Tall Trees leads with seared scallops set over a potato rosti and finished with house-made bacon jam — an appetizer that explains how the kitchen thinks before any of the dinner mains arrive. The dish carries the polish of an upscale dinner without losing the warmth a comfort plate trades on, and that hybrid is most of what makes this Huntsville restaurant feel particular. The dining rooms sit inside an early-1900s farmhouse on Main Street West, converted to restaurant use in 1984 and run as Tall Trees since Ashley Stenabaugh-Vowels and Randy Vowels took ownership in 2019. They are the chef-owners. The menu reads as theirs.
The current lunch and dinner menus lean into that polished-comfort register without staying inside one lane. Smoked Beef Bao arrives at lunch with sweet chilli glaze, quick-pickled cucumber, scallion, confit garlic aioli, chilli-ginger carrot slaw, and sesame-fried wontons — a layered plate sitting next to burgers, sandwiches, soups, and salads for diners who want a flexible midday order. Dinner opens with options like a Tall Trees Crab Cake, Whipped Feta Dip, Lemon-Tarragon Cream Mussels, or a French Onion Soup, then moves through Signature Atlantic Blackened Salmon, House-Smoked BBQ Pork Back Ribs, Pan-Seared Coconut-Crusted Ontario Pickerel, a Cabernet-Braised Lamb Shank, and an Artisanal Spanakopita Cavatelli for the table that wants pasta with a particular accent. An Aged White Cheddar and Truffle Risotto and a Vegan Stuffed Pasta Shells plate hold the meat-free lane. Saturday brings limited-quantity prime rib with house-made Yorkshire pudding, demi-glace, garlic confit mashed potatoes, and seasonal vegetables. The Three-Course Features menu hands a sixty-five-dollar appetizer-main-dessert path to diners who want the kitchen to narrow the decision.
Ashley Stenabaugh-Vowels and Randy Vowels give Tall Trees a clear chef-owner identity, with a menu that feels personal rather than copy-and-paste upscale.
Scallops, smoked bao, ribs, salmon, prime rib, handmade pasta, and butter tart desserts make the menu comfortable but still detailed enough for a planned dinner.
The early-1900s farmhouse setting, named rooms, gazebo options, and Huntsville-inspired cocktails give the visit a sense of place beyond the plate.
Tall Trees is built for the kind of dinner people put on the calendar. The polished farmhouse rooms, two-hour dinner seating, detailed entrees, and dessert finish make it feel right for anniversaries, birthdays, and Muskoka weekends with a little ceremony.
The strongest order anchors are specific and memorable: seared scallops with potato rosti and bacon jam, the warm Tall Trees butter tart, smoked beef bao, and house-smoked ribs. That gives the menu real lead-with-this clarity instead of a generic upscale spread.
The drinks list has a point of view, not just a bar rail. Featured cocktails and mocktails are named around Huntsville landmarks and local stories, so a drink order can carry the same sense of place as the dining rooms.
The three-course features give diners a tidy way to experience the kitchen without building the meal from scratch. It works especially well when the main choices include smoked barbecue, pickerel, harissa chicken, and handmade cavatelli.
Tall Trees has more room strategy than a single dining room. The parlours, Library, Scullery, Muskoka Room, and gazebos give groups a set of settings to choose from, which makes the restaurant useful for planned meals as well as regular dinner service.
The restaurant has a clear chef-owner identity behind it. Ashley Stenabaugh-Vowels and Randy Vowels are tied to both the dining room story and the menu direction, which helps Tall Trees feel personal rather than merely polished.
The setting is intimate without being stiff: historic rooms, a deep dessert list, cocktails with a story, and polished dinner pacing all support a date-night meal. It is the kind of place where ordering a little slower makes sense.
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