ANTRIM 1844 30 TREVANION ROAD TANEYTOWN, MD 21787 (410) 756-6812 ANTRIM1844.COM OWNERS: RICHARD MOLLETT,
DOROTHY MOLLETT
CHEF: SPENCER WOLFF Once a plantation, the Antrim 1844 Country House Hotel still reflects the gracious style of the mid1800s. Carefully restored by owners Richard and Dorothy Mollett, the elegant twenty-four-acre estate in the Catoctin Mountains is often thought of as an ideal location for a romantic getaway, wedding, or corporate meeting, but Antrim 1844 also serves a sumptuous six-course prix-fixe menu seven days a week. The meal always begins with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Diners can stroll the beautifully landscaped grounds during the summer or, in the winter, relax by the fireplace in the drawing room. The Smokehouse Restaurant is a bit more austere than the lavishly decorated rooms in the Mansion, with a brick floor, dark wood, and paintings of nineteenthcentury military heroes on the walls. The chef at Antrim is Cordon Bleu-educated Spencer Wolff, who most recently was the executive chef at the Hyatt Regency SchaumburgChicago and who has worked with some of the world's top chefs, such as Charlie Trotter, Gordon Sinclair, and Stéphane Tournier at Château de Brindos in Biarritz, France. But his real culinary education started at home. “In the summers I'd fish with my father and in the fall we'd hunt, and we ate what we caught. My mother was a fantastic cook and baker. [She made] amazing breads and pastries, while my father did the artisan work—sausage and charcuterie. I suppose watching them develop dishes with limited resources was my initiation to becoming a chef.