Simon Pearce Restaurant, Vermont

Simon Pearce has been on my "list" for restaurants to visit when I go see my family in New Hampshire.  My mother and I always like to do one special meal out, a mommy daughter date, of some kind.  It has taken us to the only upscale place close by, Pine, in Hanover several times, and to many breakfasts out (like Lou's, Four Aces Diner, and my favorite, the Hartland Diner).  I've suggested Simon Pearce, many times, always drawn in by the menu, but my mother has never been excited for it, stating that she had been before, it was fine, but, eh.  And my father went once, many many years ago, and found the portions too small, it too expensive, yadda yadda.  So somehow Simon Pearce was not a dining destination for me, even though I always wanted to visit.

Finally, during my September 2021 visit, I decided to just pick it.  The menus sounded better than anywhere else around, and I knew the head chef at Pine had left, so, it was time to try something new.  But ... reservations were impossible to come by.  They were only operating at 50% capacity because of covid, and were only open a few days a week.  Every slot, lunch or dinner, was booked, for months.  Yes, months.  Regularly polling Open Table would sometimes show a random 2:30pm on a Thursday slot, or perhaps a 9pm some evening, but nothing during hours we wanted.  I set up alerts for every day, for every time slot that was remotely reasonable.

And finally, I snagged a reservation.  Lunchtime, not dinner which I really wanted, and 11:30am, which was kinda early to be doing a big lunch, but ... I snagged it, immediately.  And thus, 11:30am lunch date it was.  We were also celebrating my slightly-belated birthday, and my mom really wanted to spoil me.

Setting

Simon Pearce Restaurant is located inside a historic mill building, where they also have a retail store, and the actual glass blowing studios, which yes, you can go watch.

The Falls.

One of the biggest reasons people pick Simon Pearce is the ambiance, located right along a falls.  This was, literally, the view from my table.  I'm not one to generally care about this sort of thing, but it really did make for a nice setting.

Bar and Tables.

The seating area is broken up into two sections, one is on a screened in porch that looks over the falls, and the other is traditional indoors space.  We were seated inside.  Decor is very wood forward, with a classic farmhouse feel.

Drinks

Drink Menu.

Simon Pearce has a fairly notable wine list, with a reasonable number of options by the glass (and a separate bottle menu was available).  They also have a good sized beer menu, and a few cocktails.  The cocktails all specify which fancy Simon Pearce glass your drink will come in.

Had our visit been for dinner, I certainly would have opted for a red wine, and I was interested in many of the options.  But at 11:30am ... I just wasn't quite feeling it.  My mom did pick a white wine, which she was offered a sample of first, that she enjoyed.

Sparkling Water.

As always, I opted for sparkling water, Saratoga brand which I knew from college, available in a personal size bottle, or large.  No house sparkling.

The bottle itself really is attractive, lovely blue, and the goblet that I was given to drink it with made me feel quite fancy, with my water.  It also came with a lime garnish, which I should have used later when my dishes needed some acidity ...

Classic Paloma. $13.

"Souza silver tequila, lime juice, Fever Tree grapefruit soda. Bristol Goblet."

I went a bit random, and selected a cocktail, the paloma, more because it felt appropriate, than because I really wanted it.  Grapefruit juice was kinda like brunch right?

It was ... fine.  The tequila not particularly strong, but I appreciated that it didn't drink too sweet.  It too came with lime, that I wish I had taken advantage of ...

Cuisine

We were obviously there for the food though.

Specials.

The first page of our menus was the specials for the day, which included the daily variety of quiche, soup de jour, a special entree, and dessert, along with featured beverages.

Menu.

The regular menu followed, which of course I had studied in advance, and came knowing which dishes I'd likely order ... and which I'd encourage my mother to get.  I appreciated that desserts were listed on the regular menu, so you could plan accordingly ...

3 Course Dine-In Lunch.

Even though our reservation was quite early, we each opted for a 3 course lunch, and drinks to start, because, well, we were celebrating my visit, belated birthday, and chance to eat out in a restaurant (my first time in 9 months!).

