North Country Inn & Restaurant

The North Country Inn & Restaurant at Route 7 and 37 in New Milford is a charming old world restaurant that offers relaxing meals near a large wood burning fireplace, as well as modern banquet facilities and eight guest rooms.

What began as a one-room structure with a Dutch-style fireplace and beehive oven in the late 1600s was joined by a two-story structure in the mid to late 1700s, serving as home to a number of families over the centuries. The property was acquired by the Mathews family in 1981 and has operated as a restaurant ever since. For the last 21 years, the property has been overseen and added onto by Chris Mathews. His brother Scott is a Culinary Institute of America graduate and guided the kitchen for many years; Scott continues to chef for events, but not day-to-day.

After the banquet room and deck were added in 1987 — over what had been a swimming pool constructed by the previous owner — Mr Mathews began personally building out the guest rooms to better accommodate guests at weddings and other functions. “I love carpentry,” he stated, “and there were times I’d be working on rooms from 6 am until noon, then working in the restaurant from noon till closing.”

The dining room is situated in the oldest portions of the house and seats 60 in interconnected rooms. The food is Continental, but says Mr Mathews, “we do a little bit of everything.” On the dinner menu, appetizers range from French onion soup, $4.50, to smoked Norwegian salmon, $8.75. In-between are stuffed caps of mushrooms or chicken tenderloins for $5.75 and shrimp cocktail, $8.25.

Entrees, which include a garden salad, vegetable, and potato or rice, range from $18.95 for swordfish provençale to $31.95 for twin stuffed lobster tails or a king crab dinner. Other seafood dishes include salmon filet, sautéed trout, and shrimp scampi. The menu offers a selection of steaks — filet mignon, rib eye, or porterhouse, $21.95–$24,95 — as well as wiener schnitzel, $21.95, and chicken cordon blue, $19.95. The favorite, however, is North Country’s king cut roast prime rib au jus. “Everyone loves our prime rib,” said Mr Mathews. “It’s our bestseller.”

To accompany a delicious meal, North Country features an extensive wine cellar that can suit most any taste — some 4,000 bottles ranging in price from $20 to $5,000. The offerings are predominately Californian, particularly the Napa Valley, and French wines, but also include a good selection from Italy and Germany.

Entry is on the side of the building, into another older portion, with dark ceilings and a sealed field stone floor. Visitors may notice some coins embedded in the clear seal. It began with an accident, a coin that fell when the floor was initially sealed; Mr Mathews has added another coin for each year he has been operating the business.

The restaurant is to the left, the banquet room opposite the door. The banquet room, which has a fireplace that can be lit in the cool weather and opens onto a deck in the warm, can accommodate 150 guests. It is used for everything from weddings to retirement parties, town functions to fundraisers. At the back of the building is a tap room with a convivial atmosphere.

North Country Inn and Restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. Located two miles north of the Big Y in New Milford, “We are a destination restaurant,” Mr Mathews explains, “being out a way, we don’t get a lunch crowd of business people looking to eat in 20 minutes. But we do get shoppers driving along Route 7 and people who want a nice meal. If you’re hungry, stop in; as long as we’re here, we’ll feed you.”

For information or reservations call 860-355-5141.