Dine In Style
An outdoor café will be a first step to revive the oldest cottage in Mountain Lake Park.
Everyone anticipates the wonderful food vendors at the Victorian Chautauqua. From D’s Eats mouth-watering barbecue to Lakeside Creamery’s hand-dipped ice cream and GaCo’s hand-pressed lemonade, tasty treats refuel your engine throughout the busy weekend schedule. New this year is the Deaconess Café, an elevated dining experience and event fundraiser on the cottage porch of the Thompson Rest Home for Deaconesses. Two options include seated lunches resembling high tea, or a box lunch for anyone on the go. The pop-up Café is the permanent headquarters for the Mountain Lake Park Historical Association, and is currently undergoing restoration. The porch, however, is ready to welcome guests who are ready to enjoy a bit of edible nostalgia, indicative of a bygone era.
The charming rustic cottage once served as a respite for weary deaconesses, offering up to forty rooms and a robust dining hall during its peak years. The Café and the events planning committee will revive the cottage over the festival weekend as a gathering hub for Mountain Lake Park’s Historic District. Now the oldest standing cottage, and the only public one, The Deaconess is a perfect example of rural resort architecture at the turn of the twentieth century. While seated on the wrap-around porch, you can enjoy the scroll-sawn architectural details and a peaceful, sprawling lawn shaded by towering oak trees.
The Plated Catering Company will beautifully prepare and serve three remnant entrées with modern twists for $30 each. Choices include Hemingway’s Rainbow Trout, Baked Ham with Brown Sugar Molasses Glaze, and Chicken à la Maryland with Baked Banana. Trout is known for its clean, mild, and delicate flavor. This dish is lightly dredged in cornmeal, wrapped in bacon, and pan-fried until crisp and golden, all shimmering under a gentle spritz of lemon. The baked ham is a classic, mouthwatering combination of a crusty, salty, and baked flavor, complemented by a silky, rich, sweet glaze. Steeped in tradition, chicken à la Maryland is pan-fried, and a well-known staple recipe that has reached far beyond Maryland’s borders. In fact, it was famously featured as a menu selection on board the Titanic.
Each entrée is served with mashed potatoes, buttered green beans with ham chunks, and a biscuit with butter, apple butter, and strawberry jam. Included is tempting bread pudding with a caramel whisky sauce, and a choice of sweet or unsweetened tea, lemonade, or water. To complement your meal, up to two tickets per individual can be purchased separately on-site for a selection of wine or beer.
Box lunches can be enjoyed on the grounds of the Deaconess, anywhere on the festival grounds, or taken home for later. For $15, the lunch will include bites from the past. Choose from a Cucumber or Egg Salad tea sandwich. Each comes with a slice of Pound Cake and a tea cookie. Box lunches do not require reservations.
The Deaconess Café accepts reservations online in advance to ensure seating availability. Walk-ins are accepted, but may result in a wait time. A small portion of the cost will go toward outfitting the Deaconess kitchen, so not only will you partake in a memorable experience, you’ll be supporting future catered events.
Volunteers will welcome and seat guests at the Deaconess Café. If you would like to lend a hand, your help would be greatly appreciated. No restaurant experience is necessary as meals are prepared and served by the catering company, which will also bus the tables. Organizers are happy to answer any questions and further describe how you can help.
