Showing posts with label Excellent Service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Excellent Service. Show all posts

Monday, January 27, 2014

A YEAR-ROUND BEAUTY: THE AURORA INN

The Inn, in the picture-perfect town of Aurora, has had its ups and downs, but is now back in its ascendance at the hands of Executive Chef Patrick Higgins, whose staff turns out three elegant meals a day, seven days a week, in a cozy dining room, with hearth fires blazing in cool weather, patio seating on warmer days, and, in all seasons, spectacular Cayuga Lake views.  

Higgins starts dinner with pan-seared foie gras, crab-stuffed calamari, or a plate of house-made charcuterie, and progresses to the likes of truffle and parsnip pierogies or pork ragout with cracked-pepper tagliatelle, all made in house, and drawing heavily from ingredients produced by local farmers.  For a quick burger, try the company’s Fargo Bar and Grill across the street, but we love the Aurora Inn for Sunday brunch, wine-trail lunches and dinners on the patio. They’re also a popular wedding destination, and offer wine- or beer-tasting dinners, cooking classes, and other culinary events. Check their Web site for details.

391 Main Street, Aurora, NY, 315.364.8862

Thursday, January 16, 2014

IN CAYUGA HEIGHTS: THE HEIGHTS CAFE'


This is a lunch-time favorite in Cayuga Heights, where the chef’s fertile imagination runs free with unusual combinations of flavors that always seem to work.  Try the oven-roasted Atlantic salmon with pine-nut risotto, capers, tomatoes, anchovies, Manzanilla and Kalamata olives, or the Korean grilled skirt steak with locally grown poi choy, sushi rice, and ginger cream sriracha Mongolian sauce. Somehow, though, after hearing the day’s exotic specials, we always wind up with the pesto-and-mozzarella-slathered flatbread topped with a Caesar salad, a hunk of grilled salmon or fried squid, and plenty of fresh lemon, enough roughage and Omega-3s for two meals.  

Dinnertime brings out faculty members romancing prospective faculty members. Their Wine Spectator Award-winning list features many great local wines as well as a full spectrum of international offerings. Portions are hefty. Service is exceptional. And it’s quiet enough for real conversation.  Fancy that!

903 Hanshaw Road, Ithaca, NY, 607.257.4144