By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo

On a recent sun-kissed autumn day, every porch table at the White Hart Inn was filled to capacity by 12:15 p.m. Not bad considering the tap room doesn’t start serving lunch until noon, and it was a Tuesday. Safe to say, a lot of people are happy the iconic inn on the village green in Salisbury has reopened.

Hotel Manager Dan Winkley said the response from the community has been overwhelming. “Within days of our opening on August 27, I couldn’t believe how many people came in and shared their memories of the place . . . weddings and special events.” As the result, he is offering the next five people who share their wedding photo with him a free night’s stay on their anniversary.

They are slowly easing into things in the effort “to get it right.” The inn is currently just serving meals in the tap room from noon to 2 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. seven days a week, with hopes of having the formal dining room open at some point this winter and the function room available by spring. The chef, Annie Wayte, is no stranger to popular eateries, having worked at a few in London and opening a couple of her own in Manhattan in the past decade. Her British influences are definitely at work on the current menu, which features a sophisticated ploughman’s lunch that will make anyone from the United Kingdom feel most at home.

The service is courteous and fast. Those who just want to pop in for a quick, cheap lunch can certainly do so. The menu the day I was there had ten items on it, seven of which were priced under ten dollars. The food is simple, but really good. I actually heard the words “really good” from other patrons no less than a half dozen times over the course of half an hour. “How’s your soup, honey?” “Really good.” “Try this tart . . . it’s really good.” Someone on their cell phone said, “Guess where I am?” Pause. “The White Hart.” Pause. “It’s really good!”

Indeed. Menu items range from lentil soup with curried yogurt and radish apple salad to grilled cheese to baked eggs with smoked salmon. And the desserts . . . I had the chocolate pot with espresso shortbread. I’m not sure what the chef did to the whipped cream, but it was the best whipped cream I’ve ever had.

For those who would like to linger over their meal, there’s an opportunity for that as well. The inn’s impressive wine list could help stretch lunch out to well over half an hour. By the glass, there are four different champagnes and sparkling wines, seven whites and seven reds to choose from. By the bottle, there are 32 different whites and 57 reds.

If wine consumption becomes greater than expected, the 14 rooms that were gorgeously renovated in 2005 by previous owners, Roxanne and Scott Bok, are currently available.

It’s hard to believe that the White Hart’s doors have been closed for four years. Everything looks exactly the same. After one lunch, I felt like no time had passed since my last lunch at the venerable establishment. Let’s hope there are many more to come.
Visit www.whitehartinn.com for more information.