Steininger's

Steininger's is a wonderful place.  The owner/chef really cares about what he makes and serves.  Fresh ingredients, great flavor, and care are found in every dish.  The daily soup/ sandwich specials are great.  We have ordered soup to go after sampling ours at lunch.  Mr. Steininger is a European trained  chocolatier.  The selections in the display are sumptuous.  Take some home.  We don't get to Salem often, but when we do we try hard to make time to stop.

Tucked on the sleepy Main Street of a Revolutionary War-era upstate New York town, Steininger's is a quaint and genteel stop for a friendly, home-cooked meal.  

The real prize on the menu is the array of homemade soups, featuring satisfying, comfort-producing combinations like cream of potato and turnip and white bean and barley.  I've tried no fewer than 10 soups at Steininger's over the decade or so that I've been going, usually once or twice each time good fortune brings me to my favorite corner of New York State.

My latest visit also featured a spectacular, interesting and geographically incongruous salad, labeled the "Dixie Chicken."  Though I fortunately didn't spot any rebel flags in the area, I counted no less than ten different ingredients, including blueberries, grapes, cranberries, roasted pecans, tomatoes, mixed greens, celery, radishes, a deliciously seasoned and grilled chicken breast...and a lovely, edible purple peony.  The Maple Mustard dressing brought it all together for a fantastic and unabashedly healthy meal.

No trip to Steininger's would be complete without a sample of their fine homemade chocolates, which are lined up in a tempting formation at the front of the dining room.