a review by Joanna Daneman

The Skunk Hollow Inn is located at Hartland Four Corners about 20 minutes south east of Woodstock and about 30 minutes from White River Junction and Dartmouth College. If you were worried that it serves a specialty dish of a black and white small game animal, rest assured. Despite the name, nothing but the most appetizing odors emanate from this popular establishment .

The decor downstairs is like that of many popular trendy Eastern college town bôites ; wood floors, tables packed together, and a bar. Upstairs it is more sophisticated; colonial inn-style with pink walls and candlelight. Very soothing. Depending on your mood, you can enjoy a lively club atmosphere or a quiet, romatic dinner. Along with a varied menu, there's a little something for everyone at this inn, which accounts for it's popularity. There's live music on Sundays and Wednesdays.

We visited the restaurant on a rather hot evening this summer. Since appetites are fickle in the heat, we chose a variety of appetizers and first-course dishes rather than a full dinner.  We started with two soups, both specials that night. I chose a salmon gazpacho, my dinner companion the fish soup. As luck would have it, I didn't like fish swimming in gazpacho and he is not fond of curry, the main seasoning of the fish soup. This was clearly a case of "right soup, wrong diner" so we switched. I enjoyed the mildly spicy curry broth and the chunks of fish. My companion, whose diet preferences have a lot in common with a North Atlantic seal's, was quite pleased with the cold salmon and tomato-based version of this famous Spanish soup. We continued with salads, then ordered several plates of stuffed mushrooms, ordinarily an appetizer on the menu. The mushrooms were not packed with sawdust-like breadcrumbs. These tasty morsels were filled with melted Feta cheese and sun-dried tomato bits. They were delectable. We concluded our a-la-carte evening with chocolate mousse, which was standard issue. But I'll be back for some more of those 'shrooms, you can bet on it.

Skunk Hollow Restaurant & Tavern
Hartland Four Corners
Tel: (802) 436-2139

Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.