The newly added bistro at this four-star restaurant offers comfort and moderate prices along with the same high standards customers have grown to expect.
By: Kate and Tom O’Neill
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Bistro at The Ryland Inn |
Barrels of fresh apples in the vestibule of the Ryland Inn perfume the air and sharpen the diner’s palate from the moment of arrival. The Inn is well known for attention to detail (29 lettuces are listed on the menu and grown in the Inn’s organic garden), but owner-chef Craig Shelton had long wanted to add a space that was, he said in a telephone interview after our visit, "More casual, more of a mixing place, comfortable."
Last January he created a piano lounge and began a bistro service there and in adjacent rooms on Sunday through Friday evenings. Almost all the patrons of his formal dining rooms, Mr. Shelton says, choose one of the elaborate and, at $180 per person with a wine package, expensive tasting menus. That has made the Inn a place for special occasions. The bistro, says Mr. Shelton, "gives us a place clients want to come back to more frequently." He adds, "Even I don’t want to go to a four-star restaurant every night."
Visiting the bistro regularly would be a pleasure. The menu is reasonably priced (entrées range from $16 to $26), the welcome friendly and the crowd gregarious. We ended our first visit feeling like regulars. The ambiance may be informal, but the attention to detail is still there: Behind the bar, a waiter held each wine glass up to the light, inspecting for chips or water stains before selecting four to take to a table with a bottle of wine.
The Inn does not accept reservations for bistro dining. When we arrived on a Tuesday night in mid-September, we walked through the piano lounge where up-tempo music and diners dressed in country-club casual created a pleasant atmosphere. In the bar, warm light from brass lamps brightened the hunter green walls, glossy black woodwork and the old photographic mural of the pre-sprawl Hunterdon Hills.
Tom arrived first and enjoyed a glass of Laurent- Perrier champagne ($16) and asked the attentive bartender if a table for three would be available shortly. The one table actually in the bar (where smoking is permitted, as it is in the piano lounge) bore a "Reserved" sign. The group for whom it was reserved decided to eat in one of the more formal rooms.
After about 15 minutes, the table in the bar was ours. Joined by our son Tim, we settled into the spot. We were there for the bistro experience, but diners in the bistro can also order from the Inn’s elaborate fine-dining menu. Mr. Shelton explains one difference between the two menus this way: "For the tasting menu we use tuna at $80 per pound, in the bistro it is $20 per pound tuna."
The hors d’oeuvres on the bistro menu includes two soups ($7.50 to $9.50), several salads ($8 to $10.50), a traditional shrimp cocktail ($13) and steak tartare ($14). Based on his love of hearty Mediterranean fish soup, Tim chose the traditional soupe de poisson of Provence with rouille ($9.50). The rouille (a garlic-based sauce that gives bouillabaisse its kick) lent a soft rusty hue, but Tim found the soup lacked the intense flavor he expected. Kate ordered Maine mussels marinière ($11). The tiny mussels required a good bit of shell-opening, but proved delectable with a delicate taste and a buttery sauce that prompted a new serving of sourdough onion rolls to finish off.
From the three plateaux de fruits de mer available, Tom ordered the smallest ($45). "Le Petit" proved to be an impressive two-story presentation of raw shellfish on chipped ice: clams, oysters, mussels and whelks, as well as steamed shrimp. We all pitched in and enjoyed the selection of top-notch shellfish and the three sauces. Our bottle of Riesling ($40) from Rene Mure’s Alsatian vineyard was recommended, and a waiter brought us a taste before we ordered a bottle. It was a fine match for the shellfish and, as Kate observed later, the wine "seemed to have been destined to complement this meal since the first grape ripened."
The entrées include several bistro favorites. We continued our seafood theme. Tim selected housemade tagliatelle with littleneck clams, white wine and garlic ($19). The perfectly al dente pasta was arranged in an interesting thick twist down the center of the plate, garnished with a generous helping of shelled, steamed clams. Alone, it would have been delicious, but the take-no-prisoners flavor of the bright green cilantro sauce overwhelmed the flavors for Tim.
Kate’s Kabob Jinga ($24) included five perfectly prawns that were coated with assertive, complex and rich Indian spices, then grilled. The accompanying frisée and cucumber in a palate-cooling yogurt sauce brought the dish into balance. Tom ordered roasted codfish ($24) with snow peas, chorizo and soy-sherry vinegar sauce. It came with a cap of crisp potatoes. The small slices of peppery chorizo energized the taste of the mild, firm, moist cod.
The temptations of the dessert menu are many. We shared two. The special chocolate soufflé fondant ($12) with two kinds of rich chocolate was crisp on the outside, warm and melting in its heart. Tarte Tatin ($11) was composed of sweet, spiced apples surrounded by crisp pastry embellished with smooth mascarpone ice cream. Decaffeinated espresso ($3) completed a relaxing evening of some new tastes in an ambiance of comfort and charm.
As we were leaving, we encountered Chef Shelton relaxing in the piano lounge with the pianist and a guest. He shook hands and wished us a good evening. Later he told us, "I never would feel comfortable sitting down in the four-star restaurant at the end of the evening. It is someone’s special evening and I shouldn’t nudge in on that. In the bistro people should feel comfortable. It is good to be going from table to table." He feels comfortable in the bistro and so will you.
And about those apples. On the way out the door, Tim took one for the road. We heard the crunch when he bit into it. It was tart and crisp and juicy. They’re not there just for the aroma that promises good things to come.
For directions to The Ryland Inn, click here.