Although we had planned on dinner Saturday night at Warfield’s restaurant after our inn keeper told us about a special tasting menu we could try from her friend there, the award-winning chef, we decided on a last minute switch and ended up at The Brown Hound Bistro in Naples, New York. 

After a long day of tasting (and after popping open another bottle of white with some strawberry cheese and crackers by the fire back at the Inn), we thought driving 3 miles rather than over 30 would be a much better option.  We had heard how excellent The Brown Hound Bistro was, but we also heard that with only a handful of tables we may not be able to get in.  Thankfully, a couple had cancelled their reservation and we were told to come right over. More on our amazing meal after the jump…

After driving only a couple of miles on a deserted Route 64, Andy and I thought our navigation system must have had one too many glasses of wine itself.  How could a renowned restaurant be 0.5… 0.4… 0.3… 0.2… miles away in the middle of nowhere?  As we got closer, we thought we must have entered the address incorrectly, but then there it was.  A little white house with a picket fence emanating a warm, inviting light.  We climbed up the stairs of the porch and were amazed by the tiny (but lively) little bar and the tiny little dining room.  We were seated immediately and after a quick review of the menu, we knew we made the right choice. 

After being spoiled by such amazing meals over the past week, Brown Hound Bistro still managed to impress us.  We picked our favorite local wines from the day’s tastings and we relaxed to the live guitar music in the dining room while looking forward to a relaxing night in our barn suite.  I started off with a crisp Caesar salad (salad was much needed after a week of indulgence) while Andy had an unbelievable crock of french onion soup.  The most impressive part of the evening was the special I ordered- perfectly medium rare Beef Wellington.  The light savory pastry melted into the perfectly tender meat and the fall roasted vegetables and creamy mashed potatoes were godly.  It surely beat my One if By Land, Two if By Sea signature Beef Wellington- I could not have been happier.  Andy chose the filet with smoked gouda and chived whipped potatoes and petit noir thyme jus- perfection!  How did they do it?  With friendly service, local wines, and amazing food (and only a couple of miles from our Finger Lakes home), we could not have done better. 

We finished up the night with some late harvest reisling and a steaming apple crisp.  The Brown Hound Bistro, our little cozy oasis in the Finger Lakes, was the perfect escape from everything urban.

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