Tavern Dining at Home Hill Inn

As you may have noticed, I really like Home Hill Inn.  It is by far the best restaurant I've been to in NH, and rivals those in San Francisco.  During my recent visit to see my family, I was determined to fit in as many meals there as possible, to experience the full variety of what they have to offer, since I'd only dined in the regular dining room before.  So I went for a formal tasting menu with a group in the private room early on in my visit.  I went for brunch a few days later.  But I also wanted to check out their tavern (really, just a bar area, but they call it a tavern).

The tavern features a large bar with seating, along with a few tables for 2-4 people.  They don't take reservations for the tavern, you just drop in, and it is a more casual environment.  You can order off the full dinner menu, but they also have a section of "Tavern Fare".  And on Tuesday nights, they have live music.

My last night in town was a Tuesday, and I was still really sad that I never got to have their fish & chips at brunch a few days earlier, so I somehow managed to convince my mom to go back to Home Hill for the third time, in less than a week.  My dad agreed to join us, but it was clear he wasn't remotely interested, as he is most certainly NOT a foodie, and even the tavern fare was a bit exotic for him.  But ... I have been wanting that fish & chips since I first read Home Hill's menu back in December, and tried to get my sister to go with me to the tavern back then, but she wasn't interested.  And it was on the menu the night we did the tasting menu, but alas, not on ours (I know, I know, fish & chips isn't really tasting menu appropriate, but I've been wanting it so badly!).  And it is normally on the brunch menu, but as I mentioned before, the morning we went, it was replaced with fried lobster.  So I was determined to finally get my haddock before I left!

When we arrived, I was a bit surprised that their was no live music.  I asked our server when the music was suppose to start, and she said they had cancelled.  Darn!  It would have made for a fun atmosphere, but no worry, we were there for the food anyway.

I almost cried when I saw the menu.  It seems that Tuesday nights are completely scaled back.  Their website actually says they aren't even open on Tuesday nights, so perhaps they are just experimenting with a smaller offering?  The starters section of the menu and the flatbreads were about the same as when we were there the other night, but both the entrees and tavern fare options were greatly reduced.  For tavern fare, there was only a burger, lobster roll, or bratwurst.  NO FISH & CHIPS.  So I was pretty disappointed, but I also knew that the other night they had some great sounding main entrees, like scallops.  So I moved my eyes down to that part of the menu.  It was shockingly short.  And ... no scallops.  No other seafood at all, other than the halibut dish that I had already.  I was pretty devastated.

The lack of live music and menu disappointment turned out to be just the start of a string of disappointments throughout the evening.  Everything about the food was almost the polar opposite of what we had experienced on all of our previous visits.  I've raved in the past about the amazing execution of everything - the fish, the vegetables, the sauces, everything was just so well done before.  Everything was expertly seasoned.  None of that was true this night.

The only shining star goes to our server, who was really friendly and nice, even when I was asking annoying questions, like "Are you sure you don't have any fish and chips?  Or scallops?"  She did tell me that seafood delivery day is Wednesday, so that is why there wasn't any other seafood.  She even noticed that we looked a bit cold, and quickly offered to cover up the AC vents (with menus - genius).

Had this been my first visit to Home Hill, I would never return.  If someone asked me to go back, I'd suggest other places.  My previous visits have been such highlights however, that I do still firmly intend to return next time I am in town.  I'd even still try the tavern, as I don't think it was being seated in there that was the issue.  I'll just be very sure not to ever go on a Tuesday.  It pains me greatly to write this review, and is perhaps the most tormented I've ever been reviewing somewhere.

House-made Potato Chips.

After we placed our order, we were brought the customary basket of house-made Home Hill goodness.  At brunch, the basket is filled with seasonal muffins.  At dinner in the main dining room, it is filled with fresh bread.  Apparently, in the pub (or perhaps on Tuesday nights in general?), it is filled with chips.

They were served warm, clearly fresh and made in-house, but very oily, and not really seasoned.  I didn't like them at all, but my parents devoured them.  My father, who never has anything to say about any food he tries, even commented on how they were better than the ones my mom normally purchases.  I guess if you like plain chips, these were good?  I dunno, I just don't ever eat plain chips, I prefer them flavored, or at least with a dip to dunk in.

Cherry Pig: Cherry Heering Infused Whistle Pig Rye Bourbon, Muddled Cherries, Urban Moonshine Maple Bitters.  $14. 

Since I wasn't all that enthralled with the wines on my previous visit, I decided to try a cocktail.  Their cocktail menu was impressive, really creative sounding drinks, all blended with local ingredients (like the bellini I had at brunch!).

I was first drawn towards the sweet, fruity creations, but decided they wouldn't pair well with my meal, and I was sitting in a tavern, so a rye drink just somehow appealed.  Like the rest of the drinks, it was made with local ingredients: the maple bitters and even the rye itself from Vermont producers.

While I wasn't looking for a sweet drink, I was shocked by how NOT sweet this was.  I expected the cherries and maple to impart some sweetness, but this really was an intense rye drink, and very bitter.  The first few sips I didn't like very much, and I just pulled out my cherries and enjoyed them.  As the ice cubes melted a bit, and I re-adjusted my expectations, it really grew on me.  By the end, I was sad to have finished it.

It was creative, good, and I enjoyed it, but I probably wouldn't order it again.  The price seemed high, normal San Francisco prices even, which I didn't expect given how reasonable all their other prices are (food, wines, etc).

Red Sangria: Pinot Noir, Orange, Grapefruit, Pineapple.  $12.

My mother also decided on a cocktail.  I apparently was a very bad influence on her, as she commented that she drank more during my week-long visit than the previous six months combined.  Whoops.

Her sangria was fruity and sweet, about what you'd expect.  A large size, justifying its $12 price.

My dad called us lushes and drank water :)

Roasted Heirloom Beets and Tender Greens Salad: Basil Vinaigrette, Easter Egg radish, Sheep's milk cheese.  $9.

As we were deciding what to order, we heard a guest at a nearby table ask, "Excuse me, is this the beet salad?"  The server responded, "Yes, that is your heirloom beet salad".  The diner than asked, "Well, then, isn't it supposed to ... contain beets?"  I chuckled inside as the server whisked it away.  I assumed there was just a mistake with their salad.

My mom loves beets.  She has been ordering beet dishes everywhere we've gone, so I wasn't surprised that she ordered this as a starter.  Given the description, she expected beets to be prominent.  They weren't.  There were just a few tiny pieces of beet in the entire thing, along with a few shaved radish slices.

It looked good to me though, mostly composed of the greens, which I expected to be fresh, crispy, and delicious, like the greens from our brunch dishes.  So while she was disappointed, I was about to dig in, when she made it pretty clear that the salad was not a winner, and not even worth trying.

She said the greens were all gritty, like they hadn't been washed.  They were dressed with a vinaigrette that she said was really just heavy oil.  And, she said the entire thing needed salt.  I often pick on her for saying that things are TOO salty, saying she just doesn't have a "chef's palette", so it was striking that she thought it was under-seasoned.

There was also a slice of cheese, just listed on the menu as "Sheep's milk cheese", we have no idea what kind it was, which is odd, given that they seem to pride themselves on listing all of their producers.

My mom did not bother finishing this dish.

Cheese Boa rd: Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen Blue, Spring Brook Farm Tarentaise, Crostini, Blueberries, Champagne Grapes, Honeycomb.  $8 ($4 each).

My dad, as I've mentioned, is a bit of a non-adventurous eater.  All of the starters were too exotic for him, save the cheese board.  On the menu, it listed "choice of local cheese", $4 each.  He ordered the cheese board, and the server asked what cheese he'd like.  He asked what they had ... and she realized we had no cheese menu.  In fact, they didn't have a cheese menu anywhere.  She left to go print one out somewhere.  It took quite a while for her to return, and my mom had already received her salad by the time he was able to order his cheeses.

My father also doesn't really know cheeses.  He had no idea how to pick.  I asked what he liked, and eventually garnered that he does like blue cheese and swiss cheese, so I selected the single blue cheese, and one that was listed as "alpine-style" for him.

We had the blue, Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen, at our tasting menu a few nights earlier.  It was about the same as that night.  The other selection was from Spring Brook Farm, in Reading, VT, also a cow's milk cheese.  It was nutty and firm, a decent cheese.

