GO NOW: Tasty getaways

7:21 PM, April 11, 2011 ι David Landsel

Joel Viehland is chef at Connecticut's Community Table.  

DID reading that Barcelona story in this week's Travel section make you hungry? Us too. But maybe you've got no time or money for Catalonia just now; totally understandable. But we'll bet you do have time for Connecticut. Or Westchester. Or Long Island.

What do all of those places have in common? There are terrible suburbs there. But! Not all of the suburbs are terrible, some places there aren't even suburbs (yet) and damn, is there some good food and drink, sometimes hiding in plain sight, all waiting to be eaten. And drank. Or is it drunk? (In at least one case, we're guessing you're going to be.) Anyway - here's where you go. Have fun.

GO LUXE IN LITCHFIELD

Countless weekenders drive a lot further away from New York looking for a little peace and quiet, but that doesn’t make them smarter than the ones who’ve discovered Connecticut’s quiet Litchfield Hills, an oft-overlooked region just an hour or so from the hustle of the city, with quaint villages like Norfolk and Kent, beautiful country roads and unspoiled backcountry — not to mention some really good eats.

How to do it If you can swing the cost, check in to Winvian , an exclusive retreat tucked away on a bucolic back road just outside of the postcard-perfect town of Litchfield. Here, Chef Chris Eddy oversees one of the top dining rooms in the state; overnight guests stay in one of 19 whimsically decorated accommodations that defy attempts at description. (Non-guests are welcome to join for lunch or dinner, providing they make reservations in advance.) And while you could spend an entire weekend — maybe your life? — hanging out in, say, their ultra-luxe Treehouse (really: a Jacuzzi tub up in a tree — why would you ever leave? Just keep sending for more Champagne), make time to get in the kitchen with Chef Eddy, who launched the Cooking School at Winvian this spring, offering everything from short courses in pastry making to six-week intensive programs (rooms from $650, winvian.com ). When you tire of lazing around in the lap of luxury, there’s plenty else in the region worth sniffing out — while it’s a little early for farm stands, you can trust that whatever’s good and local and available, you have a good chance of finding it on the menu at Community Table in nearby Washington. Worth the drive from New York on its own, this rustic chic BYOB serves homey breakfasts and smart New American dinners. Make sure to try the Connecticut cheeses. And the Connecticut wine. Yes, there really is such a thing (223 Litchfield Turnpike; communitytablect.com ).

BEER AND PASTA

You want to talk about overlooked, let’s take a peek at Westchester County. Yes, it is suburban. Yes, a lot of those suburbs are best left to those who’ve chosen to live there. But let the Negativity Patrol focus on the Elmsfords, the Yorktowns — we’ll be in line for some of the best local-roast joe at Coffee Labs in Tarrytown, having one of the best dinners we’ll eat all year at the needs-no-introduction Blue Hill at Stone Barns, or putting our names in for dinner at North, a smart farm-to-tabler that’s putting ho-hum Armonk on the culinary map.

How to do it You could spend a whole weekend up here — that Ritz-Carlton in White Plains isn’t too shabby and sometimes has great deals (book their Reconnect Rate for as little as $199; ritzcarlton.com ) — but you could also just start off by playing hooky one Thursday or Friday and hopping the Metro North up to Pleasantville. From the station, it’s just a quarter of a mile on foot to the Captain Lawrence Brewing Company , known to the suds-crazed as brewers of some of the best beer flowing in our little corner of the planet. And by little corner we mean Brooklyn, too — no knock on the likes of Sixpoint, but even those guys would agree that brewmaster Scott Vaccaro is really, really good at what he does. Try the Cap'n's crisp, clean Liquid Gold or darkly delicious Smoked Porter out of a good tap and you’ll see exactly what we mean. Seasonal brews such as the epic Rosso e Marrone sour have won serious acclaim. Thursday and Friday afternoons are for tasting and retail sales only; Saturdays, you can tour the brewery (99 Castleton St.; captainlawrencebrewing.com ). Hungry? There’s nothing like drinking a little too much beer to make you feel more relaxed about eating a monster plate of pasta. Get just that over in workaday Port Chester, home to one of the lesser-known Batali/Bastianich efforts, the smartly renovated Tarry Lodge . This historic roadhouse just steps from the Connecticut line is now one of the best spots in the suburbs for a leisurely weekend lunch. Their Fusilli alla Crazy Bastard, rich with goat cheese and tarted up with sauteed greens and is easily your first stop — oh, and yes, they have Captain Lawrence beer on tap, too. Carbolicious! (18 Mill St., tarrylodge.com )

ALL FORKED UP

No offense to the Hamptons — love them, mean it — but for a truly relaxing weekend, any savvy New Yorker knows that you’ve got to go north. Cute town after cute town stretches out between gross Riverhead and the eerily gorgeous, end-of-the-worldish settlement of Orient. (Have you been down by the water in New Suffolk on a sunny, summer afternoon? Perfect!) Wherever you are — even in Riverhead, hello Cliff's Rendezvous — you don’t go hungry. And you also don’t have to take out a second mortgage for your dinner. Or sacrifice your firstborn for a table. Like in the Hamptons. In case you didn't get where we were going with that.

How to do it If we had to choose just one North Fork town to plant ourselves in for an entire weekend, it would easily be Southold, which is about the least-ruined town you’ll find on development-mad Long Island. Southold is essentially perfect, a fantasy sprung to life — nice old shaded streets, historic homes with American flags, rippling on the breeze. Antiques. Also, out of all the great places to eat in the region — from the farm stands with their epic pies to fancy Greenport addresses — your best bet is the North Fork Table & Inn , a marvelous restaurant with rooms that is more than just good for Long Island — it’s really, really good, both as a place to stay and a restaurant. Chef Gerry Hayden’s talent for marrying the crunchy farm-to-table / ingredient consciousness trend with true flair and style has garnered him some serious notice. You should also be paying attention (rooms from $200, 2 night minimum on weekends; northforktableandinn.com ).