Monday, August 18, 2008

Cutting The Cheese

Enough of the pontification and blathering, let's get back to some genuine good food. I've been on a quest for locally grown and organic foods lately, not just out of curiosity, but out of a genuine interest in seeing our food economy changed from big agribusiness food that tastes bland to locally grown and raised food that brings good taste back. It started with a real distaste for all store bought tomatoes (I don't care who you are, you can not find a good tomato in any grocery store), and has progressed to Internet searches for restaurants that serve local produce. Hat's off to one we found this week, Damien's on the River in New Boston NH (http://www.damiansotr.com/).

From the outside it looks like your typical small town pub. When I saw the outside I started to get very disappointed because I was thinking chicken wings and burgers again. Once inside, I started to change my mind. The decor was casually elegant and on the wall were several medals from cooking competitions and t-shirts from the CIA (no, not the spies; the Culinary Institute of America). It was a Thursday night and we had reservations but we didn't need them (there was only one other table occupied). Service was attentive and well paced. They didn't have the Malbec I requested (temporarily out) but they suggested a cab/sav that was very tasty. When I opened the menu, one of the appetizers immediately jumped out, the cheese plate ($9). You just don't offer up a cheese plate unless the cheese is special or local. It came with very fresh grapes, dried cranberries, pine nuts and thin toast wafers. The asiago was very dry with a strong flavor; the Gouda was on the bland side; the blue was a perfect chunk of locally made (NH) blue cheese (love all that mold). With the wine it was great.

We had dinner with friends and did an unintentional pairing: the women ordered the salmon with lobster risotto and the men ordered the lamb chops with barley (!!!!) and a thyme demiglaze. The ladies enjoyed the salmon and commented that the risotto had lots of little chunks of lobster. The lamb was cooked perfectly medium rare (without asking for it); the sauce tasty; the barley very different (nutty) but a nice offset to the heavy lamb. We didn't have desert (too full) but we checked out the desert counter on the way out. It would be worth the trip just to have appetizers and desert.

I hope this one is able to make a go of it out there in the woods. The place was quiet that night and once I find a good place I always worry when I see it that empty. This is well worth the 30 minute trip for the food.

1 comment:

Wilhelmina said...

I checked out the menu. Looks good but no vegetarian option for dinner?! Say it isn't true!