For his sides, he received the same crostini, grapes, and honeycomb that we had, but he also was given blueberries.  He doesn't talk much about food, so I don't really have a sense of how much he enjoyed this, but it was his first time trying honeycomb (which I made him try with the blue, since I loved it so much when I had it).  He didn't like it.

Local BLT Flatbread: Applewood bacon, garden greens, heirloom tomatoes, aioli. $15.

For his main, my father stuck with a mashup of two things he knows: pizza and BLTs.  Again, I don't have a sense of how much he liked it, as he wouldn't really say.

I did try a few bites, and was impressed with how crispy the crust was, but overall, it was lacking much punch.  The aioli had no flavor, so it was really just a crispy crust with a few chunks of tomato, the same greens that my mom had from her salad, and bacon, on top.  The tomatoes were fresh and quite good, but they weren't enough to really make this pop.

I liked the presentation on the bread board.

Lobster Roll: shallot, garlic, celery, Meyer lemon aioli, fries.  $19.

As I've mentioned, my mother loves lobster.  We had it a number of times during my visit, as she was thrilled to have someone else around to eat seafood with her, as my dad eats none.  She has been talking about lobster rolls all week, so this was a no brainer for her.

The lobster roll itself was fairly unremarkable, again, no real seasoning.  There seemed to be too much bread for the roll, and it kinda fell aspart the moment she picked it up.  She isn't carb-adverse or anything, but left behind huge chunks of bread.  She said it masked all other flavors.  We weren't sure where the meyer lemon aioli was, perhaps that was the light dressing on the lobster?  It wasn't overdressed at least, but we were expecting aioli to dunk the fries in.

Speaking of the fries, they were mostly cold when they arrived.  Not just not warm, but stone cold. Well, most of them, a few were actually warm.  Very inconsistent.  Like the chips, really oily.

They weren't listed on the menu, but it also came with slaw and pickles.  The slaw had strong seasoning, unlike everything else we encountered that night, and it was crispy and fresh, but something wasn't right.  The assorted pickles were good, not very vinegary.

Overall, my mother did not like this.  She ate the lobster out of the bread, but didn't find it to be that good.  She left a huge portion of the roll untouched.  She only ate a few fries, only a bite of slaw.  She was quite disappointed all around.

Veal Masala: Gnocchi, Masala wine, cultivated mushrooms, pecorino.  $24.

Speaking of disappointment ... I was there because I wanted seafood.  As I mentioned, the main reason we were there is because they did not have the fish & chips when I went for brunch, but I knew the fish & chips were normally on their tavern menu.  I was there for one thing only: fish & chips!  And the only seafood option was the halibut that I'd already had.  Perhaps I should have just gone for the halibut again, but given that it seemed like the fish wasn't fresh, I branched out.

I asked our server about the veal.  It had been years since I'd had veal, but I know that veal can be quite delicious, and I do love mushrooms and gnocchi.  She raved about the dish, saying how tender it was.  So, I went for it.

I started with a bite of the veal. It was incredibly chewy, way, way overcooked.  Tender is not a word I'd ever use to describe it.  I was sad, but moved on to the gnocchi.  It was unremarkable, not the kind I like that is seared on the outside and creamy on the inside, all just the same, mushy consistency.  Mediocre gnocchi can be saved by a great sauce, but the sauce on this was actually the worst part of the dish.  It was really just a huge pool of oil, with tons of soggy mushrooms in it.

I was really upset with it, but kept trying a few bites.  I moved on to eating my mom's cold fries, or my dad's banal flatbread, as I just didn't want anything to do with mine.  I thought that perhaps I was just being a snob, or that it was just because I really wanted seafood that I disliked it so much, but my mom asked for some, since she didn't like her dish.  I gave her a plate full, and she immediately remarked on how bad it was, saying that it was overdone, and just a pile of grease.  She took one bite and pushed it away.  This was before I gave my evaluation, so I knew it wasn't just me.

At $24, this was one of their most pricy dishes, and it was certainly not worth the price.  Way overcooked, insanely oily, just no redeeming qualities, at all.

Cherry Cheesecake. $8.

I was seriously sad after the entrees.  It wasn't just that Home Hill wasn't living up to our previous experiences, it was really just not good.  My mom proposed going out to ice cream to make up for it, but it was kinda cold out, so I decided against it.  When our server mentioned that they had cheesecake, I perked up a bit.  The cheesecake preparation was  a cherry cheesecake, slightly different from the raspberry cheesecake from the tasting menu that I'd really liked a few nights before.  So, we got it.

It wasn't the same, at all.

First, look at how thick the crust was.  I think the ratio of crust to filling was about 60:40.  So much crust!  The crust was good, buttery, crumbly, but there was way too much of it.  This version did not have the thin chocolate layer between the crust and filling.  The filling was creamy, but didn't have much flavor.  It really didn't seem the same as the previous one, at all.  But overall, these components were all fine, just not as great as I expected given our prior cheesecake.

But the worst part was the topping.  The previous one we had came with a delicious raspberry coulis.  This was covered in what honestly seemed like canned cherries.  Thick, sweet, not remotely fresh.

Not pictured is the decaf coffee I ordered alongside my dessert.  Like all of the coffee I ordered at Home Hill, it was quite good, individual french press style.  Highlight of the meal for sure, and the only part of our dinner that was consistent with our previous experiences.

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Dole Fruit Crisps

I eat a lot of fruit, but it is generally fresh.  I'm spoiled living in Northern California, with a serious abundance of amazing fruit.  Sometimes I'll eat dried fruit, but canned?  No way.  Probably the only one of Dole's packaged products I'd ever even had before is the canned pineapple (which, as a child, I actually thought was the only way pineapple came - lols!).  But the fruit crisp line sounded great, in name anyway, as crisps are one of my favorite desserts.  If they were even halfway decent, I was sold, since nothing gets easier than opening up a package!

So yes, Dole Fruit Crisps are a totally random, totally generic grocery store item and ...  I really do like them!  I struggled deciding how to label these amazing cups of goodness.  One could argue that they make for a good breakfast (I certainly justified it to myself!).  Dole's marketing mostly positions them as a snack item.  Anyone who looks at the sugar content probably considers them dessert.  Regardless of what time of day you want to eat them, you should do just that: eat them!

Besides the sugar content, some of which obviously comes from the fruit (but there is added sugar), they are fairly healthy.  I won't tell you they are a health food item obviously, but they are fairly low fat, low calorie, and satisfying.  If you were having one for dessert, it would be a very guilt free item!

The fruit crisps come in several flavors: apple cinnamon, apple pear, and peach.  Each are standard Dole fruit packed in a fruit syrup, with a separate container of crumbled oat and brown sugar topping.  They are individually packaged, with two separate compartments, like those crazy yogurts with mix-ins, the crumble topping on top.

The packaging emphasizes how versatile they are, and I actually agree.  You can eat them at room temperature, making them a good snack/dessert to pack on a trip (imagine how jealous your seatmates will be on your next flight when you bust out apple crisp next to them!) or in a child's lunchbox.  You can stick them in the fridge and eat them chilled.  Or the containers are even microwave safe, so you can heat them up.  Who doesn't love warm fruit crisp?

You may wonder why I even encountered these in the first place.  I read about them a while ago, tons of rave reviews.  Perhaps my all time favorite dessert is warm fruit crisp served with ice cream.  Of course, I regularly eat warm fruit crisp, made with fresh, in season, local produce.  Why would I ever buy these?  Let's just call it a moment of weakness at the grocery store.  I went for the apple cinnamon, so it was chunks of apples, in a syrup, with cinnamon spicing.  To be honest, I had very low expectations, even though the internet was full of raving reviews.  I laughed at the fact that I was even purchasing packaged fruit.  I have no idea when I last ate something like this.

I wanted to evaluate them simply at first, and tried one right out of the fridge.  First I tried a bite of just the fruit.  It wasn't soggy.  It wasn't too crisp.  Hmm.  Clearly not fresh apples, but, not bad.  The syrup wasn't standard fruit syrup that canned fruit is packed in, instead, it was thicker, more like what belongs in a crisp.  It was sweet for sure, but nicely spiced with cinnamon.  Hmm.  Not bad.  I probably wouldn't want to just eat a cup of the fruit, as it was pretty sweet, but it was far better than expected.

Then I opened my crisp topping.  This is where I can be a serious snob.  When I get crisps at restaurants and the topping isn't actually crispy, or is just oats and not well spiced, I get so grumpy.  You may also recall that I've been on a quest to find granola I really enjoy, and I've been striking out over and over.  So, I really didn't think this would be much to write home about, and is clearly something I have opinions on.

