Ashland, coda: a tale of three dinners

[djonn]

Most years, the annual Shakespeare Festival pilgrimage is a family event.  This time, however, I was on my own, and as a result I went exploring among the Ashland restaurant scene in search of new and interesting places to eat.  I found a couple, and as I have a foodie or two in the gallery, I figure I ought to indulge in a bit of additional reportage.

Friday dinner is the one meal orchestrated by the tour group, and was therefore catered and served by our hosts at the Ashland Springs Hotel, smack in the middle of downtown Ashland about a block from the Shakespeare Festival's campus.  As hotel-banquet fare goes, it was quite good.  The first course was a basic salad; leaf lettuce with a rather liberally applied vinaigrette and a sprinkling of dark, crisp croutons.  The entree was more distinctive; herbed roast pork loin with lightly cooked vegetables (summer squash and glazed carrot).  This was well-flavored, and the vegetables were perfectly prepared -- I'm not entirely sure whether the carrots had been roasted or sautéed (I suspect the former), but they were large chunks at exactly the right point to be both firm and tender.  Dessert was a dish I don't have a name for: a crisp rolled cookie drizzled with chocolate and filled with a whipped-cream concoction -- not quite a biscotti, I don't think, as the exterior was similar in consistency (and shape) to an undersized waffle-type ice cream cone.  Quite good, but awkward to eat with knife and fork, yet not seemingly designed to eat with one's fingers.

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Saturday, I walked a block and a half up the street (away from the theater complex) to Pasta Piatti, a reasonably new Italian establishment -- and a welcome one.  More moderately priced than either the long-established Macaroni's or the slightly more elegant Il Giardino, the place was airy and bustling.  As a solo diner, I was offered either a sidewalk table or a seat at one end of the four-person wine bar; I took the latter (air conditioning, good).  Service was capable but a trifle confused; I never did get a full place setting (the lady seated to my right kindly offered me her unused fork when my main course arrived), and the wine bar itself didn't seem to have any particular person stationed consistently behind it.  Ironically enough, I don't drink alcohol -- a matter of taste, not principle -- which may have confused the staff given my choice of seats.

Service glitches aside (and I can't fault the staff too much, as I never actually brought up the place-setting issue), the food was quite good.  Minestrone was bright and fresh-tasting, with vegetables retaining a degree of "bite".  Linguini pesto with shrimp -- large prawn-sized critters -- was equally tasty and well-prepared, with strips of tomato adding color to the creamy pesto; the portion was respectable but not overwhelming.  [I note now that the recipe for this dish is on the Web site.]  Both soup and pasta came with "ciabatta bread"; this was denser and more cake-like in texture than I normally expect of ciabatta, but nonetheless good, and one is offered butter and oil/vinegar to accompany the bread.  At these prices ($9.95 for the linguini, $2.95 for minestrone or mista with entrée) and this quality, it's no wonder the place is crowded.  I omitted dessert and can't comment on the wine selection, but this is a place I'd return to.

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Sunday evening, I went in the other direction, opting for Pipon's, a restaurant/cantina newly arrived in Ashland's Plaza shopping district.  This is a place working hard to sell itself; there was a hostess stationed right out on the sidewalk ready to discuss the posted menu with passersby, and to offer seating to those expressing interest.  Once seated, service was attentive, observant, and extremely efficient -- I was early enough that there was no chance of my missing a play's curtain time, but clearly the waitstaff have theatergoers in mind.

The menu initially looks like familiar gringo-Mex fare, but closer study reveals more ambition; it isn't every Mexican café that offers wine recommendations with most entrées, and another time I'd be very tempted by some of the seafood offerings, which go well beyond the ordinary.  I opted for enchiladas suizas, three densely packed chicken enchiladas served with a robust but not too hot green tomatillo sauce.  Accompaniments are typical in name but above-average in execution, particularly the very fresh pico de gallo (I'd bet on the lettuce having been hand-shredded) and the charro beans, simmered in a a smoky, bacon-rich sauce.  Complimentary chips and salsa are billed as house-made -- and apparently change seasonally, as a posted review referred to white-corn chips, while the basket I received held robust yellow-corn chips

Prices are on the upscale side of the Mexican spectrum ($12 for the enchiladas suizas, ranging up to $23 for a fresh salmon almendrado), but look very reasonable for what's served, based on what I watched going by as well as what I ate.  As with Pasta Piatti, this is a place I'll happily visit again.

Comments

[frabjousdave.livejournal.com]

I burn with envy. It has been too long for me, but perhaps my next festival visit will be to Stratford in Fair Canadia.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

cannoli.. the nice dessert item is an italian treat.. and in public its knife and fork time, but when I get them for myself to bring home, I use my fingers..