Restaurants in Martinsville

Captain Ernest Ditlew Knuth, a child runaway turned sailing-vessel captain, retired from the seafaring life in the 1920s and opened a restaurant in the bustling port of Brooklyn, New York with his wife Paula Uhl. After hearing the call of the rural life in the 1930s, the duo decided to take their culinary experience to the hills of Bucks County where they set up shop in a pre–Revolutionary War farmhouse. Since then, the Cascade Lodge's resident chefs have crafted a bevy of classic bistro dishes, many of which they flambé tableside.

Nestled into wooden chairs encircling the wood-burning stove at the center of the room, diners can savor succulent meats or fresh-trout flambé fished from the onsite trout pond as they telepathically commune with the majestic horses and deer speckling the surrounding Delaware Valley pastures.

The kitchen at Ecco Domani Italian Restaurant is a bustling and colorful place where flames dance up from fiery brick ovens and saucepans simmer with carefully calibrated sauces. Expert chefs prepare veal, chicken, and seafood dishes served with penne, linguini, and angel hair pasta. Crunchy sandwich rolls are layered with meatballs, sausage, and cheesy steak, and the ovens bake up hearty calzones and pizzas. To whip up their specialty chicken sorrentino, chefs egg-batter tender chicken and sauté in a white-wine sauce before topping with sliced ham, eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms, and fresh mozzarella. There’s also a special menu of kid-friendly dishes, such as chicken fingers and pizzas with theme-park passes baked right into the crust. The restaurant’s sunny dining room is decorated with vivid paintings of rustic Italian landscapes.

Born in Eastern Europe near the Italian border, executive chef Mario Curko has an innate rapport with Mediterranean flavors, one that he's honed throughout his four decades in the restaurant business. His menu for the occasional celeb hangout Destino stays true to homestyle southern Italian cuisine, although the restaurant's environs are far from rustic—a Renaissance-style ceiling mural looks down over minority owner Justin Timberlake's piano and quilted banquettes, wooing diners with its vibrant colors achieved by layers of garlic-scented oil paint.

Atop white tablecloths, appetizers such as sautéed mussels and housemade meatballs rest in simple, elegant preparations. Mussels, clams, shrimp, and fresh fish of the day all catch themselves in the frutti de mare's net, offering a hearty complement to turfy plates of new york strip steak.

Destino's wine list rambles from California whites through dozens of regional Italian reds. The dessert menu shines a spotlight on four flavors of housemade gelato, molten chocolate cake, and traditional tiramisu.

When he cofounded his first sandwich shop in 1965, 17-year-old Fred DeLuca planned to use his profits to pay his way through medical school. But the combination of quality ingredients and friendly service at the shop—then called Pete's Subway—proved so popular that nine years later, he and his partner found themselves in charge of 16 locations across Connecticut, and Fred left behind his doctoring plans for a career in business.

Today, Subway restaurants number over 34,000 around the world—almost as many shops as there are sightings of Elvis buying cold cuts. At each location, staffers pile sliced ham, marinara-slathered meatballs, and other fillings into halved loaves of bread before customizing handhelds with tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and other healthy toppings plucked from chilled containers behind the counter. Salads free crisp veggies from bread's overprotective embrace, and crunchy baked chips or apple slices accompany entrees to tables. Subway's website also facilitates health-conscious eating by listing each item's nutrition information and fastest mile time online.

There’s a glossary at the front of Balade’s menu—not that the food is particularly difficult to understand, with its grilled meats, bright veggies, and verdant salads. But it serves as a mouthwatering preview of the flavors to come: there’s laban, the yogurt that serves as a dip for the labor-intensive meatballs known as kebbe; jebne, fresh white cheese; and sumac and zaatar, ground spices that dapple shawarma platters, char-grilled beef, and manakeesh, a lebanese pizza. There’s also an entry for the word “balade” itself: as it turns out, it’s used to describe fresh produce that’s of high quality and usually local. Two-thirds of the ample selection of mezze are vegetarian, including Beirut-style hummus with cumin and vegetables and celery- and mint-spiked spheres of falafel.

Whatever’s chosen from the enormous menu, housemade bread is generally on hand, from the toasty, dimpled manakeesh crusts to pita “pitzas” topped with thin-sliced marinated meats to sandwiches. Refreshing sips include wines and specialty drinks such as sparkling wine with rose water or fruit purée. Though there’s a spontaneous feel to the food and drink, the atmosphere is carefully composed to create what ViaMichelin calls “a welcoming and tasty Middle Eastern experience.” At tables, candlelight flickers across the surfaces of imported clay water pitchers painted with rustic designs. Brick walls and arches are inset with arabesque tiles, and the sawn ends of logs compose one wall, creating a mesmerizing mosaic that instantly soothes any angry lumberjacks who wander in.

Determined to pursue a career in the culinary arts, executive chef Evan Kechely mastered his craft in the kitchens of restaurants, country clubs, assisted-living facilities, farmers' markets, and other venues, opting to learn by doing rather than attending culinary school. His experiences shaped his ingredient-driven and sustainable approach to meals, leading him to fill Leaf's menu with farm-to-plate options built from locally sourced meats and produce. Kechely has also learned that beer and food go together as well as camping and boy-scout repellant, and his staff is able to recommend a brew for any dish on the menu. In addition to pairing suds with the various dishes, staffers can suggest premium cigars that can enhance flavor profiles. The eatery's advanced ventilation system even allows visitors to indulge in a puff without disturbing neighboring patrons or forcing them to stare at failed smoke-ring attempts.