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Very Best Restaurants: Stone Manor

Very Best Listing | Very Best by Cuisine | Very Best by Location

Stone Manor *
Middletown, $$$

This 200-year-old stone mansion in the middle of a field ten miles west of Frederick offers an unusual dining experience. The house is extraordinary, with period furniture in the dining rooms and a fire in the fireplace. Beautifully furnished rooms are available for overnight stays. This is a restaurant for grand occasions.

The two menus, both with very limited choices, change often. Four courses cost $45; five courses, $55. Wine fanciers can order from the impressive list or, for an additional 50 percent of the price of the menu they've chosen, accept the sommelier's selection of a glass of a different wine with each course. Service is earnest.

The ingredients are often local and always first-rate. Cooking, even on a busy Saturday evening, has been perfectly timed. Successes have included crab-and-wild-mushroom cheesecake with crispy fried leeks and chive oil, and fresh trout with creamed wild rice and asparagus. Where the chef occasionally falls short is in trying to do too muchtender roasted Texas antelope on a bed of orzo, sauteed cabbage, fennel, prosciutto, black olives, and an Amarone reduction, to cite one example. The best dessert on a recent visit was a chocolate-toffee torte with a sprinkling of caramel.

Stone Manor , 5820 Carroll Boyer Rd., Middletown; 301-473-5454. Open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner. Reservations required. MapIt!

QUALITY: ****Excellent; *** Superior; **Very Good; * Good
PRICE RANGE: $$$= Very Expensive; $$ Expensive; $=Moderate; ¢=Inexpensive

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