The art of slowly savoring
Dining at The Harbor House Inn
Beautiful sea urchin - something you might be lucky enough to taste when you dine at the Harbor House Inn.
How do you begin to write about a beautiful evening? To share the thoughts, emotions, impressions, flavors, and scents inherent in an intimate dinner shared with close friends in surroundings at once perfectly elegant and softly welcoming? What words do you use to convey the subdued glimmer of candles on warmly polished wooden tables, floors, walls? To make the reader feel the gentle warmth emanating from a large stone fireplace, or the balanced heft of a knife and fork in your hands as you coax fresh mussels from their shells? Or to communicate that hint of smoke that rolls across your tongue as you relish the peppery sauce generously poured over those selfsame mussels? Indeed, how do you express that ineffable sense of peace and rest that steals over you as you simply slow down and savor the experience of dining at the Harbor House Inn?
The back of the inn, with all its raised beds for vegetables and herbs, looks out over an impressive rocky cove. If you go join them for their dining experience in summer, make sure to enjoy the view on their back deck!
Such is our dilemma at the moment. We had the opportunity to spend an evening last week at this beautifully restored historic inn down in the charming hamlet of Elk, and it was so lovely that now we can’t figure out how to tell you about it.
We were going to try to describe the luscious roasted potato soup with housemade crème fraiche and delicate wisps of wild fennel that was so good we had to close our eyes to enjoy every spoonful. Then we thought we’d try our hand at recounting the eye-catching beauty of crisp shavings of brilliant watermelon radish that graced the cabbage and root vegetable salad. But we had to sigh and lay down our pen – it wasn’t going to work. You see, Executive Chef Matt Kammerer has crafted such a profoundly local culinary experience centered around seasonality and sustainability, that you have to go for yourself to understand what an evening at the Harbor House is like.
Chef Kammerer.
Just a couple of years ago, Chef Kammerer was a part of the hectic swirl of big city life as Executive Sous Chef at the highly acclaimed San Francisco restaurant Saison. In the middle of stressful days, he dreamed of having a place where he could run away from the urban craziness and return to a more natural, peaceful way of life, to a deeper connection with the rhythms of the earth. So when the opportunity came for him to move up to Elk and manage the Harbor House Inn with his partner Amanda Nemec, he readily agreed. It was a big project, but here he has been able to build exactly what he was looking for. He and his kitchen team are in tune with the world around them, creating each evening’s menu with ingredients freshly harvested from their own gardens, foraged from the surrounding ocean and forests, or offered up by local farmers and fishermen. They take joy in the unique products of the area, in the wonder of just-picked vegetables, in the simple beauty of the sea salt they harvest themselves – and their joy shines through in the free, spontaneous creativity of their exquisite food. It’s unlike any other culinary experience to be had.
So, go. Do what we did. Reclaim a quiet evening from your busy life. Let Chef Kammerer and the rest of the Harbor House staff guide you as you slow down and savor the nuances and flavors of this amazing area. And maybe eventually we’ll figure out how to tell you about the rich depth of flavor of the flourless chocolate cake we had that night we went, about how absolutely soul-satisfying it was…
Beautiful cod with crispy greens…. so elegantly simple!
The Harbor House Inn offers their Full Experience of 8-12 courses Thursday through Monday, with a single seating at 6:00pm. They encourage all to relax and enjoy the full evening, and most guests end up leaving around 9:00pm. They also offer an optional beverage pairing.
We are happy to facilitate your reservation. And when you go, tell us all about it!
Words by Laura Hockett
Photos courtesy of The Harbor House Inn