Hearth & Candle — Restaurant in Cambridge

The Hearth and Candle, at Smuggler's Notch Resort, boasts prices for entrees and drinks in the range of a low end fine dining establishment (expect around $100 for a dinner for two with drinks, more if you want apps and dessert).

We were unimpressed to say the least. The atmosphere is fine, cute and quaint and appropriate for the mountain village setting. We asked to be seated in the "adults only" section since we had dropped our kids of for the evening and were looking for a quiet, more romantic evening.

Dinner started off well, an attentive and pleasant server read the long list of specials - only glancing at her notepad once or twice - and we ordered specialty cocktails, which were served quickly and were rather tasty. Nothing I'm going to add to the rotation at home, but fun and Vermont-y. (read: lots of maple).

Then came dinner; I ordered a Boar entree that was served on crispy kale with gnocchi. My wife wasn't hungry so she ordered the house salad with chicken.

I noticed that the kitchen was just off of the upper "adult only" room when I heard the first ding of a microwave. Followed immediately by the slam of the same microwave door and the tell-tale whir of the machine being restarted. Uh-oh.

My wife thought maybe they were warming up kids meals for the lively crew in the lower room by the fire, and we dismissed the rather busy microwave for the time being (we heard it repeatedly for the rest of dinner).

When our entrees arrived, I found my Boar to be piping hot and dry, and as I pulled it apart it was still frozen on the inside (not quite a skilled microwave chef it seems). My wife's chicken was rubbery and somewhat tasteless, quite apparently frozen, and her salad was well over dressed. I found the gnocchi flavorful, but it was also quite obviously not made from scratch. If we had paid $8-12 for these entrees, I'd have been satisfied and simply asked to have my plate heated more. But for the price, I expected fresh, local ingredients and a much better preparation technique than "60 seconds on high."

Not recommended given the price.

They handled it reasonably well, we were comped for all but the drinks (this is the first time I've ever sent back a meal, and I was actually a bit nervous to do so). The manager never did come talk to us, and the server didn't bat an eye when we mentioned that we were disappointing that a meal at this rate was so...

I was really looking forward to the meal as there were a number of great looking things on the menu. Pork Belly, Tuna Tacos, Mussels, And duck caught my eye. It was going to be a hard decision on what I actually was going to be able to eat.

I write this as a fellow chef trying to help. I went with the pork belly for my starter, the duck for my main entree and was looking forward to a cheese plate for dessert.

The Pork Belly: It was tender as it should be and had the right amount of fat and a nice portion.

Downfalls of this dish: lacked seasoning! Both the purée and the pork belly. I would have personally seared it to give it some texture and a crunch!

The Duck: cooked correctly as I ordered it. The “risotto” was delicious, loved the confit.

Downfalls of this dish: Lacked seasoning! The sauce was to thick like wallpaper paste. The roasted parsnips were like leather, they should have been either crunchy or cooked fully. The duck skin was rubbery and not crisp. If cooked in the Sous vide it should still be crisped up before serving. And it was serve skin side down, who does that.

Cheese course: didn’t end up getting it because it was just one kind of cheese. I was looking for a variety.

Over all the meal was okay, Not a hit, just normal resort food in my eyes.

SOMEONE GET THE COOKS A BOX OF KOSHER SALT AND SOME...

My friend and I ate here on a Tuesday in early October. It was a full house but not overwhelmingly so. Our server was wonderful, unobtrusive yet still attentive. Unfortunately, it seemed like they were understaffed as she was serving all tables on the lower level.

We ordered the baguette with maple whipped butter and the 5 spice pork belly to start. My friend decided on the bone-in pork chop for an entree and I had the duck breast. His chop was overcooked and very dry. I understand that there is a fine line between juicy and dry when it comes to pork chops, but this was just way over that line. My duck breast 'medium rare' was on the plus side of medium, as in closer to well done. The skin was rubbery and had not been rendered properly to be crispy and have a nice crunch. I was very disappointed in the mains! Oh and nothing seemed to have been seasoned with any salt.

The ONLY redeeming thing to the entire experience was the (Asian) 5 spice pork belly with maple glaze and red slaw. It was unctuous and juicy, the piece of meat had the perfect ratio of fat to protein and the flavors were perfect. 5 stars for this really great bite!!! Unfortunately, a 2 is all I can give for the rest of the meal.

*Kudos to our server. She was able to give every table the perfect amount of attention, even while serving more than 10...