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By S.J. MUNCH Times Leader Food Critic
Wednesday, March 19, 2003 Page: 1D
So enamored of a particular pub in Merry Old England were the owners of the
relatively new Winston’s Pub & Hotel that they decided to re-create it in the
States, specifically Clarks Summit.
Or so the story goes.
Well, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Race have done a jolly good job, offering a menu
as well-traveled as they.
Promotional material, bearing a sketched likeness of a stogie-smoking
Winston Churchill, promises “good beef, good beer and good cheer.”
Imagine our somewhat surprise, then, to step into a rather elegant dining
room, painted in muted shades of ivory and livened by a beguiling black-iron
fireplace fully aglow.
Pub? As in public house, those decidedly raucous, beer-centered
establishments where patrons are known to raise their pints in a grand bloody
hell to life?
Behold a more sophisticated approach.
As soft dinner music danced in our ears and more wine than beer was
dispensed around us, we oohed and aahed over the seven-appetizer selection,
ranging from a basic shrimp cocktail ($6.95) to Pate du Maison ($8.25),
homemade chicken liver and brandy pate served on buttered toast points.
I chose a consummate delight called bolinhos de bacalhau ($6.95),
Portuguese-style croquettes of salt cod and potato, whimsically laid out in a
wee basket lined with English newsprint.
Texture is everything, and these – forgive me – hushpuppyish creations were
exactly right, firm yet creamy and laced with hints of nutmeg and paprika.
Salty but not too salty, I might add. (Salt cod, after all, is de-salted.)
Tartar or cocktail sauce are available accents, but to me they obscured the
already festive flavor.
My companion chose the samosa ($5.95), an East Indian street snack that,
quite simply, floored me. As he explained that technically samosa’s pastry
pockets should be triangularly folded – where these were folded once and
fork-pressed, rather like a baby American pastie – I only half-listened,
surrendering instead to utter cardamom intoxication. The gingery/lemony spice
lovingly fragranced every nook and cranny of each potato-and-pea-filled pocket
and in, turn, set the back of my throat to dancing.
Yes, dancing.
The spice treated me almost like anise treats a cookie, infusing it with
its very life. Long live cardamom! Had I a garden I’d attempt to grow buckets
of it myself.
The samosa arrived with a sweet tomato chutney for immersion, which my
companion adored but I regarded as an afterthought and nearly plum forgot.
Next up, we substituted specialty salads for house salads to no regret.
My companion went with the crabmeat, mango and avocado salad ($9.95), all
positioned atop fresh greens dressed with a zingy lime vinaigrette. I simply
couldn’t resist the nut-crusted Brie salad ($7.95). Petite mixed greens sat
almost sheepishly under three miniature but heady rounds of the
walnut-encrusted French cheese – buttery soft while appropriately nutty. The
lightweight greens contrasted nicely with the heft of the Brie, and the
accompanying vinaigrette yet again tantalized with a racy snap.
Main-course selections were plentiful and impressive, particularly the
sauce options available to wet a $29.95 bacon-wrapped filet mignon, namely
cognac cream, mushroom gravy, bourbon, mushroom wine and red wine.
For the true English experience, though, we went another way. My companion
chose a $15.95 roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, and I couldn’t resist what
the Brits call a “chippie,” traditional beer-battered fish and chips for
$12.95. (Simply had to see how they did it here.)
The ample portion of roasted top round proved standard-issue tasty and
tender, but the Yorkshire pudding made the beef more of a sideshow. For
non-Anglophiles, this staple British bread treat consists of popover batter
baked in hot beef drippings. Winston’s did not come up short but equal parts
puffy and crispy, enhanced all the more by the savory flavor of the basic
meat.
My fish and chips, alas, dialed down my delight. Positively nothing wrong
with the neat filets, mind. Firm yet springy. Served whiter than white and in
a remarkably delicate batter. They certainly passed the test – just didn’t ace
it. That lovely of fried-fish-accent lovelies, malt vinegar, came through for
some extra credit though.
Globetrotters should find joy in an otherworldly list of additional
entrees. Try poached salmon roulade in a court bouillon and creamy dill sauce,
an Indian vegetable, chicken or lamb curry stew or a loin of pork stuffed with
apples and sultanas (golden raisins). And find a sweet mango chutney accenting
many of the above.
Desserts (not listed on the vibrant, artistic menu) capped the evening in
champion form, notably a petite lime tart drizzled in a chocolate fruit sauce
more rich than raspberry, which was actually a good thing. Coffee showed up in
a delicate, painted tea pot to authentically conclude a genteel English
experience.
No question, the “pub” has come a long way from the days of beer, boys
and bravado. Thankfully, it’s also made its way to the world beyond England,
in this case a poetic bluff with a sterling view of the Lackawanna Valley
below.
EDITOR’S NOTE: In the interest of integrity, Times Leader restaurant
critics remain anonymous to the establishments they review, and their bylines
are pen names.
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Winston’s Pub & Hotel
WHERE: 200 Johnson Road, Clarks Summit (Waverly Exit 197, off I-81)
CALL: 585-1622
CREDIT CARDS? Yes, major
HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE? Yes
SMOKING/NONSMOKING? Yes, separated by a wall
RESERVATIONS NECESSARY? Recommended, especially on weekends