Maryland’s Fair Hill Inn Gets Three Bells

Once in a long while, Craig LaBan makes a trip down to Maryland for a review. Yesterday he reviewed Elkton Maryland’s Fair Hill Inn where farm-to-table has been the method long before the term came into vogue.

While the menus differ significantly at every visit, a sense of handcraft is the common thread in the meals – especially with the house-cured salumi, of which there are 20-some rotating varieties, from excellent Tuscan fennel salami to air-dried bresaola, and a citrusy “agrumi” made with peppercorns and goose.

That salumi plate, often served with something pickled from the field (okra, fennel, ramps, garlic) is certainly the best place here to begin. The chefs, though, also begin every meal with a complimentary amuse-bouche spoonful of some fresh-grown inspiration. At our late-summer meal, it was a bite of tender poached rock shrimp dabbed with creamy guacamole, and a snappy fava bean lit with mint from the garden.

Three Bells – Excellent

Fair Hill Inn [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Fair Hill Inn [Official Site]