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Named either for its address, 6 Main St, or for its onomatopoeia sounding Sex Man, like its name the restaurant is a paradox. Its menu is mostly vegan, the remainder vegetarian, and much of it raw. My kind of food. Yet the décor of the restaurant is not my kind of place. It was remodeled from the nearly windowless lobby of a former old bank, and still hanging from the ceiling are the bank’s creepy chandeliers, yellowed with age. Its interior evokes my childhood memories of my grandmother’s stuffy old home where windows never were opened. Or my teenage memories of the lobby of an old bank which had no windows. I cannot fathom why anyone would want to retain the décor of a stuffy bank. I would much prefer to tear it down. Or to hold it up. Six Main’s white tablecloths offer a marked contrast to nearby ION’s stark tree trunk tabletops. Similarly, Chester’s prim and proper Main Street contrasts with working class Main Street in middleclass Middletown. Seated here nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed my several meals. Every entrée is flavorful and unique (Unique with a capital U), if not invented by the masterful chef then surely perfected by her. The portions are small, but the nutritional standards are high. So are the prices. Six Main’s prices reflect its domicile in ritzy Chester, a Vermont-like rural town beleaguered with Manhattan-like urban traffic congestion. (Parking is not a problem, however, thanks to its own parking lot behind its building. And be sure to check out the brook that abuts the lot.) While one can be affluent without being decadent, Six Main’s wine and beer menu indicates its intentions to cater to the bloated decadent. A mixed demographic group indeed dines here. Young and sexy couples sitting at the bar enjoy their meals as much as each others’ company. Formally attired elderly couples, obvious members of the targeted audience of those white tablecloths, seem comfortable and satiated. Or perhaps all merely glow from the effects of the wine they are drinking. As I prefer to drink my grape juice straight, I hope the wine list subsidizes the food prices, which nevertheless exceed my budget, and probably yours too. But because every dish is so Unique, I heartily recommend you make a special trip to dine here, even if your dining experience must remain equally unique and you dine here just once. Because my decrying its bourgeois decadence is more a comment about me than it is a review about this restaurant.

rating star

We stopped in for the sweet potato prix fixe, but the rest of the menu looked so good we got more as well. Sweet potato curls topped farm greens with mango dressing. Unexpected combo, but taste and texture balanced well. And the curls were light and not at all greasy or limp. Entree: Sweet potato curry over french lentils -- never would have put those together myself, but it worked so well! And sweet potato and apple galette type tart with vegan/raw gelato, some warm spice flavored it, reminded me of indian food. All that plus a glass of wine for $25!

The nachos and shiitake mushroom spring roll wrapped in thinly sliced cucumber were excellent. So fresh and flavorful! Then we got kale salad, pesto linguine (raw! so delicious) and ravioli, also light and raw, but perfectly seasoned herbed cashew cheese inside paper thin rounds of jicama topped with tomato and some green flavored oil. . Lovely and tasty. They had more cooked food that sounded interesting, but it's hard to get raw food out. Will definitely be back to try more!

The ex-bank building is beautiful and elegant. It's not huge, so call for reservations if you can, but they did have room for walkins the night we went. And I don't usually mention bathrooms in a review but these are worth a gander -- gorgeous space and cloth hand towels! And best thing for Chester area -- a parking lot in the rear! We didn't know, so parked up the street, but handy for next time!

They have a decent bar, with wine, beer, cocktails and basil lemonade (soo tasty, again, wouldn't have thought this would work but oh does it!) and iced chai tea. We only got the glass of wine that came with the meal, a lemonade and a tangerine non-alcoholic cocktail which was pretty good. We're not really drinkers, so I don't have much to say about the wine or beer selections, tho I read that most are organic or sustainable.

Oh, longwinded now, but must mention desserts. Besides the prix fix dessert, we ordered a chocolate ganache (like a choc-mousse pie but darker and richer) and blueberry cheesecake. Both were sweet and rich, creamy and decadent but didn't leave me feeling gross.

It is rare that we can go out and find the same quality of food we serve in our own kitchen -- mostly organic, local where possible and lots of fresh food. From a kitchen where I can be sure no chicken stock was used, etc. Priceless.

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