Mirbeau Inn Restaurant, Skaneateles
December 2011
Mirbeau Inn is set in a 12-acre plot in the village of Skaneateles. The buildings and landscaping of the core hotel were based on Monet’s property at Givenchy. The peaceful atmosphere within the hotel and spa makes it easy to shut out everything and relax. We first stayed at Mirbeau seven years ago at a time when it was truly unique for Upstate New York. The French emphasis was carried through to the dining room where our evening meal was a class above anything else we could find in the area. That meant we tried to find excuses to go back whenever we could.
Unfortunately things change and the head chef at the time moved on to run his own place. Since then there have been a number of new chefs and the emphasis of the menu has changed so its uniqueness has gone. Now the lunch menu, particularly, features variations on dishes you can find in any American restaurant. The healthy food that you’d associate with a spa also seems to have gone from the menu. Additionally, they’ve bought into the annoying fad of a three course lunch taster here the first two courses are served at the same time. The clientele seem to see it as a French restaurant but they’re kidding themselves.
A recent visit meant that it was worth trying lunch on a day of Christmas shopping. Previous visits had been disappointing mainly because we hadn’t realised the implication of the lunch taster. Now seemed like a good time to check to see if the restaurant had improved. First up was “Normandie” clam chowder listed as creamy chowder served with a French twist. I think that referred to the bacon garnish rather than the uselessly ugly square bowl it was served in. The soup was fine but it was impossible to remove the clams from their shell armed only with a soup spoon.
Unfortunately things change and the head chef at the time moved on to run his own place. Since then there have been a number of new chefs and the emphasis of the menu has changed so its uniqueness has gone. Now the lunch menu, particularly, features variations on dishes you can find in any American restaurant. The healthy food that you’d associate with a spa also seems to have gone from the menu. Additionally, they’ve bought into the annoying fad of a three course lunch taster here the first two courses are served at the same time. The clientele seem to see it as a French restaurant but they’re kidding themselves.
A recent visit meant that it was worth trying lunch on a day of Christmas shopping. Previous visits had been disappointing mainly because we hadn’t realised the implication of the lunch taster. Now seemed like a good time to check to see if the restaurant had improved. First up was “Normandie” clam chowder listed as creamy chowder served with a French twist. I think that referred to the bacon garnish rather than the uselessly ugly square bowl it was served in. The soup was fine but it was impossible to remove the clams from their shell armed only with a soup spoon.
For main I went with the meatloaf cupcake, a menu idea that seemed truly terrible. I have always loved meatloaf and the possible entertainment from eating it as a cupcake was just too good to pass up. It came with whipped potato frosting! And Chef’s selected local vegetables! And a Bordelaise sauce! Roughly translated as we cooked the meatloaf in a cupcake mould, dumped mashed potato on top then some bacon and there would have been more vegetables but all we had were carrots. To be fair, it tasted fine particularly when dipped in the sauce (more needed) but, really, the cupcake thing is just a stupid gimmick.
Overall verdict.
Not sure that the current menu makes Mirbeau special enough to differentiate itself from other restaurants round here. The lunch menu is really not great. Hopefully dinner might be better.This area is crying out for good restaurants. Mirbeau used to have one and hopefully they can find a way of delivering on that front again.
Not sure that the current menu makes Mirbeau special enough to differentiate itself from other restaurants round here. The lunch menu is really not great. Hopefully dinner might be better.This area is crying out for good restaurants. Mirbeau used to have one and hopefully they can find a way of delivering on that front again.