 Eden Restaurant and Lounge 292 Route 101 (Salzburg Square) Amherst, 249-3336 edenrestaurantandlounge.com Price guide: $ Inexpensive - up to $15/person; $$ Moderate - $16 to $30; $$$ Expensive - $31 and up Ratings guide: * acceptable * * good * * * worth a detour * * * * worth a journey Visit the Dining section of NewHampshire.com to read previous Our Gourmet reviews listed by town. |
Eventually we persisted in our quest and after a phone call finally walked into Eden. We were so glad we did — the ambience is friendly and warm and the food creative and tasty, with a refreshing new trend in dining — a choice of portion size.
Husband and wife owners Elie and Rachel Elfata worked at Manchester’s Unwine’d before opening Eden in November. It was there that they met Chef Tim Sluski, who also worked at Baldwin’s On Elm and all three of Michael Buckley’s restaurants. Now they run the front of the house, Elie often sitting at a table with regulars as he stops to chat them up or bring out a dish or two.
The décor here is eclectic, which is my code word for “it’s hard to figure out a theme.” The amusing faux beige brick wall treatments look almost 3-D, and the colors inside are mostly black, with a slick granite bar in the cool lounge and lushly upholstered, high-backed chairs as well as black tablecloths. Contrast comes from white dinnerware and multi-colored artificial flowers around the perimeter of the dining room.
Oh, and there are a few bubbling fountains here and there. Add to that some modern European music thumping in the background and the overall effect is more urban than Amherst is used to and — eclectic.
The cuisine is easier to get a handle on with hints of the Mediterranean and Middle East mingled with familiar New England ingredients — what we’ve come to know as “creative American,” or you know, eclectic. The delight here is the way you can order — most dishes come in two sizes and two prices so you can have a bunch of dishes tapas style or go whole hog and traditional with an appetizer and entrée.
There’s a creative martini list and a small but interesting wine list to go with the food.
After a gratis dish of spicy chips of flatbread with fresh tomato, we started with a half a Caesar salad ($4/$7), which was enough for two if combined with other starters. The Romaine lettuce was nice and crisp with a tangy, creamy dressing and decadently buttery croutons, topped with plenty of grated Parmesan.
We also tried a spring roll filled with duck confit and sliced apple, with a fennel and pomegranate yogurt sauce (one size, $10). The skin of the roll was terrifically crisp and the duck inside tender and exotically flavored. The sauce on the plate for dipping was too fruity for the dish and I wanted to taste more fennel, but overall it was good.
We also tried the small order of roasted chicken ($9/$16), which came as a breast of chicken sliced and served on top of a chilled orzo salad with black olives, peppers, and small bits of Feta. The chicken was tender and delicious, great with the vibrant yogurt sauce that was filled with green herbs and a touch of curry.
There’s not much in the way of fish on the menu — tuna tartar, ahi salad, salmon or scallops with risotto — but the meat dishes are terrific. Companion tried the pecan graham cracker and molasses crusted rack of lamb ($18/$27) in the small size, which was plenty. Two melt-in-the-mouth lamb chops are served with a pile of creamy Yukon gold mashed potatoes with the merest hint of truffle oil and a puree of mango with sharp mustard. The touch of molasses added a robust flavor to the crust on the lamb.
I ordered the smaller size of the grilled Terras Major ($16/$25), a cut of beef we’ll be seeing more of on menus. It’s a muscle like tenderloin but it’s in the shoulder so it has more flavor, yet is lean as well. Now it’s being separated from the shoulder and packaged with the Terras Major name to make it even more marketable.
The beef was indeed tender and tasty although cooked to medium-well rather than medium as I requested. Still, with the veal demi glace and blue cheese bacon butter to swish the meat in it was excellent.
A potato hash with soft carrots was a good alternative to mashed potatoes and I loved the roasted yellow and red tomatoes on the long, lovely looking dish.
Desserts are good as well. While Elie waxed poetic about the cheesecake, and it did sound great, we tried a tall parfait of rich vanilla panna cotta mixed with moscato soaked strawberries ($6), a fantastic journey into pure, smooth, custard cream and three ripe chocolate covered strawberries ($5). There were no smaller-size options in desserts but I did note to Companion on the drive home, “Hey, the car doesn’t smell like leftovers for once,” and that was fine.
The option to avoid the “portion distortion” so rampant on American tables is a trend I hope continues and with food as good as we had at Eden, being able sample more without busting a button is a joy.
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