Silver Fork @ Vermont

Silver Fork

4201 Main Street, Manchester, Vermont 05254

http://www.strattonmagazine.com/wp-content/files_mf/1324494336silverforkw1112dgweb.pdf

This is a long overdue post and there will be more to come.  As usual, my Christmas is spent at the ski resort and this time joined by my second elder sister's family to Manchester, Vermont.  But of course my vacation always revolves around good food, so here's a review of a local restaurant, Silver Fork.  In my opinion, probably the best restaurant in the area, we absolutely love this place!!!

Rating (out of 5):  

It's a tiny restaurant with only six tables, a warm homey atmosphere with friendly staff and services. The chef's wife attends all the tables and she is a wonderful lady, we chatted with her a little bit at the end of our dinning experience. Yes, it is an experience, not just any regular dinner. You just can't go wrong, starting from the drink, appetizer to main course and finally the dessert, everything is done in perfection and with heart.  The presentation and taste are both top notch! And on top of that, they don't charge you a fortune, it's very reasonably priced.  We all wanted to go to back to this restaurant but we were only in Vermont a few days, so we want to try out as many different places as possible.  But we did go back for my favorite Apple Cinnamon Beignets dessert.


I knew I was going for the duck so I asked for a suggestion on the red wine.  Melanie recommend the Vina Alicia Malbec, Argentina 2007 which was a perfect match for my main course.  Below is the description of Malbec from the wine menu and personally, I found it easy for my palate and enjoy the earthy taste to it.  My brother-in-law is a fan of eggnog and naturally he ordered the eggnog mix drink, I believe it is a Christmas special (sorry, I forgot to make note of the ingredients).  I took a sip of his drink and it was very good, not too sweet with just the right amount of alcohol in it.  It's definitely the kind of mix drink you can keep on drinking without knowing which number you are on. Oh, the eggnog mix drink is decorated with a mint chocolate stick which my niece snatched it away immediately...LOL.

• Complex aromas of plums, dusty earth, tobacco, and a little iron. Plums upfront transitioning to licorice on the mid-palate finishing with black pepper.

Next the appetizers, we ordered the There cheese onion soups and the Wild Mushroom Crepe for the table to share. I think everyone in the table agreed that it is by far the best onion soup we've all had in our lives.  It's like a little artwork with a flowerbed of fried onion on top of the creamy melted cheese.  The soup came with a pair of scissor which we believe is for us to cut the fried onion into smaller pieces. We all laughed trying to figure it out, it's so much fun to eat this soup. The soup has just the right amount of bread crumbs and onion flavor but not too salty, which is the downfall in many restaurants I have tried in the past.  Somehow these other restaurants think that salty beefy soup means french onion soup...wrong!!!  Silver Fork masters this soup to perfection!


My entree is the Tamarind BBQ Duck Breast served with crisp yuca, marinated onions and peppers.  The duck breast is succulent and the sauce is not tangy, an excellent match to capture the wild game flavor.


And when you think things couldn't get better than this, think again!  I am pretty sure no one in the table expected the dessert to become the star of the night.  My sister and brother-in-law ordered the Homemade Cheesecake and I ordered the Apple Cinnamon Beignets.  I have always been a sucker for apples desserts, I absolutely love the texture and the sweet and sour flavor of cooked warm apples.  The deep fried apple slices topped with homemade cinnamon ice cream served on the sweet creamy sauce was phenomenal. I don't know how the chef did it but the apple beignets were not greasy at all, it was so light and crispy and the apples were still tender and not too soft.  And the smooth homemade cinnamon ice cream did not overpower the beignets, it perfectly complemented the apples flavor.  Let's put it this way, my sister doesn't even like apple dessert and she said the Apple Cinnamon Beignets  is good.

Below are photos of this wonderful dinner, I apologize that the quality is less than optimal.  I had some problems with my iPhone camera but I assure you that everything was absolutely amazing.  Everyone cleaned the plates!!!  If you ever have the chance to visit Manchester, Vermont, be sure to reserve a spot at the great Silver Fork!  Bon Appétit!