RIVER RIDGE INN REVISITED 
BY JOHN BERRY

Last year, I wrote a column about the fine cuisine served at our fall outing at River Ridge Inn. As good as that was, I believe that they serve even better food to their top of the line corporate groups, where cost is no object. As a guide for these groups, I have been privy to some of the best meals served in our corner of the world. These meals are for the most part catered by Sean, a graduate of the Culinary Institute and local restaurateur, (Sean's Restaurant in Mountain Home).

The guides arrive around 7:30 AM to meet their clients for the day and join them for breakfast. For our last group, on the first day they served a breakfast egg casserole, sausage, biscuits, fresh fruit, juice and coffee. There was bagels and instant oatmeal if you wanted something lighter. I opted for the sausage and biscuits. I quickly noted that the biscuits were home made. Light and flaky, they reminded me of my grandmothers.

 For lunch, there were bag lunches. These were more upscale than what most guides provide. Roast beef sandwiches on fresh onion rolls, fruit, pickle and a bag of chips. The whole thing was topped off with a couple of home made cookies. These were chocolate chip and fresh and chewy. They were great and I secretly hoped that my clients would pass on them. No such luck, they consumed all of their lunch with great gusto.

 For supper that night, Liz and Jim Smith pulled all the stops. When we came in off the river there were two tubs on the back patio. One was filled with water and soft drinks the other was loaded with a variety of beers. I fished out a Saint Pauli Girl and perused the snacks. There was a nice selection; mixed nuts, various chips, dips and cheeses. If you weren’t a beer person there was an open bar with an array of fine liquor that included an eighteen year old McCallum single malt scotch. We talked about the day on the river including fish caught and fish lost. About that time, Liz announced that dinner was ready. There was a nice selection of wines. I chose a really nice Cabernet Sauvignon. Dinner was a sliced tenderloin cooked in Cabernet Sauvignon with Shitake mushrooms. I don’t think I ever tasted anything that good. The meat was tender enough to be cut with a fork. The wine and mushroom sauce gave it a heavenly taste that had an incredible depth of flavor. This was coupled with skewers of grilled shrimp and extra cheesy potatoes au gratin. Dessert was a rich flourless chocolate cake. Served with a steaming cup of fresh coffee it was heaven. If that were not enough, there was a selection of fine after dinner liquors including my favorite, Grand Marnier. I resisted upon remembering that I had to drive back to Cotter.

The next morning breakfast was a bit different. They had sausage gravy and biscuits. This is one of those things that I just cannot resist. I fell on those like a starving wolf. They were outstanding. The sausage was a bit spicy and that made the dish. We left for a half day of fishing on the Norfork and returned for lunch at River Ridge.

 I was enjoying an ice cold St Pauli Girl and some shrimp with cocktail sauce when I spyed a big pot of chili. I served myself a sizable bowl and sat down to enjoy it. It was some of the best I have had in a long time. As an experienced chili judge, I have eaten some great chili and this was really good. I asked Jim about it and he said that he had cooked it. He went on to say that it was made from half beef and half venison. It was incredibly lean and pretty spicy. The chili was accompanied with corn chips, cheese, and chopped onions. If you didn’t care for chili there were cold cuts and cheeses along with a variety of fresh breads. For dessert fresh home made cookies.

 All in all this was a gastronomic experience I won’t forget for a while. If anyone out there is planning some sort of corporate retreat, this is definitely the place to go.