There were no tablecloths, but again, they walked the right line of formal and approachable.
Drinks
Pine takes the drink menu very seriously. That is to say, they do indeed actually have a cocktail program. Yes, I know that sounds pretentious, but, someone clearly cares here about the drinks. To say the lineup is impressive is an understatement, not just for a place in New Hampshire, but, really, for anywhere.
I was able to skip past the beer and wine fairly easily, but, the cocktails all sounded incredible. There are three whole pages of them. The cocktail menu is broken into several categories: Sparkling & Apertif, Heart Starting Citrus, Stirred & Straight-Forward, Reserve Cocktails, and Pine classics. I literally wanted at least one from each category.
Our server was more than happy to talk through the different cocktails, and I found myself drawn into nearly every drink he described. He too, clearly had a passion, and luckily for me it centered around the same drinks I was drawn to, those based on bourbon and gin. So many choices, but I realized, I didn't need to agonize, chances were that whatever I picked would be great.
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| Sparkling Water. |
Tap water was offered once our server first came over (which, to be honest, did take a little while), but I opted for sparkling. My water glass was swapped out, and the bottle of Pelligrino was brought over, and put into a fancy holder (presumably used for wine too?). A little bowl of limes was offered on the side. Nice touches all around.
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| Empire Hours. $10. |
"Bitter & Botanical Funkiness Under a Layer of Potent Grapefruit. Tanqueray, Grapefruit-Infused Punt e Mes, Caffo Vecchio Amaro, up."
I finally decided on the Empire Hours, although there were several bourbon based drinks I almost went for instead. I decided something gin based might be slightly more meal appropriate, but, since this was described as a spin on a negroni, I knew it wouldn't exactly be a "light" sipping beverage.
It was great, a very complex cocktail, bitter but balanced. I really enjoyed my cocktail, and I'd gladly get it again. I'll admit it wasn't really designed for food pairing, but, I didn't care.
My mother wanted something a bit more fun, and opted for the "Different Light" from the sparkling section, made from a house aperitif, cranberry shrub, and sparkling wine, served in a playful flute. It was exactly what she was looking for, light, refreshing, and a great way to begin the meal. She took one sip and exclaimed, "Oh, that's fun! It's got a lot going on. Sparkles, sweet, citrus!" Sadly, I was too busy pondering my drink to remember to take a photo.
Food
Solid drink in hand, it was time to get there for the main attraction: the food.
I had been following the menu leading up to the days before my visit, and was very excited about many dishes, both from the descriptions and ingredients (sooo many of my favorites!
Scallops!
Foie gras! Octopus!), but also from the chef's Instagram photos ... everything looked like the plating I'd expect in San Francisco.
The menu is broken up into "Snacks" (little bites like deviled eggs - truffled of course, or chips and dip - house made kimchi chips with yuzu lime dip), a "Raw Bar" (crudo, tartare, poke, etc), "Appetizers" (sooo many great things in here), "Entrees" (something for everyone - seafood, steak, duck, chicken, veggie pastas, classic burger), "Sides" (like truffled mushrooms, slow-roasted heirloom carrots with harissa and honey), and, "Desserts".
We skipped the snacks (and raw bar, sorta, more on that soon), and opted for appetizers and entrees, and of course, saved room for
desserts.
Appetizers
The appetizer menu full of items I really wanted. There was a tempting sounding burrata salad with grilled apricots and a maple gastrique that I thought even my father might try. Foie gras with strawberry and rhubarb relish and walnuts that I certainly wanted, but, alas, I've never managed to convince my family to eat foie gras. And then there was gnocchi, which I really wanted my father to try, as I think he'd like it. We had made a decision on what to order when our server told us there was also an appetizer special featuring local foraged mushrooms, and as a wild mushroom lover, I had no choice but to order it.
In addition to the mushroom special, which I didn't care if no one else was excited by, we decided on the Buffalo Cauliflower for my mom and I to share (and my dad to try, since he does eat cauliflower and he likes spicy things), my dad ordered the salad, and I ordered the General Tso's Octopus for my main (since I adore octopus and no one else would try it). But ... the chef sent us a few extras too, including the gnocchi (!) so I was able to share that with my father after all.
I didn't get a photo of the appetizer salad my dad ordered, and he didn't comment on in any way. I guess it was fine?
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| King Arthur Flour Baguette / Whipped McNamara Dairy Butter. |
After we ordered, we were offered bread, a baguette proudly sourced from local King Arthur Flour. It wasn't served hot, and was otherwise just a baguette, but a fine one. The butter was also locally sourced, from McNamara Dairy. It was great, light and fluffy, whipped butter.