Our meals were a mixed bag - generally good cooking, but every dish was massively under-seasoned, and had some components that were extremely unsuccessful, even the desserts were cloyingly sweet.  

Service was good though, our server just the right level of attentive, not invasive,

It was an enjoyable experience, but, I wouldn't go back again anytime soon.

3 Course Togo Lunch ...

Because decisions are hard, we, uh, opted to also order a full 3 course lineup each to go, although, my mom later admitted that she ordered only the entree for herself, she got the appetizer (soup) and dessert (whoopie pie) for my dad.  All three of mine however were intended for me ...  (and in my defense, I as NOT planning to do this, she suggested and encouraged it!).

Complimentary Bread: Brown Bread, Rory's Scones, Cabot Butter.

Once your order is taken, and after drinks arrive, the bread platter is brought over.  People *rave* about the bread, so even though I'm not one to fill up on bread before a meal, I had to try it.  One benefit of a lunch reservation is you get Rory's Scones alongside the brown bread, whereas at dinner, you get more standard dinner bread.

The brown bread was ... fine.  Slightly seedy.  My mother remembered it having more sweetness to it.  

The little bitty "scones" were also fine.  I liked the texture and coating on them.  Both types of bread were served room temp, not warm.  Eh.

The butter, local Cabot butter, looked pretty, but was just simple butter, also served quite hard and difficult to spread.  I can't say I understand why people rave about this bread platter ...

Appetizers

The appetizers lineup featured 2 soups (butternut squash was the soup of the day, alongside their signature cheddar soup), 2 salads, and a few other items, like the well known cheese plate, with local cheeses.  We opted for salads to proceed our meals, each trying a different one, and we also each got an appetizer to go, for later.

House Greens $7.
Add Goat Cheese. $2.

"Herb vinaigrette, with warm VT Creamery goat cheese."

My mother got started with a simple salad, just the house greens, which came with a single sliced cherry tomato, a few slices of cucumber, and basic mixed greens, in a herb vinaigrette.  She said it was not particularly well seasoned.

She could add warm goat cheese, or blue cheese, to her salad for an addition $2, which she did, opting for the goat cheese, which came lightly warmed and crusted, a small portion, but appropriate enough for a salad.

Very simple, nothing special. **+.

Kale & Roasted Strawberry Salad. $12.

"Miso + yogurt dressing, brie "baklava", toasted pecans."

I opted for the far more exciting sounding kale & roasted strawberry salad, drawn in by a slew of ingredients that called out: miso! Brie "baklava"!! Even the roasted strawberries, kale, and toasted pecans were right up my alley.

Unfortunately, the salad left much, much to be desired.  The use of lascinato kale for a raw salad was an interesting one, resulting in a very crisp, bitter base.  I didn't mind it, but, it was quite a hearty base, and certainly hadn't been massaged or marinated in any way.  But this wasn't the real problem.

The dressing, which promised miso, tasted like yogurt and nothing else.  I didn't taste even an essence of miso. It also entirely lacked any other seasoning.  Our table had salt and pepper, which I applied generously, but it was still hard to make this taste like ... anything.  It also desperately needed some acidity.

So so far, not so great.  The little bits of pecan were nice for texture, but there were very few.  The roasted strawberries were actually tasty, soft, juicy, lightly roasted.  

And then, the reason I really ordered the salad: the brie baklava.  I had asked what this was, and it was explained as puff pastry and brie layers, literally, like baklava.  This sounded fabulous to me, like baked brie en croute, made into croutons?  Sign me up!  

And, as you may have guessed, these turned out to be the most disappointing element of the salad.  My salad came with 3 triangles (one hidden under the greens) that were cold, greasy, and tasted nothing like brie.  I took one bite, and another, and really turned up my nose.  "I'm not trying to be a snob mom, but these are not good ... its like raw greasy pastry and doesn't taste like anything."  She wanted to try one, undeterred, no doubt thinking I was just being overly critical.  One bite, and she turned up her nose, literally.  "If there is brie in there, I don't believe it!", she said.  "Why is it cold?  Its so greasy!".  Yeah, she felt exactly the same way.

