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| - Reading these 1 to 2 Star reviews of Lager & Vine make me wonder if I'm living in some parallel universe or if my fellow neighbors of Hudson are too cheap and / or don't appreciate or understand good "Cuisine".
As of August 16, 2012 my wife and I had become official residents of pretentious white-bred Hudson, Ohio.
After living the previous 20 years in the Washington, DC area, one of the things I dreaded about our re-location to the Buckeye state was the lack of world class food, which one can find on almost any street corner in our Nation's Capital. We had been making pilgrimages to the Hudson area, twice a year for nearly 20 years, to visit my wife's family, and had typically - no actually always - left the area disappointed due to the lack of quality dinning. Bland and average or worse; seemed to be the status quo.
20 years of disappointment changed when we stepped into Lager & Vine.
It was a Saturday night, Lager and Vine was packed with a deep waiting list, yet, we were greeted with an upbeat smile and offered a cocktail at the bar while we waited. We declined, and were seated within five minutes of arrival. Not bad considering we didn't have a reservation.
Our waiter was friendly, and gave a thorough overview of the nightly specials and returned immediately to deliver the bottle of wine we had ordered.
Gone was the old drab "stuck in the '70s" interior of the Reserve Inn...and the once famed Leo Salad. Lager's new fresh and open ambience was something akin to the world famous Palm or Sam and Harry's steak house. The waiters dressed in the typical black and white, could be distinguished from the two people running from table to table who were dressed casual... obviously the owners...which is always a good sign. Successful restaurants tend to be a dedication of love and hard work - lots of it.
The first thing that impressed us, was the menu selection. Dear Ohioans, real restaurants,; the ones you read about in magazines or see on the Food Network, typically don't offer everything under the sun... instead, they offer a limited amount of dishes, yet those dishes are prepared with the upmost talent and culinary flare.
The portions were moderate, another key to fine dining; allowing room for other fare during the course of dinning. This is not an Applebee's or Red Lobster where the idea is to shovel as much pre prepared Sysco food in your gullet as you can.
The food was rich in taste and left us wanting more. Tidbits to share started with four soft pretzels served with a delicious spiced stone mustard sauce...Ahi tuna carpaccio that was extremely fresh, ready to be dipped in a pineapple salsa, and a chopped wedge salad that wasn't watered down, like you can unfortunately find at many places within walking distance of the Vine.
Being from the DC area, Maryland crab cakes served here surely wouldn't be able to meet the standard we were accustomed to, but surprisingly we were wrong. The cakes overflowed with delicious blue crab meat, lightly breaded, minus any skimping with fillers, accompanied with a side of lightly spiced roasted sautéed corn. Our other entree, pork tenderloin almost fell off the fork it was so deliciously moist and tender combined with a maple glazed sweet potato gnocchi with brown butter and sage.
The wine and specialty beer list here is extensive and very reasonably priced.
If you want excellent cuisine, in an atmosphere where you can dress up, down or casual, all at a very reasonable price, Lager and Vine is a hit.
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