Easton: Locanda Cavallo (May 2012)

My spouse and I dined at Locanda Cavallo in May of 2012. The owner and her son run this restaurant, which also has a few rooms that function as a B&B. The location is along the river (Route 611) close to Easton. The restaurant is very well maintained, with newish-looking windows and up-to-date security and lighting systems. The air-conditioning works fabulously. The restaurant is BYOB, and charges a fixed price of $150 per person (that includes gratuity). When you reserve a table, you must give your credit card, which is charged in advance of dining. When you leave, you don’t even receive a bill, which we found just a bit odd. We dined on five courses – a delicious onion soup, cold lobster salad, ravioli, veal shank with polenta, and grilled shortbread with lemon curd and berries. The owner/chef said that she discovered the onion soup while on her honeymoon in France – it wasn’t our traditional French onion soup, though, because it contained meat but no cheese nor croutons. The food was rustic in style, and the portions were enormous – too much to eat at one sitting (and we are big eaters who partake in lots of multi-course tasting menus when we dine out). We ended up taking most of our entrée (the veal and polenta) home, along with an entire 24”+ loaf of crusty semolina bread. We were encouraged to walk around the property (inside and outside) between courses. There is a nice outdoor flagstone patio, and we could imagine ourselves stopping there for a drink and/or a snack some day when we were out driving, but alas, the restaurant is BYOB and only serves the tasting meal, plus reservations are mandatory. We were the only couple dining on the evening that we there, which may appeal to some diners seeking a romantic meal and be off-putting to others. The restaurant is much larger than we expected, with many small tables as well as banquet space in two private rooms.