I was wrong.  The topping was fantastic.  It was crunchy.  It was slightly sweetened, with a fantastic brown sugar flavor, not just sweet.  I could sprinkle on as much as I wanted.  And even better, there was plenty of it.  I had leftovers each time, and used it for other things later - topping for my own fruit crisp, stirred into yogurt, sprinkled over ice cream.  If I could buy just that topping, I would.

My first enjoyment of one of these was at breakfast, as I just couldn't wait.  Besides the sugar, it really isn't that bad as a breakfast item: fruit, whole grain oats, seems ok to me!  Add a dollop of yogurt and it turns into a complete breakfast.  I had half of one cold, while waiting for the other half to warm up (in the toaster oven, not in the microwave as they suggest ... because, seriously who uses microwaves?)  I actually preferred it cold, which surprised me, as I'm always a fan of warm crisp.  Perhaps as a breakfast item it made more sense cold?  Either way, a dollop of yogurt on top was nice to cut the sweetness, and convince my brain I was having breakfast, not dessert.

But of course, I really wanted to try it warm, with ice cream, as a dessert.

So, a few days later, I warmed up another one.  Sprinkled on the topping, and baked it that way.  It smelt great.  I took my first bite, and again, didn't like it much when it was warm.  It is like the sweetness just gets concentrated or something.  But the moment I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was great!  Warm, sweet, decently spiced fruit.  Crunchy, equally well spiced topping.  Cold, creamy vanilla ice cream.  Quite tasty and satisfying.  Honestly, better than many crisps I've had at fancy restaurants.  This is clearly the winning way to enjoy it.

I found an individual serving too small.  It was gone in only a few bites!  I wanted more, more, more.  Yes, I licked the lid and scraped out every last drop.  I guess this is partially how they keep the nutrition stats fairly reasonable, and I do think they are mostly intended for children.  I did like that they provided plenty of the delicious oat topping though, no skimping there.

Will I go buy more of these?  Probably not, as I have access to plenty of fruit crisps regularly.  But if I didn't, they honestly weren't bad.

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Private Event Dining @ Wayfare Tavern

The news just broke that one of my favorite chefs, Joey Elenterio, has joined the kitchen at Tyler Florence's Wayfare Tavern.  I'm beyond excited.  My absolute top meal of 2012 was at Chez TJ, when he was the chef there.  Since he left Chez TJ, I've been anxiously awaiting the news to find out where he would wind up.  I was hoping it would be in San Francisco.  And it is!  I can't wait to see what he does with the menu and concept there.

But before he started, I attended a special event at Wayfare Tavern.  It had been a couple years since I last visited.  I only had vague memories of my previous visit.  I remembered the warm popovers in place of standard bread service.  I remembered that everyone loves their fried chicken.  I remembered that I thought the burger was just too fatty, with too much cheese, too greasy.  But I also remembered that the dessert was insanely good.

But back to this visit, for a special event. It was held in one of their private rooms, the Bartlett Room, a really nice space.  Rich mahogany panelling, hardwood floors, a private bar, attached private bathrooms.  Overlooking a wine cellar.  Really a great venue, particularly suited for a business lunch, as it has flat screen TVs with audio/visual hookups for presentations.

On our tables was a printed menu with a starter, 3 entrees, a side, and a dessert listed, so I thought we'd all select which entree we wanted.  I was confused when no one came to take our orders, and food just started showing up.  The entire meal was all done family style, with insane portions.  Each person really did receive a full starter, 3 entrees, a side, and a dessert.  It was a bit crazy.

The service was ok, but the way the food was brought out was really strange.  Some tables were served long before others, the side came out way ahead of the entrees, and we had a really long lag before the last entree.  Since I actually only wanted that one (I didn't want the fried chicken or the burger), it was really awkward, as I had no idea when it would be arriving, and it of course arrived last, after a really long lag.  They seem to do lots of group events like this, but the service was really not polished.

Lemonade.

Since this was a business lunch event, we were offered only soft drinks, iced tea, and lemonade rather than alcohol.  Since I'm not really a soda person, and I didn't want the caffeine, I went for lemonade.

This was not good lemonade, it was very, very sweet, and not tart.  It tasted like it came from a mix.  I did not like it at all.

Fresh Popover.

One of Wayfare's signature items is their fresh popovers, delivered at the start of a meal instead of basic bread.  Served with butter and salt on the side.

These were good popovers.  I was impressed that they were delivered so fresh and steaming hot, even to a large group of our size.  They were light and fluffy, slightly eggy.

The butter on the side was hard, but since the popovers were still so hot, it melted easily into them.

Good, but, I felt like something was missing.  Since it was served with only butter, I wanted some herbs or ... something.  Or maybe I just want popovers for breakfast with jam instead.

Di Stefano Burrata, Summer Harvest Caponata, Grilled Sourdough, Extra Virgin Olive Oil. 

Since this was a large event, everything was served family-style.

Under the massive amount of burrata was grilled sourdough crostini.  It was very crunchy, and made the dish very hard to eat with knife and fork.  It seemed more like finger food, except that there was so much topping that it made it hard to eat that way too.

The burrata, as I hoped, was creamy and delicious.  Man, I love burrata.  I was amused at my tablemates, most of whom didn't know what burrata was, had never heard of it, and eventually concluded that it was mozzarella.  I tried to explain that no, it wasn't just mozzarella, but they didn't believe me.  They are missing out!

On top of the burrata was a "summer harvest caponata", made up of eggplant, pine nuts, olives, capers. It was very flavorful, but I didn't think it went all that well with the burrata.

Overall, this dish was ok, but really all that I liked was the burrata itself.  It also seemed like it was missing something, and in this case, I really think it needed some olive oil, which was listed on the menu, but wasn't present in the dish (besides on the crostini).   I probably wouldn't order this again.

Grilled Asparagus.

For a side dish, we had a platter of grilled asparagus.  The amount of asparagus for our table size seemed pretty off.  Most of us got only 1-2 spears.  I was trying to not be greedy, even though I really wanted more.  The last person to receive the platter actually didn't get any.

It was ok grilled asparagus, nothing spectacular, topped with bread crumbs.  On the regular lunch menu for $8.  I wouldn't get it again.

WayFare burger “Le Grand”: Grilled Onions, Smoked Bacon, Garlic Aioli, Brie Cheese, Brioche.

The first entree was a huge platter of their famous fried chicken, with enough for every person to have about 2 pieces.  Since I knew how much other food was coming, and I don't really like chicken, I skipped it.  But my tablemates seemed to think it lived up to the hype. It looked fresh and crispy.

The next entree was a platter of burgers.  This was really weird to have family style.  Each burger was cut in half, so each person got half a burger.

The burger is another one of their signature dishes, and what I ordered when I visited Wayfare Tavern for dinner before, after reading about how amazing it was supposed to be.  It has all the right petigree: a high end blend of beef, Mt. Tam cheese, Panorama bun, Nueske's Bacon.  I remembered that I didn't really like it before, and wasn't going to have one this time.  But, the final entree was no where in sight, and after skipping the fried chicken, I was hungry, and felt weird not eating anything when everyone around me was.

The whole thing was again just way too greasy for me, which is what you expect with high fat percentage (75!) beef, along with brioche, cheese, and bacon.  It also was served cold.  Downside of group dining for sure, and it seems like such a strange choice to put on a family-style menu.

The brie was nicely melted, but kinda congealed since it wasn't hot, and it was a really, really thin layer.  I thought this thing was known for oozing with the delicious cheese?  I'm pretty sure it was Mt. Tam, which I tend to adore.

The bacon was unremarkable, not as crispy as I'd like.  The grilled red onion was a giant hunk.  Sadly, it was my favorite part of the burger.  It was already slathered in aioli, that didn't seem very garlicky.

The beef itself is a mix of short rib, brisket, prime rib, and filet.  It should have been very flavorful, but it wasn't.  Perhaps I was just too distracted by it being cooked way more than I'd ever order (it was pretty much medium-well).  A shame for quality meat!

I would not get this again, which is exactly what I thought when I got it the other time I visited the restaurant.  Normally $19.

Seared Ahi Tuna: Carrot puree, roasted carrots, crispy ginger, soy caramel.

Finally, after everyone else had already consumed 2 pieces of fried chicken, a half a huge burger, burrata, and popovers, the final entree arrived.  It was the one I had wanted all along.

