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Truly Italian
We felt like something different for a change. Something other then pizza and Chinese food that seem to plague this area. Eric, my best friend, and I heard of this nice little Italian restaurant that is hidden away called Locust Tree Restorante. We both agreed that we were in the mood for an Italian meal, expecting the usual out of Italian restaurants in America: American- Italian cuisine. So that day, I called the restaurant to make reservations. The person seemed nice and answered in only two rings, which is a pleasant thing for a customer. The last thing you want is to wait around, ring after ring, waiting for someone to answer the phone on the other end. We asked for directions but she seemed unfamiliar with the area, making it hard to follow her. I wrote them down anyway having a feeling that I was going to get lost for sure. As Eric and I entered New Paltz, we noticed that the town was very interesting. There were a lot of historical sites and some really nice stores too. We found the right street to turn on, which was called Hugant Street, but we got lost due to a left turn instead of a right turn. Finally after a few minutes, we stopped and asked someone who was walking her dog. She was polite and said that the restaurant was straight down the road that we were on, next to a big golf course. We thanked her and we were on our way. The thing that really caught my attention was how far out the restaurant was from town. One minute you are in downtown New Paltz and then suddenly your in a heavily wooded area. In my opinion, it makes the trip that much more worth while. As we pulled up to the restaurant, I noticed how beautiful the pine trees were. They were dark green in color, reminding me of the trees back home in Washington State. They were tall, casting a nice shadow over the restaurant. Eric mentioned that we were about 20 minutes early so we just sat in the car and talked. I was admiring the pond that we had parked our car next to and noticed a little bit of sun snuck through the pine trees and hit the water in the pond, making a pretty ray that shot up in the sky and eventually disappeared. We decided to get out of the car and as we did, we noticed the uncut grass on the side of the lawn where the pond was. We heard someone talking across the street and turned around and saw golfers at the public golf course. It was vibrant green in color and nicely up kept. Then I was amazed by the smell of the surrounding pine trees. I took a deep breath of fresh air, closed my eyes, and smiled. I glanced over to look at the place were we decided to dine and I saw a barn like house. Pretty trees surrounded it and it was painted in a very rustic looking sky blue color. The restaurant had a nice white picket fence that reminded me of a farm I once visited in Iowa. As my dining companion and I approached the front door, we both noticed another very pleasant smell. We looked down and saw two beds of pretty flowers. So far, it felt very warm and homey to me. We glanced at the menu that was outside in a glass case and noticed it said, "menu changes daily." I was very excited to see this because it almost guaranteed freshness in the ingredients. As Eric and I entered the front door, we were struck by the ambiance. It was not a contemporary restaurant but more of a historical looking one. In the waiting room, the floor was not made up of wood nor carpet but of flat rock, which was imbedded into the ground, creating a smooth but rustic feel when you walked on it. As we looked around the waiting room, a lady greeted us. We assumed it was the hostess but we soon were to be proven wrong. As she led us through a door that had these rustic looking drapes that created a nice transition into the next room, we entered the dining room. I felt like it was another world, it was beautiful. There were candles surrounding the fireplace and on the tables and I notice there were, stark like in color, table clothes with a wineglass for each table setting. The silverware was shiny with no trace of spots or fingerprints. She sat us by the window and pulled the chairs out for us. Then she did something unexpected; she placed the white cloth napkin on our laps! I was struck with disbelief…. in a good way though! I was not expecting such a nice gesture. Then she gently opened and placed the menu in our hands and laid the wine menu down on the table for us. As I took my time searching the menu, I was so comfortable. I noticed that the chairs where made all from wood. I couldn't believe how they could feel so good. The antipasti's looked so good as did the minestre. However, none of the entrees really jumped out at me. Eric and I already agreed that we were going to share everything together to make the dining experience more interesting, but I couldn't decide what I wanted. The waitress came back and asked if we were ready but I asked for a couple more minutes… stupid on my part. When I did decided what I was going to have, it took her 10 minutes to come back. Finally Eric and I ordered. I was very impressed because the waitress didn't use a pad to write down what we wanted. Kudos to her because I can't remember anything! As we waited for our first course, we munched on bread and the waitress came with the bottle of San Pellegrino we had ordered. She poured it but way to fast creating a very annoying sound. I then ordered a glass of sangiovese. Eric declined and she took his glass, which was nice to see. She came back with the wine and poured it but again, poured it to fast creating that same noise and little splashes of red wine went all over. As Eric and I engaged in some nice conversation and eating good bread, I couldn't help notice the dead flowers on the window cell next to our table but then I thought that it added to the rusticness of the restaurant. I was then pondering the idea of killing the small black ant that ran across the window cell but decided to spare its life. Everything was cured when I saw the first course. It was stuffed calamari served over a sweet and sour sauce. The sauce was a vibrant orange color and it really stood out from the calamari and the white plate it was served on. As I started to eat, I noticed that the calamari was a bit chewy and the stuffing was somewhat tasteless. The sauce however, was very good and as I was admiring the taste of it, I noticed a hint of vinegar that was pleasant and it accompanied bread quite