Red Newt Bistro, Hector, NY

Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

Meet and Greet

On Mother’s day we entered the door of Red Newt Bistro and were immediately sat at a table that we had made reservations for the day before. I suggest, however, if you want to attend Mother’s day brunch at this location to make your reservations as sooner than we did. We were lucky to get the last reservation of the day calling 24 hours in advance.

(Photo: Toasting to Mother’s Day at Red Newt)

Mise en Scène

Sitting down next to the window, we had a nice view of the greenery and valleys surrounding Seneca Lake. There is a winery attached to the eatery, and if we had come earlier than our reservation, a wine tasting may have been a nice activity before food. Seating is all tables with metal backed chairs. It is very comfortable. The dining area is tastefully and simply decorated. There was no overt dress code; we saw people dressed semi-formally to formally. I am also guessing since it was Sunday, some may have come straight from church to the brunch, arriving in their ‘Sunday best.’ Though the weather outside was warm, we opted to eat inside. Eating out on the verandah would be a nice touch for our next visit.

We did use the restrooms. They were clean and inviting.

Choosing a Veggie Treat

When planning our Finger Lakes Mother’s Day tour, I did a lot of research on finding a nice place that had a good balance of vegetarian and non-vegetarian choices (as my mom likes to eat meat). Red Newt not only had unique menu items I have not seen in any other eatery, but had good prices. I also thought it might be a nice touch to take my mom to a winery for a meal because there would be a choice of wines to try. Though we are not wine drinkers, after asking questions to our waitress about our preferences, we decided to try the Blue Newt White. The fruity, juicy taste was quite refreshing. Mothers on this day could also choose from one of three glasses of special brews. My mom decided to try the champagne.

Choosing a veggie meal was not difficult because of checking the internet the night before. However, as we had the last reservation of the day, the veggie dish I had been dreaming of all day – the handmade ravioli was all sold out. It was a sad moment, but while listening to the description of the fettuccini dish, my feelings about the ravioli were put on hold. The non-vegetarian dishes ordered by others were savored slowly. Since we did not get appetizers, we had plenty of room for desert, chocolate torte and almond roulade (pictured to the right). (See the slide show below for more photos.)

Checking In

Wait staff checked on us on regular intervals. Drinks were refilled as required. Service was friendly and helpful. Everything was great.

See you later

We were given the bill in a leisurely fashion and payment also collected leisurely. Since we were in no big hurry to pay and leave as we were enjoying ourselves here, it’s all the better!

Pay Scale
$21-25 per person (main course, meal and a bottle of wine)
Tips – 15% or more of bill because the service and everything is fabulous!
Star System 4.5/5
(I still am a bit upset my original menu choice was not available. I am also optimistic I can up this to 5/5 when we make the next visit.)

To find/Contact:
Red Newt Cellars Inc
3675 Tichenor Rd
Hector, NY 14841
(607) 546-4100
Get directions
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Photos in this post taken by Jennifer Kumar.

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