Ya know, Hugs could do everything wrong, but as long as they served me a basket of those pesto breadsticks, I’d still love the place.
Hugs is a Sugarloaf off-mountain fave. The green exterior with red trim hints at its Italian flavors. We went (yet, again) last week, when my foodie friend E (who is 100 percent Italian) was visiting with her boyfriend. Even she gave it two thumbs up.
The space is funky–tight and especially cozy in the front room, with even an indoor umbrella table. The back room is a bit more open, but this place is always packed. It’s no secret among Sugarloafers, despite its easy-to-miss location on Route 27, just south of the access road.
All meals come with those addictive breadsticks and a family style salad. We shared two orders of the seafood-stuffed portobello mushroom appetizer special. If we hadn’t split it cleanly with a knife, we likely would have been stabbing each other with our forks in order to get the last crumbs.
Now my usual entry here is the wild mushroom ravioli with Gorgonzola sauce (as good as it sounds, perhaps even better). This time, both E & I ordered the spinach-and-roasted garlic ravioli Mediterranean, me with chicken, she with shrimp. This dish rocks with flavors from artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, pine nuts, and other Mediterranean influences. Portions were huge enough to supply a more-than-generous lunch the next day. Our companions both ordered the veal Romano, accompanied by a side of pasta with the house red sauce (mmmmm!).
And for dessert, a molten chocolate cake. Thank goodness we’d skied hard that day, because after that meal, we waddled out into the night.
