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The Jackson House – A great inn, a beautiful dining room that seamlessly blends the modern and the traditional, and an inspiring view. How can this go wrong?

Sometimes, it doesn’t. The Jackson House has played host to a long procession of chefs (one wonders what the institutional problem is that renders them incapable of holding on to chefs, general managers, and wine lists…though some obvious suspects immediately present themselves), and of course this means wildly varying quality. Right now, the restaurant is in a weak state, serving bland food dressed up for an event it can’t quite afford alongside a rapidly-declining wine list, and at the restaurant’s formerly dramatic prices. And yet, there has been talent here…especially long-departed Graham Elliot Bowles of Chicago’s highly-praised Avenues, who brought a brief explosion of brilliant proto-molecular gastronomy to rural Vermont. I miss those days.

In essence, this review is provisional. There’s such frequent change at this establishment that what’s true today might be completely inaccurate by the next season. The Jackson House is, at all times, a restaurant to watch…even when, as now, it’s more fun to watch than to patronize. (Review based on multiple visits over many years and regimes.)