A Cure For The Common Cold

When those winter blues get you down, there's no better place to go for a roaring fire and a delectable meal than Lake Placid's Mirror Lake Inn

Story and photos by Benjamin Pomerance

The mountains in winter are a desolate place to be. Not that anyone seems to mind. In fact, that magnificent bliss of solitude is what brings travelers from miles around to the Adirondacks each year when the air turns crisp and the sky fills with snow. Packing their skis and snowshoes and toboggans, or perhaps just a coat and a camera, they voyage into an unspoiled wilderness, a crystalline palace spun from frost and snow in which a visitor can watch his breath disappear into the icy wind and feel as if he, as Thoreau once said, really is master of all he surveys. Here, in this peaceful kingdom of the wild, an explorer from lands far or near can finally rest, enveloped by snow-covered pines and frost-covered ponds and a landscape of white and feel at peace.

Yet what happens to our traveler when the sun goes down, when those last rays of light vanish and the winter darkness smothers the Adirondacks? Nothing seems colder than the mountains after dark, the shimmering landscape of day replaced by darkness blacker than black itself. Driving along the shadowy Adirondack roads at night, eyes straining through the falling snow, even the most stout-hearted journeyman craves a hot meal, a roaring fire, a speck of light to pierce the gloom. The picturesque towns which dot the route all seem to have gone to bed, retiring early with the departure of the sun. All seems quiet, too quiet, along the Adirondack byways, with scarcely enough of a glow from your headlights to light your way

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a tower of radiance rises out of the night, shimmering like moonlight on the water in a blaze of colored light.  A seasonal display that could rival Fifth Avenue storefronts appears on the hillside above you, Santa and his sleigh mingling nicely with menorahs, candles, and majestic spruces glowing like they’re on fire.  A large white building, bedecked in holiday charm and beckoning you in like a buoy welcoming a weary sailor. Through the windows, you see a glowing fire, a beautiful Christmas tree…and most of all, plates of food that even at a distance make your mouth water. A mirage? No. Welcome to the Mirror Lake Inn.

I have made this journey to the Mirror Lake Inn many times on many wintry nights, and still, the sheer magic of this approach never fails to thrill me. There’s just something about the Inn, a venerable Lake Placid institution for those in search of the perfect Adirondack getaway, which is special, and is more special than ever during this time of year. Every hotel and restaurant tries to do something unique during the holiday season, but some establishments just seem to know how to do it right. And in the latter category, the Mirror Lake Inn knows how to do it better than any of them.

The snow had yet to fall on my most recent trip to Mirror Lake, but the early sunset and heightened chill in the air suggested winter was lurking just around the corner. Perhaps feeling the change of seasons themselves, the staff at the Inn had already begun the process of adorning the hotel and restaurant in festive dress, treating visitors to that welcoming light show when they turn the corner onto Lake Placid’s ever-quaint Main Street. A crackling fire roared from the hearth in the cozy wood-paneled lobby, a room nostalgic enough in its design to almost make you see ladies with their fur coats and hat boxes sweeping through the foyer on the arm of a dapper young man, the city elite of 1924 escaping to winter wonderland for a weekend. Rest assured, there’s plenty of history at the Inn, stories which seem to seep from every crack in the walls and creak of the floorboards. The Inn, started in ’24 by the Massachusetts native renowned for creating the "Fuller Brush Man" sales pitch, has seen two Olympics, one World War, a Great Depression, an endless array of changes to the Lake Placid region — and survived them all. From the stately library to the fully equipped spa to the Adirondack-themed rooms, Mirror Lake Inn has always been considered one of the best — if not the best — places in town, and the scores of repeat customers know why.

One reason is surely The View, the Inn's primary restaurant, the destination my parents and I seek on this cold late-fall evening. Light piano jazz fills the air, courtesy of area musician and Inn institution Mike Saulpaugh, as the maitre d’ hotel escorts us to our fireside table. No specific table can be reserved at the Inn’s main restaurant, The View, but guests arriving early can usually find one of the best seats in the house: close to the room’s huge windows in the summer for landscape viewing; close to one of the two fireplaces in winter for warmth and comfort. Our bread arrives, French baguette, garlic and a dark olive bread the three choices of the evening, not arriving in a basket but served to us piece by piece by an attentive server. At Mirror Lake Inn, as visitors quickly learn, nothing is served without ceremony, nothing presented without the proper touch of finery.

Particularly the appetizers. My parents and I deliberate over which starters to choose, finally settling on two to share among the three of us. The teriyaki shrimp is wonderful, marinated in Asian spices and then lightly grilled, with coconut jasmine rice and pickled ginger slaw providing a flavorful sweet/sour combination for our taste buds. Yet it is the avocado panna cotta which really manages to captures our interest. To me, panna cotta was always a sweet, flan-like dessert served in Italian restaurants, often accompanied with fresh berries. Not this panna cotta. This flan was chilled, and served with a sweet pea cream, pickled red onion, and crisp prosciutto ham, the kind of dish you savor with every dainty taste you take. All in all, I think this may have been one of the most creative appetizers I have ever had.

Then the main courses arrive, each one a work of art in its preparation, arranged beautifully on our plates. On our last visit to the Inn, my father had tried their beef short ribs for the first time, and the experience was enough to convince him to try it again. Cooked to perfection and served with a warm gorgonzola cheese bread pudding, this is the ideal fall-into-winter dish, a stick-to-your-ribs meal with a rich, hearty taste. My mother orders the North Atlantic diver scallops, a featured creation of the Inn’s Executive Chef, Paul Sorgule. Suffice it to say that these are not your average scallops. These are scallops on steroids, large in size and almost sweet in taste. Lightly caramelized in the pan, these paragons of seafood are served with cauliflower puree, matchstick potatoes and a small apple salad, a mélange of flavors working in perfect harmony.

For my main meal, I select the Inn’s filet of sea bass. In preparing this dish, the chefs season the fish first, then wrap it in leaves of Romaine lettuce before pan-steaming the whole creation with lemon and thyme butter. Potato gnocchi, those little Italian potato dumplings, join a wonderful array of fresh vegetables as a side dish for the bass. Sometimes, I find restaurants overdo fish with seasonings and sauces to the point where you can’t taste the fish anymore, but not here. The delectable flavor of fresh bass was clearly the focal point of the dish, with the sauces and side dishes playing their supporting roles to perfection.

As a pillow in the entry hall of the Inn suggests, “stressed spelled backward is desserts.” We take that message as a providential sign, commanding us to order one of the menu’s decadent “sweet endings” for the perfect conclusion to the evening. A flourless chocolate torte is our selection, as rich and creamy as a Godiva truffle and served with a scoop of homemade espresso ice cream. As any chocolate lover can attest, there is chocolate…and then there is chocolate. This is, without a doubt, chocolate of the highest caliber, the ideal finale to a delightful night of dining.

It was close to midnight by the time we left Mirror Lake, the luminous array of lights waving good-bye in our rear-view mirror as we turned back onto Main Street for our trip out of town. There’s a reason why the Inn has lasted so well for so long, and we had just experienced it that evening. For someone searching for a quick stop, a brief snack, a meal on the run, the Adirondacks have plenty of other places to choose from. Yet for a traveler in America’s winter playland searching for a place that will remain in your mind for a lifetime, that will take you out of the frigid darkness and warm your heart, mind and stomach, look no further than the glittering display of lights on Main Street. If the common cold of winter is getting you down — and chances are it will at least once before the season is out — rest assured that Mirror Lake Inn has the cure.

Have you ever dined or stayed at Mirror Lake Inn?