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- Home Run
- The Mad River Valley has plenty of historic inns, but few go beyond bed and breakfast to pamper walk-in gourmands with first-class dinners. 1824 House, a lovingly restored, white-clapboard farmhouse in Waitsfield, serves cozy, candlelit meals in its eight-table dining room and large-scale banquets in a newly renovated barn. John Lumbra and Karl Klein run the place. Klein is the carpenter/wine steward; his partner Lumbra, a professional chef, presides in the kitchen.
- The ever-changing menu has a continental accent. Appetizers include a trio of crab cakes on mango sabayon and chive oil, or fresh mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto, lightly broiled, and served on crostini with pesto. For the salad course, mixed baby greens are tossed with toasted pine nuts and topped with shavings of Three Shepard cheese, made right down the road in Warren. Parmigiano-Reggiano custard is embellished with curls of romaine lettuce, a Parmesan âcrispâ and a filigree of balsamic vinegar reduction.
- Despite the Euro flavor, portions are American-sized — and sumptuous. Black Angus filet mignon comes encircled in bacon and topped with bleu cheese. The pork chop smothered in apple-pear chutney is two inches thick. Lamb riblets are prepared with thyme oil. Entrées arrive with just-so veggies: glistening green Brussels sprouts, as-paragus tips, whipped sweet potato. Desserts range from made-in-Vermont sorbets to a rich pecan tart.
- The only downside: tearing yourself away. The intimate atmosphere is so relaxed, and the effusive innkeepers so welcoming, you might want to stay the night.
- — RUTH HOROWITZ
- 1824 House
2150 Main Street, Waitsfield, 496-7555 
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photo: matthew thorsen