So this salad?  A huge letdown.  I think the concept was solid.  I love kale salads, literally incorporating kale into my salads most days.  The sweet roasted strawberries should have popped, the nuts should have brought a toasty element and crunch, the miso based dressing some umami, and the brie baklava more texture and depth.  But instead?  Bitter base, sour dressing, greasy pastry.  Concept solid, execution fail.

*+.

Cheddar Soup. $16. (Togo)

To take home for my father, my mom selected the signature cheddar soup, a long time menu item at Simon Pearce.  Of course, I tried it.

It is a heavy soup, as you'd expect.  It tastes like quite strong, sharp cheddar.  It is thick, rich, and to me, way too much, but if you'd like to eat the roux used for a really sharp cheddar based mac and cheese as a soup, well, this is for you.  The chive garnish was nice.

I know they use quality Cabot cheddar in it, but the $16 price for a small bowl of soup seemed excessive.

**+ to me, but my dad really enjoyed it.

Salmon & Whitefish Rillettes. $13. (Togo).

"Shaved radish, dill creme fraiche, caper berries, grilled Red Hen Rye."

For my takeaway appetizer, I went for the rillettes, knowing it would travel well, since it is a cold dish to start with.  It certainly didn't look all that special boxed up, and I'm sure they do a nicer job plating for dine-in.  Since I was getting the rillettes to go, I asked for the bread to not be grilled, which was easily accommodated.

The dish came with 3 lightly fried caper berries, a fun touch, plus a few slices of shaved radish, a light spread of dill creme fraiche, and something that looked like grainy mustard, but didn't taste like it.  I still can't quite figure out what it was.  The bread is from local Red Hen bakery.

The bread was ... fine.  It had a sourdough-eque element to it.  I didn't taste the rye.  Eh.  Decent enough chew and crust, if you like that kind of thing.

The rillettes was ok, nothing particularly special, and I wouldn't have known it wasn't just salmon, the whitefish was not visually nor taste-worthy present.  Good salmon flavor, kinda mushy ... it was rillettes, nothing more.  No envelop pushed in terms of flavor profile.

The best part was the grainy mustard and the fried caperberries.

***.

Entrees

I had really wanted to get a dinner reservation at Simon Pearce, primarily for the entrees.  The dinner menu features their signature horseradish crusted cod topped with crispy leeks, that sounds like something I'd adore, and they also had a miso butter striped bass ... but alas, we were lucky to get a lunch reservation, and thus, we were restricted to lunch entrees.

For lunch, Simon Pearce is known for the quiche, which on our visit was potato/spinach/bacon.  I am very much NOT a quiche person, but, people do rave about this.  Other items include a lunch appropriate sandwich (grilled chicken, meh), a burger (lamb, so NOT my thing), a vegetarian item (stuffed squash), a pasta dish (duck confit ravioli), a seafood (ocean trout), and two entree salads - crispy chicken soba noodle salad or crispy calamari.  They basically tick off every category, although there was literally no entree my father would eat - he doesn't eat any seafood or poultry, doesn't eat lamb, and, uh, doesn't like most vegetables.  I even looked at the kid's menu, hoping it would have something for him, but the kid's burger still used lamb, and he certainly didn't want chicken fingers.  He *could* have ordered a kid's grilled cheese or penne with butter but ... yeah.  We left him behind for a reason.

The lunch menu also included a special of the day, grilled swordfish with a butternut squash puree, that, had it been dinner time, or maybe even a later lunch slot, I certainly would have gotten.  I can't remember the last time I had swordfish, and I really do enjoy it.  Mom and I both opted for seafood dishes, and ... both opted to get our second choices to go.

Ocean Trout. $20.

"Toasted couscous salad, grilled asparagus, citrus aioli, chimichurri."

I was very, very curious about the ocean trout.  I saw photos on Instagram, and it looked fabulous.  But ... I just don't generally liked cooked salmon nor ocean trout, unless really, really rare.  And although I knew this came with large Israeli pearl cous cous (from photos), which I like more than smaller grained cous cous, I wasn't really excited for that.  The asparagus and citrus aioli sounded good though.

