What happened here??? I used to go to Zins frequently about three years ago. It was a great place to have a high end meal with business partners or to take your wife out on the town. Now the food prices are way high for what you get and the general feel of the Inn is low. I recognize some of the servers and the bartender there...Rick? They were all very friendly but you could tell somthing was not right in the world. I've heard that there are changes that are going to be happening here but my recent negative experiences are from about two summers ago forward. Doesn't anyone see what has happened?

Zins is one of those places you can kind of forget is there as it is buried within the Hanover Inn and doesn't always come to mind as an option for dinner in the Upper Valley. It is a pretty good restaurant and I feel its placement within the confines of the hotel kind of detracts from it as being as hip or popular as it could be. I've been there a handful of times for dinner and it never really crowded except for alumni or family weekends. This of course could be that when parents are in town fronting the bill the higher priced items at Zins seem more attractive to college students! Zins like all the other higher end restaurants in the UV feature and high light locally grown ingredients. With the wealth of wonderful produce and cheeses available it only makes sense to local source them. The time of the year that Zins is probably the busiest is during the brief summer months as they open up for outdoor patio service out front of the Hanover Inn. For lunch they have a a fantastic black bean veggie burger which has pepper jack cheese, avocado aioli, guacamole, and served on a pita like flatbread. The patty is unique tasting and has a very rich dense flavor to it. The roasted vegetable pita is also very good as well. Also they feature a lobster club which is a good non-traditional New England lobster roll. More like a BLT with lobster meat it has very good mayo dressing and large chunks of claw and tail meat. It is served with tasty sweet potato fries. For dinner I once had a very good nightly special which was a sea bass in white wine and lemon sauce which had shallots and was served on top of a mound of herbed French provencal lentils. It was very delicious and had a delicate touch which showed they can serve very good seafood. As a wine bar they have an extensive list of offerings available by the bottle or glass and also feature a great amount of local draft beers. With that sea bass I talked about earlier I had a great reasonably priced $28 dollar bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand which was dry, crisp, and complex in its flavor. While the atmosphere can be a little stuffy sometimes and doesn't feature the foot traffic and excitement the Canoe Club can bring on busier weekend nights, Zins is a good idea to keep in your back pocket when you tire of the same old same old when going out to eat in Hanover. It has always been pretty solid for me. And I know this sounds a little silly but here is a little hint for those going to Zins or just in need of a bathroom while in Hanover. The nicest bathroom on Main Street happens to be in the floor/level directly below Zins inside the Hanover Inn. They were renovated with tons of great looking marble, feature spa quality soaps and lotions, and are generally pretty nice! Good to know in a pinch.

One would hope that a restaurant in the Hanover Inn would be good, and Zin's doesn't disappoint. If you're into wine it's an especially good choice as they have many wines available and the menu suggests wine pairings for each course. The food is well thought out without being pretentious.

I wonder how many people skip Zins because it's a "hotel restaurant". If they do, they're missing a great spot for great food. We hadn't eaten there for a while and I really enjoyed the new dishes, especially the small plates. I'm always a fan of small plates (you can eat more things!) and these were particularly delicious.

Love the place but I would question the "50" mile radius of their suppliers. Chatham Cod . berkshire pork. come on !! Who cares about James Beard! Just cook !