Ariana's Restaurant, New Hampshire

"I love sauces, and am all about making stocks and demi-glace." -- Chef Marin, Ariana Restaurant

That is all I had to read about Ariana restaurant to be very excited to visit.  I *adore* sauces.  I routinely describe myself as "a sauce girl".  This was a chef who spoke my language.

Add to that a menu that was full of items I was excited by (which, um, is rare in New Hampshire, where Ariana is located!), a pile of good reviews, and, well, I was in.  Or at least, in enough to add Ariana to my "list", where it remained a few years.

But in the fall of 2020, while staying with my family in New Hampshire to distance myself from the city during the height of COVID, I made it a priority to visit, even though I couldn't convince anyone to join me.  Finally.

I'm so glad I found this gem.

Setting

Ariana's is located in the cute little town of Lyme, at the Lyme Inn, about 30 minutes away from where my parent's live.  Not somewhere I venture ever, really, but after hearing so many good things, I finally made the journey.

They currently have two small dining rooms, and an outdoor area, all properly at 50% capacity per COVID restrictions.  One dining area is dubbed the "The Back Room" with (normally) 7 tables, a bar, a casual coffee table area, and the other is "Front Room" (normally) used for private events too. Open only Thurs-Sun right now during pandemic times, with everything available for take-out as well.

Fireplace.

To say the inside is charming is an understatement.  Beautiful woodwork, classy rustic style, and I loved the fireplace (they turned it on right after this photo).

Cozy, inviting, not formal, but not pub-like either.

Bar.

The bar had only a few stools since COVID restrictions, but was equally charming.

The sole diner in this area was clearly a regular, staff called him by name, knew his order, etc.  I loved the local vibe.

Food & Drink

My Feast: Four small plates, two desserts.

I really, truly enjoyed my meal, and had plenty to take home with me.  Yes, I was alone, this was all for me.

There were some incredible highlights (zomg, the scallops), and one thing was quite clear: the chef knows his sauce work, and is offering up some very unique food, and in particular, unique ingredients, in the area.  

I'll certainly return.

Drinks

I was extremely impressed with the drink selection.  The range of offerings, in every category: cocktails, beer, wine, was extensive, innovative, and really diverse, which is pretty incredible to me for such a small establishment, and one in such a rural area.

Cocktail List.

The cocktail list was extremely intriguing, and if I wasn't driving, no doubt I would have had fun in this section.  All my favorites were in there, and I loved the sound of their Bourbon Smash, the tequila based Caliente, the bourbon and ginger based martini, the "Not Yourgroni", and the tableside transforming Morpheus.

I resisted though, getting sparkling water (on tap, $3), and opting to start right with wine.

Beer and Cider.

The beer and cider list is constantly changing, offering up a bunch of local and regional choices, and a few from across the country.  Mostly all on top, a few bottles/cans only to satisfy the Bud Light drinkers, offer up a truly gluten-free choice, and a non-alcoholic, along with cider.

Not a beer drinker myself, but looked well rounded.

Wine List.

I was beyond impressed with the variety on the wine list.  For such a small establishment, I'm honestly not sure how they can pull this off.  3 sparkling, 10 white, more than a dozen red, and nearly all available by the glass (or full bottle).

I asked about a few, and my server was quite knowledgable on all of them, but took zero hesitation to offer a taste to start.  I'm glad she did, as the first one I tried (the Housley's Century Oak Winery Zinfandel, brand new to the menu) I didn't care for - not too much tannin, but a bit too much acid.  She also steered me away from my next choice, a cote de rhone, knowing it would be too big for my taste and for what I was pairing with.  

I settled on the Alfredo Santamaria Tempranilla, Selection Especial, 2013 from Spain.  It was fine, balanced, but not rave worthy.  A very generous pour was given.

Food

The menu changes every single week, based on seasonality and constant innovation.  Ariana does offer some standard dishes, changing out only the accompaniments, but mostly, it is a constantly evolving menu.  I loved the sound of this.  

We are happy and proud to feature foods from many of our local farm friends: Cedar Circle Farm, Crossroads Farm, Epic Acres, Mill Brook Farm, Root 5 Farm, Robie Farm, Tensen Farm, and Sunset Rock Farm.

Sourcing is as local as possible, calling out farms from all over the area.  From my first bite, the quality of the ingredients was obvious.  Everything was incredibly fresh, flavorful, and generous.

Dinner Menu.