So ... I did what any good daughter does, and strongly encouraged my mother to order it.  The thing is, I was not being entirely selfish.  My mother *loves* salmon, and rarely get to enjoy it.  I knew that she'd really like this dish.  The problem?  She thinks "trout" and thinks of freshwater trout, the stuff her dad caught in the lake, skin on, full of bones, and, uh, a white fish.  I knew this was not remotely what she was thinking of, but she didn't understand that ocean trout could be so different.  I assured her, over and over, that it would look like salmon, be like salmon, just, *better*, but I could tell she was not convinced.  And she doesn't like cous cous (the small kind).

Eventually, she ordered it, after asking if had bones, and skin, and I could tell she was doing it for me, not because she wanted it.

Long story short, she loved it, and admitted that it was nothing like she was expecting.  And yes, of course I tried it.

The fish was actually really, really well prepared. Nice sear on in, glistening inside.  Fully cooked though, so not what I go for, but it wasn't dried out in any way.  I would prefer skin on crispy, but the sear was good, although, a bit ruined by the plating with chimichurri right on top.  She loved the trout.

The cous cous salad was ... eh.  Certainly didn't seem toasted, and had huge sprigs of parsley in it.  Like, massive.  Garnish station didn't really come through here.  It also tasted like nothing, much like our salads, massively under-seasoned.

The chimichurri and citrus aioli were a nice combo that added plenty of flavor to the dish though.  I didn't try the asparagus since there were only 4 spears, but it looked nicely grilled.

Overall, mom was very pleased, and I give it **** for the cook on the fish, *** overall.  My second pick of the entrees, not something I'd get again, but I was glad to try it.

Judith Point Crispy Calamari. $18,

"Pickled peppers, grana padano, green onion remoulade, house green salad, maple vinaigrette."

For my entree, I went for the crispy calamari.  This is a regular menu item at Simon Pearce, sometimes as a lunch entree, sometimes as a starter, always served over a mixed green salad.  I picked it for several reasons.  First, it felt lunch appropriate (unlike the swordfish special, that I really, really wanted, but was not in the mood for at 11:30am), second, is something that is best consumed hot and fresh, since fried, and I go to restaurants so rarely these days, this was a unique opportunity for me, and third, if they keep it on the menu so often, it must be good, right?  I'll admit I wasn't thrilled by the idea of the grana padano on it though ....

The dish was, like most of what we had, a bit mixed in execution.  The salad, mostly underneath the calamari, was just mixed greens in a flavorful maple vinaigrette, but was way overdressed, and lacked seasoning besides the flavor from the vinaigrette.  I felt simple salt and pepper, at a minimum, were really lacking, but the dressing was good.

The calamari was nicely cooked, not rubbery.  Lots of it, but rings only, alas.  I had hoped for some assorted pieces.  The coating was well applied, it didn't fall off nor pull away from the calamari, but, it, like everything, lacked seasoning.  No real flavor to it.  Since most of it was perched atop the very overdressed greens, it quickly got soft and soggy itself.

The pickled peppers didn't seem very pickled, just a few slices of a green mild pepper.  The acidity from pickling would have been helpful, as would as lemon perhaps to squeeze over it.  The dish had flavor from the sweet over dressed greens, but needed the acid to compliment it.  And yes, the shaved cheese, all over it?  I just don't get it.  Cheese and seafood is always an interesting pairing, that can work, but here it was just ... weird.

The green onion remoulade was quite flavorful and great to dunk into, and tastefully plated.

So overall, good cooking, unfortunate plating decisions, and again lacking seasoning.  I wouldn't get again.  My third pick of the entrees.

***.

Stuffed & Roasted Squash. $16. (to go)

"Sweet corn, squash blossoms, chipotle in adobo, red cabbage, fresh cotija cheese, lime + coriander cream."

My mother decided to order an entree to bring home, because she couldn't pick, and was clearly having FOMO at my strong encouragement that she order the trout (I could tell she didn't believe me).  She picked the vegetarian dish, the stuffed squash.  It sounded slightly interesting I guess, but I not like something I'd ever get there, and certainly not to take home.  But hey, she wanted it.

