Stirling dinner an event to remember at new Merriman Valley restaurant | Local Flavor

Dining at the newly opened Stirling in Akron was a luxurious, three-hour experience that I'll never forget.

From the minute you step into the small, elegant restaurant with its warm earth tones and soothing, low lighting, you're experiencing a special event. I enjoyed the new fine dining spot at Liberty Commons in the Merriman Valley with foodie friend and co-worker Tawney Beans, who enthusiastically joined in the adventure on a recent Monday night.

Every detail about the ambiance and food at Stirling is fine yet unpretentious. Owned by David Glenny, the restaurant's a white table cloth establishment with lots of warm, black woodwork and a beautiful bar whose focal point is a large painting of a figure in jeans and sports jacket relaxing in nature. The artwork ties in dramatically with the muted gold and brown leaf motif of the restaurant wallpaper.

We sat in elegantly comfortable, gray arm chairs for our meal, served by the wonderfully attentive Kayla Hawks, who also tended bar.

I planned to focus on seafood, so I asked owner Glenny, who formerly worked in wine sales, what white wine he'd recommend. He suggested a glass of Solitude Cote du Rhone Blanc ($12) from Rhone, France, which was lovely.

Tawney went for a Shirley Temple ($3). The restaurant's cocktail menu, created by Hawks and named after classic books, includes "A Clockwork Orange" mocktail. "Fear and Loathing" and "The Great Gatsby" also can be made spirit-free.

Executive Chef Amy Wanek, who is creating a new Stirling menu monthly, started with "Our First Chapter" in June, inspired by Glenny's favorite foods. Tawney and I dined during the last week of that menu, before Stirling's switch to July's "Summer on the Coast" menu.

Along with the new foods on each menu, Glenny also switches the wine list to pair with the small, thoughtful menu of four to five appetizers, two to three salads or soups and four to five main courses.

More: Former Bricco owner bringing fine dining restaurant with rotating menu to Merriman Valley

During our dinner June 24, rather than starting with the typical bread and butter, Hawks presented us with four lovely gruyere de gougeres, or cheese puffs topped with hazelnut crumb drizzled in brown butter. The puffs were light, delicate and delicious.

With each dish we ate, it was clear that Wanek is a wizard in the kitchen. Her food is not only uniquely delicious, her presentation also is beautiful.

I started out with a seared tuna appetizer ($21), a dish whose colors alone were a knockout. The white and black sesame-crusted tuna had some great zing with pickled mustard seed, accompanied by pretty pickled watermelon radish, fava peas and mint puree. Other combinations paired the tuna with Korean chili threads and frozen avocado discs as well as pickled Fresno chiles.

Tawney was clearly enamored with her steamed mussels appetizer ($18), served in a creamy broth with sourdough bread. She's not typically a fan of much that's creamy, but this dish changed her mind.

"You definitely want to eat the bread with the mussels and the sauce all together," said Tawney, who pointed out that the salty, earthy taste of the mussels, the creamy sauce and buttery bread balanced each other.

What we had for main courses at Stirling

For my main course, I ordered halibut creole ($40), which was one of my favorites that I sampled at an earlier chef's tasting by Wanek. The mild fish went well with the bold roux and sweet, moist corn spoon bread that had a little crispy edge to it. This dish includes ham in the corn spoon bread and chorizo in the roux broth, but both can be omitted by request.

Tawney's lavender muscovy duck breast ($45) entree was pretty as a picture. The duck, which comes from Spain, forages freely for snails and roosts in trees.

"This is the best duck I've ever had," Tawney said.

This duck was the most flavorful she's experienced, and both the herb crust and citrus jus were great, Tawney said.

Crazy for dessert

For dessert, I had just enough room left to try the creme brulee sampler trio ($12), including bourbon, Madagascar vanilla bean and salted caramel. The intensely flavored bourbon was my favorite.

I'd sampled the pain perdu ($15) at the chef's tasting before Stirling opened June 11 and told Tawney that it was so insanely good, I was still thinking about it. Wanek's background includes working as a pastry chef and this dessert was extra special.

The literal translation of the French phrase is "lost bread," with the figurative meaning being next-day bread. Wanek makes this amazingly rich confection with her own caramelized brioche and house-made brown butter ice cream on pastry cream.

Tawney ordered the pain perdu and agreed that it was to die for. So much so that she went back to Stirling the next night to dine on her two favorites again — the duck and pain perdu — before they were gone from the menu for who knows how long. She reported sitting in a comfy leather chair at the bar without a reservation in a nearly full restaurant that Tuesday night.

When something's that good, a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

Coming up at Stirling in July

July's "Summer on the Coast" menu, which can be seen at stirlingakron.com, includes everything from lobster roll to short rib. Desserts will be coconut cream pie, key lime tart and variations of coffee and chocolate, including mousse, pastry cream and chocolate sponge.

Stirling is definitely a special-occasion kind of place in my book. In fact, the bill comes to you in a leather book with a metal clasp, and guests can write notes to the chef and owner about their experiences.

Tawney and I agree that the beautiful new restaurant is worth the expense, with its excellent service, serenely sophisticated atmosphere and fabulous food.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Restaurant: Stirling

Address: 1288 Weathervane Lane, Akron

Hours: 4 to 9:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; 4 to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; closed Sunday and Wednesday. Open July 4.

Reservations: stirlingakron.com

Dress code: Business to formal attire

Information: 330-701-9303 or @stirlingakron on Instagram

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Stirling dinner an event to remember at new Merriman Valley restaurant | Local Flavor