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| Special: Warm Mushroom Salad / Whipped ricotta, heirloom tomatoes, fresh herbs, frico, truffle balsamic reduction. |
The special of the night was described as a wild mushroom salad, but, I'll be honest, when it first showed up, it took me a minute to find the mushrooms. Yes, there were wild mushrooms in here, but, tomatoes were more of the main component.
Anyway, this was a nicely plated dish, filled with unexpected ingredients, lots of color, flavor, and textures.
At the base were a few piles of whipped ricotta, soft and creamy. The plentiful tomatoes came in several forms, halves of cherry tomatoes and chunks of larger ones, all raw. The tomatoes weren't actually all that tasty, clearly not in season yet, and it was a bit of a shame that they were so dominant in the salad. I know, I'm spoiled by amazing tomatoes in the Bay Area during summer, and generally chose to just avoid tomatoes at other times now, they just don't compare!
The green beans (blanched?) were good, tender but still a bit crispy, just how I like them. Young and fresh. I loved the fresh pea tendrils on top, they were crazy fresh, succulent, and just screamed out "SPRING!"
The frica added a good crunchy element, and I enjoyed teaching my parents about what it was. Other garnish included a few petals of edible flavors, providing nice pops of color.
And finally, the mushrooms. An assortment of kinds, grilled, mostly cut into strips, and they seemed to have been marinated, perhaps in the balsamic reduction too? I enjoyed trying the different types of mushrooms, and they were all fine, but none really stood out to me. My mom didn't like the chewy mushrooms, but I think she is just not used to mushrooms other than standard white button mushrooms, or perhaps portabellas.
Overall, this was appealing, it was creative, the ingredients were well prepared, flavors were complimentary, but it didn't really wow me, and I wouldn't get it again. My least favorite dish of the night.
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| Buffalo Cauliflower / Bayley Hazen Blue Cheese. $11. |
The other appetizer I ordered was the buffalo cauliflower, a dish I thought everyone in the family could enjoy. It is cauliflower, treated in the manner of wings, sorta. My chefs at work make a similar dish frequently that I adore, so I was curious to see how a potentially more upscale version would compare.
My father doesn't eat chicken, and didn't actually even know what buffalo wings really are, but he likes spicy, so I wanted him to get to try the hot sauce.
The cauliflower had a nice heat to it. I really do love this style of hot sauce, and since I don't like wings either, I appreciate getting to taste it in other contexts. The cauliflower was pretty soft though, I like it more when it is either charred as my office makes it, or fried as I've seen in bars. Still, nicely cooked, just not the style I like. My dad tried a bite, but wasn't interested in more.
The blue cheese components were more interesting, there were chunks of blue cheese mixed in with the cauliflower, plus a drizzle on top. My dad liked the chunks of blue cheese, and actually stole all the remaining bits. The chive garnish was a bit different. I usually see some kind of celery component with buffalo cauliflower. It worked fine though, and blue cheese and chive are a good combo.
Overall, this was well prepared, flavorful, and fine, but I prefer my cauliflower cooked a different way. I saved the leftovers, and ...
waffled them, quite successfully!
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| Homemade Gnocchi / Leeks, pancetta, parmesan. $13. |
After the appetizers were cleared away, our server brought us all share plates. Then he put serving utensils in the middle of the table. I looked at him a bit quizzically, as I was expecting our individual mains next, and he explained that the chef wanted to send us a few more of their most popular dishes to enjoy.
We had already ordered one more appetizer than we intended (since I wanted that mushroom salad once I heard about it), and as I've said, my father doesn't try many new foods, so, I was a bit worried what was going to happen, but, eager to try more dishes, and really appreciated the gesture.
First up was the gnocchi, which was an awesome choice. I'm pretty sure this is literally the only other item on the appetizer menu that my father would actually try, and was what I was advocating for us to order anyway, because I really wanted him to experience gnocchi. He likes pasta, he likes potatoes, and it seems like a natural progression in opening up his culinary world.
This gnocchi was actually egg based rather than potato, so my long explanation at the start of the meal about gnocchi being like "pasta made from mashed potatoes" got more confusing, but, in some ways, I think this was more familiar. The gnocchi were incredibly light and pillow-y, if that makes any sense. Perfect texture. I see why this is a popular dish.
The leek and parmesan based sauce was very light, and allowed the gnocchi itself to shine. I somehow didn't grab one of the chunks of pork product (the menu said pancetta, but it looked like guanciale to me ...).
