We did a little staycation for Mother's Day and knew we wanted to try Hearth '61 but wanted to make sure our five year old was on his best behavior. We started in the lounge which had live music and great drinks. The bartender whipped up some delicious blue cheese olives for my dirty which was very kind of him. We ordered a grilled cheese and fries from the kids menu for the little guy and it was outstanding....so tasty i'm not sure he fully appreciated it, but mom and I did. The fries are super thin, piping hot and crispy and tossed with parmesan and herbs. Overhearing us talk about wanting to try the full restaurant, the lounge server brought us a menu for Hearth '61. One glance told us this was a meal we didn't want to miss....and our son was very content after his grilled cheese so a relaxing meal seemed likely. *We would normally not bring our kid to a nice restaurant like this and would never want to inconvenience others, but the staff were great with him....and he was on his best behavior the entire time.
After being sat, we perused the wine list (great selection and price range) and were then taken through some highlights of the menu by our server, John. I am not sure I've ever had someone be so descriptive about a menu before. He was able to tell us about every dish and not just what was written on the menu. We started with a half dozen oysters that were incredibly fresh, the perfect size and came with a very nice mignonette with shallots alongside. I ordered the filet with a red wine reduction and blue cheese sauce. It was a medium rare that I can only get with a sous vide at home...absolutley perfect. My wife had the whole roasted branzino which was equally good. I was especailly impressed with how simple the preparation of the fish was. Nicely seasoned and with an olive relish it was evident they were using quality ingredients and didn't feel the need to overpower either dish with sauces.
Our son had a molten lava cake that they brought out with our entrees and no one else got a bite so I would say it was good.
We greatly enjoyed our stay at Mountain Shadows and after seeing how fun the lounge is and the quality of food coming out of the kitchen at Hearh '61, we will be back.