Great Escape: If There's Room at the Inn, Make Dinner an Overnight

The Altnaveigh in Mansfield has long been a destination for the special romantic dinner – or even a surprise night out, if your lover is very clever. But did you know there are two charming rooms upstairs in this 1730s restored house where you can make a night of it?

Sit in one of the romantic dining rooms – my favorite is the one with a central, four-sided fireplace – and order the bacon-wrapped gorgonzola filet or the pan-seared sea bass, some nice wine and just get in touch again with your mate’s eye color. You may be lucky enough to be serenaded by harp, guitar or cello and some fine mellow singing. (Occasionally, a musician just drops in and asks to play there; it’s that kind of place.)

“The men love bringing their ladies here,” proprietress Gail Parks says. The smart ones even pre-order the desserts and come bearing flowers.

Hang out in the parlor for a bit before dinner, and wedge a couple of pieces into the jigsaw puzzle on the coffee table. Call for Karen the bartender’s most excellent pomegranate martini or some other concoction. (Gail says women return for these drinks alone. Yes, it’s also a good escape for Ladies Who Lunch.)

But the food is the big event here. “The chef is amazing! He keeps me nice and plump,” Parks says of her husband, Douglas Parks, who changes the menu five times a year. He got into the business by peeling potatoes for his innkeeper mom  in Berlin. Before they bought the Altnaveigh seven years ago as half livelihood, half hobby, the Parks ran a kosher catering business in the Hartford area. Now they’ve renovated the house and updated the kitchen to appeal to those looking for something special.

But the real getaway is an overnight in one of the two rooms upstairs. Decorated with floral quilts, cozy furnishings and nooks and crannies, the room beckons, “Shhhhh, no one will know you’re here.”

Enjoy the muffins and coffee in the morning or go down to Mansfield General Store, where the proprietress recommends the fuller breakfast. Read your book in the hammock or gazebo out back, away from the Route 195 hubbub. “Altnaveigh” is Gaelic for “hill top,” by the way.

The rooms cost $95 a night and can go quickly if there are visiting professors or UConn parents coming to town. So you might have to plan ahead for your night of romantic serendipity.

The Altnaveigh is closed Sundays and Mondays. “We take one day for the house and one day for us,” Gail Parks says. “She’s an old girl. We respect her.”

The Altnaveigh Inn and Restaurant, 957 Storrs Road, Mansfield, is open Tuesday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. For reservations, call 860-429-4490. For menu and other information, visit altnaveighinn.com.