The (savory) menu is broken into two categories: small plates and large plates, not standard Starters/Appetizers, Soups/Salads, Entrees/Mains, etc. This left me slightly uncertain what the portion sizes would mean.

A Chef’s Food and Wine Pairing, 5 courses, with wine pairings, is also available for $85 (4 savory, 1 dessert).  This sounds like an incredible value, and I'd love to try it sometime.  The other party seated in the dining room did this, and I'll admit, I was pretty jealous by what I saw going by, and, um, wow, it was a lot of wine!

Non-alcoholic beverages were also listed here, soda (fountain or Izzie), juice, lemonade, ice tea, coffee, tea, espresso, etc.

Everything is clearly labelled V (vegetarian) or GF (gluten-free), both of which have plentiful options.

Bread Basket & Dipping Oil (and hand sanitizer).

As soon as I was seated, my server popped by, offering water and promising warm bread and oil immediately.  She delivered on that quite fast, before I really even had taken in the first page of the drink menu.  A bit too fast for me really, but I'm sure some appreciate this.

I did appreciate that every table came with a hand sanitizer bottle of its own.  They clearly were taking every precaution they could think of.

The dipping oil was loaded with herbs, but wasn't quite as flavorful as others I've had in the area (sorry, Lui Lui really wins the oil and bread contest, although Ziggy's takes a close second.  Neither are remotely in the same tier of restaurant though!).

Warm Herb Bread.

The bread was herbed as well, and was indeed nicely warm.  Points for that.

It wasn't remarkable though, just a hard style roll.  I'm not a bread girl though, and didn't mind skipping this.

Small Plates

When I visited, the small plates lineup was 10 dishes: 2 soups (both seasonal), 2 salads (menu regulars), 3 signature items (pork dumplings, blackened scallops, and the much loved mushroom crepes), plus 4 specials (although the menu didn't designate any this way, I just knew details).  Half were vegetarian, and 80% (!) were gluten-free.

The lineup:

• Three Onion Soup with fresh thyme, sherry, Cabot cheddar and crostini V $7
• Roasted Fall Vegetable Soup with butternut squash, carrots, sweet potato, onions, spices V GF $8
• House salad, local greens, watermelon radish, cucumber, carrot, fresh basil dressing V GF $8
• Warm Spinach Salad with an apple shallot vinaigrette, goat cheese, dried cranberries, pecans V GF $9
• Steamed Pork Dumplings: Mill Brook Farm seasoned pork, kimchi, lime chili sauce $9
• Mushroom Crèpes: Sunset Rock Farm goat cheese, mushrooms, leeks, spinach, arugula cream V GF $13
• Blackened Scallops with an orange chili butter sauce, polenta, daily salsa* GF $14
• Seared Sweetbreads over Cedar Circle heirloom potatoes and onions, red wine veal glaze GF $15
• Seared Scallops over confit shaved fennel, radicchio, greens, roasted tomato, orange basil dressing* GF $15
• Octopus braised in sherry and spices on a salsa rosa with roasted onions and sweet potatoes GF $14 (Removed by the time I dined)
• Harimasa (Sustainably raised in Denmark, a white flesh sushi-grade Yellowfin Tuna) sashimi with a lemongrass, ginger chili aioli and diced tuna with scallions and a sriracha aioli* GF $16

Let's just say, I made my reservation the moment I saw the weekly specials - I adore scallops, so was thrilled to see the seared scallops in addition to their signature blackened version, it had been *ages* since I had sweetbreads, and I really do love octopus (although usually prefer grilled).  Even the harimasa (sic) sounded good (or was it the ginger chili aioli and sriracha aioli that called out?).  I was so happy to see a seafood lineup that wasn't *just* shrimp ... which seemed to be what nearly every other restaurant in the area offered.

From the regular lineup, besides the blackened scallops, I was also interested in the pork dumplings and even the seasonal three onion soup really did sound lovely.  The only things I'd really skip were the fall veggie soup, the house salad, and, the signature mushroom crèpes.  The crèpes may be their most well known, most loved dish, and I do *adore* mushrooms, spinach, leeks, etc, but ... I just loathe goat cheese, and alas, they feature goat cheese.

