Serving Up Local

The handsome property, behind those thick white-washed walls at the corner of Morris Road and Dekalb Pike, known as Normandy Farm, dates way back to 1730. 

But with the takeover by new owners of the 141-room Normandy Farm Hotel, with its big banquet room, and its restaurant (formerly headed by Jim Coleman), last February, renaming it The Farmer's Daughter, hiring head chef Mtele Abu (who came from Kenya by way of California), pastry chef Tia Bennett, and promoting Aaron Washington to manager/maitre d', this destination-worthy restaurant is very up-to-date, and excellent.

The new menu is less stodgy, and more accessible, creative and unusual, not to mention more wallet-friendly. It focuses on the use of locally grown and raised, sustainable ingredients: cheeses (Keswick Creamery), meats and poultry (Hatfield Meats, and Meadowrun Farms of Lancaster), cured and smoked charcuterie specialties (Illg's  in Bucks County), and local vegetables (Living Hope Farm lettuces).

These carefully chosen, fresh ingredients in the hands of Chef Abu, served as attentively in the low noise, comfortable main dining room, made for a very high-  level dining experience.

I went for dinner recently on a midweek night. We were a party of four. A walk past the hotel lobby and a wide corridor brought us to the comfortable, pleasantly illuminated, rustic farmhouse referenced dining room, and our table, well-clothed in fresh linens. The gas fireplace was lit.

We started with wine flights (three, 3-ounce glasses) of chilled still and sparkling whites ($15), served in appropriate stemware. 

Indeed, the service throughout was distinctive in its use of unusual shaped dishes, mini-sized jars and cruets on nested plates, while the presentations of  each course's ingredients were consistently artful.  

Our server was efficient and faultless. 

During an extensive, many-course meal, we sampled the cheese and charcuterie board offerings, had two small-plate selections, a summer salad with lobster (not yet on the menu), a basil sorbet intermezzo, ordered four “Farm Dinner” plates, and found room to enjoy two sweet desserts.                        

The charcuterie and cheese board ($16) included a mix of cured meats: krakauer dry smoked sausage, Westphalian ham, and finocchiona (Tuscan pork salami); and cheeses: Birchrun blue, Keswick creamery wallaby and lesher, with kumquat marmalade and olives. What fun!

Next we were treated to Chef Abu's new summer salad, a delightful spring mix partially hiding hunks of lobster meat and mango that was beyond refreshing.

My penchant for octopus resulted in an order of the charred baby octopus “nosh” ($14), a rare and sublime salad of spicy chunks of octopus, fava beans, pappadew peppers, shaved onion and very tasty potato terrine. These ingredients alone spell unusual, creative.

Another small plate, “little mason jars” ($12), presented grilled bread slices and Illg's landjaeger sausage, with mini-cruets of olive tapenade, cannellini bean “hummus,” and piccalilli relish. More fun for the palate!

We all agreed, to our mutual surprise, that the best of the four “farm dinners” was the pastured local chicken dish ($19). It was a quartered Cornish hen, raised in Amish country, the most sublimely tasteful and moist I have ever had. The plate included Yukon potatoes, peas, and pureed carrots, nebrodini mushrooms and a mild Dijon cream.

Not surprisingly, my lovely dining companion's choice, the seared diver scallops ($26), with parsnip apple puree, grilled Brussels sprouts and fiddlehead ferns, plus wild capers, and in-house cured bacon, were about as good as they get. The whole dish was inordinately delicious. The portion of scallops was generous.

The beef short ribs ($24), also generously portioned, cooked with red rioja wine, and laid atop a puddle of “antebellum” grits, with root veggies and fresh horseradish, continued the parade of creatively interesting combinations of ingredients. The short ribs were served off the bone, and were slightly more stringy and less tender and flavorful than I had hoped for, but still a satisfying beef-lovers dish.

The one below par selection in our entire experience was the crispy skin atlantic salmon dinner ($19). The salmon seemed just past prime freshness, tasting a bit fishy. The swirls of sorrel sauce were colorful, but added little to enhance the taste. Give me a teriyaki glaze anytime with salmon instead.

But this was soon forgotten as we kvelled (praised dramatically) over two of Bennett's creative desserts. Caramelized banana walnut pancakes ($8) were embellished with Nutella powder, bourbon pastry cream, intriguing smoked maple syrup from The Farmer's Daughter's own smoker. 

You've heard of chocolate dipped strawberries. Bennett served up a dish of fried strawberries dipped in sugar, which were certainly different, but not quite able to surpass the classic choco-dipped original.

Overall Rating: mmmm 1/4 (out of 5 m’s), for this creative destination restaurant.

Location: Normandy Farm Hotel, 1401 Morris Road (at Dekalb Pike) Blue Bell

Phone: 215.616.8300

Web site: www.normandygirl.com                           

Cuisine: Upscale American with emphasis on locally raised ingredients 

Hours: Lunch: Monday - Saturday: 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.; Dinner: Monday - Saturday: 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.; Sunday: 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. Sunday brunch: 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Dinner Prices: Appetizers, soups, salads $7 - $16; Large plates $19 - $30 (average $24)

Prix Fixe: Five courses $35

Ambiance: Pseudo farmhouse/country chic, comfortable, subdued lighting,  noise level low enough to have conversations in a normal voice.

Reservations: Yes            

Credit Cards: All major

Alcoholic Beverages: Large, attractive full-service bar, infused vodkas and tequilas, exceptional wine list, three-vintage wine flights – red, white, or sparkling.

Wheelchair Access: Yes

Special Features: Hot and cold buffet brunch - $26 (includes seafood station with raw bar)

To contact Mitch Davis, you can e-mail him.