I had a fabulous dinner at Woods Hill Table last night, my first time at this restaurant but definitely not the last. The restaurant is cleverly designed, with the kitchen separated from the dining room by large panels of glass so you can see but not hear the action. It is very comfortable and even at the height of service, when about every table was full, it never got noisy and we could hear each other easily.
We started with house-made charcuterie: pâté de campagne and smoked beef tongue. The tongue was melt-in-the-mouth tender and delicious and the pâté was exceptional: rough in texture and full of flavor and served at the right temperature (not fridge-cold). There were toasts and some tasty pickled things. Then we shared a pasta special: strozzapreti with kale pesto, mostarda, mozzarella and I can’t remember what else. It was wonderful, a play of textures and flavors and pretty as well. An order of tuna tartare did not perhaps get the attention it deserved but it was excellent, cut in pieces large enough to retain integrity and with a mix of sesame and other crunchy seeds on top for textural contrast. At that point I was pretty full and a bit worried as we had two entrees coming.
Tamworth Pork Duo featured slices of tasty, tender pork with a goodly amount of fat cap, plus a confit of pork that was dark and succulent, with delicious kidney-type beans, Swiss chard, mushrooms and seriously good tomato jam. It was a huge plate of food and wonderful although perhaps could have used just a tinge of something acidic. Which I will try with the leftovers.
Wood Grilled Chicken featured ultra-crispy potato slabs, spinach, celery root and sauce Perigord. The bites I had were absolutely delicious. My DC commented that she would not ordinarily order chicken out but a friend had had it last week and said she all but licked the plate. So did my DC.
We also got an order of the Tallow Fries and they were every bit as wonderful as you’d expect.
Lastly, two desserts, the Chocolate3 which featured chocolate in various guises with a beautifully shaped quenelle of cayenne ice cream (I did not try it but was told it was fabulous) and something called Tea and Toast that had a crunchy bottom layer topped with the most amazing lemon curd and cream and pistachios and I can’t remember what else (food coma by then) and a quenelle of Ear Grey ice cream that was intensely bergamot-flavored. Coffee and peppermint tea to follow.
The restaurant sources as much of its produce and fish locally as it can and has a farm in NH where they pasture their chicken, beef and pork. They also keep bees and grow mushrooms and are starting orchards. There is even a lodge where you can stay. The photos on their web site are pretty amazing.
Full disclosure, my DC is the proud mother of one of the talented chefs who helped produce this amazing meal, and I have known him since birth. And while that definitely figured into the quantity of food that showed up on our table I do not believe it affected the quality of the food which really was outstanding. The restaurant is about to celebrate its first anniversary and clearly has a following as evidenced by a full house on a cold and rainy Wednesday night.
http://www.woodshilltable.com/
Did you invite your cardiologist to dine with you. That’s called sludging in the medical profession. Yikes.
CocoDan
Sounds excellent. We have several friends who live in that neck of the woods and we are always looking for new places to meet up.
I suppose we are “sludging” the vast majority of the time you eat out. With all of the butter and other ingredients you don’t always think of used to cook in restaurant kitchen, unless you are eating sushi (excluding maki loaded with spicy mayo) or a salad with vinegar for dressing you may be sludging. The attitudes toward what foods may or may not impact cardiovascular health are changing. However on the brighter side much of what we eat is increasing our cancer risk, regardless of if it is in a restaurant or at home. Better to just enjoy the ride and try to enjoy everything in moderation.
You’re right. The attitudes are changing but the rules are not. High fat diets are a problem especially for someone like me who has had problems with high cholesterol. I’ve made a low fat diet work very well for me. I know it’s not for everyone and like my Father used to say, “you have to die from something, might as well enjoy what you like”.
Go ahead, have another cigarette with your roast beef sandwich. You’ll die happy.
All In Fun,
CocoDan