well. She took our plates away after we both were done and immediately placed new silverware down which was unexpected partially because restaurants are known to place all the silverware down at the beginning so the server doesn't need to "waste" time later. As we continued to talk, we noticed the dishwasher person passing through the restaurant with his dishwashing suite on, retrieving dirty dishes. It was somewhat disturbing. The second course was, by far, the best part of the meal. It was warm beef carpaccio with grana padano and celery hearts. Basically grana padano is a small salad consisting of frisse lettuce and shaved Parmesan cheese with drops of balsamic vinegar. The salad was somewhat bitter but the beef was excellent. It seemed like there was a light vinaigrette with some thyme and rosemary in it. The flavor and taste was outstanding. I can still taste it in my mouth. We had some time to kill before our next course so we talked with the waitress for a while. She was actually the wife of the chef who owned the restaurant. Her name was Amy and she was very nice. Eric inquired about the golf coarse and she was able to give him all the information he needed. We asked her how long the restaurant has been open and she said that it has only been open for nine months. The restaurant seemed to run very smooth for how young it was. The third course came out and I was amazed. Finally, a true Italian restaurant in which they actually make their own pastas. It was time to try the fava bean and potato ravioli with pancetta and ricotta salata. It was a beautiful presentation consisting of five small ravioli's drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, herbs, and some cheese shaved on top. However, it needed a little more seasoning. Maybe the chef thought that with the addition of rendered pancetta and ricotta salata, he didn't need more salt but it was bland without it. As I was eating the ravioli, I noticed that the chef had brown hair. How did I know that? I found a hair in my pasta. The hair didn't do much for the flavor of the dish… it still needed salt! Eric and I were ready for the main course. We were going to share the zuppetta of monkfish with royal trumpet mushrooms and toasted croutons, also the pork fillet scaloppini with smoked ham and asparagus tips. She brought out the plates and laid the fish dish in front of me and the pork dish in front of Eric. We were going to eat half of each and switch off. The first thing I noticed about the fish dish was that there was only one crouton. It was a piece of bread that was toasted and I was disappointed because the menu did state croutons, meaning more then one, and I thought they would be little pieces of bread, toasted. The monkfish was poached and served in the broth that it was poached in and the poaching liquid had mushrooms and cherry tomatoes in it and was somewhat tasteless. Maybe the chef used water as the poaching liquid rather then a nice flavorful broth. I then tried some monkfish and it too was flavorless, almost bland and the broth was fatty as well. As I ate a little more fish, I noticed that the chef neglected to take off the rubbery silver skin that was on the fish. As I continued to eat more monkfish, I noticed that the fish still had the spine bone attached to some of the pieces, which was very disappointing. I don't think that a customer should have to take small little pieces of bone out of their mouth. All in all, I didn't like the fish dish. Nothing stood out for me. No real dominate flavors. Finally, it was my turn to try the pork. This plate looked amazing. The sauce was on the bottom with the sautéed pork on top. The asparagus tips were laid nicely on top of the pieces of pork topped with a thin slice of smoked ham. It looked so good. I took a small bite and was amazed. The sauce had a light smoky flavor to it, the asparagus was cooked perfect, and the pork, even though it was somewhat dry, was still good. It had the nice golden brown color that a sautéed item should have. Overall, the pork dish was the best! A few minutes after we finished our entrée's, I was getting more and more excited for dessert. I was sure to have tiramisu and as she brought the dessert menu over, I glanced over it in a rush to see the word tiramisu. I didn't see it! It must have been a mistake! When she came over to take our order, I asked her why there was no tiramisu. She said that the chef doesn't like to make it because it is made at home in Italy all the time and he didn't think it was right for the restaurant. I was very disappointed. We did decide to order dessert. Eric ordered a cherry tartlette with a cherry pastry cream and I ordered a dark chocolate mouse terrine with white chocolate sauce. She brought them out and I tasted Eric's first. Light in flavor and it reminded me of something I would eat in the summer time. I sorta wanted something heavy. I tried mine but was disappointed. The mouse, even though chocolate in flavor, was weak in character. I still was upset that there was no tiramisu. After she took the plates away, Eric and I were curious who the "masked man" was in the kitchen. Was he really Italian? Eric didn't have the guts to ask if we could talk with the chef but I certainly did. I wanted to meet the chef behind the warm beef carpaccio and the pork fillet scaloppini. The waitress granted us the privilege and took us back into the kitchen to meet the chef. His name was Alberto Vanoli. He grew up and trained in Bergamo, Italy and moved to America seven years ago. His philosophy is simple: good food can't be made with mediocre ingredients. He was very polite as he tried to decipher my shaky Italian. Eric and I did have a very pleasant experience dining at Locust Tree Restaurante. There were a few things that I didn't like and some things that I really did like. Also, it was very nice to dine at a real Italian restaurant and not a restaurant that serves American- Italian cuisine. So, would I recommend this restaurant to you? Yes! Just the fact that the restaurant changes its menu every day is worth going to. The location is wonderful and the scenery is amazing. The owners are polite and informative. If your looking for a place to eat that has beautiful scenery, good food, a new menu every time you visit, and a place that serves really Italian, then this restaurant is for you!
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The Webmaster stephen@kitchenproject.com Last updated Feb5, 2002 |