When reviewing Hemingway's Restaurant, the challenge is not to fall over oneself like some love struck teenager while heaping lavish praise. Nonetheless, it's worth recounting what others have said--Four Stars from the Mobil Guide, Four  Diamonds from AAA, the Award of Excellence from the Wine Spectator, one of Food and Wine Magazine's Top 25 Restaurants in America, one of the Conde Nast Traveler's 50 Distinguished Restaurants in the U.S.--the accolades have piled  up like snow during a good Nor'easter.

However, unlike many Vermont restaurants, which do their best to imitate so-called  New American Cuisine, Hemingway's is an original...a restaurant that not only  plays with the "big boys" in New York, Boston, and San Francisco,  but one that beats them handily at their own game.
The artful presentation, the impeccable service and extensive knowledge of the waitstaff, the degree of creativity that goes into the menu, the quality of the ingredients, the depth of the wine list--they make it look easy.

For  instance, I recently tried a filet of beef with shallots and red wine. Now  there's beef and there's what I was served that night--a filet so tender you  could easily cut it with a fork; beef that feels as though it's melting in  your mouth. In other words, pure culinary nirvana. And everything I've ever ordered there--from hors d'oeuvres to dessert--has achieved that level of  excellence.It's like an athlete who delivers a flawless performance every night while never appearing to work very hard.

But  no one's perfect, and Hemingway's is no exception.

Seating  in the main room, known as the vaulted room, tends to be a bit crowded, and the acoustics leave you eavesdropping on conversations at neighboring tables (a source of entertainment between courses). Then there are the prices, with prix fix meals ranging from about $50 for a three-course meal without wine to $70 to a four-course meal with wine. As they point out, this can be a better value than many a la carte restaurants, but it's expensive, even by metropolitan standards.

As a spectator, you're keenly aware that what they're doing requires Herculean ability and effort, but they never show it. Then there's the fact that Hemingway's does not typify the "Vermont experience,"  which is exactly why non-Vermonters come here.

In short, you'll run out of superlatives long before you run out of reasons to  eat here. If you feel that a great meal is priceless, your next trip to Vermont should include a visit to Hemingway's. Just be prepared to drop about $100.00  and bring some city clothes with you. Jeans are not acceptable!