Food Adventure II: The Chocolate Cottage

While we were upstate M and I had a little girl time and went to The Chocolate Cottage in Watertown, NY. (They apparently don't have a website but see this article about them.) I had the Banana Carmel Cream Tart and M had the Dark Chocolate Cup (which is filled with a wonderful chocolate mousse).

From the outside this place looks like a regular house. Entering through the back sliding glass doors was a little weird because you feel like you are going into a stranger's house. However, when you enter the actual dining area you feel like you are in the cutest little European tea house. We had a pot of tea with our yummy sweets and they brought it in the prettiest teapot I think I have ever seen (which I did not take a picture of! doh!). Our tea cups did not match the tea pot, but I did not mind one bit, it was so charming. We had a lovely little table near the window and our waitress was so friendly and sweet.

They were having a little girl's birthday party (I think anyway) in the separate front room. The menu mentions that you can request a traditional tea for parties or meetings. The girls all seemed to be having a lot of fun with it.

On our way out we got a few goodies to take home to the boys (including a box for the rest of M's chocolate cup, which was too big for us to finish!). M got a huge chocolate chip cookie and some truffles for A and I got a box of different chocolates for Chris and I to share. The chocolates (assorted truffles and caramels) were very decadent and delicious. Next to The Candyman** in Greenport, NY, they were the best chocolates I've had in a long time.

I hope that next time we get to visit A&M we also get to visit The Chocolate Cottage.

**The Candyman apparently does not have a website either. What's with these chocolate shops? Anyway, if you are on the North Fork of Long Island at anytime in your life, stop at the Candyman, you will not regret it.

Food Adventure: Beardslee Castle

Chris and I took a trip upstate to visit some friends Memorial Day weekend. *Special thanks to A&M (hey A&M!) for putting us up for 4 nights! You guys rock!* I found out that Beardslee Castle was on the way and since I've wanted to go there every since I found out about it a few months ago, I begged and pleaded (for all of 2 minutes) until Chris agreed that we could make the stop. We were both SO glad we did.

It is about an hour or so outside of Albany, NY. You have to take this weird detour because the way they tell you to go on the website tells you to go over a bridge that kind of doesn't exist anymore. It's more like half a bridge. It reminded me a lot of 'The Truman Show' when Jim Carey and the other guy are sitting at the end of the road with their legs swinging off. So you take this windy, twisty road through some of your typical upstate towns (nice towns I might add) until you reach Beardslee Castle.

I wish we had gotten there a little earlier while there was more light to take pictures outside but unfortunately we hit a little traffic and were 15 minutes late for our reservations as it was. The outside is just amazing with these huge vines climbing all over and the fountain out front. The inside was just amazing. Huge fireplaces everywhere, quirky little statues and lamps, tons of interesting things to look at (including a huge snail garden sculpture that was sitting on one of the radiators). It was so beautiful and clean. I would never have guessed that it had a fire (let alone two!). The owners really did put everything they had into the restoration and it definitely shows. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about follow this link.)

So the title of this blog is Food Adventure, so now I'll tell you about the food. This was the single best meal I have ever had in my entire life. To start the bread basket had some herb biscuits (like a corn bread texture) and some salted (I think) bread. Instead of the usual butter they had a little bowl of spiced hummus and a little bowl of chunky olive spread. I am not a hummus person but I could not get enough of their's. Chris and I shared Alligator Cakes for first course (think southwestern crab cakes but with alligator instead of crab). Then we both ordered bacon wrapped fillet mignon with mashed potatoes topped with mashed turnips, crostini topped with sautéed mushrooms and roasted shallots. Everything was delicious and perfectly cooked. I did not have one single complaint about anything. The steak melted like butter in my mouth. The potatoes and turnips were creamy and smooth, flavorful and artfully displayed (imagine a mashed potato mountain with a mashed turnip snow cap). The crostini was probably my favorite part of the meal, perfectly seasoned, buttery and sang in my mouth. The shallots were roasted perfectly, not at all singed and very sweet. I'm normally a one section of the plate at a time eater but with this meal I wanted to eat everything at once. Every bite was better than the previous one. My only regret is that I didn't save room for one of their many yummy sounding desserts. We took pictures of our plates but only after we remembered when we were half way done with our meals... they don't look very appitizing so I will save you all from the view.

All in all if I were the kind of person to rate things on a 1-5 star scale I would say, 5 is not enough stars. If you have the opportunity to go to Beardslee Castle, don't pass it up. You will not regret it.