Sentinel & Station Brings Inventive Food Back to Lake Placid
LAKE PLACID - Steak tartar piled into a roasted marrow bone. Grilled maitake mushrooms topped with crema and trout roe. “Nachos” made with tuna crudo, seaweed salad, and sesame crisps.
These are just some of the innovative dishes we tried at Sentinel & Station, one of the newest and one of the best restaurants in Lake Placid.
The restaurant quietly opened in the summer of 2025 in the same space that once housed the late and lamented Liquids & Solids. In fact, some of the carefully crafted cocktails at Sentinel & Station trace their heritage back to L&S. And the restaurant, which is owned by Lisa G’s, the beloved but more casual restaurant right across the street, is filling a culinary gap that emerged when L&S closed its doors after COVID and other issues conspired to end its run.
A black wallpapered wall and leather club chairs add to the sophisticated vibe.
Situated just a bit outside the village of Lake Placid, and named for its two cross streets, Sentinel & Station is the yin to Lisa G’s yang. While Lisa G’s is boisterous with a crowd-pleasing, family-friendly menu, Sentinel & Station feels calmer, more adult. Think jazz music. A mirrored bar. Exposed brick. Black wallpaper with a woodland motif. Leather club chairs and sofas.
The cocktail menu boasts a dozen intriguing libations. I loved The Dopest Dope I’ve Ever Smoked ($18), which I presume is named for the toasty, artisanal mezcal in it. Other ingredients include grapefruit liqueur, Cocci Americano, Suze, and pineapple-basil juice, making the drink surprisingly refreshing. I also liked the Young Buck ($15), a twist on a Manhattan. Made with Michter’s Rye, Doolin Blanc, Cynar, and orange bitters, its deep, rich, flavor matches its deep red hue.
The dinner menu requires contemplation. When we visited in late spring, there was a standard menu and a specials menu. The standard menu consisted of two sections. The first was Snacks, which included marinated olives ($6), Caesar salad ($10), and pigs in a blanket, albeit ones made with Wagyu beef wieners, puff pastry, and sriracha aioli ($14). The other section was called Shares, which ranged from the shareable-sounding tuna nachos and chicken liver pâté to what seemed more like single-serving main dishes, including a braised duck poutine ($21) and sweet potato gnocchi served with house-made elk sausage and broccoli rabe ($21).
The vibe is welcoming, and the sweet-hot spiced nuts are complimentary - a nice touch.
The specials menu, labeled Eats, supposedly showcased the larger dishes. But Eats also includes the very shareable Nightly Charcuterie ($18) because its components (jams, flavored cheeses, and sausages most of it made in-house) change often. And whether a scallop and mango ceviche ($18) would be ample enough for a main dish was hard to tell. A newer menu recently posted online seems to have forgone the Snacks and Shares categories, but you still might want to get some guidance from your server on what and how much to order. That worked well for us.
About the food itself: We loved L&S and mourned its closing. Thankfully S&S delivers on similarly inventive fare.
A standout that’s regularly available is that maitake mushroom ($18). Also called hen of the woods, the huge mushroom resembles the ruffled, feathery end of a chicken. The meaty fungi was grilled to tender perfection and drizzled with a smoky white sauce. The trout roe added a welcome briny note but can be left off for a vegetarian meal.
You can’t do that with the aforementioned tartar ($25) as it’s all about meat. While much of the chopped beef remains raw as is traditional, some gets lightly cooked by the hot marrow in the roasted bone. Slathered on the accompanying toasts, the meat and marrow made for some luxurious eating. The tartar was dressed in a shallot, cornichon, and Worcestershire vinaigrette and served with a horseradish pea puree, the latter added, perhaps, to make one feel less gluttonous.
Sentinel & Station puts a creative spin on classic beef tartar by serving it in a hot marrow bone for a rich, indulgent dish.
The same pea puree - bright, neon green and perfectly smooth - was also paired with a pan-seared rainbow trout ($32) that had wonderfully crisped edges and which was among the restaurant’s more accessible dishes.
Also on the more straightforward side was the burger ($24), though it was made with ground venison and pork. I worried it might be dry, but it was incredibly juicy and not gamey at all. The accompaniments - melty Vermont cheddar, bacon, caramelized onion, and a chimichurri aioli were all excellent save for a pallid tomato slice that could have easily been left off for what it added. The accompanying fries, cooked in tallow, were everything you want in a French fry.
An impromptu tasting suggested by our server helped us find a wine we loved.
The service at Sentinel & Station is friendly and prompt. Our server even held a mini wine tasting for us. The restaurant describes itself as a wine bar, and given the unique offerings, that tracks. The whites by the glass included a chardonnay and a riesling from the Finger Lakes as well as a couple grape varieties we had never heard of (colombard and torrontes). After tasting three of the drier whites, a sauvignon blanc was chosen, but even that was unusual as it hailed from Slovenia.
There were just three desserts on the menu, and we ordered two of them: chocolate beignets ($12) and a slice of Basque cheesecake ($12). The beignets came to the table piping hot and were crisp on the outside and pillowy light. The cheesecake was pale and creamy which contrasted the caramelized, almost burnt exterior that is the hallmark of the Basque style. A red wine and cherry compote cut the richness and kept us eating every last bite.
Compared to the rest of the menu, the desserts were quite approachable. And they were delicious. But it’s the rest of the menu, with all its interesting ingredients, unusual pairings, and bold choices that will keep us coming back for more.
GOOD TO KNOW
Open from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday plus Sunday brunch starting at 10:30 a.m.
No reservations accepted except for special events.
Limited outside seating available.
June 2026