Saturday, May 20, 2006

Four Columns Inn - Newfane Vermont

See the Four Columns in on Chompster.com

We took a weekend trip out to Vermont to celebrate Pacman's birthday. It was somewhat depressing with the rain falling Friday through Sunday though we made the best of it by eating lots and touring Vermont by car. We've never had much luck with weather, afterall it did rain on our wedding day which was in the summer! What were the chances...

We had dinner at the Four Columns Inn one evening since we were staying there (pets allowed!). The resident chef, Chef Parks, is somewhat famous having won accolades including the James Beard Award. The restaurant was pretty quiet for a Friday night with only 3 other parties besides us, a nice change coming from Boston.

View from our table:
View from our table

We started off with hor'dourves of shrimp and asparagus on brioche (complements of the kitchen). For appetizers we had oysters with a vinigrette dressing and seared hudson valley foie gras with grilled pears and crab apple sauce. The oysters were really fresh, almost tasteless, and was well complimented by the tart vinigrette.

Oysters

The portion of foie gras was very generous and drizzled in olive oil. As an appetizer, it could have served at least 6. Initially, the taste was a little intense, especially when eaten alone, however it tasted much better when paired with the pear. By the end we were fighting for the final bites. Definitely a guilty pleasure.

Foie Gras

For the main course, Pacman had the Black Angus Tenderloin while I had the Rack of Lamb. These were the highlight of the meal. The meats were amazingly tender and cooked just right. Huge portions too as you can see. They were accompanied by wild rice cooked in a mushroom sauce which I really enjoyed. The side veggies weren't too exciting. I was expecting more since the restaurant uses fresh vermont produce.

Black Angus Tenderloin

Rack of Lamb

Finally we got to dessert. By this time we were stuffed but we had to push on. You see, dinner was included in our package ;) Pistachio tart with creme fraiche for me and chocolate torte with mango sauce for pacman. Both were good, sadly I wasn't able to fully enjoy since I hardly had any room left, even in my dessert stomach :D

Four Columns Inn
On the Green
Newfane, Vermont


Chomp Meter:
We'll be back if we're ever in Vermont for skiing. Prices are comparable to Boston, however, I have to emphasize that the portions were way more generous!

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