I have two pieces of advice regarding the Morningstar Bistro & Gifts in Schroon Lake: 1. go there, and...2. well...ok, just one piece of advice.

My coworker and I were in town this week for a meeting, which ended conveniently at quarter to lunch.

It's a treat to sample some of Schroon Lake's fare JUST before the summer season takes off and there are more people milling about. We walked down the largely quiet Main Street for just a few moments before we happened upon the colorful facade of Morningstar Bistro. I had never been there, so we walked in.

We were quickly welcomed by the woman behind the counter, and encouraged to just choose one of their eclectic group of tables; our server will be right with us. So, we chose the circular one with the tiled top.

Our server came right out to take our caffeine - er - drink order, and gave us our menus. Seems like it's a lot more difficult to choose when you're starving, but we both decided to select one of the gourmet sandwiches listed in the first section, under the tagline: "Good enough to serve in Schroon Lake's Most Prestigious Hotels of Yesteryear."

Well, that made sense to me. I'd find out about the "Prestigious Hotels" later. I ordered The Brown Swan, which is a smoked turkey sandwich with their own cranberry

spread, lettuce tomato and red onion on our choice of bread, and set about surveying the landscape. The restaurant is both a retail space (ergo the "& gifts" on the sign) and an eatery. Looking around, the walls are attractively adorned with shelves with a variety of trinkets, from handmade wooden signs and framed photographs to greeting cards. 

Our sandwiches arrived swiftly, along with Terra chips a side of homemade marinated vegetables. It was delicious, but would have created a doggy bag situation on a typical day. Today, though, it was just the right amount of sustenance for someone in my starving condition. We finished up, paid and made our way back out to our car just as three more tables were filled. So I DO have a second piece of advice: whenever possible, get ahead of the crowds in May by showing up just before noon.

And the origin of the tagline "Good enough to serve in Schroon Lake's Most Prestigious Hotels of Yesteryear?" I called my go-to resource for all things Schroon Lake Region at the visitors center on Main Street, just doors from the Bistro. Turns out the gourmet sandwiches are all named after children's camps and grand hotels from the past.

And in the future? I'll be back to try The Leland.

Check out all of the Schroon Lake Region dining opportuntiies!

 

-Kimberly Rielly is the director of communications for the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism