Take the slices of grilled duck, with undertones of honey and orange. They are placed while still warm on a bed of mixed
greens, while fresh raspberries point up the raspberry vinaigrette of the greens.

This was my favorite of the more-than-appetizers we tried, but I also enjoyed the smoky flavor of the trout cake, which
comes with a green salad on the side, where you might expect a sprig of parsley.

Less successful was a goat cheese and Vadalia onion tart, warm and puffy but a bit too sweet to be a first course.

Trendy menu concept No. 2: As many salads, sandwiches, and such as haute cuisine dinners. Who woulda thunk it - nachos deluxe on the same menu as glazed salmon with a
thyme-honey infusion.

I was tempted by a filet mignon sandwich smothered in mushrooms and onions; but the yellow corn salmon burger with pineapple-tomatillo chutney and sweet potato fries
sounded more intriguing. Alas, the fries were great, but the salmon burger was pretty forgettable.

Not so the gorgeous shrimp chartreuse, the perfectly cooked crustaceans piled high with grilled eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes, with a lovely buttery sauce and sprigs of fresh rosemary. It's an example of trendy menu concept No. 3: Food that is at once elegant, light and not over-fussed with.

But when dessert rolls around, forget trends. Forget fresh and light and indulge in ripe bananas sautéed in butter and
brown sugar over ice cream - the Harryman House's version of bananas Foster.