Stay, Filet, Play: A Winning Getaway in the Connecticut Woods

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Thursday, June 26, 2014

Ann & Michael Martini, GoLocalWorcester Food Editors

We interrupt our normally scheduled round-up to bring you something a little different. When a postcard comes across your desk that reads, simply, "Play. Filet. Stay." it grabs your attention. When you read a little further and see it involves Foxwoods, Lake of Isles golf course and the incredible David Burke Prime steakhouse, you pack your bags immediately. What a combination: a room at Foxwoods, a round of golf and dinner at David Burke Prime -- $800 bucks, normally. But thanks to this package, you and your buddies can enjoy a man-sized getaway for as little as $$350, depending on when you choose to go.

Let's start with STAY...

For our schedules, it worked best for us to do dinner and stay over and then golf in the morning. David Burke Prime and Foxwoods allow you to enjoy the package in any order that works for you. We arrived, on a late Tuesday afternoon, at the valet for the Grand Pequot Hotel, centrally located to both the hotel room and David Burke Prime. The valets were very helpful in pointing us along to where we needed to be and took our clubs and bags for us. We were greeted at the front desk and handed coupons for the restaurant and golf portions of the package, along with our room keys, and hit the nearby elevators. The rooms were spacious and modern. But we didn't waste too much time upstairs as a steak and some table games awaited us downstairs. We had a 7:30 dinner reservation so we decided to head over a little early and have a drink beforehand.

FILET...

Chef David Burke is known as the king of beef. He's got a U.S. patent to prove it -- for the process by which he dry-ages his steaks. The space itself is gorgeous -- featuring walls lined with the pink Himalayan rock salt that Burke uses in that patented dry-ageing process and a wine tower soaring several stories. Its walls allow diners to observe the sommelier as he grabs bottles for eager carnivores.

When we were ready to be seated, we were greeted by General Manager James Olsen and he took us to our comfortable table. We were left in the care of Olsen's well trained staff and handed the expansive menu for the golf package. The three-course menu is highlighted by six appetizer choices, five entree choices and three desserts. My buddy settled on the pretzel crusted crab cake, a Burke signature item featuring a tasty tomato marmalade and long, thin pretzel rods festooned to the outside. I partook in the Caesar salad which was made table side. This version was excellent and loaded with Dijon mustard and cracked pepper. I followed that with the 40-day dry-aged, 20-ounce T-bone. It arrived a perfect medium-rare and I added a delicious peppercorn sauce to accentuate the steak. My partner enjoyed his 75-day dry-aged, 18 ounce rib eye just as much. Both were served with grilled asparagus and perfectly creamy mashed potatoes. The desserts show off Burke's
love of the classics, with a twist. The cheesecake is served as lollipops...arranged as a tree...with bubblegum whipped cream. It was a perfect end to a perfect meal.

PLAY...

I'm almost speechless....almost. Lake of Isles is a five-sense golf experience. OK, maybe you couldn't taste it, but you get the point. We arrived at the beautiful club house and bag drop area about an hour before our tee time and found our way inside. Lake of Isles was designed by Rees Jones and is run by Troon Golf. And the attention to detail is palpable. We presented our golf coupons at the counter and were led through the clubhouse to our golf cart. Our bags had been loaded, so we hit the practice facility to hit some balls and were greeted with greens situated at various distances that looked better than most municipal golf courses. We hit balls until we felt ready and made our way to the first tee.

You are immediately struck by the beauty and condition of the course. We stood on a tee box and observed a family of geese defending its young from a hungry wolf. We were nearly run down by a crossing deer, but, you know, in a good way. And we saw a hawk grab some breakfast, we presume, for its young. All of this combined with a course carved out of hills and valleys to challenge and delight us. When a course is named Lake of Isles, you know there is going to be some water in play, but it truly looks and plays like a typical New England course. We won't bore you with scores. Lest we say it is a true--and fair--test of your game.

We finished up and enjoyed a beer and a sandwich in the club house and instantly began re-living our just-ended round. This package was incredible. Top notch food, golf and accommodations all in one, beautiful spot. The dinner/room/golf package is $350 Monday through Thursday; $450 for a Friday and $550 on Saturday. The dinner includes tax, but drinks and gratuity are not included. Needless to say, after we rest up a little, we will be back. Soon! To make reservations, call 888-475-3746 and mention the David Burke Prime golf package.

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