It wasn't quite as described.  Squash blossoms?  Yeah, there were none.  Stuffed squash?  Eh ... not really.  The serving was two large halves of a summer squash, roasted and topped with filling, but I wouldn't really call it stuffed.  The "lime + coriander cream" seemed to be more of a vinaigrette than a cream.

I of course did try the filling, the sweet corn calling out.  It was too spicy for my mom, but she should have anticipated that given the chipotle ...  I liked the slightly charred corn.

The red cabbage added a pop of color to the otherwise very yellow dish.  It was just ... red cabbage, slightly pickled?  I know it was plated to go, but, I think this dish would look just as banal plated to dine in.

All of our least favorite entree, but not something I would have ordered anyway.

*+.

Confit Duck Open Ravioli. $18. (to go).
No pine nuts.

"Caramelized red onion, watercress, pine nuts, tomato garlic jam, duck skin crisps."

Ok, I make fun of my mom for getting an entree to go, but, I also had FOMO, not only with the swordfish, but also with the duck confit ravioli.  I had seen a photo of it, and I loved the idea of it ... well, mostly.  It had been ages since I had duck confit, and tomato garlic jam, caramelized red onion, watercress, and duck skin crisps all are fantastic sounding.  The problem?  PINE NUTS.  As someone who once suffered from Pine Nut Syndrome (look it up, it is a horrible, horrible, horrible thing, that strikes without any known cause, and makes anything the person eats taste rancid for days.  Shutter.  I can't bring myself to eat pine nuts since).

I nearly ordered it for my entree - after checking of course that the pine nuts weren't incorporated into it, and verifying that they were indeed just sprinkled on top.  I didn't think it was a dish that would really travel that well, fresh pasta and all, and I knew I wouldn't be eating it for hours but ... #fomo.  So, I got it to go, sans pine nuts.

The takeout plating of this as actually pretty good, the same as I had seen for eating in the restaurant.  The portion was quite large too, under that layer of fresh pasta was a very very generous amount of duck confit, plenty of the tomato jam and caramelized red onions, and a few more duck skin crisps were strewn throughout.

The pasta was a highlight, it actually had a nice flavor, and was not too soft nor overcooked.  Just a simple sheet draped over it, but, it was fresh and nicely done.  Kudos to the "open" ravioli concept.

The tomato garlic jam didn't seem to bring any garlic to the party, but the stewed down tomatoes were quite flavorful, although a bit of an odd pairing with the duck.  A fig jam may have worked better?  Red onions were fine, and I appreciated the peppery quality to the watercress.

And the duck?  It was ... fine.  Ducky. Dark meat poultry.  The drizzle of balsamic (?) added some nice flavor.  The duck skin crisps definitely suffered from takeout, so I cannot really evaluate them.

Overall, an interesting unique dish, and I was glad to try it.  I wouldn't get it again, but it was fun, and my favorite, mostly due to originality.

***.

Dessert

And then, even though we were pretty full, from our early multi-course lunch, it was time for dessert.  I cannot pass up dessert. 

Options were the ever crowd pleasing flourless chocolate cake with local ice cream, their menu regular maple creme brûlée, and two seasonal items, a pavlova and lemon curd dish, along with just simple ice cream or sorbet.  A dessert special was also on offer: whoopie pies.

We each ordered one dessert to have then, and, yup, one to go.  They ... were only ok.

Decaf Coffee.

When we ordered dessert, our server asked if we wanted coffee or anything to go with, and I said no, but after trying a few bites of dessert, I changed my mind.  I, the girl who loves sweets, just couldn't handle how cloyingly, over the top, sweet our desserts were.  I had to order a decaf coffee just to combat the sweetness.

My coffee arrived quickly, and I appreciated that the server made sure to say 'decaf' every time she referenced it.  It was fine, a smooth coffee, no decaf funk. I'll admit, I also really did like the mug, it felt nice in the hand ...

Lemon Curd with Peaches. $9.

"White wine poached peaches, graham crackers crumbs, raspberries."

My mother, who loves lemon desserts went for the lemon curd.  Even as a non-lemon dessert person, I'll admit it sounded good.  It came presented in a large cup, only half full.

