Food Review — The Restaurant at Inness
This past week, my beautiful girlfriend and I had the pleasure to soak in the last few days of 2025 in the magical Catskills of New York. We had some wonderful dining experiences while we were there, and I would love to elaborate on my favorite meal of the trip at the Restaurant at Inness. Located at the top of a hill in Accord, NY, Inness is an incredible resort that was awarded A Michelin Key, for 2025. This means it is “a very special stay” by Michelin Guide standards. While I did not reside there, you are met with beauty upon your arrival. Up a windy road, you overlook the nine-hole golf course, and since we came at night after the holidays, the string lights around the cabinesque lobby and restaurant make the uphill drive even more spectacular.
Entering the restaurant you are greeted to what I could only describe as one of the most curated and well put together dining spaces I have ever seen. To the left a sleek and modern dining room, with a fun, lively upbeat tone to it. Housing the small bar with around 5–6 seats and about 10–12 tables, the room was vibrant with people, and the bustling kitchen you can see if you dine in that room. To the right, a smaller, more intimate room. The room houses two couches and a large fireplace, where you can enjoy drinks while you wait or if you simply can not fit at the bar. Home to a few larger tables and two smaller tables in the corner of the room, the layout of the tables is pure genius. Spread far enough apart that you can enjoy dining with your party, but close enough to not feel like you are eating in the middle of the ocean. It was quite perfect. And while I love describing the beauty of the space, it is time to dive into the important part, the food!
As stated on their website, the menu is “inspired by the diverse regions of the Mediterranean, our menu showcases simple, rustic dishes such as handmade pasta, fresh vegetables, fish, and meat, sourced locally whenever possible. Seasonal dishes will incorporate produce and fruit from local farms.” For anyone who loves the farm to table movement, this is your spot! The menu is extremely curated to local and seasonal ingredients that the chefs help bring to life with their creativity and passion.
We started out with two appetizers. The first appetizer that we started with was the Wood Roasted Carrots, with labneh, mint, carrot top chermoula. As my high school culinary arts teacher used to say. “2 Die 4.” If you know someone who doesn’t enjoy carrots, have them try this. If there was one dish that would change their mind, it would be this. For anyone who has been to Kingston, NY & stopped at Rough Draft Bar & Books, there is a book that my girlfriend & I brought called The Catskills Farm to Table Cookbook by Courtney Wade. In the book there is a recipe for roasted carrots. Similar to what we had at Inness, yet what the chefs at Inness did to this simple meal, took it to another level. The labneh was perfectly laid over the carrots, and the char of the vegetable helped compliment the chilly refreshing aspect of the mint. The different layers of this meal were perfectly portioned that it really helped set it apart from anything similar I have had.
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For our other appetizer we opted for the Bluefin Tuna Tartare. I know what you might be thinking, carrots and tuna…GROSS, and you know what my server probably thought the same thing. But, oh well, it didn’t seem to bother me or my girlfriend, so if you think I am gross too bad. Anywho, another spectacular dish. The tartare had garleek worked into it that stood a top a crostini with a dot of lemon aioli underneath the crostini. Delicious. Not as good as the carrots, but still delicious. The garleek and lemon aioli were fun little additions to this dish that I’m not used to seeing all the time, however the crostini sitting atop the aioli did cause for the crostini to not be as crunchy upon consumption. If you do order this dish make sure it is the first bite you take, and then wash it down with a carrot. Not the other way around like I did it.
Now for the meat and potatoes of the meal, our entrees. I am going to save what I ordered for last, because MY GOD was it incredible, but let me share what Alex ordered. She had the pappardelle with short rib ragu, Grana Padano, chive. It was MWAHHHHH! Chef’s kiss! The short rib melted in your mouth, and the uniqueness of the chive really added a nice herbiness that distinguished itself from the typical parsley or basil you may usually bear witness to in a pasta dish. The homemade pasta was every bit as incredible as well. As someone who gets pasta out a lot, it was one of the best pasta dishes I have had so far in my short time living in the NY area. This
alone was worth the trip, but there was one dish I was left speechless by.
Mushroom risotto. Thyme. Parmigiano Reggiano. As soon as the dish came out, I had an inkling it could be magical. It surpassed that expectation and then some. Ya know those dishes where you are always skeptical to order because it’s one of those dishes that if it goes wrong you regret getting it. Mushroom risotto is one of those dishes for me. There have been a number of occasions I have ordered it and been extremely disappointed. The sauce too watery. The rice too chewy or severely undercooked. But the times it is done right, the outcome is always spectacular. This was the BEST mushroom risotto I have ever had in my life. Every bite, the rice and sauce puffy and delicate, with the hint of umami and earthiness of the mushroom, UGHHHHHH, I can taste it now while I type this. If you go to the restaurant at Inness and they have this on the menu, order it. I don’t care if you don’t like mushrooms or risotto, you will like both those things after you shove a bite of this plate in your mouth. Incredible.
And of course, of course, we saved room for dessert. We decided to go with the sticky toffee pudding, earl grey, whipped creme fraiche. On brand with the rest of the meal it was divine. The toffee pudding was so rich and dense and the perfect amount of whipped creme fraiche was placed on top that it did not overpower the pudding which was my one fear with ordering it. It appears you can not go wrong with anything you order from here.
Whether you live in the Hudson Valley area, are on your way up to Upstate for a cozy weekend getaway, or simply love food like me, The Restaurant at Inness is worth the stop.