I really, truly wished I had a dining companion, as I really, really wanted 5 of the dishes, and would gladly have others too!  In the end, I settled for ordering just 4 (!) and planned to take plenty home, both for myself, and for my mother, who would really truly have loved to be there.  (Side note: reviewers say that 4 small plates is easily a meal for 2 people, no large plates needed, as small plates are larger than standard apps.  I knew this, but, I wanted everything!  And my mother got to try a slew of things she's never had before: harimasa. Sweetbreads.  Monkfish cheeks).

When I arrived, the octopus was gone from the menu.  You'd think this would make my life easier, but, actually, it just made it harder, as I had to make new decisions.  But I also happened to catch the chef, who was out in the dining room welcoming guests personally, to ask him about the octopus, and tell him how much I adored both octopus and monkfish cheeks (on the large plates menu, not in a prep I wanted, but, swoon, monkfish cheeks!).  I may have sorta suggest creating a custom dish.  I was rewarded with monkfish cheeks treated kinda in the same way he did the octopus dish previously.  It never hurts to ask!

And after all that, I did decide to order a 5th dish, for takeout, *after* I ate.  So yes, 5 dishes for me ... 

I asked to have my meal served as courses, at least a bit staggered, so I wouldn't have 5 dishes all hitting the table at once.  This worked well - I didn't break into separate appetizer/main rounds exactly, which was great, as I could go back for more of the things I loved most, and have the rest packed up to go as I decided I was ready.

Harimasa (sic). GF. $16.

"Harimasa (Sustainably raised in Denmark, a white flesh sushi-grade Yellowfin Tuna) sashimi with a lemongrass, ginger chili aioli and diced tuna with scallions and a sriracha aioli."

My first round began with a pair of dishes, the lightest dish I ordered, and a chilled one, the hiramasa.

Yes, I routinely say these days that I'm kinda just not in a raw seafood mood, I'm not really sure why, but actually for nearly a year, maybe more, I've been kinda just not digging raw seafood or sushi.  I ordered this mostly on my mother's behalf, even if she wasn't with me, I was planning to bring it to her.  She has only had sushi or raw fish a handful of times in her life, literally, and always with me, and she does enjoy it.  I also knew it was unlikely she'd ever find hiramasa anywhere, and this was a truly unique opportunity for her.  Plus, a few months prior, we had a similar sounding duo (e.g. a play on spicy tuna and a sashimi) of tuna (more classic ahi) at Pine in Hanover (review for latest visits coming soon!), that she adored soooo much that we went back a month later and she got it again.

When the dish hit the table, my first thought, was, "Ok, so this is what the *small* plates are ...".  It was a huge portion, particularly for the price and rareness of such a fish in the area.  So much raw fish, the sashimi portion in particular was just massive!

The flavors were incredible, and let's just say, my mom got less of this than I was intending.

Sashimi Hiramasa.

I started with the sashimi.  Clearly fresh, quality seafood.  As I expected though, I wasn't particularly into it.  That said, I was blown away by the flavor in the light sauce, lemongrass based, and clearly some soy (maybe dashi?).  Such beautiful, complex, amazing flavor.  Of course the ginger chili aioli was also awesome (I am an aioli girl after all!), but that light sauce really captured my attention immediately.  The slices of jalapeño on top, while they may just look like garnish, really added a perfect pop of heat, and just made the dish sing even more.

So even if the raw hiramasa wasn't what I really wanted, I was incredibly impressed with the composition of the dish, the sauce work, and quality for price.  And this was just half the dish ...

***** for the sauces, *** for the rest because I just wasn't in the mood.

Diced Hiramasa.

The dish was a duo however.  The diced version was less spectacular, but still high quality.  Larger size dice, not the kinda tiny dice-mush you normally see with "spicy tuna", in a sriracha aioli.  This had significantly less flavor though, and the sriracha aioli didn't really have the kick I was expecting.  The scallions, much like jalapeños, looked like simple garnish, but did really add a necessary finishing touch.  Served over some greens, which I used to soak up all the sauce from the sashimi.

*** for quality, but not for me.

Seared Sweetbreads. GF. $15.

"Over Cedar Circle heirloom potatoes and onions, red wine veal glaze."

For the second of my starting two dishes, I went in the entirely opposite direction: a hot dish, and very rich and fatty dish.  And yes, when this hit the table at the same time, I again thought, "Oh wow, these 'small plates'".    I mean really, there were two, massive, massive, massive hunks of sweetbreads perched on top of a deep dish of stewed potatoes and onions.  This was easily an entree!

