(518) 251-4696
Update 5/5/2012 The restaurant is open in July and August
Dinner Served Thursday through Monday
A complete menu can be found here.
Dinner Served Thursday through Monday
A complete menu can be found here.
For many years the Owl at Twilight has been one of our favorite dining destinations. Located in Olmstedville, Essex County Olmstedville , NY Schroon Lake to Gore Mountain
You can trust me on this, despite the lack of internet info, the Owl is serving two nights a week – Friday and Saturday night – until they expand to four nights during the summer. It is well worth the trip as it is solidly on our list of top ten North Country restaurants. The Owl is unique as an Adirondack restaurant. It makes no attempt at the rustic look and feel of so many area establishments. The dining room would fit in perfectly on the upper east side of Manhattan Central Park . The atmosphere is upscale casual. You would not feel out of place wearing a jacket, although most patrons do not. You might feel out of place in flannel and jeans, although I’m sure Joanne would be as welcoming as ever when you arrived for your reservation.
The main dining room has just twenty eight seats, not including four stools at the bar. In summer there is additional seating in a beautiful screened - in porch out behind the main dining room. This room is furnished with rustic chairs and lots of pillows and wraps for chilly evenings. In the winter the main room’s twenty eight seats are usually enough. On some nights in February there are twenty six seats too many.
The scale of the restaurant allows for two people to work the place on most nights. The owners – Joanne and Rich Dwyer – handle the task most capably. Rich is responsible for the kitchen. Joanne runs the front of the house. They make it look easy. When you arrive for your reservation Joanne will greet you at the door, and if you are so inclined, she will offer you a cocktail or glass of wine at the bar. I propose that you take her up on this. I also suggest that you order a cocktail – ideally a martini. Joanne prepares a memorable martini, one that I always look forward to. In my post last month about the making a proper martini, I noted Joanne’s as the best in the North Country . I suggest you find this out for yourself.
Joanne is also the perfect hostess. Some people come to this naturally. I suspect she is one of these people. Her conversation usually starts with – “so last visit you were telling me about such and such,” and she takes up right where you left off. She is a natural “front of the house” restaurateur, and a “people person”, as they say. Good restaurant owners can make you feel at home. Great ones make you feel like you are a guest in their home. Joanne is one of the great ones. Rich on the other hand stays in the back of the house, which is as it should be. Rich loves to cook, and he’s good at it, which is good for the rest of us. His talents complement Joanne’s perfectly. He does occasionally peek out from behind the kitchen door and say hello.
I’m not sure how the Dwyer’s would describe the menu if they had a web- site to do it on. I describe it as having a southwestern flare. Not Mexican, not Tex-Mex, just with a little “zip” in most of the dishes. An appetizer of mussels ($8) is served in a broth finished with a touch of tequila and habanera chilies. Not overly spicy, but just a little more “zip” than your average mussels. Sautéed calamari ($8) are stuffed with rice and shrimp. My favorite is a dish of roasted wild mushrooms ($8), finished with a touch of goat cheese from Nettle Meadow Farm in Thurman. I find this cheese also perfectly complements the olive from my martini which I am invariably finishing right around this point in my meal.
The Owl’s wine list offers a very nice selection of offerings designed to complement the menu. Joanne has introduced us to quite a few Rioja tempranillos and Jumilla’s that we now seek out. The list also offers two Barbera d’Asti’s – a Abbona Rinaldi ($39) and a Trinchero ($34). A Finca el Reposo Argentine Malbec and a few spicy Dolcetta’s and Zinfandels are right at home with Rich’s cooking. My favorite white on the current list is the Burgans Rias Baxas Albarino from Spain
A salad is served after the appetizers. The salad has varied over the years. Recently the kitchen switched back from the romaine wedge that was the custom to a dish of arugula and green beans with a tasty vinaigrette dressing.
Entrée selections include an Ahi yellowfin tuna ($27), rubbed with fennel and finished in a grilled red pepper and saffron sauce. On Friday Mary tried the pork tenderloin ($27) rubbed with smoked paprika and served with grilled red onion and sage aioli. Sounds zippy, yes? A seared breast of duck ($27) comes with a side of Yukon Gold Potato cake. One of my favorite dishes is the Churrasco skirt steak ($29) with a classic chimichurri parsley sauce and sweet potato fries. Not currently on the menu but frequently offered during the winter is Rich’s take on braised short ribs. This is a dish worth remembering for next winter. The owner’s commitment to “farm to table” when possible is represented by Elihu Farms’ (Washington County) lamb chops ($38) finished with a piquant romesco sauce and served with roasted garlic whipped potatoes.
You should leave room for the house made desserts, offered with coffee or espresso. (Yes, espresso in the Adirondacks .) A dinner at the Owl at Twilight is always an evening thoroughly enjoyed. If you enjoy a well made drink, do leave time for a cocktail before dinner. I think you will enjoy the meal. I know you will enjoy the hospitality. It doesn’t get any better than here.
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