Area restaurants are making spirits bright
Scare up a reservation because these restaurants have a spirited Halloween experience in store for you.
Picture it: a lovely meal in a restaurant dining room. Your spouse gets up from the table. You glance at the empty chair and see … “a young girl in colonial garb.”
A woman swears it happened at the historic Kennett Square Inn Restaurant & Tavern. Hang around for a spell and you too may witness some spirited dining.
“We have our own inhouse ghost,” said owner Steve Warner. “When I used to live upstairs, there was one incident in the middle of the night. All of a sudden, my feet started bouncing on the bed like someone was jumping on it.”
And that’s not all. An area so rich in history’s bound to boast plenty of h-a-u-n-t-ed eats.
“There are certainly abnormal things going on quite often,” agreed Michael Person, owner of the Ship Inn, an Exton landmark since 1796.
“Everybody has different stories” he added, like pots and pan flying across the kitchen, piano music playing (sans piano!) and the front door opening by itself.
“I’m not kidding,” Person said. “And it’s a big, heavy door. It has the old brass lock on it.”
At the 300-year-old Brinton Lodge in Douglassville, something’s brewing besides beer. Take a ghost tour … if you dare.
“It’s fairly regular to be creeped out here,” admitted Doug Reeser, co-owner of Hidden River Brewing Company and former skeptic. “I never had an experience before being in this building.”
“The most common” apparitions: an old woman, “a male figure with a cloak and black hat” and a young girl.
“I’ve seen the little girl just kind of watching me one evening,” he said. “That one will stick with me.”
Hungry for more hairraising happenings? Visit Chester Springs’ Eagle Tavern & Taproom, established in 1727.
“Our resident ghost is named Mary Anne. She was stabbed to death up on the third floor in the 1800s,” explained general manager Chip Nye, who shared one guest’s eerie encounter.
About 35 years ago, a girl dining with her family returned from a lengthy bathroom break, claiming “there was a lady in there in a long red dress who was talking to her and asking questions.”
Paranormal investigators also described “a Revolutionary soldier” and a group of spirits “having what they referred to as a party.”
“I’ve been around the building long enough to understand there is stuff going on here,” Nye said. “I am definitely a believer.”
Whooooo’s there?
“Tomb” it may concern: Spooks supposedly linger at other restaurants as well, including the General Warren in Malvern. Once a loyalist stronghold, it hosted British spy John André and officers plotting the Paoli Massacre.
During the Battle of Brandywine, the British occupied West Chester’s Dilworthtown Inn while the adjacent Blue Pear Bistro served as a field hospital. Feel any presence?
Not far from Valley Forge Park, Black Powder Tavern’s been “raising spirits since 1746” – and not just rum or whiskey.
Ghosts also reportedly reside at Telford’s Rising Sun Inn and the Simpson House Tea Room in Chester Springs.
So, scare up a reservation. And when you get to the door, tell them Boris sent you.
Beef & Lager Stew INGREDIENTS
5 pounds chuck beef, cubed Salt and pepper 5 tablespoons oil 4 large potatoes, diced medium 3 large carrots, diced medium 2 white onions, diced medium 1 cup celery, diced medium 2 cloves garlic, minced 3 cups beef broth 16 ounces lager 2 tablespoons chopped thyme 3 tablespoons tomato paste
INSTRUCTIONS
Place the beef in a bowl and toss with flour, salt and pepper. Heat your pan with a little bit of oil. Cook the meat in small portions until golden brown. Take the meat out of the pan and deglaze with lager. Add your vegetables, chopped thyme, garlic and tomato paste. Cook for 5 minutes. Add beef broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil and then put to medium heat for 1 hour or until potatoes are soft.
RECIPE COURTESY OF KENNETT SQUARE INN RESTAURANT & TAVERN
Filet of Roast Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potato Puree and Sautéed Brussels Sprouts INGREDIENTS
Pork tenderloin, approximately 1 pound 2 sweet potatoes 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 tablespoon honey 2 tablespoons orange puree 1 pound Brussels sprouts Bacon, to taste Cremini mushroom sauce: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 garlic cloves, minced 12 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced (1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme if fresh is unavailable) 1⁄4 cup white wine, dry 1⁄2 cup chicken broth 1 cup heavy cream Salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare the tenderloin by removing the silver skin (thin white membrane on the outside of the tenderloin). Season the pork with salt and pepper. Heat butter and margarine in a sauté pan (addition of margarine achieves
a better temperature). Cook the tenderloin on medium heat until the pork reaches
an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Allow tenderloin to rest before serving and slice tenderloin into ¼inch medallions. Mushroom sauce: Heat oil and butter in a sauté
pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until golden brown. Add the garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until garlic is golden. Add white wine and stir for around 1 minute. Lower heat to medium and add chicken broth and cream.
Stir and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until it slightly thickens. Stir in the thyme and add more salt and pepper to taste. Remove from stove and serve with the pork tenderloin.
Sweet potato puree: Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil, sprayed lightly with cooking spray. Wash, scrub, and dry sweet potatoes. Transfer to baking sheet and stab each sweet potato with a fork 6 to 10 times depending on size. Bake approximately 45 to 60 minutes until you see natural sugars have started to caramelize out of the potato and a fork is easily inserted into the thickest part of the potato. Remove from oven and allow potato to cool enough to handle. Scoop out the inside of the potato and put in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt, cinnamon, honey and orange puree. Mash all together and serve.
Sautéed Brussels sprouts: Cut the Brussels sprouts in half from top to bottom. Place the Brussels sprouts in chicken stock in a sauce pan, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Remove Brussels sprouts from the chicken stock and sauté with bacon pieces until golden. Add salt and pepper to taste.
RECIPE COURTESY OF SHIP INN SEAFOOD & STEAK RESTAURANT