Seared ahi, served over a carrot puree, with roasted carrots, a soy caramel drizzle, and crispy ginger.  Another strange one to have family style, as many people didn't get all of the components.  There certainly weren't enough of everything to go around, and when serving off a big platter, it was hard to get some of everything.

The ahi was ok, nicely barely seared, but it wasn't very flavorful and was kinda stringy and chewy.  The soy caramel drizzle was tasty and went well with it, and with the carrots.

The roasted carrots were nicely cooked, and I liked how they included coins of large carrots, and full baby carrots.  The carrot puree was creamy and flavorful, but seemed really, really strange to pair with tuna.  Trio of carrot preparations was fun, but ... carrots and ahi?

The best part was a roasted baby carrot with soy caramel, but I wouldn't order this again.

A normal lunch portion is $28.

Mini Chocolate Cupcake.

And to finish, we received a platter of mini chocolate cupcakes, with 1-2 per person.  We all loved these.

Fairly moist chocolate cake, creamy, sweet frosting, fun little chocolate pearls.  Best dish of the meal.

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Brunch at Home Hill Inn

Home Hill Inn, truly, a hidden gem of a restaurant, located in rural New Hampshire, near my hometown.  Since discovering it on my last holiday visit, I now have an additional reason to visit my family! (just joking, Hi MOM!)

On my recent visit this summer, I was determined to make up for lost time, and experience all that Home Hill Inn had to offer.  I started with a visit for a six-course formal tasting menu, in the private room, with my mother and a group of her friends.  It was wonderful, as expected, and I quickly made a reservation for my next adventure: brunch!  Have I mentioned that I love brunch food?

I didn't actually know much about their brunch, as there are only a handful reviews of the restaurant on Yelp, and all are about dinner.  I had heard that unlike many restaurants, the executive chef actually works brunch service, which sounded encouraging.  And I did see many reviews of the Inn itself (the restaurant is actually part of a bed and breakfast) mention the fantastic breakfast, but unfortunately, that is offered only to Inn guests.  Brunch is offered to the public only on Sunday mornings.  I was in town for only one Sunday, and I had my priorities.  We were going to brunch at Home Hill!

I invited my mother and father to join me, along with my father's sister who was also visiting from out of town, and my grandmother, their mother.  Since I've reviewed the regular dining room before several times, I'll skip those details, and focus only on our particular dining experience this time around.

The brunch menu isn't huge, but contains a little something for everyone, including many different types of egg dishes (omelets, scrambles, benedicts, baked eggs, etc), along with more classic options like waffles, and lunch style dishes like lobster rolls and burgers.

As on my first visit, I found the atmosphere incredibly charming, comfortable, and just a really great place for a special, but not too formal, brunch.  It was light-filled, open, and bright.  Equally charming was the much older couple seated across the room, clearly regulars, on a first name basis with all the staff, who dinned with their newspapers and crosswords out.  They were so adorable.

Our service was much better at brunch than at our dinner a few nights earlier.  There were a few mis-steps (forgetting my grandmother's maple syrup and my home fries), but otherwise, it was friendly, comfortable, and informative.  Our server seemed genuinely happy to answer all my questions and tell me details about all of the dishes and their product sourcing (as I mentioned last time, they are uber local about their sourcing).

It turns out, like dinner, Home Hill serves a very good brunch (although the amazing brunch from Baker and Banker is still the most memorable brunch I've ever had!).  I highly recommend it if you are looking for a brunch spot near Lebanon, NH, and you can be sure that I will be making it a point to return again.  I wish it was offered on days other than Sunday however, as I am often not there on a Sunday, or have other plans that day since it is often the only day that high school and college friends who are still in the area are free.  I somewhat joking told my mom that next time I might just need to stay at Home Hill rather than her house, in order to have their morning breakfast.  She uh, was not amused.

Raspberry Bellini.

I wasn't planning to order an alcoholic drink at brunch, but when the server asked if we'd like any drinks to start, my mom asked about mimosas.  I was amused, as my mom isn't exactly known for being a drinker.  She did go for a mimosa, which she seemed to enjoy.  I decided to follow suit, and picked a bellini.  I had the choice of peach or raspberry, but couldn't make up my mind, and just had the server pick for me.

She selected raspberry.  It was made with Raspberry Liqueur from Flag Hill, a New Hampshire Winery and Distillery.  I told you they source everything locally, even the liqueurs!

It was sweet, sparkly, fruity, pretty nice.  I don't drink a lot of bellinis, so I don't have much to compare it to, but it was a fun celebratory way to start the meal.

Bloody Mary.

My aunt went for the bloody mary.  Never my drink of choice, so I didn't try a sip, but she enjoyed it, and said it was flavorful, but not too spicy.  They won points for the serious stalk of celery :)

My father and grandmother didn't follow us in our morning drinking, but each had a fresh fruit juice, and enjoyed them.

Decaf French Press.

I also ordered a coffee, which is what I was intending to drink all along, decaf of course.  I remembered that on my first visit I was impressed with their decaf coffee at dinner, and was looking forward to some good coffee, which is so rare for decaf.

It was served in a small french press, with a stick of rock candy, and a small pitcher of cream.  I'm a little confused as to why it was in a french press however, as it didn't actually have any grounds in it.  Even more puzzling was the fact that I was instructed to give it another few minutes.  But there weren't any grounds.  Hmmm.

The server also specified as she sat it down that it was decaf, which is always a touch I greatly appreciate.  I always fear that someone will confuse things and bring me regular, and that extra clarification relieves me.

The coffee was again great.  Light, but with a fair amount of flavor, bitter, complex.  It didn't have any decaf funk to it.  Amusingly, it turned out to be Green Mountain Coffee's House Blend.  Nothing fancy, but it was fresh, it was well prepared, and I'd order it again in a heartbeat.  In fact, I did order a second one later that morning.

House Made Wild Berry Muffins.

After we ordered, we were brought a basket of muffins.  I wasn't expecting this, but it seems that they always bring a basket of muffins, instead of a bread basket, at brunch.  They weren't mini muffins, rather, full size, and one for each of us.  A large muffin can be pretty filling for me, and if I knew we'd be getting these, I probably would have opted to split an entree with someone.  Or maybe skipped the scone I had earlier fort breakfast that morning.

As I mentioned in my last review, they run an extensive bread program, with all breads made in-house, including the muffins. It sounds like they also make muffins for the inn guests at breakfast daily, with flavors changing all the time, as you'd expect, based on what is in season.  I'm still so impressed that a restaurant this size does all their own breads!

For us, the muffins were described as wild berry, which seemed to be blueberry.  They were good, not remarkable, but clearly fresh, served warm, and had an interesting citrus note to them.

The most memorable part of the muffin basket wasn't the muffins itself however.  It was the butter served with them!  Like all dairy served at Home Hill, it came from MacNamara Dairy, right down the street.  It was incredible butter.  Obviously, butter is always a great ingredient, but I honestly didn't know butter could be so delicious.  I love sauces and condiments in general, but butter isn't something I normally would rave about on its own, particularly just plain butter.  But this was seriously good butter.  If it was socially acceptable to do so, I probably would have tried some plain, just to really taste it!

Side dish: Fruit Salad.

All breakfast dishes were served with our choice of home fries, fruit salad, or mixed greens salad.  My mom is the only one who went the healthy route, opting for the fruit, while the rest of us all went for home fries.

Her bowl of fruit was brought out well in advance of the entrees.  It contained mostly just cantaloupe, from the Edgewater Farm down the street.  Super ripe, incredibly fresh.  Since I have a melon allergy, I didn't try any of it.  She enjoyed it, but wished there was more variety in her fruit salad.  There were only a few blueberries, and perhaps some honeydew, but essentially, it was a bowl of cantaloupe.

Eggs Benedict, House Cured Salmon, House Made English Muffins.  $15.

Home Hill is known for their Eggs Benedict.  They offer several varieties, and they change regularly.  Our choices that day for toppings were butter poached lobster, house cured salmon, heirloom tomatoes, or bacon.  Since we had so much lobster in the previous few days, my mom went for the salmon.

I of course needed to try a bite of it, as it was the dish I almost ordered myself.  It would have been my first pick if the english muffins were not sourdough, but, I'm a horrible San Franciscan who just doesn't like sourdough, so I decided against ordering it myself.

