A Deer Reborn

A delicious meal in an unexpected place

Story and photos by Benjamin Pomerance

My long-lost friend was waiting for me when I opened up the menu. Coffee-and-black-pepper-encrusted venison loin, served in a maple bourbon veal reduction and accompanied by a poached pear. We had met before, this deer preparation and I, years past at Lake Placid’s Mirror Lake Inn. And if it wasn’t exactly love at first sight, it was certainly the start of a beautiful friendship. I originally ordered this dish out of curiosity — how could ground coffee possibly taste good when placed on top of venison meat? — but I became a repeat customer after only a few bites. The sharpness of the coffee and black pepper mingled beautifully with the sweetness of the poached pear, and the venison itself was cooked to tender perfection.

Then, one evening, it was gone. Chef Matthew Baldwin had departed from Mirror Lake, and his signature venison dish had gone with him. I have enjoyed many wonderful meals at Mirror Lake Inn since the venison’s disappearance, but every time, I found myself feeling a slight pang of regret that this unique creation was no longer an option on the dinner menu.

So when I walked into the Deer’s Head Inn in Elizabethtown, N.Y., a few weeks ago, imagine my surprise to find coffee-and-black-pepper encrusted venison loin as one of the featured entrees on the menu. My shock was twofold. First, I never expected to try this remarkable dish again. And second, if I ever did find it again, I never would have expected to find it at the Deer’s Head Inn.

For as long as I can remember, the Deer’s Head Inn had been something of a culinary laughingstock among the region’s restaurant crowd. One local reviewer memorably referred to a meal years ago as "Chicken Chernobyl." My own single experience, years ago after a hiking trip with friends, involved a shrimp entrée that had been heavily breaded and fried into submission. Needless to say, I had not been back since.

Then I heard that new owners had taken over the Deer’s Head Inn, revamped everything from the menu to the décor, and had taken the place to a higher level. Chief among the changes was the addition of Matthew Baldwin, the chef I had enjoyed for all those years at Mirror Lake Inn, as the commander of the kitchen. Foodie friends told me they had gone there for the first time in years and found the dining experience as enjoyable as any they had ever had in our region. Still, I didn’t beat a hasty path down to Elizabethtown to try it. While the new revisions intrigued me, my last experience there still lingered in my mind. It’s still the Deer’s Head, I thought. How much better can it really be.

Finally, on a day when my parents and I attended a concert in Elizabethtown, we went to the Deer’s Head Inn. The dinner we had made me eat my skeptical words. And oh — did they taste good.

Matthew Baldwin has not lost his touch. Gone is the breaded shrimp, and "Chicken Chernobyl" — whatever that was — is nowhere to be found. In its place are fresh products, careful preparation, and attractive presentation. Add to this equation a small, quaint-without-being-klitchy dining room in the Adirondack’s oldest inn, and all the ingredients are in place for a delightful experience.

And all of us did indeed have a delightful experience that early autumn evening at the Deer’s Head Inn. To begin with, the surroundings of the place are rich with history. Presidents Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison both spent the night here on visits to the North Country. Their signatures are still visible in the old guest books of the inn. John Brown’s widow stayed here, too, spending a sad evening there as the body of her husband, the fanatical abolitionist who was captured after an unsuccessful revolt in West Virginia and hung for treason, lay in state at the Essex County Courthouse across the street. During the War of 1812, the inn became an army hospital for troops retreating south from the Battle of Plattsburgh; during Prohibition, a local businessman named Ben Stetson concealed a valuable stash of liquor under the porch, where he could easily access the supply for paying customers by way of a secret door. Many of the bottles he didn’t sell were unearthed when the porch was replaced in 1991. Some of these remnants of America’s dry era are displayed in a place of honor today: right above the bar.

The Deer’s Head is exactly what you want a historic inn to be: cozy, charming, and comfortable. White tablecloths adorn every table, and the salads are served on vintage Blue Willow china. Then, there are the dinners themselves — every one of them (at least among the selections we made) delicious. We began by sharing two appetizers: a plate of crab cakes and a deep fried brie cheese. There is a disturbing recent trend at certain restaurants, it seems, to load so many spices into the crab cakes that you can’t even taste the crab. In these crab cakes, the crabmeat shone through with all of their flying colors. It was served simply, with a sweet mango chutney, pickled cucumbers, and a moderately tangy Cajun remoulade, but after so many places where the crab cakes were messed with to the point of no longer tasting like crab, simplicity was welcomed.

After my long-ago experience with the shrimp, the words "deep fried" on the Deer’s Head Inn menu made me hesitate a bit before agreeing to sample the brie with my parents. Deep fired brie, I found out, was far different from deep fried seafood. Think of it more like melted cheese, soft enough to bring out the flavor in the brie but not so soft that it becomes runny. And this plate, particularly for an appetizer, was huge, a variety of fresh fruits accompanying the sizeable piece of brie, which was drizzled with a raspberry puree.

All entrées at the Deer’s Head Inn come with a choice of soup or salad — but not your standard soup or salad. My father had a cup of lobster bisque, one of the signature items on the Inn’s new menu, and he proclaimed it one of the best lobster bisques he’s ever had. Rich and creamy, but still giving the starring role to the lobster, not the broth, the bisque was indeed very good. The most pleasant surprise of the evening, though, was probably the salads, which my mother and I both enjoyed. No mundane lettuce mix here — this salad came with a delicious assortment of nuts, dried fruits, and fresh vegetables, topped off with a Zinfandel vinaigrette dressing. This proved to be the perfect palette cleanser before our main courses arrived.

Ah, yes — the main courses. By this point, none of us needed more food, but somehow, we all managed to finish the ample portions that were set in front of us. Obviously, I had the venison, and my reunion with this old favorite reminded me just how much I had enjoyed this dish at Mirror Lake. To me, no meat is more flavorful than perfectly cooked venison. My mother ordered one of the evening’s specials: fresh salmon, served with a demi-glace concocted from apple cider and maple syrup and a relish of butternut squash and pear. If there exists a better assortment of fall flavors, I have yet to find it. The demi-glace was particularly good, the sweetness of the maple mingling nicely with the tartness of the apple cider.

My father ordered a rack of lamb. He was presented with enough meat to serve an army, or at least a whole brigade. Yet every bite was sheer carnivorous heaven. Lightly encrusted with crushed pistachios and accompanied by a port wine demi-glace, this was lamb worth enjoying — right down to the very last morsel of this mammoth meal.

Somehow, we found room for dessert. We ordered light, though, sharing one plate between the three of us. After much deliberation, we settled on the key lime pie, a refreshing conclusion to a filling dinner. Key lime pie is a dessert I enjoy, but often forget how much I enjoy until I have a good sample of it. This key lime pie was the perfect way to jog my memory. The cool, clear taste provided the perfect ending to what was, in all aspects, an experience to remember for all the right reasons.

My parents and I left the Deer’s Head Inn that evening vowing one thing: We would be back. There would be no more need to stay away for years. A much-needed renaissance has taken place in Elizabethtown, and the region’s food lovers will be better off for it. No more will the Deer’s Head Inn suffer as the butt of bad food jokes. Thanks to Chef Baldwin and his team, this is a Deer reborn.

Have you ever eaten at the Deer's Head Inn?