Anyway, sweetbreads.  I absolutely was stunned to find sweetbreads on a menu anywhere in a small rural town.  I think it is highly likely that the majority of the population, I'd even say >85%, do not know what sweetbreads are.  And yes, the final table to get seated when I was there had a whole discussion as they read the menu, and yes, they thought sweetbreads were going to be, um, bread based, and sweet.

Of course, I knew better, although I certainly cannot claim to be a sweetbread connoisseur.  I've had it fewer than a dozen times myself, introduced very late in life (once I lived in San Francisco and was eating at way too many Michelin star restaurants). I always enjoyed it though, for the richness, the savoriness, and, well, if I can't have a huge lobe of seared foie gras (which I have had entirely way too much of, or at least, I had way too much of compressed into a year long period pre and post foie gras ban, zomg), it seemed like a wonderful option.

It also seemed like the most risky thing to order, as I had no idea how well it would be executed, and kinda feared for what kind of small town disaster might come my way.

I need not be fearful though - this chef, most clearly, has skill, and it was obvious the moment I saw the dish.  The sear on it was *outstanding*, and knowing the chef is into his saucework, and seeing the sauce on this plate, I knew I was in for a treat.

I dug in.

It ate almost as a savory Sunday roast, or beef stew, with the rich deep red wine veal sauce, and hearty potatoes and onions.  Not really an appetizer at all (not that it said it was, exactly), but I was thinking this would be small pieces of sweetbread, with some dainty little potatoes or onion that were mostly there to accent, and just a "glaze", as the menu said.  Not a bad thing, but, just not what I expected.

Sweetbreads: Potatoes/Onions.

Here you can really see the portions - under the huge hunks of sweetbread lay a medley of potatoes, red, skin on, and roasted onions.  All was smothered in a red wine veal sauce.

I'll start with the base.  It was a mixed bag for me.  I don't really care for potatoes (at least, just roast potatoes), and these were a bit too soft for me.  Red skin on was nice presentation, but the soft skins also didn't do it for me.  The onions however were *amazing*.  Likely slow roasted, sooo soft - a good thing in this case, sooo sweet.  I adored them.  My mom got a lovely portion of potatoes, and absolutely *no* onions!

The red wine veal sauce was complex, and did go well with the potatoes/onions in the stew/roast sense, but isn't really the kind of sauce I wanted so early in my meal.

** for the potatoes/sauce, but ****+ for the onions.

Sweetbreads: Perfect Execution.

The sweetbreads though were the star for me of course.  Very well prepared.  The sear was as well done as it looked, and the huge pieces were tender and moist inside.  A nice flavor to them, although not the best I've had.  It was all glistening with what I can only imagine was copious amounts of butter, or maybe just its own fat that came out.

I brought half of each huge piece home, and had my mom try.  Much like foie gras, she was ... not a fan.  I had fun throwing it on my indoor grill, and throwing it on top of a salad, mixed in with bbq sauce and crispy fried onions (among other things), just taking it in a more BBQ route.  It really did work!

Overall, for me, ***+.  I was pleased to see the dish offered, and again the skill of the chef was quite obvious.

Seared Scallops. GF. $15.

"Over confit shaved fennel, radicchio, greens, roasted tomato, orange basil dressing."

It is no secret that I adore scallops, particularly seared, and get them frequently at high end restaurants, but this dish absolutely blew me away.

Seriously.

This dish was AMAZING.  Seriously, perfection.

I can safely say it was the best seared scallops I've had in ... 8 years?  And again, I've had plenty.  And again, the entire dish was great.

I really loved the salad.  Yes, the *salad*.  In a meal full of goodies like seared scallops and sweetbreads, I was, indeed, truly blown away by the salad itself.  It was addicting.  

The confit fennel and leeks were incredible, soooo much flavor, and of course I love raddichio.  Even the baby greens were good.

And don't get me started on the dressing.  Yes me, the girl who normally goes for aioli, heavy dressings, and doesn't care for citrus, is telling you, this orange basil dressing rocked her world, although admittedly, it didn't have that much citrus.

The salad base, a stunning ****+, for a *salad*.

Roasted Tomato Close Up.

The roasted tomato was really quite flavorful, but not really my thing, I gave it to my mother, who enjoyed it.

Seared Scallop PERFECTION.

The main attraction, of course, the scallops themselves.  A generous 4 scallop portion for the reasonable $15 price.

Each was huge, with a textbook perfect sear, yet so tender.  They were clearly fresh, had a lovely sweetness, just gorgeous.  A+.

