Albums aside, the inn displays no exotic souvenirs. Instead, the distillations of countless culinary adventures are here for the sampling in the candle lit dining room, the heart of this inn.
Thom Gorman’s love of Indian food began during his stint in India with the Peace Corps. He never intended to run a restaurant, but the winter of 1979-80, the couple’s first as innkeepers, was a terrible snow season. Out of desperation, Thom launched a series of “Invitation to Indian Cooking’’ nights, a success in this sophisticated valley that is home to Sugarbush Resort and Mad River Glen.
“We inherited a big vegetable garden from a previous owner and felt obligated to keep it going,’’ Joan recalls. That summer practically everything they made was vegetarian although, from the start, a menu staple was badami rogan josh, tender chunks of lamb simmered in a rich and spicy curried sauce. The lamb came from a farm down the road. “We were fusion and local before there were names for either,’’ she says. Thom learned to cut meat and began making his own pasta while Joan honed her pastry skills.
The inn now averages 20 diners a night and the menu has evolved over 30 years. Still reasonably priced ($15.95-$22.95 including salad and sides), it features homemade pasta and local chicken and beef. Staples include meen molee (a mild curry served with fish or scallops), discovered at a former rubber plantation in Kerala, in south India; “aku shaak’’ (small squash, sweet peppers, and other vegetables filled with a spicy peanut stuffing) from the Indian community in Durban, South Africa; and Grand Turk coconut shrimp with a mango dipping sauce (Thom adds horseradish) discovered in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The wine list has also evolved. “Over the years we’ve visited at least 30 vineyards and our favorite is Beaumont Winery in Walker Bay in South Africa’’ Joan says. “We like them because they have the same values in producing their wines that we do in managing our inn and producing our food: high quality, not huge quantity, and good value for money.’’
