After a hectic early week we spent (pre Thanksgiving) Wednesday morning
throwing stuff in garment bags, suitcases, carry all’s, getting ready for our
sojourn over to the Eastern Shore. One
of the side effects of having the MOMSTER is that it is so cavernous that if
you might want or need “it” you can
just throw it in the back. No decisions,
a condition which I enjoy. Anyway, we
got started around noon to make our check in time of three o’clock.
Of course there has to be something to worry about, so all
the way up toward Annapolis I was concerned about traffic over the Bay Bridge,
thinking of hours of delays at the toll booths, traffic over the bridge itself,
etc. And sure enough as we merged onto
US50 from 2 North we came to a rolling stop.
It did pick up after the Annapolis exits, and finally we approached the
toll booths to find
Nothing!
And past the booths the “traffic”
With a sigh of relief and a sideways glance from MFO (I told
you so!) we proceeded over the river and through Kent Island and finally the
way to Easton was upon us
Traffic was steady but not bad, and we passed the crowded
outlet mall, and finally got to our destination..
There are places that just kind of speak to you, and Easton for some reason has a pull on us. There is just something pleasant about it (I
am speaking of the “historic” part here, not the surrounding malls and chain
stores). The stately Tidewater Inn
And charming streets with galleries, “real” shops where you
can buy gentleman’s clothing, an Orvis registered store which had more guns
than I have ever seen, and stuff like that.
Of course there is a good dining scene (which we will explore later) and our favorite lodging place (and restaurant) at the Bartlett Pear Inn
Discerning readers might notice a slight resemblance to the
Inn at Little Washington!
And indeed (in my mind) there are quite a few parallels between the two
Inns… Both have impeccable service and gracious staff, the rooms are tidy and
well appointed, and each one serves wonderful food. Where everything is “just right”.
The food plan for the weekend was to dine in the Bartlett
Pear on Friday night, and since they were not serving on Thanksgiving (to be
with their family, how nice)
we had Thanksiving Dinner reservations at the venerable Robert Morris Inn in nearby Oxford. Being unsure of our arrival time in Easton Wednesday,
we decided to try to eat in another of our favorite places there, Out of the Fire. It being Thanksgiving eve, I was a little
concerned (always a concern someplace) whether they might not be serving. So before leaving the digs, I went to their website,
and got to the “contact us” page and sent an email asking about service. I don’t know about your experiences with this
form of communication, but usually it results in…. nothing. Well, to my surprise I got an email returned
within an hour saying yes, they were open, and to call when we got to
town. How neat is that? So, after we got settled in the Pear, I rang
them up, and they said 6:30 would be fine.
Great.
So after a glass of wine in our room and a little rest we walked the
couple of blocks between the Inn and Out of the Fire, window shopping along the
way. I think I have blogged about the
place before, but they still remain high on the list of places to dine in
Easton. Kind of a bistro atmosphere, an
open kitchen with counter spaces, a smallish bar in the back and pleasant art
work on the walls. We were greeted by
the lady with whom I had corresponded who was the proprietor and led to a nice
table on the wall where I could view both the kitchen and the bar, a kind of situation
the Feeder enjoys. Again it was obvious that it was a popular spot with "the locals", as many of the parties knew each other. A nice atmosphere...
It turned out our server was also the bartender. I ordered
my DMOTRWAT and MFO her gin gimlet. They
were soon delivered to the table, and mine came with the dreaded maraschino
cherry, but appeared to be made (correctly) with only dry vermouth. I noted to her the lack of twist and she
immediately apologized, scooped up the drink and went back to the bar.. MFO observed she pitched the whole drink and
remade it from scratch.with the twist. Other places have just brought a twist, leaving me to deal with the cherry. Another apology
upon delivery, so it was handled nicely.
The menu has several choices plus a few specials, among
which (for this evening) was a butternut squash soup, and an Oyster Pot pie. MFO
opted for the soup and a hangar steak, and I went for an organic ceasar salad
with the white anchovy option, and the Oyster pot pie.
The wine list is well thought out and offers plenty of good
bottles at reasonable prices. Leaning
toward MFO’s steak, I chose an ‘05 Mettler Petite Syrah from Lodi, California.
Food arrived at just about the right timing, and I really
enjoyed my salad (with the "school" of anchovies!)
MFO enjoyed her soup.
Entrees followed with a gigantic pot pie for me and MFO’s steak which
was cooked just right. almost charred on the outside yet her preferred medium rare inside. I guess it was made in and out of the fire!!
At one point the proprietor lady stopped by and said that
the Mettler was one of her favorite wines and was glad we chose it. Incidentally, come to find out that she was
one of the pioneers of local sourcing in Easton for her restaurant and continues to push
for the “buy local” policy. They even
have a little garden from which a lot of the vegetables are produced, some of
which found their way into my pot pie as they were very tasty. Definitely a must do when in Easton..
After dinner we wandered back to the Inn and prepared for
Thanksgiving day. I think we’ll leave it
there for today and continue tomorrow.. where eventually we got ready for Thanksgiving Dinner by being
DFD
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