This was pretty textbook Benedict, which I don't mean in a bad way.  The eggs were perfectly poached.  Just the right amount of hollandaise, not swimming in it, but plenty available to soak up with the english muffins, which were, of course, house made.  The english muffins were perfectly toasted.  They were fresh and fluffy, and not too sourdough-y.  I could have easily ordered this dish and been happy.

It was garnished with scattering of sprouts, insanely fresh, tender, and far more flavorful than I knew sprouts could be.  I'm guessing they were picked just minutes before.  And as you can see, well seasoned with fresh pepper already on top.

As with all my meals at Home Hill, I was shocked by the price.  $15, which included the fruit salad, and the starter muffins.  My mother really enjoyed this, and would order again.  She continued to talk about it for days later.

Beet and Egg White Omelet: Shallot, Goat Cheese, Broccoli.  House Made English Muffins, Home Fries.  $14.

My aunt is vegetarian, and I think she was surprised by her plentiful choices.  She lives in Southern California now, but is not accustomed to rural NH actually offering her options!  There was the heirloom tomato topped benedict, a wild mushroom scramble, and several other dishes that I'm sure could have had the meat left off.  But she went for the healthiest option on the entire menu: a beet and egg white omelet.  More power to her, in resisting all the decadent options!

Like all the egg dishes, it was served with house made english muffins, and her choice of sides.  To go with the english muffins, our table had individual jars of jam, orange or raspberry.  They were the only thing during our entire visit that wasn't house made or local.  A bit surprising, as it seems like carrying local jams or jellies, or making them in house, would be right in line with their entire concept.

She liked her dish, and said she'd like to try re-creating it at home herself.  Her only criticism was the lack of seasoning.  I was a bit surprised, as all other dishes I've ever had there were notable in how well seasoned they were.  It also came garnished with the sprouts, which she remarked on how tasty they were.

Our table did not have any salt and pepper on it, so she had to ask for some.  We were brought in a cute wooden two sided serving dish, with large coarse salt and pepper.  None of the rest of of required additional seasoning.  Interestingly, the table next to us also asked for salt and pepper, and they were given standard shakers.

Prosciutto and Mozzarella Baked Eggs: Herbs, Tomato, Zucchini.  House Made English Muffins, Home Fries. $17.

My dad went for the baked eggs.  Again, served with house made english muffins, and his choice of sides.  Like the rest of us, he went for the home fries.

I didn't try any of this, but it looked really good, served in its own little cast iron skillet.  If my dad was more of the sharing type, I certainly would have taken a sample.

 [ Not Pictured ]

Strawberry Waffle: Edgewater Strawberries, MacNamara Whipped Cream, Mac's Maple Syrup.  $13.

My grandmother is the only one who selected a sweet option: the waffles!

I eat waffles several times a week at work, otherwise, I would have been very tempted by this dish.  I wish I'd taken a photo, as it also looked great.  Topped with plenty of strawberries, again from the farm down the street, and fresh whipped cream from the dairy down the street (the ones who made that amazing butter).

My grandmother doesn't have the largest appetite these days, and I usually only see her nibble slowly on a few bites.  Let's just say, this waffle didn't stand a chance against her.  It was devoured.  Every little last drop of strawberry juice was even scooped up.  I kinda think if we weren't in a nice restaurant, she may have licked the plate :)

Seriously though, she loved this.  I noticed partway through her eating it that she didn't have any syrup.  I realized it because I wanted to try some of the syrup on my homefries, and because we'd had a whole conversation about the maple syrup, wondering if "Mac's Maple Syrup" came from MacNamara Dairy or not (yes, it does).  When I asked the server about this, she apologized and quickly brought out a small pitcher of syrup for her.  My grandmother loved her dish even more once she had syrup.  I tried some on my homefries, and I must say, that was good syrup, clearly the real stuff.

Smoked Salmon Popover: Mustard Crème Fraîche, Greens, Capers.  Eggs Over Medium.  $18.

When I first decided to go to Home Hill for brunch, it was because I really wanted to try their fish and chips, normally part of their brunch menu.  I've been seriously craving fish and chips for literally months now, as we just don't have any good versions in San Francisco (primarily because we don't have Atlantic cod, haddock, scrod, hake, or any other really good fish to use).  My heart sank when we arrived and it was not available.  In its place was "fried lobster", which sounded totally fascinating, basically, lobster prepared fish and chips style, but I really didn't want more lobster!

So, I decided on the smoked salmon popover.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I've had popovers before, but they were always more like dinner roll to slather with butter, or a breakfast bread, to slater with jam, not a main dish.  The server said it was fantastic, and composed of many of the same elements as the benedict, but a more unique option.  So I went for it.

The popover was unlike anything I've had before.  It was not what you picture as a classic popover, normally light and fluffy, hollow interior, crispy exterior.  It was more eggy, but not like a quiche filling, which is good, because I don't like quiche.  It was moist, light yet also dense, almost like a soufflé.  I think it might have been a bit cheesy, or maybe it was just that creamy.  Anyway, I didn't know what to make of it really, but it was quite delicious.  I was intrigued with every bite, and loved it.

Served alongside was an incredibly generous portion of smoked salmon.  As you can guess at this point, the salmon was of course smoked in-house.  It was the same as the smoked salmon served with my mom's benedict, but I had a lot more on my plate.

The menu said it came with a mustard crème fraîche, but it seemed to be drizzled with the same hollandaise that my mother had on her benedict.  It was creamy, although a bit thick. The flavor was good, bursting with lemon.  Also garnished with the amazing sprouts.

The pop-over came with two eggs, cooked any way.  I selected over-medium, and was blown away.  Yes, they were just two eggs over-medium.  Nothing I couldn't get at any old diner.  And I get eggs over-medium cooked to order at work a couple times a week.  But these might have been the best eggs over-medium that I've ever had.  I'm sure the freshness of the eggs was one element of their success, but also, they were just cooked perfectly.  The whites were set but not rubbery, the yolks just a tiny bit runny.  Precisely how I want them.  And, like everything else I have encountered at Home Hill, seasoned to perfection.  See the large pepper flakes?  There is a reason no salt and pepper are normally required on the tables here!

For my side, I selected the homefries, but as you can see, I didn't get any!  When I asked the server about it, she quickly returned with a side plate full.  She apologized, and said she'd accidentally taken it from the pass before it was completed.  The homefries were fine, salty, nice, but just little cubed potatoes.  Much better once I dunked them in hollandaise, or even better, my grandmother's maple syrup!

Overall this was a great dish, the popover and the eggs really quite memorable.  I'd certainly get it again.

Chocolate Pot De Crème, Whipped Cream, Chocolate Chip Cookie.

I honestly don't know how we managed to order dessert at this point.  We'd all each consumed a full muffin, huge entrees, large side dishes ... but the allure of dessert was just too much.  We all remarked on how satisfied and completely stuffed we were.  I think at some level we all felt like we were so stuffed at this point that it just didn't matter.  For dessert, there were only a few options: the blueberry crumble or chocolate pot de crème that my mom and I had just a few nights before , a housemade ice cream, and a seasonal pie.  The moment the server mentioned the pot de crème, my mom's mind was made up.  She loved it the first time, and wanted more!  And since I didn't have before because I was avoiding the caffeine in the evening, I eagerly welcomed the chance to try the dessert that everyone else previously enjoyed.

Unlike the last meal, when were weren't offered any beverages with dessert, we were offered coffee and tea.  My aunt went for a mint tea, served in a cute little cast iron pot.  The tea selection was all local, of course.  My dad had a regular french press, and I had another decaf.  We all enjoyed our warm beverages alongside our desserts.

The pot de crème really was quite good, and I liked the presentation in the tiny cup.  I love pudding-style desserts, and actually eat a lot of chocolate pudding/mousse/pot de crème at work, as our pastry department makes some killer versions.  This was was creamy, with a next consistency, just firm enough to have a little give, not runny at all.  The texture was incredibly smooth, no grit.  Good chocolate flavor, but I would have preferred it even darker!  It was quite rich, and the whipped cream on top paired perfectly and cut the richness well.

It was served with a chocolate chip cookie, cuz, you know, you need some crunch with your pot de crème!  Our previous dessert platter had a cocoa nib cookie, which I didn't get to try.  My mom didn't like the cookie, and found it too hard for her liking.  It was certainly more crisp than I generally like, but it was a thick style, and it worked.  It was really, really buttery, which I liked, but otherwise, unremarkable.

Overall, a good chocolate pot de crème, but I eat so much of this sort of thing that it takes a lot to wow me in this department.  I'd get it again if I was in the mood for it.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, Whipped Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream.

