When the yen to dine with wine – not just snack on cheese or small plates – strikes, these full-service restaurants at American wineries offer the best of both worlds in beautiful settings.
Belhurst Estate Winery in Geneva, N.Y.
This 1880s stone castle-like mansion on Seneca Lake’s north end has two restaurants, both open daily for lunch and dinner: Edgar’s for fine dining in an Old World-style setting with carved wood, a ceramic tile inlay fireplace and a knight in armor, and Stonecutters for varied tavern fare by a stone fireplace or outside on the lake. Expect steaks, seafood and game for dinner at Edgar’s – plus a moderately priced lunch buffet– and, at Stonecutters, anything from artichoke and spinach fondue with New York gouda cheese or tandoori-flavored beef bites to sandwiches and salads (plus live music Saturday nights). A choice of three fall wine-pairing menus is currently available. You can also spend the night in the “castle,” at its nearby Georgian Revival-style mansion, or Vinifera Inn.
Domaine Chandon in Yountville, Calif.
Napa Valley’s only fine dining restaurant at a winery, Michelin-starred Etoile offers seasonal menus for lunch and dinner Thursday through Monday that may include Dungeness crab with shrimp mousse, tangerine and sorrel, sea urchin fettucine with kumquats, fennel and foraged greens, or duck with chanterelles. Four-course tasting menus (plus a six-course tasting menu for dinner) are available. Owned by Moet & Chandon, the French Champagne maker, the winery was the first French-owned sparkling wine venture in the USA when it began in 1973.
Source: USA Today |
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