above: A view of the Inn from the beautifully landscaped Shakespeare Garden, where metal plaques with quotes from the Bard are tucked in amongst the seasonal blooms.
There are few places that know how to pamper you like an Auberge Resort. With a collection of 20+ resorts in the United States alone, Auberge offers “one-of-a-kind experiences in extraordinary locations.” Fortunately for us, one such extraordinary location is just an hour’s drive north in Washington, Connecticut.
Mayflower Inn & Spa is situated on 58 picturesque acres in the Litchfield Hills. Readers may already be familiar with the property’s luxury accommodations, innovative spa, holistic wellness programs and its warm, attentive staff. But on a recent visit to Mayflower, we had the pleasure of experiencing this pastoral hideaway from a fresh culinary perspective.
In recent years, Mayflower has elevated its dining experience—transitioning from the Inn’s traditional tasting menu format to à la carte seasonal menus highlighting local ingredients, including some grown on the property itself.
The resort offers a variety of dining options. The appropriately named Garden Room—which integrates indoor and outdoor dining spaces—overlooks the formal Shakespeare Garden, featuring plaques with quotes from the Bard throughout. The Garden Room menu is inventive and reflects the culinary team’s creative vision, with a focus on fresh ingredients prepared in distinctive ways. Lastly, the Tap Room is a more relaxed space featuring a more traditional, brasserie-style menu and a variety of specialty cocktails.
However, the pièce de résistance of The Mayflower’s epicurian offerings is the private dining experience. Guests can choose their own menu or provide Mayflower with a list of preferences and dietary restrictions in advance, allowing the culinary team to create a custom menu. We chose the latter, which added to the fun as each course presented an element of surprise.
There was an early spring chill in the air during out visit, so our meal was arranged in front of a roaring fire in the intimate, mahogany-paneled library. We were greeted with a champagne toast by our guides for the evening, server Jenya and sommelier Diego. The term “server” doesn’t appropriately describe Jenya’s role in the evening as she presented each meal, she intricately explained the ingredients of each dish, the preparation and the backstory of the locally sourced ingredients. Her enthusiasm for the cuisine is apparent in her presentation. “Each private dining experience is very engaging and interactive,” she says. “People often don’t know what to expect and that is a wonderful thing. It gives you a unique experience.”
The cuisine itself was creative and fun. Classic dishes had a whimsical twist, like the turnips bourguignonne rather than the more traditional escargot. A highlight of our meal was the Raw Apple Over Ice. A peeled apple is marinated in Japanese stock, placed in cryovac packaging and frozen. It is served ice-cold with a mascarpone ranch dip on the side— although Jenya wisely recommended we try it without the dip first, to get a better appreciation of the crisp, tart flavor of the apple.
After enjoying numerous equally delicious small dishes and a classic roasted pheasant, we were more than content. But Jenya insisted it would be worth our while to make a little more room for dessert. The maple granita over birch ice cream did not disappoint. Jenya explained that all ice creams and sorbets are made in-house and that bark taken from birch trees on the property had been used to make the syrup in this dish. The theme of using local, fresh seasonal ingredients is a priority of the culinary staff.
During the warmer months, the private dinners are often al fresco. Guests can enjoy a private area on the wicker porch or even have a table set up in the Chef’s garden. “In the Chef’s Garden, you are literally surrounded by the fresh ingredients that make up your meal,” says Jenya. “Oftentimes, we’ll even pick a flower right from the garden and top off the dish with it.”
The private dining experience at Mayflower Inn is culinary pampering at its finest—perfect for special occasions like engagements, milestone birthdays and anniversaries. Among the food, the attentive service and the beauty of the resort itself, you will feel like you are a world (not just an hour) away from home.
MAYFLOWER’S BIKE TOUR & PICNIC
Another unique way to enjoy both the culinary delights from The Mayflower Inn and Litchfield County’s scenic countryside is through the resort’s e-bike tour. You begin your outdoor adventure by pedaling down a picturesque road, past grazing past cows and sheep, toward Maple Bank Farm. There you can shop for produce or handmade goods in the farmstand or, if you are visiting in July, pick your own blueberries. Then enjoy a picnic curated by the Mayflower Inn’s culinary team before heading back to the resort to resume the pampering.