Culinary Quest

Located in downtown Lancaster, PA, Carr’s Restaurant mixes French Escoffier with California cuisine to create truly delectable dishes for lunch and dinner crowds alike.  Match these foods with the selections from the restaurant’s enviable wine cellar, and you cannot help but leave with the smile of a satisfied gourmand on your face.

Opened in July 2000, Carr’s offers seating for up to 135 and can comfortably handle parties, rehearsals, meetings, and groups. 

Owner and Executive Chef Tim Carr is a native of Lancaster County who found the kitchen with a little help.  "I used to get home before my mom, so I started things for convenience--it was dinner for six--so she could finish....I was an unsuccessful college student, but I enjoyed cooking.  My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, urged me to apply to the Culinary Institute (CIA).  I got in and never looked back."

Graduating in 1978, Tim jumped right into restaurant work and found himself working as a chef a year later.  The experience he gained working with seasoned chefs, he tells me, paid off more than the time he spent in cooking school.  He had the opportunity to work at Le Bec Fin in Philadelphia with George Perrier which is where he says he gained a great deal of the foundations for his French cooking style.  "Today, there are a variety of backgrounds for chefs who have become great for different reasons.  Back then, you never knew the chefs.  It was the manager who was in the forefront.  Today, it’s the chef."

From the California cuisine, Chef Carr gained an appreciation for the locally produced, fresh, quality ingredients.  "Now, it’s what is grown locally, and what can I do with it?  You learn to use what customers desire and how to prepare it properly.  People go out to eat more, so if you don’t do it here, someone else close by will."

While developing his skills in the kitchen, Chef Carr has worked at many respected restaurants, including the Meadowbrook Inn, Harrah’s Marina, Trump Castle, Lancaster Country Club, and Bent Creek Country Club, to name a few.  This has all been in a logical progression toward better positions and toward higher goals, leading to ownership of Carr’s Restaurant, Catering, and Gourmet Grocer.

I asked Tim what his philosophy to cooking is.  "We use local ingredients.  We use lamb from Pittsburgh, natural grass-fed beef, chicken from Lancaster.  We are located next to Central Market so we have fresh, high quality local ingredients.  We use fresh produce, fresh juices, upscale American ingredients and foods.  We offer a broad selection of foods for a wide variety of desires in our clientele.  The lunch business offers good variety for our lunch crowd.  We’re across from the Fulton Opera House, the Academy of Music, the Arts District, The Heritage Museum, and other cultural and historical museums with a varied business crowd, too."

But Chef Carr does not stop the dining experience with just good food.  He places great emphasis on the hospitality provided to his guests, too.  He wants to offer a friendly face with a welcoming disposition.  He has quality food to offer, so he wants the ambience to be complete with a clean and orderly looking place in which to enjoy the meal.  He also wants to be a part of the community, so he is active with all of his neighbors.  "It’s good for business and good for downtown to help it come back," he comments.

I wonder if Tim can pinpoint any house specialties for me.  "The ravioli with shrimp and boursin cheese (listed as Shrimp and Basil Ravioli,) the Jail Island Salmon Fillet, and the Meatloaf Sandwich, believe it or not, are probably the house specialties.  People really love the meatloaf sandwich for lunch," he answers.

“I use local ingredients like Eberly Chicken, which is organic.  My inspiration is seeing what’s here to use.  I use seasonal ingredients.  We are the garden spot of America, so we’re going back to that.  I get outside inspirations, too, from cookbooks, magazines, other restaurants, and television.  I have a new menu coming out next month that will be an American tapas menu.  I have found that people don’t eat the volume that they used to.  Americans have become more aware of what they eat, and of what they eat eats.  They are very conscious of that, so I try to make the ingredients healthy for our customers," Chef Carr adds.

Tim points out, "We’re happy to be downtown.  Lancaster is right on the edge of getting back to where it was when I was a kid.  It was very vibrant.  Getting more people to come into the downtown makes it more comfortable."

My girlfriend and I arrive right on time for our reservations, having had trouble locating the entrance to the parking lot located in front of Carr's Restaurant.  We are greeted by the semollier who hands us off to the hostess so that we may be seated.  The dining room to which we are led is attractively decorated and has a feeling of warmth.  It is adjacent to the bar area, separated only by a cloth screen, however.  We are immediately aware that some individuals in the bar are smoking.  The hostess hands us our menus and the wine list before departing.

Our waitress soon arrives to take our water order and to see if we would like to have anything else to drink.  Upon returning with our waters, she tells us about the evening's specials and featured wines.  She is friendly and polite, though a bit giggly for the restaurant's atmosphere. 

Examination of the menu leads me to the conclusion that Chef Carr has a clientele with wide variety of tastes that he tries to satisfy.  I see everything from Brioche & Wild Mushroom Sautee, making use of Kennett Square and seasonal wild mushrooms, to Beet and Goat Cheese Napoleon, garnished with fried oysters on the appetizer menu.  The entrees include selections such as Seafood Shepherd's Pie, Duck Fettuccine, Sautéed Jumbo Lump Crabmeat, Rare-Seared Ahi Tuna, and Striped Bass served with lobster and sweet potato pierogies.  Although the evening's specials sounded equally as wonderful, I choose to stick to the menu tonight in order to sample Carr's seasonal offerings. 

