BELDEN HOUSE & MEWS
31 NORTH ST, LITCHFIELD
DISTANCE: 75 MILES FROM GREENWICH
APPROXIMATE TRAVEL TIME: 1 HOUR AND 25 MINUTES
Fall was practically made for Belden House & Mews. In Litchfield, the intimate hotel is a natural place to settle in for an autumn meal, with a restaurant, bar and a collection of inviting common spaces that encourage you to stay awhile. The kitchen follows the season, too, drawing from nearby farms and the New England coast.
The interiors, designed by Champalimaud Design with PBDW Architects, balance the character of the original house with the comforts of a contemporary hotel. In the dining room, an 1888 tiled fireplace and curved gable wall are paired with boldly striped banquettes and dining chairs draped in plush sheepskin throws. Across the living room, behind a velvet drape, is a private dining room/library in a rich shade of pink, anchored by a tiered silk Fortuny chandelier. The room’s mix of books, lamps and historical Litchfield ephemera gives it a distinctly collected feel—and it can be reserved for private dining for up to 10.
The bold green bar serves locally crafted cocktails, wines and non-alcoholic offerings. Order the South Side 2.0, a fresh combination of gin or vodka, cucumber, mint and lime, or the sparkling Mistaken Negroni, made with prosecco, sweet vermouth and bitters. Open to hotel guests and those with dining reservations, the bar works equally well for a pre-dinner drink or a nightcap.
In the kitchen, Connecticut native Chef Tyler Heckman takes a similarly rooted approach, working with nearby farms and New England purveyors to showcase what’s best right now. Fall brings winter squash, earthy roots, orchard fruit and late-season produce to the menu, balanced by the clean, briny flavors of the coast. Past dishes have included octopus with honeynut squash and smoked yogurt, steelhead trout with local corn and aji amarillo, braised short rib with sunchoke and persimmon, and dry-aged duck with stone fruit and almond mustard.
Photographs: exteriors and interiors by Read McKendree; food by Jim Henkens
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LOST FOX INN
571 TORRINGTON RD, LITCHFIELD
DISTANCE: 78 MILES FROM GREENWICH
APPROXIMATE TRAVEL TIME: 1 HOUR AND 25 MINUTES
Everything looks better by candlelight. At Lost Fox Inn, the lighting is part of the design—and a big part of the mood. Low, twinkling light, fires burning in the fireplaces, vintage portraits watching from the walls and dark-paneled rooms lend a distinctly romantic, Old-World feel.
There was so much rich beauty in the bones of this 1745 property, but Eliza Clark and her daughter, Arden Wray, saw the potential for it to become something more. Through their design firm, Byrd Studio, they preserved the original wide-plank floors and low-slung beamed ceilings, adding woodland-mural wallpaper that reads almost like a tapestry, as well as fringed velvet banquettes to create extra cozy corners. Marine-brass fixtures deepen the mood, while a handsome wood bar and original fireplaces add to the old-tavern feel.
Multiple fireplaces make the transition from cocktails to dinner particularly easy. There’s one in the downstairs dining room, which seats 25, another in the bar and a larger one upstairs, where a vaulted ceiling and small balcony give the space more room. For larger gatherings, the inn also has a great room designed for events, as well as an outdoor space with a marquee.
The menu takes a seasonal, New England-inspired approach, with familiar ingredients showing up in less expected combinations. The current lineup includes pork belly with local corn, crispy shallots and cilantro; cavatelli with sungold tomatoes, torn basil and zucchini emulsion; Icelandic cod with farro, summer vegetables and salsa verde; and Pennsylvania duck with red cabbage purée, roasted beets and plum sauce. Even the Lost Fox Parker House rolls, served with cultured butter and rosemary salt, sound better in here.
Photographs: exterior by Copper and Tod Photography; table by Arden Wray; courtesy of The Lost Fox Inn
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MAYFLOWER INN & SPA, AUBERGE COLLECTION
118 WOODBURY RD, CT-47, WASHINGTON
DISTANCE: 69 MILES FROM GREENWICH
APPROXIMATE TRAVEL TIME: 1 HOUR AND 20 MINUTES
For those willing to make the trek north, the Mayflower Inn & Spa offers a particularly good excuse to turn dinner into a destination. The 35-room Auberge retreat has the country-house aesthetic down: landscaped gardens and woodland, old-school New England charm, a handsome library and a tavern-style Tap Room made for settling in as the temperature drops. Now there’s another reason to go. Through the end of 2026, Daniel Boulud’s Café Boulud is taking over the Garden Room for an exclusive culinary residency.
The evening can begin with a drink somewhere suitably atmospheric—the library, with its mahogany paneling and fireplace, is hard to beat—or in the Tap Room, where velvet settees and brown leather banquettes sit beneath oversized framed oil portraits. Order a Sweater Weather (brown-butter bourbon, allspice and barrel-aged bitters) or a Cranberry Frost with mezcal, cranberry and ginger, and settle in for a while.
Then move into the Garden Room, where Boulud’s French cooking meets the more bucolic backdrop of the inn. The five-course prix fixe menu is built around seasonal ingredients and classic technique, with dishes that have included chilled corn velouté with Maine lobster, open-faced ravioli with eggplant, wild mushroom risotto with truffle and tournedos Rossini. For dessert, an Île flottante with peach and verbena makes a suitably elegant finale.
And then comes the question: Why drive home? The Mayflower is much better enjoyed at a slower pace. Stay the night, order another drink, take a post-dinner stroll—or simply retreat to one of the property’s four-poster beds. There’s a 20,000-square-foot spa, 58 acres to wander and plenty of cozy corners in which to make a weekend of it.
Farm-fresh dishes double as works of art.
Photographs: courtesy of Auberge collection
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WHITE HART INN
15 UNDER MOUNTAIN RD, SALISBURY
DISTANCE: 83 MILES FROM GREENWICH
APPROXIMATE TRAVEL TIME: 1 HOUR AND 40 MINUTES
If you find yourself near Salisbury this fall, head to the White Hart Inn. Sitting on the village green, the 200-year-old inn feels a little like someone’s very cozy country house: a roaring fire in the Tap Room, warm wood-paneled walls, worn-in textures and the easy feeling of a place that has been welcoming people for generations.
Originally built as a farmhouse in 1806, the White Hart has been a gathering place in Salisbury for nearly two centuries. A major renovation brought the property back to life in 2014, but the sense of history remains. There are three dining rooms, a tap room with a full-service bar, a large porch and two outdoor patios, along with 16 guest rooms, the more casual White Hart Provisions café and general store. Throughout, contemporary works by artists including Jasper Johns, Frank Stella and Terry Winters add a surprising counterpoint to the old-New-England setting.
The Tap Room is our pick for fall, especially once the fire is going. Settle in with a drink then stay for dinner, where chef Paul Pearson changes the menu every couple of weeks according to the season and what’s coming from local producers. Fall dishes have included roasted squash raviolo with Burgundy truffle and Grana Padano; roasted carrots with garlic labne, chili honey vinaigrette and pistachio-hibiscus dukkah; lumache with braised rabbit, Picholine olives and rosemary pangrattato; and milk-fed suckling pig porchetta with braised white beans, roasted peppers and Swiss chard.
Dessert follows the season, too, with pumpkin tiramisu, spiced apple hand pies and cinnamon panna cotta with rum raisin and candied walnut. And if dinner is only one stop on a day in the Litchfield Hills, even better. Come after a hike or a round of antique shopping, grab a seat by the fire and make a proper afternoon of it. The White Hart has been a place to gather for a long time. Fall is an excellent excuse to join in.
Photographs: all others by Emma Osborne