The scallops themselves, perfect *****.

Off Menu Custom Dish: 
Monkfish Cheeks / Salsa Roja / Brussels Sprout Leaves with Chorizo.

As I mentioned in my intro, I intended to order a lovely octopus dish, and I was sooo excited to see it on the online menu specials for the weekend, but, alas, I dined on Sunday, and it sold out on Saturday.  The chef stopped by to greet me (and every other table), as we settled in though, and so I ... asked about it.  He confirmed it was indeed gone (I was hoping there might be a portion or two still around, perhaps moved to the tasting menu!), but alas, no.  I mentioned that I do love monkfish cheeks though, and was thrilled to see those in the seafood stew large plate, but didn't want the stew.  I said something like "Do you think you could do something with the monkfish cheek as a small plate?".  He took *no* time in responding enthusiastically, suggested that he treat it similarly, and went on his way.  I had no idea what to expect, but, hey, I was excited.

Monkfish, much like skate, is not a fish that we have on the West Coast really (besides monkfish liver at some sushi restaurants), and I never had seafood when I grew up on the East Coast, so I can count the number of times I've had monkfish on two fingers.  Yup, twice.  Heh.  Once at 3 Michelin Star Le Bernardin in New York, and once at my office cafe in Cambridge (or New York, I forget which).  And both times it was unique and fabulous, although, um, clearly different calibre.  I don't really know what to compare monkfish cheek to if you've never had it before.  Again same with skate wing.  These are pretty unique seafoods.  Monkfish filet itself is often called "poor man's lobster", and the liver is often referred to "poor man's foie gras", but the cheeks, I don't really know what people call them.  And the monkfish, a big, ugly fish to be honest, certainly has, um, a large mouth, with generous cheeks.  Anyway.

The monkfish cheek was good, grilled or seared, I'm not quite sure which, but it had a nice crusting.  Inside was moist, and stringy, as I knew to expect, and I liked it.  It was good, but didn't blow me away.

It was served over brussels sprouts leaves, which I was excited by as I love brussels, but being just the leaves, they didn't take on a juicy quality, and also weren't very crisp.  They were however mixed with crispy, salty, bits of chorizo that were awesome.  A touch of chew, a crispy bite, and awesome saltiness.  

And finally, salsa roja, which just ... wasn't my thing.  It actually had incredible depth fo flavor, was remarkably smoky, truly a fabulous sauce if you like red sauce, and I see how it would go great with this, and with octopus, in a Spanish style, but I personally would prefer something different.

***+ for me, again, well prepared, well thought out, and unique protein offering.  I was happy to introduce my mother to yet another new seafood as well.

Three Onion Soup (togo). V. $7.

"Three Onion Soup with fresh thyme, sherry, Cabot cheddar and crostini."

This was a bit of a random order on my part, at the end of my meal (literally after I had dessert), to take home.  Yes, I had a HUGE pile of leftovers, but I was so impressed with the food I had that I wanted more.  And this seemed like one that would take home well.

I did intend to ask for the topping (cheddar and crostini) on the side, but totally forgot - oops!  I removed it immediately (and yes, of course I tried it all fresh), but the bread did get soggy, which, is actually how you want it for this kind of soup anyway.

The soup was ... fine?  Kinda classic French onion soup, onions cooked perfectly, plenty of them, not mushy.  Decent flavorful base, although not extraordinary.  Plenty of melty quality (Cabot) cheddar on top.  Crostini was just mushy bread, but fine?

Overall, fine, but I'm not really sure why I ordered it to be honest.  I never actually get that excited about soup ... ***.  I gave it to my mother, who enjoyed it for lunch the following day.

Large Plates

Next comes the larger plates, another 10 dishes, including two vegetarian options (one vegan), *neither* of which was pasta.  Yes, even vegetarians get legit options here.  More than half are gluten-free.  Again, the first half of these is menu regulars, the later half are weekly specials.  The menu switched slightly the night I was there from what was available earlier in the weekend.

