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Washingtonian - 100 Very Best Restaurants January 2006 The Inn at Easton 
THE SCENE: Forget about Victorian doilies at this Eastern Shore retreat. Andrew Evans and his wife, Liz, have created a sophisticated dining room with pale gray walls and modern Aboriginal art, all the while preserving the building's Federal-era charm. Evan's Aussie-inflected fare is the draw. Some diners stay the night in the stylish rooms upstairs; others fly back home in their private planes.
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE: The pleasure of discovery, too often missing in dining out. It's hard to stay jaded with such novelties as Moreton Bay bugs, wattle seeds, and regional Australian wines - staples of the chef's stint Down Under. That Evans is equally accomplished in his handling of more-conventional ingredients lifts his cooking beyond gimmickry. The fishbowl (with a live Japanese fighting fish) on every table keeps things light. WHAT YOU WON'T: Sometimes the odd food-stuffs are just odd. BEST DISHES: Velvety cream-rich butternut-squash soup with the crunch of macadamia nuts; fried sweetbreads treated like foie gras with Sauternes and apples; a thick cut of bacon glazed with barbecue sauce and paired with crispy kale; Thai-style green curry made with "bugs," a saltwater crustacean from Australia; crisp-skin rockfish in a broth of white beans, chorizo, and littleneck clams; eggnog brulee, a departure that tastes as good as the original; sticky fig-and-ginger pudding with English Devon cream, sure to make an Anglophile swoon. |