So I finally finished the cheesecake, yes, for breakfast. Checkout was at noon, so we packed up and ran to Starbucks while waiting for the car. Some mega problem on the GW Bridge had commuters backed up for hours last night, and even though we weren’t planning to take the bridge we weren’t sure what alternate route traffic would be like as people tried to avoid the mess. No issues, it was smooth sailing getting out of the city on a beautiful, CRISP, 27 degree, sunny day.

We started thinking about lunch as we got off the Merritt Parkway, and my GPS showed a place on the water a tad west of New Haven. It directed us to Sage American Grill at the New Haven Yacht Club, which normally is only open for dinner. The parking lot was full, so we inquired. Luckily for us they open for lunch the 2 weeks before Christmas. Kismet!

Our table was next to the lit gas fireplace and overlooking the wall of glass that faces the sound. It was beautiful. We had a glass of wine and ordered lobster bisque and clam chowder, followed by a sliced steak salad for me and a classic wedge with bacon, tomato and blue cheese for Steve. My husband is a connoisseur of clam chowder and all roads lead to The Black Pearl in Newport, whose chowder he will argue is the best in the world. He actually said Sage’s was better. High praise coming from Steve. My lobster bisque was creamy with butter and good sherry flavor, and nice chunks of lobster. They served their soups in mini cauldrons, like you’d see swinging from a hook in a colonial fireplace, only stainless instead of cast iron. Adorable!

My salad had spicy greens (lots of arugula) artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, pickled onion slices and has a small sliced hangar steak on the top. The dressing was a tasty pomegranate vinaigrette. Our meals were served with a half of a boule of sage bread, with a crust that had a good chew but was tender and had a lightly salted top. The interior was like a great whole wheat italian bread with a mild sage flavor. Really great bread.

So, serendipitously, our Garmin found us a perfect lunch spot to top off our most excellent trip.

Cheers!
D.