The molten chocolate cake was dry and overcooked. A cheese plate was lovely to look at, but the selection of cheeses was unimaginative and a bit too cool to fully complement our bottle of Stag's Leap cabernet sauvignon.
Wine is one of the real pleasures at the inn. The wine list, which includes prime vintages and selections from wineries from around the globe, is reasonably priced. On Friday and Sunday nights, any bottle on the list is half-price.
From top left, the Elkridge Furnace Inn operates in a proper manor house. Osso buco is served with pepper grits and grilled asparagus. The vanilla cheesecake with fruit and cream is one of the more luscious desserts. Left, executive chef and owner Daniel Wecker holds Chocolate VooDoo Cake, made by the pastry chef, his daughter.
(Photos James M. Thresher -- The Washington Post)
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The lunch menu is lighter and perhaps even more intriguing. I haven't seen pork rillettes on any U.S. menu in years. At the inn they are served as a lush sandwich.
An appetizer of wild mushrooms in a cream sauce and crispy croutons of fried polenta showed an Italian flair. (But then, as Wecker will tell you, the French-Italian border has moved back and forth over the centuries.) The mushrooms needed a bit of salt, as did several other dishes we tried, and the polenta was too crispy and not quite mushy enough on the inside, but overall the dish was a great starter. The fish soup, which changes daily, was a fine mixture of shrimp and tuna in a rich fish base.
Main courses included the rillettes sandwiches, ubiquitous Maryland crab cakes and pork tenderloin in Dijon mustard sauce. Wild mushroom-stuffed chicken was juicy and full of flavor, served with a red wine shallot sauce. A plate of game sausages over sauerkraut, a decidedly Alsatian touch (that region over the centuries has belonged to Germany and France), was just right for a rainy fall day.
The desserts looked magnificent, but only the light-as-air vanilla cheesecake tasted as good as it looked. By then we were so calm, even that didn't matter.
Elkridge Furnace Inn 5745 Furnace Ave., Elkridge, 410-379-9336, reservations recommended, especially on weekends. Hours: lunch, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; brunch, 1o a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays; dinner, 5-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 5-10 p.m. Saturdays, 4-8 p.m. Sundays. Appetizers at lunch, $4-$8; main courses at lunch, $10-$15. Appetizers at dinner, $4-$15; main courses at dinner, $15-$32. Not wheelchair accessible. www.elkridgefurnaceinn.com.
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