Roaming around in Monticello, New York (like the one in Virginia, but with a soft “c”), I started feeling a tad peckish. I poked my head into a few places, one place was closed and nothing really felt right. I looked online at few Yelp reviews of one place. Now, I know to take those reviews with more than a grain of salt. Why, just today, the LA Times had an article about how Yelp was notifying readers about the pay for good reviews scam. With that in mind, I looked at one place’s Yelp reviews and glossed over the perfect, glowing reports. One plaintive review said that really, one should go to The Nugget instead. I realized The Nugget was nearby where I was, so I took my chances.
BINGO! It’s a great, friendly bar. It’s fairly bright and decorative, though some of the “soft goods” (as they say in the hotel industry) are a bit faded. Along with the popular bar area, there are two dining sections, one of which has an electric fireplace going. I also found out that they just switched owners and chefs this week and if tonight was a preview of things to come, patrons are in most excellent hands.
I started out with an appetizer of prime rib Gorgonzola bites, which are crisp crostini topped with pan-fried mushrooms, sliced prime rib, melted Gorgonzola cheese and horseradish cream for dipping. This is a generously portioned and quite a fancy appetizer for $7.95! Really, though I shared the appetizer, I think it would make the perfect meal for even a hearty eater.
Another appetizer I tried– hey, I was hungry! — were their jumbo chicken wings. You can get 6 or 12 of them in a number of sauces. They have a signature sauce they’re famous for, but also a butter-garlic-Parmasan sauce. I went back and forth, back and forth, trying to decide which to get. I wasn’t in the mood for a tomato sauce — though really, I’m not sure what the signature sauce is even now. The butter-garlic-Parmasan chicken wings rocked! They’re very large and crispy, not flabby-fatty. The sauce was baked in, with tons of fresh herbs. It was served with ranch dressing, though I think they should make another sauce worthy of these great wings.
In between courses, they bring you out locally baked bread — brought in daily — which they toast with an herb mixture.
They had a terrific special: beef ribs — which I haven’t had since I was a kid in Illinois — with soup (or salad) and mac & cheese. First, for soup, you get to choose from like 6 different homemade soups. One is their signature baked potato, but I was more in the mood for their steak mushroom barley. It was very rich in beef flavor and sharing a cup was satisfying. The meat on the ribs was pretty tender and clearly was baked, not parboiled first. The BBQ sauce was not overly sweet or goopy. The plate also had steamed seasonal local veggies with garlic-herb seasoning.
On the side came what is totally an entree’ sized portion of the BEST mac and cheese I’ve had in my life. Knock, knock. Did you hear me? The best! You might figure the best would be at a meat and 3 in the South or somewhere. Monticello, NY? Yes! It’s made with what I think is smoked sharp NY white cheddar and topped with orange cheddar. If they froze it and sold it through Wegman’s, they’d be jillionaires, as Woody Guthrie used to say.
Luxe & Down-Home Cuisine/Culture/Travel/Style 