The new restaurants at Middlefield’s Powder Ridge Mountain Resort and Park cater to an apres-ski crowd, as well as diners looking for a special-occasion evening. Fire at the Ridge boasts what executive chef Kevin Cottle calls “upscale cuisine in a comfortable setting,” with an emphasis on seafood, while its more casual sibling Ridgeside Tavern features clam chowder, poutine, wings, chicken pot pie and big burgers with plenty of house-cured bacon.
General manager Duncan Ferguson says Ridgeside Tavern’s regulars gravitate to its large selection of craft beers on draft and by the bottle, with many brews from Connecticut. The
bar is also “big on the brown liquors,” he says, and popular cocktails include the Mountainside Manhattan ($15) with Hudson Baby Bourbon with sweet vermouth and bitters; and the Tavern Old Fashioned ($9) with Bulleit bourbon, muddled orange, cherries and blackberries. A Wild Whiskey Smash ($9) features Wild Turkey 81, muddled lemon, mint and simple syrup.
Other cocktails feature lighter spirits, like a dirty martini with Reyka vodka, olive juice and blue cheese-stuffed olives ($12) and the colorful Lodge Tini ($11) with gin, muddled blackberries, white cranberry juice, basil, a cucumber garnish and an effervescent splash of prosecco. After-dinner drinks, like a cappuccino with Frangelico liqueur and the tavern’s take on an Irish coffee, will warm you right up — whether you’ve been on the slopes or not.
Read more about Fire at the Ridge and Ridgeside Tavern here.
>>E-mail Leeanne Griffin (lgriffin@courant.com) or Suzie Hunter (smhunter@courant.com) with your favorite Connecticut cocktail destination or your favorite bartender, and find more cocktail destinations at ctnow.com/liquorcabinet.
