Yet this inn's restaurant has racked up several dining awards on its own, while having a nationally recognized wine cellar with over 700 labels. So why would it import high-caliber chefs for one-time events?
Owner Jack Carnevale becomes animated when talking about food. "We want to keep it interesting here. Keep it cutting edge," he explains. "It's a feather in our cap to bring in this caliber of chef. I have a supportive staff who want to learn from these people."
With this level of talent Carnevale raises the bar for fine-food consciousness in New Hampshire. He keeps his loyal local clientele excited and also reaches a broader market of people who know these chefs and follow them around. "We have celebrity chef groupies," says Susan Foster, who organizes the series.
Susan Samson, the owner of Sakonnet Vineyards on the southeast coast of Rhode Island, agrees such dinners are a great way to reach customers. "Food is a great hook," she says, adjusting the baseball cap she often wears. "I call it `Sakonnetizing.' It's a great way to educate the public that wine and food are natural components."
Samson, who bought the vineyard 17 years ago with her husband, Earl, says they are still working to persuade the public their wine is good. "I don't mean this in a derogatory way," she says one recent rainy morning. "But people from other regions -- New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut -- are more open to us. New Englanders are generally more suspect."
As a way to reach out to the public -- and to chefs with influential wine lists -- the Samsons created a Master Chefs Cooking Series, expanding on the program begun in the early 1980s by original owner, Lolly Mitchell. Held in what was once a private home on the estate, the classroom has windows on three sides with bucolic views of the vineyards and the Sakonnet River beyond. What works so well is the intimate scale and sense that one is working at home.
