travel, Spring 2009

I've been doing quite a bit of traveling this spring. In this post, I'm just doing a quick listing of some places I've visited.

Montreal, Quebec - April 2009 - stayed at the wonderful Auberge de la Fontaine, dinner at Toque! which was even more outstanding than I'd expected, brunch at the insanely fabulous Cabane a Sucre of Restaurant Au Pied de Cochon, poutine at La Banquaise (of course), oysters at Maestro SVP.

New York - stayed at the Lucerne Hotel on the Upper West Side, as lovely as ever. Dinner at Le Bernardin! Chef's tasting menu is literally a revelation of perfect seafood. Glorious!

New England - in Woodstock, stayed at the Charelston House Inn - a truly perfect B&B, right in town, an easy, pleasant walk from everything. Late lunch at Simon Pearce in Quechee, dinner was takeout from the Woodstock Farmers Market - both highly recommended. On my next trip to Woodstock, I stayed at the Shire Motel, which I really can't recommend. Housekeeping needs more attention.

Lake Placid, NY - on a too-brief fishing trip to the Adirondacks, I stayed at Art Devlin's Olympic Motor Inn. Very comfortable, very reasonable, in town, fantastic views of the mountains and the ski jumps. Much quieter than I would have expected, although it was mid-May and well before tourist season. Dinner at Caffe Rustic on the road toward Saranac - yes, it's in a mall, don't let that deter you. Lovely wines, absolutely delicious seared diver scallops with ramps, lemon butter sauce and mashed potatoes. An extraordinary, simple meal. Good value, too, especially for Lake Placid, home of $30 burgers that don't even have foie gras! Humph! I can't recommend guided fishing trips through the Adirondack Sport shop in Wilmington highly enough. On a day that was supposed to be a total washout, I had a GREAT day, caught plenty of fish though not big ones, saw and fished a lot of these historic waters.