Silks

Fine dining -- maybe too fine

by Jim Johnson

160 Pawtucket Boulevard , (Stonehedge Inn), Tyngsborough
(978) 649-4400
Tues.-Thurs. 6-9 p.m.
Fri.-Sat. 5:30-10 p.m.
Sun. 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Note: Jackets required
Major credit cards
Full bar
Handicap accessible

Located about 45 minutes north of Worcester at the Stonehedge Inn, Silks offers cuisine that rivals the best I've had. The setting, too, is delightful: a multimillion dollar luxury lodge built in the 1980s to resemble an elegant English manor house, complete with acres of woodlands and pastures. ("Silks," by the way, refers to the name given to the jacket and cap worn by a jockey and that distinguish the horse and owner.)

The Cabernet Sauvignons alone take up a full 12 pages of a 50-page wine list. One in our party of five ordered a glass, which was served as most restaurants serve a bottle: showing the bottle, giving a taste, and then filling the glass.

But, alas, our oenophile thought the wine tasted off. The server apologized, offered to fetch a fresh bottle, and scampered away. A few moments later, he returned. "I tried it and it's fine," he stated flatly. "Perhaps it was just not to your liking. May I offer you another selection?" Perhaps this is appropriate posh-place etiquette, but we found it rude and condescending. And, speaking of beverages, there's something damned pretentious about being asked whether we'd prefer Poland Springs, Evian, or filtered cold water.

Indeed, everything about the service was pretentious if not intrusive; three servers hovered around our table of five. Yes, they catered to our every wish and probably would have taken a bullet for us. But they also stole much of the fun, privacy, and spontaneity from our dining experience. Quite likely, they heard every word we said. Indeed, our lead server kept looking over my shoulder to read my notes. I soon started writing obscene poetry and fake travel itineraries to throw him off the scent. He's probably still wondering how I'm getting from Minsk to Dominica. When each course arrived, the servers stood behind us and, with a silent nod from their leader, placed the platters in front of us simultaneously, whisked away the tray covers, and revealed our meals. Totally classy, yes. But somewhat distracting and pretentious, too. Still, if you're accustomed to this in New York, Paris, or Palm Beach, you'll be tickled just fine -- but perhaps not by as much as 30 minutes between courses.

I must say, however, that I found our servers absolutely charming. They were simply following orders that most of their customers probably enjoy and appreciate. One of them, a young Austrian, was especially endearing. We chatted in German, and he showed genuine hand-clapping delight when I told him I'd spent some time in his hometown of Linz, a sparkling city full of culture and history but few American tourists.

The restaurant bills its fare as "southern French with a Mediterranean influence." That French connection may also refer to the small portions that have become the stereotype (I thought outdated) of nouvelle cuisine. Usually, my dining companions have enough food on their plates to share a sample for my "research." At Silks, even the entrees were so small that I had to take my tablemates' word on how they tasted. When entrees cost nearly $30, perfection may fill the spirit, but not the belly. And $8 for "Mayan" chocolate ice cream? Mayan? So there was some cinnamon in there. BFD.

When it comes to the food itself, I give nothing but raves. I'll have to be brief because space is tight and because lots of the stuff on the menu didn't even show up in my culinary reference guides; and we couldn't figure out exactly what we were eating. It's pretty bad when even the translations on the menu use words I've never seen. Anyhow, here's what we had:

For appetizers, we enjoyed seared foie gras ($14) with grilled green onion, warm buckwheat salad, and huckleberry pan sauce; a consommé of langostinos with roasted fennel served over a roulade of shiitake mushrooms and basil ($7); and a baby arugula salad ($8) with nasturtium blossom in a vinaigrette of marinated papaya and cracked papaya seed.

The medallions of beef ($29) were an exciting treatment served with crisp stilton, dried blueberry polenta, braised cabbage, and horseradish oil. The lamb ($28) was wrapped in potato with white beans (anyone know what a "brandade" is?), arugula, and charred onion in a bell-pepper reduction. And you haven't had sea bass ($23.50) until you've had it with a potato and mustard green napoleon, even though we couldn't figure out what was the napoleon and what was the root vegetable ratatouille. Finally, the duck breast ($26) was exquisite, though I tasted little curry in the curried couscous and couldn't discern what made the beets "heirloom."

Regardless of the cost ($8), my slice of date cake was one of the sweetest, moistest, most delighting and natural tasting desserts I've ever added to my waistline. The banana ice cream and fresh caramel sauce were perfect compliments. In summary, Silks is an exquisite restaurant. I admit that my own ignorance or sour grapes may have tainted this review. I am obviously not in their target demographic. Then again, you probably aren't either. Therefore, I can recommend it only if you are a snob, independently wealthy, a best friend of someone independently wealthy, or a sociology student writing a thesis on American excess. Plan on spending $50 to $75 per person.