Napa Meets Lancaster and the World Rejoices

Those of us who have been mourning the loss of Effie Ophelia can now raise our wine glasses and cheer. The intimate space at 230 North Prince Street has been brought back to life by Taylor and Leeann Mason.

Ma(i)son, An Urban Cookery, features a marriage of Italian cuisine with a French flair, and there are enough changes to make the space seem new while maintaining that wonderful “Cheers” like familiarity.

Unlike Effie’s, Ma(i)son takes reservations – a welcome change. We couldn’t get in on a Wednesday, but on the second try we were able to reserve the Chef’s table for a Thursday night. The small restaurant echoed with laughter and two large groups were clearly enjoying their evening.

We could watch the care and attention to detail that every dish received before being sent out of the kitchen.

Taylor’s smile lit up the small kitchen and Leeann was warm and welcoming.  She was born in Lancaster and moved away when she was four, so it is a bit of a homecoming to move back from Napa Valley.

We shared some of our wine, Cherry Tree Merlot from local Waltz Vineyard and urged them to visit Kim and Jan Waltz when they got a chance.

Dishes feature local produce and cheese from Lancaster County farms – in fact, we recognized the cheese from one of our favorite local Amish cheese makers.

The menu is small and seasonal and will change often – Taylor was already talking about dishes featuring the anticipated tomato crop. We liked both the Ricotta Fritta (so light and delicate) and the Squash and Zucchini Salad. The squash salad had a light dressing and the herbs on the tomato salad oozed the freshness of summer. Crusty bread and the house-made butter with herbs were a nice touch. Yum.

I had the burrata – mozzarella with braised artichokes and country bread, (yes, now that I think of it both dishes show my love of cheese) and Bruce had the slow roasted pork with swiss chard over cannelini beans. The pork melted in your mouth.

Desserts danced on our tongues - a blueberry tart with a hint of lemon and honey in the crust and a lemon verbena crème brulee served, of course, in a small mason jar.

If you go, tell them The Artist's Inn sent you.  Better yet, give us a call and we'll meet you there!

Birchrunville Store Cafe - A Foodies Kind of Restaurant

We are Foodies. We love to explore new restaurants and keep current with old favorites and recommend them to our guests at the bed and breakfast. And so we set off last Wednesday with good friends to enjoy a warm dinner out on a cold winter night.

We discovered the Birchrunville Store Café five years ago and it has become one of our absolute favorites. It is hidden away on a country road, deep in Chester County – but you will swear you’ve arrived in the French countryside. It’s actually only two turns and about 40 minutes from our inn in Lancaster County and well worth the drive. The restaurant is set in an old general store, its green paint well weathered, and inside window sills filled with corks from many happy diners. The front of the building is also home to the local post office. A stream behind the restaurant provides a backdrop for the lucky few who get to dine on the patio.

This small, intimate café is a place to fall in love-or fall in love again - either with someone, with the food, or with both. The glow of dozens of candles, the ring of wine glasses as they meet in a toast, and the warm oranges and reds of the French (or Italian) countryside wait for you inside. There’s a black and white whirl of a very pleasant (but not at all snooty) wait staff that delights in explaining the menu and describing the specials. And it seems there are usually more specials than one can remember. The only tough part is the decisions on what to order.

My appetizer of goat cheese soufflé with a warm truffle center balanced the plate perfectly between the cream and color of the soufflé and the crisp bite and bright green of the arugula salad.

As you can see, Bruce’s appetizer of smoked salmon, avocado, jumbo lump crabmeat napoleon with Japanese seaweed salad was a work of art, and Rich’s Romaine Salad wrapped in Parma prosciutto was just as impressive.

The main courses were wonderful too, but the more wine we drank, the fewer pictures I took. But everything, from the veal tenderloin with chanterelle mushrooms to the black angus strip steak, the quail and the rack of lamb were all delicious. You can see the descriptions and full menu on their website.

We were thrilled when we convinced the Chef and Owner, Francis Trzeciak, to make a rare appearance before our camera – many thanks to Jennifer, our waitress, for making this photo possible! Having grown up in France and then spending time in Italy, the chef has brought the best of both worlds to this little corner of America.
So, the next time you plan to visit The Artist’s Inn, we recommend that you ask us to reserve a table for you at Birchrunville Store Café – but don’t wait too long. They are open just four days a week and only for dinner. Saturdays are already booked through the end of May. Hey, that sounds like a good excuse to visit us on a weeknight and take advantage of our March coupon of 25% off any stay Sunday through Thursday nights. In case you missed our newsletter, you can sign up on our website. If you’d like to take advantage of our coupon, just mention it at the time of booking.

The Cafe suggests that you bring your favorite wine and they will happily pour for you, but leave your credit cards at home – this is a cash only restaurant.

Effie Oh!

Weeknights during the winter are not quite the busiest time of the year for The Artist’s Inn, so it’s a perfect excuse for Bruce and me to try new restaurants. We had heard about Effie Ophelia’s last summer during our Wine Camp, but couldn’t remember the name!

When talk of the restaurant surfaced again, and we found that friends of ours, Lynne and Bob Griffin of the Australian Walkabout, also wanted to eat there - and when they were able to get a sitter at the last-minute - well, it just seemed like fate that we should go.

Named for Eric Howton’s (the owner) grandmother, it’s a tiny bistro of about ten tables in downtown Lancaster. One of the rare, “bring-your-own bottle” restaurants, Effie Ophelia’s is a great place to enjoy the German Riesling that the Griffins brought. Our bottle of a French blend – even though it had a great looking label (my test of whether or not to buy a new wine) - fell short of expectations.

But the food did not. I could have dived into my appetizer - sweet potato gnocchi with sage cream and candied pecans. It was a heavenly mix of textures and sweetness. The roasted root vegetables, chevre gratin with spinach cream, tasted as wonderful as it was beautiful. It’s featured on the home page of their website and pictured here.

We all liked our main courses as well, the pan seared trout with herbed spaetzle and shitake leek cream, lime-ginger roasted chicken with carrot and golden raisin mostarda, and the chiles rellenos, with citrus and white bean puree and tomato coulis. I had the seared diver scallops with cilantro crisped hominy and pickled pepper pot – the portion was quite generous. The spicy bite of the scallops danced so well with the sweetness of the peppers. We sipped tea while our friends polished off a serving of cream brulee. It looked yummy and next time I hope to try it.

I thought I had a small kitchen, but Eric does very well in what little space he has – the “kitchen” is open to the restaurant and about the size of a broom closet, albeit a stainless steel one. No matter, people still like to go up to him and talk while he is whirring around. Hey, I know what that’s like!

You can bet we’ll be back and will certainly recommend it to our guests….although they don’t take reservations, so there may be quite a wait. But it’s a nice neighborhood to window shop – they are on gallery row.

We have the menu here at The Artist’s Inn, though entrees change frequently. Now, if we can just remember the name!