Home Hill is known for their pies, always seasonal and changing, and since we'd tried the other desserts already, we also got several slices of the day's option: strawberry rhubarb.  When I visited last winter, we had the apple pie, and I really liked it then.

Like last time, it was served with both vanilla ice cream AND whipped cream.  I just absolutely love that.  Why pick when you can have both?  The presentation was improved this time, with the ice cream in a separate little cup, rather than melting all over the plate.

Like last time, the pie was a double crust, but it wasn't as buttery nor flaky as I remembered.  It was good crust, but not all that remarkable this time around.  Sadly, it wasn't served warm.  I love warm pie and cold ice cream, so this was really a disappointment, particularly as it truly was served hot last time.

That said, the filling was quite good, a mix of sweet strawberry and tart rhubarb.  My dad and aunt both ordered a slice, and even though everyone was full, they got finished pretty quickly (with my assistance, of course).

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Tasting Menu at Home Hill Inn

I discovered Home Hill Inn and Restaurant only this past December, when I visited my family in New Hampshire for the holidays.  I was absolutely blown away by the entire experience. The menu read like one from an upscale restaurant in a big city, not a charming town in New Hampshire, using ingredients unfamiliar to most diners in the area.  The prices were astonishingly low, not just compared to the San Francisco prices I'm used to, but even for the area, given the quality of ingredients and advanced techniques being used.  And the food.  Swoon.  It was amazing.  One of the top restaurants I have ever dined at, and their skate wing entree remains in the top 3 seafood dishes I have ever consumed.  You can read all about my first experience here.

I'm not sure how I had never visited Home Hill before last winter, as it has been operating for years (although re-invented several times).  And when I rave about it to others in the area, they all mention that they have heard of it, but also never been.  Such an amazing place, I don't know how the word hasn't gotten out!  Seriously, if you are even anywhere near Lebanon, NH, you NEED to go there.

After such an amazing first visit, I wanted to make up for all my lost time dining at Home Hill, and go several times during my brief visit this summer.  I wanted to experience it all - a formal dinner, a casual meal in the pub, and a brunch.

As soon as I booked my flights, I contacted the restaurant to find out what was on their current menus, and plan my visits.  The chef replied to me, and suggested that I take things up a notch, and let him come up with a tasting menu for our formal dining night, rather than just eating off the regular menu.  This sounded awesome to me, but I knew my not-so-adventurous family members (with the exception of my mom), would never be up for it.  And a tasting menu for only two of us didn't make sense.  So I asked my mom if she had friends who would want to join us, and we quickly pulled together a group of 10, composed primarily of her friends and co-workers.

I made the reservation, and reached out to the restaurant to figure out the logistics of the meal - how many courses? What price point? What ingredients?  The chef had said I should tell him our favorite ingredients, and he'd come up with something based off of it.  But then, I didn't hear back.  I contacted them on Facebook (where all my communication thus far had been), on their wall, on mine, and through direct messages.  No response.  I sent e-mail.  No response.  Our dining date was fast approaching, and I had no details to tell my fellow diners.  Several dropped out at this point.  I had no idea what was going on.  I pinged them a few more times, but still nothing.

We decided to still go, and figured we'd just order off the regular menu, and have a nice meal regardless.  When we showed up, I was immediately escorted to the private room, where our table was set up, complete with a custom tasting menu.  I was pretty surprised!  It turns out the chef had indeed replied to me on Facebook (although only late the night before), apologizing for not getting in touch, saying he had been out of town, and he sent me the proposed menu.  For some reason, I never got that notification, so when I arrived at the restaurant, it was all a complete surprise.

Since I've reviewed the restaurant itself before, I won't go into the basic details, and will focus this review only on the more unique aspects of this particular experience.

On my first visit, I appreciated that they had a strong focus on local and seasonal dining (which of course I am used to in the Bay Area, but I haven't seen much of in New Hampshire).  At the time, it was the dead of winter though, so there was very little seasonal produce.  I was thrilled to visit during the summer this time.  They take local to a level even more extreme than what I see in San Francisco - the benefits of being in the country!  The vegetables and herbs are grown in their own gardens or from Edgewater Farms next door.  The entire bread program is run in-house, including table bread for dinner, bread used in many of the dishes, and also the muffins and english muffins at brunch. Really surprising for such a small restaurant.  It doesn't stop there however, the dairy products are all from McNamara Dairy next door.  The cheeses are all from Vermont and New Hampshire.  Even the liquors used in the bar are from a local producer!  It seriously does not get more locally sourced than this.  The freshness was incredibly obvious.

The private room was lovely, very comfortable and cozy.  The walls were lined with artwork and bookshelves, the floors covered with beautiful rugs.  A great space for our group, and the final group size of 6 worked out nicely in the space.  I was again completely charmed by the atmosphere.

As on my previous visit, the service was not at the level of which I am accustomed to, and was more of what I'd expect from the area, although this time, there were more weak points than my first visit.  Most of our dishes and wines were brought without explanation.  The wine pairings sometimes arrived after the courses they were supposed to go with.  Used silverware piled up, as did our empty wine glasses.  There was a 1 hour lag between our forth and fifth course, with no explanation given.  And when it came time to settle the bill, it took about 30 minutes, and several tries, including collecting the credit cards multiple times, before we finally got it right.  It wasn't horrible service or anything, and
the staff were all very friendly, but the service was certainly not nearly as polished as the food itself.

As for the food, I was again impressed, but not wowed by the food in quiet the same was as my first visit. However, I attribute that to the fact that not a single dish on our menu is one I would have ordered.  I really wish we were able to communicate with the chef beforehand, as I'm certain that with a little input, he would have delivered a meal that would blow me away.  The menu was again very innovative for the area, and the level of execution on the cooking is where the chef really shines. Everything was expertly seasoned.  Chef Peter again demonstrated that he can seriously cook fish better than most in the industry.  Such skill!

I'll be returning, for sure, and I'd even be up for a tasting menu again, although, I'd like to make sure I get in touch properly before hand next time!

Our Menu For The Evening.

We entered the private room, where the table was set with the special tasting menu the chef had arranged for us.  Since we weren't able to give any input into the menu, I was a bit disappointed when I saw it, and considered asking if we could just order off the regular menu instead.  Not a single dish listed was one I would have picked.  And, although my stomach is doing remarkably better these days, 6 courses is way, way too much.  I would have asked for 3 or maybe 4, and would have stuck to all seafood (or vegetarian).  But, I really appreciated the chef doing this special menu for us, so I decided to just let it go and dive in.  If this was what he thought the best food of the night was, I'd trust him.  There have been many examples in my life where tasting menus have encouraged me to eat foods I'd never normally order, and I've discovered many new favorites in this way.

However, there were two courses that I switched out, just for myself (not the other diners).  The first was the rabbit tasting.  Now, I'll try all sorts of food.  I can't stand it when people refuse to try new items.  It is fine to dislike things, after you've given them a fair shot.  But rabbit is one thing that I have not tried.  The reason is simple: I've had too many rabbits as pets.  Not only were they were my pets as a child, but even into college and graduate school.  I love bunnies too much to eat them.  I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  So, I asked to have that course switched out.

The other was the dessert, chocolate pot de crème.  Now, obviously, I adore chocolate, and puddings.  But, my body can still respond in fairly unpredictable ways to caffeine, so having chocolate in the evenings is a no-no for me.

We had no idea what to expect for pricing.  I'd been impressed with the insanely reasonable prices for special event menus that Home Hill has advertised in the past, so I was hoping it wouldn't be too much for my group.  The price for our 6 courses was $50.  Seriously?  $50?  For 6 courses?  Including lobster?  Insanity.  That made me feel a bit better, as I assumed it meant that the courses would be tiny, a true tasting menu, and perhaps I'd manage.  But, as you will see, these were all full size courses.  A meal with these ingredients, would easily start at $150 in San Francisco.  Looking at the regular menu prices, it seems like it should have priced out closer to $100.  I honestly don't even know how they can source the ingredients for these prices.  Such an incredible value.  Mind blown.

We were also offered a wine pairing for $30.  The wine pairing was not listed on the menu, so we didn't know what the wines would be.  But most of us went for it anyway.  Again, $30, for 6 glasses of wine?  And again, these were full size pours.  Insanity.  Most of the wines are on their regular menu for $9 each, so this really was a great deal.  Unfortunately, I did not like most of the wines, as you can read more about in my descriptions below, but it was still a great value.

