Cavallo's in Easton, PA

[Rosie]

There was an article about this "no menu" restaurant in today's NY Times. It sounds like an interesting restaurant. Anyone been?

[Rail Paul]

I haven't been there, but the story reminded me very much of the ancient John McPhee New Yorker story from the 1970s. A more robust description of that event is on another thread, perhaps about reviewing. (Isolated cabin in the woods, gifted chef, fresh ingredients, no publicity, turned out to be a hoax.)

The idea that the host will choose what you eat strikes me as a little strange and patronizing. When I invite people to my house, I usually inquire if there are food issues, try to gauge inventiveness if I don't know them, etc.

I expect choices, and I'm paying the bill. If I want to be told what to eat, I'll go to my mother's place or to the  Soup Nazi.

The plus to this article was I could read Amanda Hesser without the whining about Mr Latte. She does have a gifted style when she focuses on the food...

[Rosie]

I love surprises and it doesn't bother me if  the menu is non-existant. We go to a restaurant in Jersey City, NJ called 15 Fox Place that is in a house on a residential street. You eat in the owner's dining room.

[terra]

For those of us who missed the NY Times article, can you tell us about Cavallos, it's food, and where it is?

[Rail Paul]

I don't have the citation in front of me, but...

This restaurant is located on PA 611 just south of Easton. Large house, family runs it. You eat in their dining room, mom cooks, dad oversees the front room, junior is the valet. They decide what you eat.

At first, I thought it was a put-up (Addams Family does the restaurant business) but it seems to be legit. The area north of Frenchtown to Stroudsburg seems to lacking in good destination restaurants which might be expected. Frenchtown Inn, a host ofplaces around New Hope, and then a drop off for 50 miles.

A few places (Ship Inn in Milford, Perryville Inn in Jutland, that brewpub in Easton, the Barley Creek by Camelback) but not that many for destination traveling.

[Shiva]

I found the article.  Gotta love Google.

http://college3.nytimes.com/guests/articles/2001/11/07/878780.xml

[serpentor]

I grew up eating there ( i grew up in Bethlehem which is the nex town over). It is a surreal dining experience in terms of ambience an in terms of food. Mrs. Cavallo makes everything homemade...from the sausage to the pasta. Meals always took no less than 4 hours because of the many courses. In between courses, you can walk the grounds, tour the cavernous and somewhat medieval house on your own, or do what my brother and I used to do and run thru the adjacent cow pastures and herd the cows like sheepdogs (no joke). Either way, it is a stupendous dining experience. I live in NYC now and try to get my parents to meet me there when I head back home.

andrew