UNLOCKING LITCHFIELD

Welcome! Here it is, our very first blog post, and of course, if you know us at all, you won’t be surprised to hear it’s about food! Unlocking Litchfield had the pleasure of being invited along to The White Horse Country Pub & Restaurant in Marbledale, CT. If you have ever driven by, you’ll know the place is extremely popular. Reservations are highly recommended, but you could also get lucky if you just pop in. Folks come from hours away to enjoy the food and atmosphere The White Horse provides, and after our visit there, we completely understand why. It was a somewhat dreary, grey day when we set out to sample the White Horse brunch menu, British like weather in fact, which was perfect to set the mood to have a cozy afternoon enjoying the warm fireplace, pub-y atmosphere and lively crowd.

To start we tried the signature White Horse Bloody Mary, which was just the ticket. We cannot lie, we had a slight case of first time blogging nerves, but a couple sips in, we relaxed, bounced around to the great tunes they were playing and took in the vibe. The menu is so varied that you could really go there with a hankering for pretty much anything, from curries to burgers, seafood, steak, fresh pasta, interesting salads, you name it! You might want to study the menu online before you go (Lora and Bev always do) to give you a head start on making your choice. Being that we were both super hungry AND our meals were incredibly tasty, made for a good few minutes of silence at our table as we made OMG faces at each other. Lora’s short rib sandwich was melt in your mouth delicious, Bev’s fish and chips were the real deal, and being a true Scot, she knows what she’s talking about. Bev taught Lora about chips versus fries and the joys of malt vinegar. So it was kind of like a cultural exchange really. We were so excited about the presentation of the meals, we went around and snapped some other diners drinks and dishes….that’s normal, right? Enjoy the food porn pics.

Towards the end of our meal, John Harris, co-owner of the White Horse (along with his wife Lisa), came over to say hi. A proper English gentleman he is, giving of his time, super encouraging of our blogging dreams and all round great guy. He told us his story of how he ended up living in Northwestern CT, coming over from England initially to work in marketing, meeting his wife in LA, living for some time in Greenwich and Southern CT working in property development, to finally being presented with the opportunity to renovate, own and run The White Horse Country Pub. John explains the décor at The White Horse as being “Hard Rock Cafe meets British Museum”, which describes the interior and feeling perfectly. One of the coolest things that we liked, first and foremost, was Audrey the taxi from the tv show Super Nanny, who is parked outside the restaurant. Bev has taken many a ride in such a Hackney taxi growing up in Scotland, it equals pure nostalgia for her, for Lora, she just wants to get behind the wheel…maybe we’ll go back in the summer for a little photo shoot with Audrey. Another nice touch that caught our eye was the shiny red Indian Scout motorcycle behind the bar…it positively gleams back there and reminded Bev of that awesome Anthony Hopkins movie called The World’s Fastest Indian. Add that one to your Netflix cue pronto.

Seriously, there is just so much to check out, and as John explained, some people let all the antiques and memorabilia wash right over them, and some scholars come with notebooks and pens and study it all. Finally, the ending to a perfect brunch, a dessert called Chocolate Between Friends was brought over to us as a surprise! Belgium Chocolate Ganache covering english toffee, pretzel, peanut butter cream and salted caramel on a chocolate crumb base!! As we all know, when a dessert isn’t ordered by the consumer directly, there are zero calories associated with said dessert! Lora and Bev agree to just one bite each…….and we know how that always ends up. Lora’s Fave Thing : The dessert. Creamy, chocolate-y, caramel-y. Just. Heaven. Bev’s Fave Thing: The Fish. Batter was so fresh.

THE WHITE HORSE COUNTRY PUB AND RESTAURANT is located at 258 New Milford Turnpike (Route 202), Marbledale, CT. Website: www.whitehorsecountrypub.com Phone number: 860-868-1496. They are open 7 days a week 11am – 10pm. MARBLEDALE, PUB FOOD, RESTAURANT