The handsome property, behind those thick, whitewashed walls at the corner of Morris Road and Dekalb Pike, known as Normandy Farm, dates back to 1730.

The 141-room Normandy Farm Hotel, however, with its big banquet room and its restaurant, formerly named “Coleman’s,” under the guidance of well-known chef Jim Coleman, was built and opened only 9 years ago.

It changed hands a few years ago, and the restaurant was renamed “The Farmer’s Daughter.” The new ownership hired executive chef Mtele “Abu” Abubaker, and pastry chef Tia Bennett, and just this year added chef Michael Thompson (formerly at Lacroix).

The new menu is less stodgy, more accessible, and more creative and unusual than under Coleman, but still moderately high cost. It focuses on the use of locally grown and raised sustainable ingredients: cheeses are sourced from Keswick Creamery; meats and poultry from Hatfield Meats and Meadowrun Farms of Lancaster; cured and smoked charcuterie specialties from Illg’s right here in Bucks County; and local vegetables brought in from Living-Hope Farm. These carefully chosen, fresh ingredients, in the hands of Chef Abu, and served in the comfortable main dining room, made for a very high-level dining experience.

I went for dinner on a midweek night with a party of four. A walk past the hotel lobby and a wide corridor brought us to the comfortable, rustic farmhouse-style dining room. Our table was well clothed in fresh linens. The noise level was low, allowing for quiet conversation, even as other diners began filling the space.

We started with chilled white wine, a Bloody Mary and a vodka martini. You can also choose to have wine “flights”: (three 3-ounce glasses) of chilled still or sparkling whites ($15) or reds ($19) served in appropriate stemware.

The service throughout was distinctive in its use of unusually shaped serving dishes made of unusual materials, mini-sized jars, and cruets on nested plates. The presentations of each course’s often non-typical ingredients were consistently artful. Our server, Andrew, was efficient and knowledgeable.

During an extensive, multi-course meal, we sampled a cheese and charcuterie board, enjoyed an amuse bouche, an appetizer plate, a summer beet salad, a coconut tequila lime sorbet intermezzo, ordered three entrees, and found room to enjoy a shared sweet dessert.

The charcuterie and farmstead cheese board ($16) included a mix of cured meats: Krakauer dry smoked sausage, Westphalian ham, and Finocchiona (Tuscan pork salami); and cheeses: Birchrun blue, Keswick Creamery Wallabee, Mad Tomme, and Lescher, with a delightful cider-glazed kumquat marmalade dip and olives. The board serves enough for four people to enjoy, and if the cost is shared, the $16 is quite reasonable for this outstanding treat.

The delightful & colorful amuse bouche, served on four small individual porcelain rectangles, lovingly presented mini-cubes of red tuna tartar, pink pickled daikon, and diced cucumber.

The beet salad ($10) was made with local-grown lettuce, assorted roasted red and yellow baby beets, orange segments, a wedge of Camembert cheese, watermelon radish, toasted almonds, and mustard seed vinaigrette. It scored high on the “wow-factor” scale.

An order of Gert’s Crab Cake appetizers ($15) had a good crunchy outside and a lots of solid lump crab inside, which was a superior rendition of this popular seafood standout, though not as good as Bobby Chez’s famous crab cakes.

There were more than a dozen entrees to choose from, including one special-of-the-day, which was a large pork chop (on the bone), almost two inches thick ($22). It was served on a large round slab of slate, and included zucchini, sweet potato risotto (which was rather pasty), and a tangy cider glaze chipotle dipping sauce. The chop itself, nicely pink on the inside, was delish.

The carnivore among us stayed true to form and chose the coq au vin chicken dish ($25). It was artfully presented, and featured a carrot puree topped with zucchini, wild mushrooms, spring peas, baby onions, and a small scoop of garlic mashed potato. The sous-vide chicken was moist and tender. Sous-vide is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath for a long time—72 hours in some cases—at a precisely determined temperature.

Our third entree, a plate of lightly grilled scallops with grilled veggies that included fennel, and baby artichokes, sauced in parsnip and rutabaga puree and streaked with pomegranate balsamic vinaigrette was also beautifully presented and the best of the three main dishes.

The menu changes seasonally, and will be changing in a few days (last week) we were told.

Dessert chef Bennett won our admiration for her splendid orange-chocolate-chip bread pudding, which we shared and loved to the last morsel.

Think perhaps of romancing your significant other with a lovely dinner in the restaurant and an overnight stay at the hotel.