We had a fantastic dinner in Lancaster yesterday, where we crashed overnight en route to FL, i.e. our annual spring break pilgrimage. My PIC was there for a work thang last year, when he discovered the town’s surprisingly varied and bustling dining scene, and had also met a couple who was going to join us. They were nice enough to pick us up at the hotel, and we first went to a fairly new, buzzy (= blaring music) Japanese restaurant/bar where we had highballs & did our best to avoid ordering any of the tasty sounding snacks.
We wanted to grab another drink elsewhere & shlepped around most of downtown, but the bars were hopping — perhaps no surprise on a Saturday eve. We decided to head to the restaurant early & lucked out, as our table was ready for us.
The place advertises itself as an Italian eatery & has an extensive Amaro menu. We shared a couple of bottles of very nice Falanghina & a variety of small plates: wood-grilled caraflex heirloom cabbage with pickled Asian pear, gorgonzola fonduta & thyme (fan-flippin-tastic),
little gem lettuces with lemon garlic dressing, focaccia croutons, Grana Padano,
crispy potatoes with garlic & rosemary, Luca profumo, shmaltz, and an incredible aged vinegar aioli,
citrus-cured Arctic char with grapefruit, puntarelle, badger flame beets, radish, caraway & sesame crispbread that was almost too beautiful to eat,
and the pane di recco — a flatbread with taleggio & provola cheeses that could be pimped out with various toppings of choice, i.e. anchovies, or prosciutto… we opted for Calabrian chilies.
We had to nix our plans to split a main (their roast chicken is legendary, apparently) & instead got another small plate we’d wanted to try but probably didn’t need: the slow-cooked and grilled beef tongue with maitake, charred cabbage, toasted farro, and chestnut crema — also very good, but I was sated at this point & couldn’t appreciate it as much.
Our dining companions split the Black cod with sautéed spinach.
No room for actual dessert, so we each got an Amaro (Montenegro for my PIC, Nonino for me).
Sitting at the airport now & hoping our flight won’t be as delayed as announced. Some FAA issues, apparently. Gee. How very strange 
