A large and heavy sourdough grilled cheese with additional tomato and short rib. And a really good pickle.
Another trip to New Haven for a doctor’s consultation, opinion and discussion. I’ll post about that in Journal 2020. But for now I’ll say the new parking garage I had to hunt and peck through to this doctor’s office raised my blood pressure by about 15 points (I have the reading to prove it, too…) annoyed me so much that I simply decided to leave New Haven entirely, and score some lunch on Route 34 between New Haven and Derby. So much for two res
My pale ale simply waiting for me.
taurants IN New Haven I’d wanted to eat in, and perhaps a museum to browse… but that parking garage just made my brain wanted a full no-stop exit.
However, nothing edible on that route panned out. So I hopped on Route 8 to head home, but felt a hunger gnawing, so decided to get off at exit 42, drive up into Litchfield, where I know there are edible eateries, and stop at one of those. They can be a bit pricy – it’s Litchfield – but the one I chose wasn’t that bad price-wise, especially considering food volume.
I ended up going into @The Corner, located at a block corner (imagine that), within sight of Route 202 and Route 118. I’d never eaten here before.
It’s a restaurant and a pub. Indeed, you can buy sealed-up take-home growlers of beer should you be so inclined. It serves mostly farm to table food (a positive in my eyes), and since dairy cheeses from the nearby Arathusa Farm were featured in dishes on the menu, this influenced my purchases. Oh, PS — where did that term “growler” come from???
In serving, I’d have left off the bits of limp arugula décor, but the soup was grand.
I ordered:
Gluten free baked onion soup, with gruyere and provolone. I have to say this is the best vegetable broth soup I have ever had – usually a good onion soup requires beef stock. AND they didn’t get heavy with the salt shaker, either. I might have wanted a bit more crisp to the croutons, but not being familiar with GF bread or toast, maybe that’s part of the territory?
Sourdough grilled cheese with optional tomato and beef short rib. (There was also a bacon option which I didn’t take.) Overstuffed with four different and highly meltable Arathusa cheeses, only one of which repeated the soup (the Gruyere). This was TRUE sourdough bread, too. My only complaint is that this was…. TOO MUCH. I’d have been happy with half a sandwich. PS, this item not gluten-free.
While unfortunately a re-heated grilled cheese sandwich, despite being re-heated in the oven or stove top instead of a microwave, will never measure up to the original presentation and taste, taking home leftovers was far superior to 1) porking it all down the pie hole in one sitting, or 2) leaving it there for the trash bin.
PS, , while there are several gluten-free menu items, this one is not.
A 4 ounce “shot” of pale ale, alas I can’t recall the name. They had a bunch of “sample sizes” on the menu, and I figured 4 ounces was fine with a beer at 5.6% alcohol content (some were nearly 8%) and a continuing drive home. This had a nice, minimally hoppy flavor.
A full carafe of cold water. Okay, water is water. Usually. Especially without fluoride treatment or lead residues. Yes, it was gratis.
The table next to mine (an older man and woman) received a humongous plate of salad to share that would have worked for three, plus an order of the Fontina mushroom flatbread – which the male spent a long time complaining about its greasiness to his dining partner (I’d actually left to visit the facilities and come back and he was still complaining.) The woman didn’t seem to have any complaints. Mind you, I don’t plan on listening on other table conversations, but barring deafness, not overhearing him was not an option.
I have to note that many restaurants provide more food for a meal (here in the US) than one would normally want to eat. One option for large portions is indeed (if travelling with a companion, which I certainly didn’t want to drag down to Yale Medical) is to share a couple dishes. This however only works with companions of similar taste predilections, and sometimes only with certain cuisines. Of course the other option is to take home the most transportable of any leftovers. I did the latter – that sandwich was of course best the first day. I re-heated this in the oven as melty cheese was what drew me to order in the first place.
PS: I overheard one of the waitresses note that the seasonal menu may soon change.
In the interim, however, I was seriously tempted by:
- Butternut squash bisque
- Ahi tuna wonton slices
- Cotija shrimp and avocado tacos
Speaking of the facilities: Very clean, and accessible but a little too much nose-clogging disinfectant aroma.
Yes, I’d return. I didn’t have any remote desire for a third meal anywhere this day, btw.
@ the Corner
3 West Street
Litchfield, CT 06759
Rating 3.8 stars out of 5.
Sea Vegetable
Of Goats and Greens 