First, let s acknowledge the superb service. Our r...

First, let s acknowledge the superb service. Our room was made up continuously through the day. Whenever we would step outside for a few minutes, we d find fresh towels and neatly arranged personal belongings upon return. We were impressed and truly appreciated all those little yet so special touches: my reading glasses nicely folded plus a cleaning kit added, new bookmark inserted in the book on my nightstand, a little carafe of port wine to welcome us from dinner. Beautiful. Elegant. Caring.
However, the flies in our room were not beautiful. It s hard to understand how a small boutique hotel (only 12 rooms!) could fail to control flies in the middle of February. The flies crawled over my glass of port and biscuit making it impossible to taste. Next morning the flies attacked our breakfast. We couldn t eat and embarrassed waiter just looked helplessly.
The dinner was an absolute surprise and deep disappointment. We are experienced students of gourmet food. We dined at Michelin starred restaurants in Paris, London, Lion including the L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges, the restaurant of late Paul Bocuse. Therefore, we loved reading the success story of Patrick O Connell and couldn t wait to taste his menu. Usually, the two star restaurants are more interesting than the three, because they are still trying, experimenting, searching and fighting for their identity. So, we drove the 300 plus miles to the Inn with excitement and great expectations.
The Butter-Pouched Halibut was a disaster. I couldn t eat it and had to send it back. The next day I tried the Steelhead Trout and although not as bad as Halibut it was overcooked, dry and therefore below average. I must say that I was reasonably impressed with the quality of the Royal Osetra Caviar. My compliments to Petrossian or perhaps the compliments should go to the Chinese farmer?
The Duet of Rabbit was OK, although nothing special enough to write home about. I don t know why the Duck dish was called Pekin, none of it was crisp. Above all, it should have never been paired with Sauerkraut.
When we dine at good restaurants my wife and I look for an inspired dish. Sometimes it is an appetizer, sometimes just an unexpected use of saffron that makes some tried and tired dish sparkle. Unfortunately, we came back home emptyhanded.