The full line up:

• Vegan Curry Rice: ginger basmati rice, coconut curry sauce, peppers, onions, scallions, tomatoes V GF $17
• Curry Shrimp: Wild Gulf Shrimp with the same above presentation* GF $26
• Vegetarian Tamale, steamed masa with sauteed vegetables, salsa Verde, beans & rice, broccolini GF $14
• Penne Bolognese with Robie Farm veal and pork, Tensen Farm beef, marinara, local cream $24
• Chicken Marsala: organic chicken with mushroom, marsala demi-glace, smashed new potatoes* GF $22
• Slow-braised Short Rib over a potato onion and chorizo stew, roast broccolini, red wine glaze $27
• Herb and Panko Crusted Salmon with a salsa rosa, potato onion cakes, sauteed of brussels sprouts $25 (Previously, rib eye steak)
• Seafood Stew, shrimp, clams, scallops and monk cheeks in a light sherry saffron broth, fennel, leeks. GF $28 (Previously, swordfish)
• Miso-glazed Halibut with stir fry vegetables, ramen noodles in a lemongrass, ginger, coconut citrus glaze* $32
• Seared Medallions of Filet Mignon with mushroom tart, truffle whipped potatoes, mushroom sherry demi* $32

The variety was outstanding, ranging from Mexican to Italian to Spanish to French to Asian ... and of course, classic steak and potatoes as well.  Again, many dishes called out. 

I haven't had a good bolognese in ages, and I was loving the sound of the legit veal, pork, beef, and cream base.  I like swordfish, but the provençal style, although quite classic and a great treatment for swordfish, isn't quite my thing, and it was no longer available when I arrived anyway.  That decision was easy!  I love halibut, and I love miso, and quite nearly ordered that dish, just, loving the sounds of it (even though I'm not a huge noodle person), but alas, I was just too excited by the small plates.  I wished my mom had joined!  The filet mignon medallions called out too, again, when was the last time I had great steak?, but also, um, truffle whipped potatoes and a mushroom tart?  Yes please!  The newly added seafood stew, while not appealing in its entirety (eh, stew), had clams, scallops, and monk cheeks, all things I adore.

It was hard, but I decided not to order any of these, and just got ... all the small plates.  And plenty of dessert.

Dessert

As you know, I'm an avid dessert girl, and I was *thrilled* to see that they have a pastry chef.  Legit pastry chef, everything done in house (although they use Vila Dolce gelato, which I've reviewed before).

Much like the savory menu, the dessert menu is always evolving, but features some signature dishes as well.

The line up when I visited was unfortunately *highly* caffeinated - half chocolate or espresso based desserts (3), and the other half without caffeine that didn't sound particularly great to me - just because of the season.   Fruit crisp is great, don't get me wrong, but it was fall, so, apple, not my favorite, and the signature gingerbread upside down cake sounds glorious if you like that kind of thing (warm, pears inside, sea salt gelato ...).  There was a glimmer of hope for me though.  Just added, brand new to the menu that night: a new seasonal crème brûlée!  Not a flavor I'd normally pick (again, the late fall season!), but you know how I feel about this kind of dessert. My blog has a label devoted to pudding and crème brûlée for a reason!

Of course I couldn't resist though, and still tried the fruit crisp too ... I just got another for the next day.

Dessert / Cocktails / Coffee & Tea.

• Assorted House-Made Cookies (1/2 dozen): "2 each of chocolate chip, chocolate sugar, and oatmeal/cherry/white chocolate chip." $10.
• Chocolate Sourdough Cake: "with chocolate silk, house made cajeta and candied pecans." $10.
• Ginger Spice Crème Brûlée: "House made with fresh ginger from Root 5 Farm."  $8. GF.
• Espresso Cheesecake: "A blend of cream cheese and Sunset Rock Farm goat cheese with house made chocolate sauce and chocolate covered espresso bean crumble. $9
• Flourless Dark Chocolate and Port Torte: "with a macadamia nut crust and raspberry sauce." GF. $10.
• Warm Apple Crisp. "Fresh local apples with a brown sugar, oat topper served wiht fresh whipped cream."  $8.
• Pear Gingerbread Cake: "Served warm with a scoop of sea salt caramel gelato." $9.

Also available were Villa Dolce sorbet (blackberry cabernet) and gelato (vanilla, sea salt caramel), $2.50/scoop on their own, or just $1.5 to made any dessert a la mode.

The after dinner drink menu had your standard espresso drinks and tea, plus a couple cocktails: maple irish coffee, an espresso martini, and a chocolate caramel martini.  The cocktails sounded fabulous ... if I could have caffeine that late at night that is.

Ginger Spice Crème Brûlée. $8. GF.

"House made with fresh ginger from Root 5 Farm."

