A Cozy Inn With Upscale Cuisine

I CAN'T imagine that there is a bad season for visiting the Bee and Thistle Inn in Old Lyme. Late spring, however, is unquestionably a great season.

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The hotel is set on some of the loveliest grounds in Connecticut. The five-plus acres are inhabited by long-limbed trees, each one a character, well kempt (but not overly so) flower gardens and a wide, lush lawn that slopes down to the Lieutenant River.

Built in 1756, the residence was originally a private home. It was remade into an inn in the 1930s when it was named for the crest of the Scottish clan, Ferguson (the surname of a friend of the owner). The current innkeepers, Linnea and David Rufo, bought the inn in February of last year. They closed it for a few months to renovate the downstairs, reopening for business in April.

The Rufos' décor steals from both sides of the Atlantic for an eclectic look that is chic, comfortably cluttered and cozily plush. Whether this is your style or not, it is well executed. There is an integrity of vision at work here with a close attention to detail. Moreover, with the exception of the rather severe dining room chairs (which can seem quite hard by the end of a long meal), the Rufos have managed to combine luxury and comfort successfully - no small feat. You feel as much at ease as if you were spending the weekend at the home of a good friend with a very nicely appointed house.

It is this well-effected vision of weekend hospitality that makes me wish the food were different. I know that weekenders expect an upscale cuisine, and the New American-style dishes served here fit the bill. But the complexity of the cuisine does not in most cases contribute to the tastiness of the food, and I am left wishing for something more straightforward. The service, though eager to please, often lacked precision.

The goat cheese salad, for example, is composed of a round of fresh goat cheese, coated with panko, fried, and set on greens sauced with a puréed beet dressing. The goat cheese tasted great, the breading was crisp and light. The purplish-red vinaigrette tasted O.K., but was not interesting enough to merit using it instead of, say, an excellent olive oil vinaigrette. Or consider the tilapia fillet, breaded, sautéed and draped across a lentil salad, submerged in broth with clams. The fish was well cooked, but the overall effect of the dish was a mishmash. In another dish, scallops were well cooked but the accompanying purple-rice pancake was gooey inside.

The chef delivered, however, on a soft-shell crab appetizer. The papery-shelled crab crunched appealingly and thin ribbons of jicama salad were perfectly seasoned; the quality of ingredients was excellent and so was the execution. For the same reasons, the tuna entree, cooked rare, and served with sesame-flavored seaweed salad and wasabi mashed potatoes, was on the money.

But quality of ingredients and seasoning often posed problems. A chicken breast was beautifully cooked one night, but the flesh was virtually tasteless and the sauce too salty. The baby carrots that garnished a number of plates were pretty but not at all sweet; the same was true of the corn in the salsa that accompanied the quail appetizer. The rock shrimp in my couscous, served with salmon on another night, also lacked flavor, and the grain itself was underseasoned. And my companion's filet mignon was not nearly as hearty-tasting as the accompanying potato cake. None of this would be such an issue if the price were right, but the Bee and Thistle is more expensive than most restaurants in this part of Connecticut. (The wine list, however, offers remarkable bargains.)

A friend of mine, a fabulous chef, bases his critique of a restaurant on whether he ever thinks about the food again, once he finishes dinner. The view up river from the Bee and Thistle is one I remember with pleasure. So is the inn's tart-and-sweet lemon pudding. I wish the same could be said for the rest of the food.

Bee and Thistle Inn

100 Lyme Street

Old Lyme

(860) 434-1667

www.beeandthistleinn.com

SATISFACTORY

THE SPACE An 18th-century house with a center-hall plan, common rooms and glassed-in porches opening off either side of the hall, and sleeping accommodations upstairs. Meals are served in three small dining rooms, including porches. Wheelchair accessibility to the ground floor available through a side door.

THE CROWD Well-heeled clientele in formal, country attire; jackets are suggested for Saturday dinner. Not a comfortable place for young children. Service is not tight, and tables are not always cleaned between courses.

THE BAR Full bar with many unusually inexpensive wine selections.

THE BILL Entrees: Lunch, to ; dinner, to .

WHAT WE LIKE Panko-fried goat cheese with mixed greens, grilled quail with roasted corn salsa, soft-shell crab with jicama; seared rare tuna with wasabi mashed potatoes, seared divers scallops with tapenade, tilapia fillet with lentil salad and littleneck clams; crème brûlée, chocolate cheesecake, lemon pudding.

IF YOU GO Lunch: Wednesday to Saturday, noon to 2 p.m. Dinner: Wednesday to Friday, 6 to 9 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 5:30 to 9 p.m. Sunday brunch, noon to 2 p.m. Restaurant closed Monday and Tuesday.

Reviewed June 17, 2007

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