And finally, the garnish here was the same chives we saw on the buffalo cauliflower, but I adored it in this dish. It really amped up the flavor considerably.
Even though we had already consumed our other appetizers, and had mains coming, this dish somehow vanished in record time (as I said, before I even got a chance to snag a chunk of the pancetta!). Everyone enjoyed it, including my father, so I consider this a big success.
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| General Tso's Octopus / Crispy broccolini, peanuts, chilies. $14. |
For my main dish, I actually opted for an appetizer. This was intentional for several reasons. I really wanted to try the dish, and no one else in the family would eat it, so if I wanted it, in addition to the shared apps, in addition to a main, that would just be too much. So I either needed to not try as many things, or, just do this as my main, which suited me fine, I like trying lots of small plates anyway.
I love octopus. Ok, I love well prepared octopus. Grilled octopus in particular. Not rubbery octopus.
I also love the flavor of General Tso's, but, as someone who doesn't like chicken (or tofu), I don't often get to enjoy it. So this dish sounded like a dream to me - general tso's made with a protein I like? Yes!
The octopus was well prepared. It wasn't grilled and charred as I like, but it was tender, not at all rubbery. I did have my mom try a bite and she was amazed, and didn't realize that octopus could be non-chewy.
But I wasn't really able to taste and enjoy the octopus as much as I wanted due to the sauce. There was lots of sauce, and it was very sweet. It overpowered everything really. It was good, don't get me wrong, but, I actually wanted to taste my octopus. The sprinkling of sesame seeds and chopped peanuts gave a bit of crunch, and went well with the sauce.
The broccolini soaked up some sauce too, and was a very familiar Chinese cuisine paring.
Overall, this was a very approachable octopus dish, but, not as octopus forward as I was hoping. A fun concept, and I think an amazing "starter" octopus dish if you are looking to try octopus for the first time.
Raw Bar
Separated out from the other appetizers is the raw bar section, with light raw seafood options of crudo, tartare, oysters, and poke.
We skipped this section of the menu when ordering, but, the other complimentary item that arrived alongside the gnocchi was from the raw bar, the tuna poke.
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| Spicy Tuna Poke / lotus root, avocado, radish, togarashi. $14. |
My heart sank a tiny bit when the poke arrived. Our server had asked about allergies when we first sat down, and of course I informed him of my severe watermelon allergy, but I didn't mention avocado. My avocado allergy isn't nearly as extreme, as in, I just can't eat avocado, but I don't need to be terrified of cross-contamination like I do with watermelon. I wasn't planning to order anything with avocado, I knew they didn't do amuse bouches or anything like that at Pine, so, I didn't see a reason to mention it.
The poke had dollops of avocado mousse all over it, and thus, I couldn't have any. My father doesn't eat seafood, so, he clearly wasn't going to try it either. Which meant, this dish was left all for my mother.
She lucked out. One bite in, she was just like, "Wow! Wow! There is so much flavor going on!" She absolutely loved it, and I could tell she stopped caring about saving room for her main dish after she took a single bite. I don't think she had ever had anything like it before, as she doesn't eat much seafood in general since my dad doesn't, and in particular she doesn't eat much raw seafood, and certainly not seafood with so much Japanese flavoring going on. I enjoyed telling my parents about poke in general, and how poke bowl shops are totally a new trend, which they'll get to see in ... 5-10 years when it finally reaches their town. (Pine actually serves a larger poke bowl on the lunch menu, if you want to go participate in the poke bowl trend before it really arrives ...)
The presentation of this dish was really quite awesome. Poke is such a fad these days that I've seen a lot of ways to serve it, but the dollops of avocado mousse with the fried lotus chips sticking out were unique. Speaking of those chips, my dad actually asked me what they were, and I explained what lotus was, why it had holes, etc, and he shocked me by reaching out and grabbing one. And then another. He liked them!
Overall, this was a huge success in that I got to introduce my mom to poke which she loved, and my dad to lotus root which he enjoyed, but sadly, I didn't actually get to enjoy this dish myself.
Mains
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| Scallops / Corn, morels, leeks, bacon, spinach. $32. |
My mom agonized over her entree choice, debating between the salmon, halibut, and scallops.
Scallops won.
It came on a beautiful blue piece of stoneware. My mom really, really loved the plate. The plating was funny to my parents, as the food occupied only half the dish, but, this style of plating wasn't particularly novel to me. I appreciated the variety of well thought out plating techniques used at pine.
