Huntley Taverne Serves up a Seasonal Celebration

A quiet, tastefully designed notation at the top of Huntley Taverne’s seasonal menu announces the restaurant’s motto “celebrating food and wine”—and what a celebration it is.

The Huntley Taverne experience begins before you even get out of your car. The restaurant provides complimentary valet parking, and as soon as you pull up, you are whisked into the chalet-style, two-story A-frame. The fine linens and silver are formal, yet the building’s exposed wooden beams and warm, crackling fireplace create a comfortable, romantic ambiance that practically wills one to leave their cares at the door. Deep crimson wines pour into heavy glassware and laughter trickles through the crowded rooms. There is a positive energy flowing throughout the place, from the wrap around inside/outside porch tables to the partial open kitchen to the upstairs dining area. By the time you sit down to dinner, you have already been enchanted.

The restaurant features a tremendous selection of over 250 different wines, mostly from Italy, France, and California ($7.95-$19.95 by the glass, $30-$325 by the bottle). Huntley Taverne also offers draught seasonal beers that were brewed at its sister restaurant, Trap Rock Restaurant and Brewery ($5).

While the menu items aren’t as numerous as the wine list, Huntley Taverne’s kitchen puts out a solid selection of salads ($8.95-10.95), wood-fired pizzas ($10.95-$14.95), appetizers ($7.95-$19.95), and mains ($16.95-$32.95). There is certainly something to suit everyone’s taste buds, whether it be seafood, chicken, steak, or vegetarian. Each dish is exquisitely prepared and presented, incorporates high-quality, seasonal products, and has been thought through to the very last, savored bite.

On a recent visit, I enjoyed the Trio of Appetizers to Share ($19.95), which included three mini crab cakes, curried lemongrass chicken satays, and Asian tuna tartar on sesame wontons. Hands down, the best thing on the plate was the chicken satays, which were marinated in an addictive sauce, grilled for a bit of extra smoke flavor, and served with a yogurt-based dip. They were beyond delicious and outshined both the crab cakes and the way under-spiced tuna tartar. The tuna was topped with shaved raw carrots and greens in a spicy vinaigrette, and the intent was for diners to layer the sesame chips with everything on the plate. I found the dish’s flavors remained distinctly separate and didn’t form a harmonious bite. Despite the flaw, it was hard to turn my nose up at a really fresh bit of tuna, and finished the plate hoping this small misstep would be the last.

There were no further culinary slip-ups that evening, and I’m pleased to report that Huntley Taverne’s entrees did not disappoint. The rosemary roasted duck breast ($25.95) was magnificently cooked. Its accompaniments—mashed potatoes delicately laced with house-smoked goat cheese, a rustic pile of sautéed spinach, and a complex pomegranate molasses sauce, were perfect compliments to the dish.

The pan-seared rare tuna ($25.95) was also superb. The fish’s interesting, thick-cubed cut was fanned out over a Mediterranean orzo with sun-dried tomatoes, a baby arugula salad, and a saffron aioli. As hearty, heavy, and delicious as the duck dish was, the tuna in turn was light, bright, and equally satisfying.

Dessert choices run the gamut from an autumn apple tasting ($8.95) to a Huntley Tavern Sweets Plate ($7.95) that includes an assortment of cookies and other treats, an assortment of six cheeses ($10.95), and chocolate fondue for the table ($15.95).

I opted to end my meal with Huntley Taverne’s Maple pecan cheesecake ($7.95). The plate was beautiful and showcased a generous slice of creamy cheesecake, a poached sickle pear, a scoop of pear sorbet that really did taste like pear, a thin, leaf-shaped crisp of a cookie, and a final drizzle of maple caramel. It was the epitome of fall on a plate.

There is much to be said about the Huntley Taverne, from the way the chef creatively incorporates a touch of fall into the menu to the restaurant’s outstanding service. Every table is waited on by no less than three people and often times more. Bar tabs are moved from one room to the next effortlessly, silverware is replaced without diners even noticing, and wine changes are offered depending on what dish you will be served. The establishment runs so smoothly and with such grace that everything falls away into the background, leaving you completely focused on the company you keep and the culinary delights that are put before you.

Then, just when you have completely fallen under Huntley Taverne’s spell at the end of the evening, the valet brings your car around, offers you a bottle of water and a mint, and sends you home.

I can’t think of a better celebration of food and wine than that.

 --------------------------------------------------

 Huntley Taverne

3 Morris Ave., Summit

(908) 273-3166

Hours of Operation:

Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11:30 am-4 pm

Lunch, Sunday, 12-4 pm

Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 4-10 pm

Dinner, Friday and Saturday, 4-11 pm

Dinner, Sunday, 4-9 pm

All major credit cards accepted.

Private party rooms available.