Wanting to explore the server's abilities a bit, I ask what her favorite dishes are.  Her response is disappointing.  Rather than telling me what she enjoys most, she tells me what the popular dishes are.  Indeed, she lists most of the menu in her efforts.  Granted, it is nice to know that other customers enjoy eating at Carr's, but I am trying to find out how well my server knows the menu and the food.  She really pushes the Fresh Fried Calamari for an appetizer, though, so I play devil's advocate and argue that squid is squid, asking what makes Carr's calamari so special.  She answers that it is like no other calamari, offering to replace my order with something else if I do not like it.  That's not much of an answer, but given that I can send the dish back if I don't like it, I bite.  For my entree, I have decided upon the "Elysian Fields" Lamb Trio.  This is a combination of three different presentations of the country's best lamb from Pittsburgh:  a rib chop, a grilled slice from the leg, and pastry stuffed with braised lamb and goat cheese on wild rice and lentil pilaf, served with sautéed French beans, roasted garlic and fresh rosemary.  This will grant me the opportunity to experience Chef Carr's skill at interpreting an ingredient in a variety of ways.

I have been examining the wine list for an accompaniment to the lamb, and order the Cantele Primitivo, 2004.  The Primitivo is touted as being Italy's closest cousin to the Zinfandel grape, and Carr's advertises that "the wine has plenty of bold, jammy fruit, noticeable tannins, and spice."  This sounds like a marvelous wine to pair with my entree. 

The smokers in the bar soon leave, and I walk around the restaurant to see how things are laid out while we await our appetizers.  The walls toward the back are adorned with murals creating a European feel to the dining space.  In the large back dining room, you are able to look into the "wine cellar" at Carr's collection of vintage bottles.  The side walls here are lined with large glass displays of wine tools, adding to the room's ambience.  In the lobby, you will find a wall of wine corks upon which hangs a plaque awarded by Zagat, next to a bookcase of wine books.  At the top of the stairs leading down to the restaurant is Carr's Gourmet Grocery, a stop worth a trip of its own.

My brief tour concluded, I return to the table a few moments before the calamari arrives.  The calamari is lightly breaded and flash fried in olive oil, with garlic, lemon, and parsley and served in a pool of marinara sauce.  Nothing unusual about that.  However, swirled into the marinara is a horseradish mixture.  I am Italian-PA Dutch, but I have NEVER had anything like that before.  Perhaps my server had a point.  The marinara is rich, thick, and spicy by itself.  The calamari is cooked al dente.  Together, the two make a great pair.  When I mix the horseradish with the marinara, it creates a very flavorful cocktail sauce-like concoction, Italian-style, that complements the calamari wonderfully.  I like the thought process that went into this imaginative, yet oh so simple dish. 

My server inquires how things are, and seems pleased that I am enjoying the calamari.  She refills our waters.

When we had finished our appetizers, the server cleared our plates and soon returned with our wines.  The Primitivo is deep maroon in color.  The nose is heavy with berries, spice, and grape.  It is, indeed, jammy and bold.  I can taste the tannins, but the spice is more subtle than the nose would lead you to think.  It is a very dense wine, full of red grape.  It is strong on the palate with great length.  This is a very young wine that I would like to try again in a few years after it has had a chance to age a bit.

A beautifully dressed platter of three lamb preparations arrived a few moments later.  The rib chop had been cooked medium.  It was moist, flavorful, and  well-trimmed.  The grilled slice from the leg was prepared with herbs and played well with the wild rice and lentil pilaf, the flavors melding pleasantly on the palate and gracing the tongue with a taste of the fields in spring.  The pastry stuffed with lamb and goat cheese was very reminiscent of Greek dishes that I have enjoyed in the past.  Each of the approaches to lamb highlighted the meat's flavor in a different way, bringing out a unique aspect to its character that would have been lost in the traditional lamb with mint jelly.  The entree was finished nicely with the sautéed French beans, roasted garlic and fresh rosemary that augmented the taste of the lamb without hiding its more subtle nuances with overpowering flavors.

The server offers us dessert menus after clearing our plates and refilling our waters.  My eyes are immediately drawn to the bread pudding, a personal favorite.  When my server returns, I place my order, only to be told that the kitchen has sold out of the bread pudding.  Obviously, this is a popular dessert with others, as well.  I go with my second choice, the Caramelized Banana Cake--moist banana cake topped with caramelized bananas and vanilla ice cream served on a pool of buttered rum sauce.  Dessert would not be complete without a good Port wine,  so I ask my server for her suggestions on a good Port, as does my girlfriend.  After hemming and hawing, our server lets us know that she is not much of an expert on Ports, leaving us to order on our own.  We opt to split a Fonseca 20 Year Old Tawny Porto and a 2000 Churchill's Vintage Porto.

Our Ports are served within moments. 

The Fonseca Tawny is very complex.  It is lush, seducing the palate with a rich, smoothness and a long finish.  The balance of this Port is marvelous.  Almost invariably, Fonseca's Ports meet very high standards.

The 2000 Churchill's Vintage Porto is a wonderful ruby.  With the aromas of black licorice and berries, it is full-bodied with fine tannins and a very long finish.  This is a very sexy Port with a nice balance of acidity and alcohol.

The Caramelized Banana Cake is beautiful to behold.  The large, moist piece of cake is topped with a scoop of very creamy, real vanilla ice cream.  The cake is full of banana flavors.  The caramelized bananas are sweet and soft.  But the dish would not be complete were it not for the buttered rum sauce.  Spooned over each and every other element of the dessert, the sauce is magnificent.  You do not taste the alcohol; rather, it is the rum flavor that comes through and that caresses the banana and vanilla.  Indeed, the sauce is delicious by itself on a spoon.

Carr's Restaurant  |  50 West Grant Street  |  Lancaster, PA  17603  |  Ph 717.299.7090  |  Fax 717.299.7145

www.carrsrestaurant.com

07 June 2007