The serving was four large scallops, all of which had color on one side, although not a hard sear, and were cooked an even medium-well, just as my mom likes them. She was happy with the cook on them, noted that they weren't rubbery, but I like mid-rare, and a hard sear, so I would have been a bit disappointed had I ordered this. She did comment that sadly they were cold when they arrived.
The leeks, corn, bacon, and morels were all part of spinach mixture, topped with a sorta cream sauce that she really liked. There were only a few tiny chunks of bacon and morels though, easily lost amongst all the spinach. I was hoping for larger chunks of morels so I could steal some.
Overall, my mom was quite pleased with her choice - she loved the plate, the scallops were cooked how she likes them, and she liked the sauce. Minus a point for cold scallops though, and I was glad I didn't order it, since I would have wanted more morels and cooked differently.
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| Hanover Burger / Bacon, Vermont cheddar, crispy onions, chipotle aioli & fries. $16. |
There was no entree my dad wanted. He doesn't eat seafood, chicken, duck, or lamb. The only meat entree besides the burger was steak, and although he eats beef, he doesn't actually like steak. This left the veggie tortellini, but it had artichokes (he doesn't eat), spring asparagus (he doesn't eat), and ramps (another green thing he doesn't know), so, that was out. Or the veggie grain dish, with a base of freekeh (unknown, but he eats rice, I might have been able to convince him to try this), except it had zucchini and broccoli in it (yup, no green veggies), so, it was out too.
So he ordered the burger, which our server said was "The best burger in Hanover". He picked it because it was the thing he disliked the least. He ordered it well done. I didn't try it, but he said it was "better than McDonald's". Uh-huh.
I did steal a fry, it was skin-on, well seasoned, but not otherwise notable.
Dessert
The
dessert menu is not posted online, so I was not able to scheme about the dessert options in advance. Our choices were fairly limited: vanilla bean crème brûlée, seasonal fruit crisp, maple bacon profiteroles, or a chocolate chip cookie sundae.
I assumed we'd order a few to share, and was pretty shocked when my parents both were not interested in any desserts. We are a dessert loving family! This is where I got my dessert sweet tooth. To be fair, I was stuffed too, and they had eaten more than me. I tried to advocate for sharing just one thing, but even that didn't go over very well.
I do love
crème brûlée (hence the dedicated label on my blog), but I wasn't in the mood for it really, and certainly not if no one else would split it with me. I suggested the maple bacon profiteroles, filled with housemade maple ice cream and candied bacon, but, uh, I think my mom literally turned up her nose at this suggestion. Bacon in desserts is clearly still considered crazy around these parts.
The chocolate chip cookie sundae actually sounded quasi-awesome, in that it had peanut butter sauce (yes!), candied peanuts (double yes!), and housemade whipped cream, but I'm not really into chocolate chip cookies, and it also featured chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce, and I try not to have chocolate in the evenings. Which left the fruit crisp, normally something I'm very excited about, except that the seasonal fruit was strawberry rhubarb. And I'm rather anti-rhubarb. Still, it was the best option, so I went for it.
No after dinner drinks were offered.
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| Warm Strawberry Rhubarb Almond Crisp / Strawberry sauce, house-made whipped cream. $8. |
The dessert arrived shockingly quickly. Appreciated, but, it made me wonder how the crisp could be warmed up so fast.
The answer? It wasn't really. Had I not been expecting "warm" crisp as listed on the menu, I wouldn't have thought it was heated at all. It was lukewarm at best. Minus one point.
It also ... wasn't really a crisp. The presentation was cute, served in a small mason jar, but this left very little surface area for the topping, and the topping that was there seemed to mostly be a few bits of sliced almond and a little granola. It wasn't really crispy, and it really didn't satisfy my desire for a crisp.
The rest of the jar was strewed strawberries and rhubarb. They were soft, sweet, fine, but, not particularly noteworthy.
Drizzled on the plate was a fairly tasty strawberry sauce, but there wasn't really any way to eat it with the crisp.
I did really like the housemade whipped cream, and was happy to have a large mound of it. The garnish of a white chocolate with flower printed on it was visually nice, and it was sweet and tasty.
Overall, this was really not a success for me. It wasn't warm, the topping wasn't great, it was hard to eat the elements together given the plating (although the plating did *look* really nice). That whipped cream though ...
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| Chocolate ice cream (single) $2. |
My mom was pretty adamant: she just wanted a scoop of chocolate
ice cream. It wasn't on the menu in this way, but, since they did have chocolate ice cream to go with the sundae, she was able to order just her scoop. She just wanted one. A little something to seal the deal.