The lemon curd had some tang, but was also fairly sweet.  The curd only made up some of the filling to the cup though, there was a lot of what we think was a raspberry coulis?  Very, very, very sweet.  There were a few fresh raspberries too, and a tiny dusting of graham cracker crumbs, not enough to add texture, nor to cut the sweet.  And finally, the peaches, just some small cubes, not a dominant element in any way.

This just didn't come together all that well.  Lots of sweet, and really lacking something for texture/crunch.  Some nuts?  A brittle?  Or even just something more with the graham cracker?  It could use something to cut the sweet, certainly less of the raspberry coulis, maybe some cream?  My mom didn't really care for it either.

**.

Pavlova. $9.

"Walnuts, balsamic macerated strawberries, chantilly cream."

For my dine-in dessert, I went for the pavlova, since I knew that wouldn't travel well.  A bit of an amusing order for me, since I long didn't care for pavlova, but, I finally had a fantastic version in Sydney once (yes, in the Qantas first class lounge no less), and now I'm open to the idea of pavlova possibly being good.  I also wanted my mom to get to try it, as she was unfamiliar with pavlova.

It was a fairly expected structure for a pavlova, nothing deconstructed.  A large meringue, topped with the chantilly cream and some macerated berries, all on top of a berry coulis, with a garnish of walnuts.

It was fine.  The meringue was nicely done, perfect crisp exterior, yet slightly gooey inside.  It was however, quite sweet.  The chantilly cream was thick, rich, good cream, but also sweetened a touch too much.  The berry coulis on the plate?  Yup, super sweet.  The macerated berries were tasty, although I didn't taste much balsamic to them.  I liked the crunch from the walnuts.

So, overall, a bite of meringue, some chantilly cream, some fruity bits, and a nut was a nice complete bite, but, as I mentioned, it ate very, very, very sweet.  I think the real issue was how sweet the base meringue was, it just wasn't possible to escape too much sweet.  The ratio of cream to other items also felt a bit off, I wanted more cream, mostly to cut the sweetness.

So, a fine pavlova, but not something I'd get again.  ***.

Maple Creme Brûlée. $9. (togo).

Given that my blog as a label devoted to it, I obviously had to get the creme brûlée.  It is also a Simon Pearce signature dish, always on the menu, always maple because, Vermont.

For takeout, it came in a aluminum ramekin, I assume when you get it to dine in they use regular porcelain ones?

It ... was fine.  The top did have a good caramelized flavor to it.  The custard wasn't particularly well set though, a runnier style than it really should be.  Not liquid, but not very firm.  The maple was very, very, very negligible.  I had my mother try a bite, and she took one bite, and said, "Wasn't that supposed to be maple?"  I could taste it, slightly, on the finish, but it certainly wasn't very maple dominant.

So, a slightly below average creme brûlée.  I liked my classic vanilla one from Lui Lui just a few days prior considerably more, still, my favorite of the desserts.

***.

Special: Chocolate Cake Whoopie Pie. $9. (togo)

"Cream cheese frosting, caramel, toasted hazelnut."

For my dad, my mother got the dessert special, the whoopie pie, as he LOVES whoppie pies.  I may have tried it before handing it over.

The cake was good, moist chocolate cake. It was comically small for a whoopie pie though, usually a much larger item ...

Inside was fluffy enough cream cheese frosting, decent enough cream cheese flavor, but quite sweet.  I have no idea where the "toasted hazelnut" was, I didn't taste it anywhere, and certainly didn't see it.

Alongside the whoopie pie was a container of caramel, very sweet, generic tasting caramel.  I think this is what they have to drizzle on ice cream if you order ice cream with "sauce"?  Not sure what you were supposed to do with it with the whoopie pie.  I'm curious how they plate it in the restaurant.  The other container was not more cream cheese frosting as I first thought it might but, but was just whipped cream, very sweetened.  Noticing a theme?  Again, not quite sure what you were supposed to do with very sweet whipped cream, alongside very sweet caramel, and the whoopie pie?

Anyway, the whoopie pie itself was fine.  ***.