Bread.

To start, we were delivered two baskets of fresh, warm bread, each containing two loaves.  They were plopped down on the table in front of us, with no explanation.  One loaf was much darker than the other, so I think they were different, but both smelt like sourdough.  I don't generally like sourdough, and I knew we had a ton of courses coming, so I tried a bite, but didn't have much of it.  It was ok, but not as good as I remembered from my previous visit, where I actually did like the sourdough, much to my surprise.

As I mentioned, they run their own bread program, so these were house made, however this was not mentioned to us at the time the bread was delivered.  I remembered it from my previous visit, but found it interesting that no one told us that detail this time, as it is notable, and something I'd think they'd be proud to tell their diners.

Local Cheese Board: Honeycomb, Pistachio Brittle, Champagne Grapes.

Our first course was a cheese board.  A proper cheese board.  This was a welcome sight after the first few "cheese platters" I'd seen in my time in New Hampshire thus far.  Let's just say that the highest end cheese I'd encountered prior to this was pre-cubed pepperjack.  Or perhaps Babybel.

I was a bit funny to have a cheese course to start.  Growing up, we often had cheese and crackers as an appetizer, and I always thought that is when you ate cheese.  Then, I moved to California, starting dining out more, and discovered that cheese is always offered as dessert instead.  Now that is normal to me, and it seemed strange to start with cheese.  Good cheese tends to have a strong flavor, and cheese is fairly filling, so it doesn't seem like the right way to ease into a meal.

Anyway, we were given one platter in the middle of the table, with a small spoon for the honey, but no knives to cut the cheese.  People on the ends of the table could not reach the cheese, and there was awkwardness in re-using our personal knives, which we'd used on the bread and butter already.  I liked having the big communal cheese board, but it was a little hard to manage logistically.

The cheeses were all local Vermont and New Hampshire cheeses, served with two colors of champagne grapes, honeycomb, date and cranberry crostini, and toasted sourdough.  For most diners at the table, this was their first time having champagne grapes, and they found them quite fun, tiny, and novel.  It was also the first time many of them had honey from honeycomb.  The honey was quite tasty, from a local source I'm sure.  I particularly liked it with the blue cheese.  The menu listed pistachio brittle, but there wasn't any (nor any other nut component).

The platter contained five different cheeses, a fairly varied selection of three hard, one soft, and one blue cheese.  Sadly, no triple creams, which are my favorites! When the waitress brought it out, she did tell us the names of each, and one diner asked to know which were cow and which were goat, since she couldn't eat goat dairy.  The waitress didn't know, and had to go check and consult a list.

The first was Consider Bardwell Manchester, from West Pawlette, VT.  Raw goat's milk, aged 2-4 months.  I don't like goat cheese, so I skipped it, as did the diner who cannot have goat.

Next was a hard, cow's milk cheese, "Walla".  I couldn't find it online, nor on Home Hill's outdated menu online, so I think I must have misheard the name.  Good, but unremarkable.

Next was another hard, cow's milk cheese, Kinsman, from Landaff Creamery, in Landaff, NH, aged 40 days.  Another good enough cheese, but not memorable.

My favorite was the Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen Blue, from Greensboro, VT.  It went really nicely with the honey, on the crispy flatbread crackers.

The last was another goat, "Bombish", which I also didn't try, and couldn't find details of.

Cheeses are offered at $4 per selection on the regular menu.

Our wine pairings started with a glass of something sparkling. The name of it was not given.  It was slightly bitter.  I did appreciate starting with bubbles, but I've been spoiled by a lot of fairly good sparkling wine lately, and this didn't really measure up.  My mom did like this one, I think it is the only glass she actually finished.

Overall, this course, and the wine, were both fine, but not memorable, and my least favorites of the evening.

Butter Poached Lobster & Sweet Corn: Chives, Brioche, Pickled Peppers, Easter Egg Radish.

After we stopped picking at the cheese, we moved onto the first "real" course: butter poached lobster.

I think lobster is fine, but it is never what I'd pick over other seafood options.  This preference has become stronger since moving to California, where the lobster is obviously never as fresh, and the Dungeness crab is always amazing.  I also already had lobster for lunch that day, leftover from a big lobster boil we had at home the night before.  So, as my previous two meals were both lobster, and since I don't even like lobster that much, I wasn't really excited to see it on the menu, although I realize I was probably the odd one out.

My lobster was a large piece of tail, a bit chewy, but the flavor from the butter poaching was nice.  Still, it was lobster, and I just wasn't that into it.

The lobster was served atop a crispy, buttery chunk of brioche.  It reminded me of the brioche  accompanying the foie gras on our last visit.  And just like last time, I didn't care for it.  I'm just not sure why it was there.  We'd already had a bread basket, and bread with our cheese, and so many courses left to go, I certainly didn't need to fill up on more bread.  And it took away from the other flavors in the dish, masking the beautiful sweet flavor of the corn and lobster with the flavor of ... bread.

Speaking of the corn, there was a corn puree that was absolutely delicious.  It was sweet, creamy but with some texture remaining, and a great pairing with the buttery lobster.  Corn, butter, lobster, such a classic combo!  We all commented on how good the puree was.  I would have eaten a bowl of just that puree.

There was also a slight heat from a few pickled peppers, which went well against the sweet corn puree.  It reminded me a bit of a southwestern-style polenta.  The radish shreds and sprouts on top added a crunchy, fresh component to the dish.

This dish was not on the regular menu, although lobster is offered in several other dishes.  I wouldn't have ordered lobster, given my lack of interest at the time, but my mother, who loves lobster, really enjoyed it.  The corn puree, and garnishes, were so tasty that I rated this my third favorite of the night, although I wouldn't order it again.  The scallops on the regular menu included a corn puree, and is what I would have certainly ordered, if ordering off the menu, since I love scallops in general, and I think the corn puree would pair even better with sweeter scallops!

The wine pairing was a white 2011 Tommasi Le Volpare Soave Classico.  It was very dry, with only a touch of sweetness, and an incredibly bitter finish.  I did not like it at all.

Grilled Chicken Livers: Wild Mushrooms, Lemon Zest, Quail Egg.

Next up was grilled chicken livers.  Now, clearly, I love liver.  I have certainly eaten my share of foie gras, although sadly, it has now been more than a year since I could order foie at restaurants in my state.  Chicken liver hasn't ever been my favorite, as it is a bit too strong of a flavor for me, but I still can like it, particularly when in mousse form.

This was, as I expected, too livery for me.  I just didn't like the flavor of it.  But that said, it was really well prepared.  The slightly smoky flavor from the grill was quite nice.  It was perfectly seasoned.  If only it wasn't chicken liver :)

It came over sautéed wild mushrooms, again, perfectly prepared, tender, well seasoned.  And, served on top of another piece of grilled bread.  I was sick of bread at this point, but it did belong in this dish, as liver and bread is a very standard pairing, and the bread helped cut the richness of the liver.

On top was a quail egg.  Cute and adorable, cooked exactly how I like my eggs, the whites not at all tough, the yolks just barely not runny.  It also was perfectly seasoned, with large chunks of pepper.

This seemed to be a combination dish based off of two of the crostini from their regular menu: grilled chicken livers and chanterelles with quail egg, both normally priced at $12.  I probably would have preferred just the mushroom and egg version, but crostini is not a dish I'd normally order anyway.  This was my 4th pick of the night, although I cannot fault the execution on it in any way, just personal preference.

It came paired with a rose: Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare 2011.  It was better than the previous wine, but still fairly bitter and a bit harsh.  I appreciated that it was refreshing and light against the strong liver flavor.

MA Clam Steamers: Drawn Butter, Herbs, Beer.

Next, everyone else was brought the expected forth course: halibut.  I was momentarily confused when a plate of steamers were placed in front of me.  I'd asked not to have the rabbit dish, but I still wanted the halibut!  Luckily, one of the servers saw my expression, and let me know that this was my replacement for the rabbit, and that I'd get the halibut as my main dish.

My heart really sank when I saw this dish.  I have never liked clams, in my entire life.  I try them often, as they show up in seafood stews all the time, and I keep giving them a chance.  But, I just don't like them.

These were no different.  It doesn't matter how well prepared they are, I just don't like clams.  I ate 4 or 5 of them, really trying, but to no avail.  The broth was quite fantastic, warm, salty, flavorful.  I used some of the bread left from the bread basket to soak up the delicious broth.  But they were still clams.

