Winston's Tavern
 Youngstown, Ohio                 Date of Visit: 07/15/10                    No Known Website

Okay. Yes this place is located in a hotel. If your experience with hotel restaurants is anything like mine, you would be hearing the words “Run Away” as you approached the door. My brother promised the chicken franchese would be worth it, however, so in we went. Things did not start off well, the air conditioner had frozen over and our server appeared to be swooning on the edge of collapse. As a fellow worshiper of artificial chill my heart went out to him. He proved to be gracious and sharp in addition to sweaty and pulled the night off in spite of the heat. The space itself is dark and has a very “barsy” feeling to it which is what most of the patrons were using it for, although all had ordered food of some sort in addition to their adult beverages, a good sign.

Bread

We tried the franchese (of course), a pasta dish that had won a “taste of the valley” competition several years ago and all of the accoutrement. The bread was sprinkled with parmesan cheese and herbs and had a warmth that seduced the butter to spoon on it’s surface. The air conditioning might have been out but the refrigeration kept the salad greens cool and crisp. On a side note the Bleu Cheese dressing is assertive, as it should be. When I order a dressing with moldy cheese in it, it should have some serious stank to it, and the dressing here has a bright and delicious stank to it.

The pasta dish was really tasty combining tortellini, sausage, peppers and a spicy sauce that gave the impression of a good Italian Sausage sandwich at the Canfield Fair. Big fan. The Franchese was different from most places at which I have imbibed. The flavors of lemon, wine and butter weren’t as up front as some I have tried but they manage to keep their sauce emulsified which makes each bite consistently full of those delicious flavors and avoids a slick of butter fat on the surface. Almost makes it seem a little healthier. The mashed potatoes on the side were flat and needed a good dose of salt, the baker was the way to go.

We had ordered an app of their house chips which our server said the kitchen had forgotten to fire. As a back of the house kind of guy I always hear…I forgot to tell them, but you will never know…but that is the way of the kitchen. He was nice enough to drop them from the bill and discount the rest of the ticket. When they were finally delivered they had been rushed through the fryolator and many of the chips had been stuck together leaving them limp and greasy. The spicy dip really did the crunchy parts well regardless. I'm pretty sure we'll be back.

Long Awaited Chips