The Veranda Restuarant (formerly known as the The Beaufort Inn Restaurant)
Those who yearn for a taste of Southern elegance and warm hospitality, combined with service typical of a AAA Four-Diamond rated restaurant, find their way to the Beaufort Inn Restaurant. |
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(Please note: The Beaufort Inn Restaurant has changed names. The new name is Veranda Restaurant at the Beaufort Inn.)
By Tom Crosby
With stately oak trees dressed with dripping Spanish moss lining its streets and views of Port Royal Sound and nearby sleepy marshlands, Beaufort, South Carolina has emerged as a boutique destination, especially for day trippers from Hilton Head.
Those who yearn for a taste of Southern elegance and warm hospitality, combined with service typical of a AAA Four-Diamond rated restaurant, find their way to the Beaufort Inn Restaurant.
Located in the three story, renovated Victorian Beaufort Inn with eight outdoor porches decorated with white wicker rocking chairs, the Inn offers eclectic and varied Southern cuisine featuring fish, shellfish, beef, poultry and, occasionally, wild game.
The entrance to the restaurant is skillfully located alongside the ivy-clad house, leading to the rear of the Inn, as guests enter through the Inn’s lobby, travel down a corridor of frosted-glass panels and mahogany wainscotting to the restaurant, which occupies the entire front floor and two former guest rooms at the front of the Inn.
The main dining room offers eight tables of four (some set for two) and a table for six, all covered with white linen tablecloths, silver salt and pepper shakers, a crystal vase holding a fresh rose and a candle in a frosted glass.
Jimmy Buffet fans sometimes like to request the table he uses when he occasionally dines at the restaurant. (Some waiters know; some don’t and some won’t tell.)
Everyone, however, dines beneath a cream-colored ceiling with insets with three hanging chandeliers of cut glass. Gilded period wallpaper, softly lit wall sconces, antique mirrors and paintings, pale green striped drapes and a patterned green rug provide a warm and inviting ambience. Guests sit in high- back soft leather white chairs.
Attentive waitstaff wear dark pants and white shirts embroidered with the Beaufort Inn crest and once dinner is ordered, Sambonet cutlery, Villeroy and Boch china and crystal glasses are brought to prepare for the meal.
Southern plantation fare dominates the menu.
Appetizers include Beaufort Inn Shrimp and Grits with sweet corn, roast garlic and basil cream ($9); Trio of Baked Bluepoint Oysters with Rockefeller, Bienville and casino “style” ($10); She Crab Soup with sweet cream, sheery and chives ($8); Butter Bibb Lettuce Salad with crisp Asian pears, ginger sesame vinaigrette and toasted almonds ($8).
Diners will enjoy the honey molasses and pecan butter choices with a basket of fresh bread.
The She Crab soup is a local favorite with a dollop of fresh crab meat placed atop the soup enhancing the presentation and exquisite taste.
Entrees, like all the menu items, may change depending on fresh ingredients but typically may include Atlantic Salmon with preserved lemons, fresh dill and capers and spring asparagus ($23); Low County Bouillabaisse with shrimp, scallops, crawfish, mussels, roasted tomatoes, tasso ham and collards ($27); Tanglewood Farms Breast of Chicken with thai red curry, pineapple confit, ginger and black sushi rice ($24) and Veal “Porterhouse” Steak with ragout of asparagus, redskins and fresh herbs ($32). Vegetarians can choose the Collection of Market Vegetables and Grains either grilled, roasted or steamed ($18).
Steaks are precisely cooked, with fussy eaters being surprised at the perfect blend in a medium-rare preparation.
Desserts offer special temptation, like a Buttermilk Shortcake with fresh strawberries and sweet whipped cream ($6) or a Flourless Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with peanut butter ice cream and brittle ($6) or the Sweet Cherry Creme Brulee with chilled custard and caramelized sugar ($6).
Brandies and port wine are offered to culminate the meal, along with the usual choices of coffee. Prices range from $9 to $25 for a brandy; $6 to $14 for a port.
Complementing the menu is an extensive wine list that offers wines from (need list of countries) ranging in price from (need lowest to highest price).
Visitors may choose to dine in the Veranda Room, a small room off the hallway that contains two tables for four and three tables for two. Intimate and quiet, a gilded mirror hangs over a gas fireplace in the room, which has 6 foot high mahogany paneling on the walls and a glass-enclosed, temperature controlled wine storage cabinet.
Opposite the parlor is the Grill and Wine Bar, with four shiny mahogany tables for four, one for two and five bar stools in front of the marble countertop behind which wine and liquor cabinets made from 100-year-old beveled glass sidelites.
Candles on the tables, a gas fireplace, mahogany paneled, a green patterned rug contribute to an ambiance that feels right for either men or women. Local artist Barbara Shipman has a painting of the inn hanging over the fireplace.
A pair of glass cases in the hall hold books, local coffee for sale, menus, gift certificates and awards won by the Inn and restaurant.
Special tips: Dinner begins nightly at 6 p.m., the wine bar opens at 5 p.m. Lunch is served Monday through Friday from 11:30-2 pm and brunch is served at the same time Sunday. Guest are asked to not use their cell phones in the dining room. |