I had called the night before, and spoken to the staff about the current dessert line up, and this was not on it.  Added *that* night, a total surprise to me.  I was thrilled.  Because, again, ZOMG, crème brûlée.

That said, I was less thrilled about "ginger spice", ginger I like, but, its certainly not a goto for me, and the "spice" part worried me that it may have "seasonal spices", e.g. nutmeg and clove, which I really can only take small amounts of.  I asked my server about it, and she said the ginger was *very* strong, and didn't recommend if you don't love ginger.  But she stressed that it was great ginger, from a local farm.

I had no choice, right? I was stuffed, this was ridiculous, but yes, I needed to get it (and ... a crisp for "backup").

It arrived looking quite legit.

First order of business: the tap test.  It gets a good score here - the top was perfectly caramelized, and although a touch thin for my absolute preference, it was definitely crisp, and the flavor was deep.

Next up?  The temperature test.  This is just preference, but I really like the top to be warm, from fresh brûlée action, but the base to cool, providing a nice contrast.  This did not pass that test.  It was all just cold.

Next of course, the body of the crème brûlée itself.  One bite, and there was no doubt this was a ginger dessert.  The ginger was intense, but, in a really good way.  Yes, you certainly had to be in the mood for ginger, but, it was really kinda an awesome ginger flavor.  The only problem is that it was very one note.  It was *just* ginger.  There was no complexity beyond that.  I really wanted a vanilla bean base, just something to provide a bit more to it.

The texture of the pudding was good, smooth but thick, well baked.  This portion was quite large, but the vessel not particularly deep, so the ratio of topping to filling skewed in the "lots of caramelized topping" department.  I did find that I kinda wanted a deeper dish, to really "dig into" the pudding, if that makes sense.  But I'm just talking details right now.

And that was it.  No garnish.  No whipped cream on the side.  Just the classic crème brûlée.

With the caramelized topping, it was a touch sweet without something like whipped cream, but that was easily resolved ... as I had whipped cream I could add.  I think it would be glorious if served with just a touch though, to balance out the caramel and the strong ginger.  I'd also love to see perhaps some candied ginger on top?  With the portion I brought home, I added whipped cream and fresh strawberries, which really did amp it up considerably.

Overall though, a good crème brûlée, unique in its "gingerness".  

***+, some minor tweaks (more base flavor, candied ginger garnish, a little whip ...) and easily would be ****.

Warm Apple Crisp.  $8.

"Fresh local apples with a brown sugar, oat topper served with fresh whipped cream."

And of course, I *also* got the fruit crisp.  Because, that is how I rolled this night.  Ordering for 2-3 people, even though solo.  Gulp.  Again, fruit crisp, something I *love*, particularly when warm (!), and even moreso when paired with cold ice cream (you can add a scoop of gelato for $1.50!), but, apple is never my fruit of choice.  I know my father loves apple crisp though, so it would have a good home, even if I didn't love it.

I decided to skip the gelato, a hard call on my part to be honest, as I really, truly believe that warm desserts and cold ice cream are a match that needs to be made, but, it seemed ridiculous to get gelato at that point, particularly when it was cold out.  Vanilla or salted caramel were options however.  Plus, they made their own whipped cream, which is always a good sign.

Anyway.  The crisp.

It arrived, piping hot.  A+ for temperature.  With a HUGE glob of whipped cream on top.  I was *very* happy to see the portion of whipped cream.  The crisp itself was also a massive portion.

The apples were sliced, skin left on.  They were fairly tart, not too mushy, but in a pretty sweet syrup.  I ... really didn't care for them.  

The crisp topping?  Well ... not really a "crisp" ... it seemed just like a scattering of sorta sweet oats.  They weren't particularly crispy, and weren't really mixed with much, I guess just some brown sugar? I know this wasn't trying to be a crumble (which I prefer), but I did want some hunks of topping, perhaps some nuts, something.  It basically tasted like slightly to dry oatmeal on top.

But the whipped cream.  Now *that* was fabulous.  Honestly, some of the best whipped cream I have had ever.  It was crazy rich, super thick, not too sweet, and I know this sounds crazy, but so very "cream" forward.  The quality of the local dairy was clear.  I adored this whipped cream so, so much.  A+++.

So overall, they got some elements right - served warm! Insane whipped cream! - but overall, I didn't actually want this at all.  I was glad to steal all the whipped cream, and get back to the crème brûlée.

Kudos to the massive portion for the price.

** for the crisp, ***** for the whip.