Amado

Cliff Avenue in Tupper Lake, off the main drag and easy to drive past if you don't know it's there. Amado (Portuguese for the loved ones) runs a small menu that's unusual for the central Adirondacks: moqueca, the Bahian seafood stew with coconut milk and dende oil, sits next to feijoada, the Brazilian black bean and pork stew, on the same page as a lamb pot pie and a Friday fish fry. The combination works because the kitchen commits to all of it. The Brazilian plates are the order on a first visit, particularly the moqueca, which is the dish you can't get anywhere else inside the Blue Line. The vegan section is marked plainly rather than buried, which is the right call in a town with a college-affiliated audience. Desserts are made in-house, with the key lime pie as the regular call. Small room, fills up on weekends, reservations are the move. Best for Tupper Lake renters who've already done the burger-and-fish-fry rotation and want something the rest of the region can't deliver.