I would have never ordered this.  I almost wish I'd kept the rabbit dish, as I think I'd at least have liked the sides with the rabbit more than this.  My 5th pick overall, saved only by the broth.  It is offered as an appetizer on the regular menu for $10.

My dining companions all absolutely loved their halibut however, so I looked forward to receiving it next.

This course came paired with another white wine, Calera 2010 Chardonnay, both for me with the steamers, and everyone else with the halibut.  It was another wine I did not like.  Again, bitter, and not buttery like I was hoping for from a Chardonnay paired with seafood.

Intermezzo: Peach Lemon Verbena Sorbet.

After my disappointment with the steamers, I hopefully awaited my halibut.  But instead, an intermezzo was brought out.  It was very good timing for me, as I did want my palate refreshed!  It was a peach and lemon verbena sorbet.  A bit icy, but sweet, with a lovely complex flavor.  The lemon verbena worked really well with the peach.  I was happy again :)

East Coast Halibut: Roasted Eggplant, Pink Peppercorn Buerre Blanc, Wild Onions.

After everyone else raved so much about the halibut, I was really looking forward to it.  It turned out, I had a while to wait.  After the intermezzo, we waited a full 45 minutes before our entrees arrived.  I am used to long, multi-course dinners, but most of the rest of my group is not, and they all had to work in the morning, and were getting a bit restless.  At one point, even I started to wonder if we'd been forgotten.  No one came to check on us, or explain why there was such a delay.

Finally, the final savory course arrived.  For everyone else, it was the rabbit.  For me, it was the halibut.  I believe my portion was a bit larger than what they had received on their previous course, since this was our main entree course (although, as you can see, all of the courses were quite large!)

The halibut was worth the wait.  It was worth having the rest of the menu be dishes I wouldn't normally pick.  The halibut was so good that I stopped caring about anything else.  It didn't matter that I was already full.  It didn't matter that I didn't like the steamers.  It didn't matter that our service wasn't stellar.  It was just that good.  It defined the entire experience.

Now, why wouldn't I order the halibut normally?  Simple.  I eat a lot of halibut, probably almost once a week, so I wanted something different, more unique to being on the east coast (although, this was east coast sourced, and I'm accustomed to west coast).  And halibut, while perfectly good, is a bit boring.  It is a nice white fish, don't get me wrong, but ... its just halibut.  But regardless, this was the best halibut I've ever had.  No question.  It was even in the top 10 seafood dishes I've ever had.  It was that good.

It was, again, perfectly cooked.  A nice crust on top, amazingly crispy on the bottom, yet still moist, flaky, and firm on the inside.  Seriously perfect.  I don't throw this word around lightly.  It was just that good.  Like the other dishes, it was expertly seasoned.  I honestly wouldn't change a thing about this dish.  My tasting notes are just full of accolades for this dish.

The fish itself was incredible, and could have stood on its own no problem, which is rare for a mellow white fish, but the accompanying sauce with it was equally amazing.  Roasted eggplant, tomato, I think peppers, onions.  The vegetables were all tender, perfectly cooked ingredients.  The sauce was seriously flavorful, but somehow didn't overpower the fish.  I think it would have paired really well with a swordfish as well.

I loved this dish.  I was stuffed, but didn't care.  I just couldn't stop eating it.  Amazing.  The dish was on the regular menu, $27.

Hands down favorite dish of the evening, for myself, and for everyone else.  It reminded me of my last visit to Home Hill, where the skate dish was just perfect.  Chef Peter seriously, seriously knows how to cook fish!  I can't say enough good things about this dish.

This course came paired with a red wine, a Syrah, 2010 Clayhouse Vineyards.  It was actually my favorite of the wines, which isn't surprising, given that I tend to like Syrah in general.  It was light, and I'm sure paired well with the rabbit.  It was a bit of a strange pairing with my halibut however.  Not that I wanted more of the previous white that was supposed to be paired with the halibut, but I do wish an offer had been made to do a better pairing for me, since my entree was switched.

Rabbit Tasting: Patty Pan Squash, Demi Glaze.

I tried to snap a quick photo of my mother's rabbit tasting, but clearly I did it too quickly, as it came out totally blurred.  Whoops!

I did not taste the dish, but my mother said it was nicely done.  She wouldn't normally order rabbit either, and was totally full at this point and not actually interested in another main dish, but she remarked that it was nicely cooked and not at all tough.

It was not on the regular menu, served specially for us.  This made me feel even worse about not wanting it, but again, I wish they checked with me for some guidance in creating the menu.  Normal entrees are $24-$28, so I think it would fall in that range.

Dessert Platter: Cheesecake with raspberry coulis and white chocolate, cocoa nib cookie, chocolate pot de crème with whipped cream, blueberry crumble, lemon curd with crumble, raspberry sorbet, gooseberries, champagne grapes.

Our printed menus listed a chocolate pot de crème for dessert.  Since I can't have caffeine in the evening, I asked to have it switched out for myself only.  I was told that everyone else would get the pot de crème, and I'd get a blueberry crumble.  Sounded great!

We were thus a bit confused when a single dessert platter was placed in front of us, along with individual plates and forks in front of each of us.  No serving spoons were provided, but it was clear that we were supposed to all split the platter.  Since there were six of us, this was a bit strange.  How do six people split a single, small cookie?  Or a tiny scoop of sorbet?  I guess it was good that most people were full, but it was pretty awkward.

The first dessert was a cheesecake, drizzled with a raspberry coulis, and topped with white chocolate shavings.  The crust was a fairly classic, buttery, crumble style, but with an additional thin layer of chocolate.  The cheesecake was incredibly creamy, with a great cream cheese flavor.  Just enough raspberry sauce to accent the whole thing.  I don't know if my dining companions were full, or being polite, or what, but only a few of them had a single bite each.  I took a big chunk to start, and when no one else went back for more, I had to make sure this amazing dessert was not wasted :)  I easily had 70% of this dessert myself.  This was my absolute favorite of the desserts.  I'd order it again in a heartbeat.  Excellent cheesecake.

Next was the dessert that I thought everyone was getting, the chocolate pot de crème, topped with whipped cream, served with a cocoa nib cookie.  Since I needed to avoid chocolate, I didn't try it, but the cookie disappeared before I could rationalize to myself that there wasn't THAT much chocolate in it and it was ok to try, and another diner eagerly took the cup of pot de crème to her seat and polished it off.  It sounded like a major winner.

Next came the blueberry crumble, the largest of the desserts.  It was served warm, which I always appreciate.  I'm such a sucker for warm fruit desserts. The fruit component of it was just too sweet for me.  I think if it had been served with some vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream, it would have helped to cut the sweetness, but on its own, it was actually just too sweet.  I know I don't often say that.  The crumble top was quite nice, crispy, buttery.  No one else seemed into this dessert, so I polished off the topping.  Again, with some ice cream, I think it would have been a serious winner.  I am guessing that on the regular menu it was served that way?  My second favorite of the desserts.

Next was lemon curd, with some sort of crumble and gooseberries.  I'm not a huge fan of lemon flavor in general, and this was no exception.  Tangy, creamy, but too eggy for me.  I didn't get to try the gooseberry, as there were only two, and others snatched them up.

Finally, we had a little scoop of raspberry sorbet.  It was incredibly sweet, and like the intermezzo, a bit too icy.  I didn't really care for it.  There were also some more champagne grapes, which I didn't try.

Overall, my biggest complaint here is just that it was strange to share this assortment with 6 people. I didn't get to try the cookie, and I don't know how we were ever supposed to cut it into 6 pieces anyway.  Everyone seemed to find their favorites, so it worked out fine, but still, a bit strange.

My second favorite "course" overall, as that cheesecake was just incredible.  Each dessert is normally priced at $6-8 on their regular menu.

For our final wine pairing, we had a 2006 Late Harvest Petite Syrah, from Clayhouse Estates.  I was a bit surprised when it was placed in front of us, described just as a petit syrah.  A petit syrah for a dessert course?  And it was served in a regular wine glass.  It wasn't until I took a sip that I realized it was a late harvest, seriously sweet.  Since I do like dessert wine, this was my second favorite of the wines.

I really like having bitter coffee as a contrast to my sweet desserts, but sadly, no coffee, nor other drinks, were offered.

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Whole Wheat Pancakes at IHOP

This review has been merged into my other IHOP in 2013 review.  Please go read it there!

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