience if you are in town you do not want to miss.   (You can read more here and no, this is not sponsored though that would have been nice 🙂 ). 

On the night we were there in late September the menu consisted of a soup made of roasted parsnip from Spring Ledge Farm, with conflit leek, crispy brussel sprout leaves, a balsamic reduction, and a lemon créme fraiche.   That was followed by a grilled wedge salad with white truffle tarragon dress complimented by blue cheese from Great Hall, bacon from Crispy Battles Farm, chimes, vinegar, onions, shaved radish, and sunburst grape tomatoes.  As someone who usually opts for kale or spinach I enjoyed a romaine lettuce salad more than I have in a long time. 

Those two courses were broken up by an intermezzo of tart cherries in vanilla bean foam and saba.   Then after the delicious palette cleanser we had our choice of entree –  my parents, my grandparents, and I all opted for the Pan Seared Canadian Scallops which were served with an orange horseradish berre blanc, grilled Cipollini onions, and micro greens served over a red currey acorn squash mousse.  The scallops were delicious but since the food was so good I asked for a taste of the other entree and enjoyed my few bites of the marinated grilled hanger steak from Ioka Valley Farm that was served with roasted garlic chimichurri, lemon basil aioli, and roasted fingerling potatoes.  YUMMM. 

Then we ended the delicious dinner with bourbon spiced apple compote galette served with sea salt caramel chantilly cream and raspberry coulis.  As it was in-between my birthday and my grandfather’s birthday we both got adorable candles in our tasty desserts.  Overall a truly delicous meal!

Would you like to have dinner at The Inn at Pleasant Lake?