Good Food: Trinity at City Beach, Sandpoint, Idaho

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Published on Thursday, March 17, 2011 15:49

Written by Off The Beaten Path TravelingMom

As mentioned in an earlier post, the quality of the food at Schweitzer Mountain did not match the quality of its activities. Should you make Schweitzer your vacation destination, and I would encourage you to do so, I would also offer two suggestions:

• Bring your own food in and rent a condo at White Pine Lodge
• Go to Sandpoint for a good meal.

We went to Sandpoint to eat two times. The first was at Trinity at City Beach. We drove to the Best Western parking lot -- to me, not such a great sign for an expectation of a good meal. But I had been forewarned: "it's a very good restaurant - don't think hotel restaurant - this is independently owned and operated." Good advice, because the idea of a great restaurant inside a Best Western was beyond me.

When we walked past the lobby and into the restaurant, we go an amazing view of the harbor at City Beach and were told that we just missed the sunset. Thanks. It was probably the perfect place to see it -- next time. The room was spare but tasteful and the harbor side was all windows; it's the way that room should be. Next to the dining room was an ample bar that looks like it would be a lot more fun when not a mid-week in March, early evening.

Our waitress was extremely attentive and helpful with the suggestions: I had osso buco with Yukon Gold mashed potatoes (they really do taste better in Idaho) and my dining companion had a homemade veggie burger and fries. She ordered from the lounge menu, while I had the dinner menu: lots of choices. We started by splitting a warm spinach salad with house-cured bacon. The salad was really good: the bacon was GREAT. Good bacon... such a blessing. We were both satisfied with our meals, the osso buco being more of a stand-out. It was just how osso buco should be: falling off the bone, the ragu over it was meaty and delicious and the asparagus and potatoes rounded it out nicely.

Next time, we'll go for a drink at sunset. As Spring and Summer progress, we won't have to go as early. Stays light in Idaho until 10pm in the summer. That would be a really nice post-dinner, sunset cocktail...

We also went to a pub in town that is very popular with the locals. The place was packed and the atmosphere was terrific -- it was Fat Tuesday, so that helps. Unfortunately, the beer was a little flat off the tap and the burgers were nothing to write home about. I'm going to leave this place nameless, but here's a suggestion: go to Yelp under Sandpoint and even though some place might get 4-5 stars, you need to read the reviews. Read between the lines. Determine if the writer is a friend of the owner, stuff like that.

I'm sure Sandpoint has more good food. There was only so much time and we never got to Ivano's. Next time!