Lakeside dining on one of the Finger Lakes has got to be one of my favorite summertime pleasures. But, due to the shortness of our summers here in the Finger Lakes, there just aren’t that many restaurants located right on the Finger Lakes that stay open all year around. In my last writing about Hammondsport, NY, the Coolest Small Town in America, I visited the Chamber of Commerce’s excellent website (click here). There is a wealth of information on this website including the local restaurants.
We returned to Hammondsport for dinner at the Snug Harbor Restaurant (click here) located about a mile out of the little Village of Hammondsport, NY on route 54A. This old Inn had its start back in 1890 as a cottage owned by Major John Slocum, and then later became a Cottage Hotel. The site has been just been recently restored as an Inn and Restaurant by Tim Tompkins of Rochester, NY. There are three porches which face Keuka Lake and I can’t imagine a prettier setting for enjoying a glass of Finger Lakes wine and dinning on one of these porches. We dined on the second floor porch. The third floor porch is a part of the Inn which is reserved for overnight visitors.
The wine and food selection were excellent. The Chef in the kitchen certainly knows what he is doing! We enjoyed our glass of wine as we watched the boats come and go while their owners came ashore for dinner. There’s even a jazz group on Sunday evenings, but on this beautiful warm summer Saturday night, Keuka Lake and the boats coming and going on the Lake provided all of the entertainment that we needed or desired.
The decent from route 54A to the Snug Harbor restaurant was steep – no problem in the summer as the road was newly paved and we had no problem driving down the road. I was surprised that the restaurant stayed open all year around as I wouldn’t want to go down that little road in the wintertime! Our trip to Hammondsport, NY and to the Snug Harbor Restaurant was one of the highlights of our summer. And I am happy to share our good fortune with you, my readers.