This story has been updated.
We all love our go-to restaurants, reliable local places that serve good food at a good price. But if you eat there enough times, even a tried-and-true standby can start to feel stale.
Look beyond the beaten path, however, and you might find a new favorite nearby. The Vermont countryside is dotted with cozy inns, many of which offer dining for guests as well as the public. They often fly under the culinary radar of locals. We think they’re not for us: too fancy, too pricey.
I live near one of those: the 200-year-old Waybury Inn in East Middlebury. It dates back to an era when a trip from Burlington to Middlebury took a day on horseback and most meals outside the home were eaten by travelers stopping overnight at such roadside inns.
In more recent times, the Waybury’s exterior represented a quintessential Vermont country inn in the opening montage of the 1980s sitcom “Newhart,” set at the fictional Stratford Inn.
One recent Monday evening, my daughter, husband and I took a short drive from our Cornwall home to see whether the inn could expand our roster of go-to local dining destinations.
In the spring, the inn’s ownership transitioned after a quarter century to Halina and Chas Lyons and chef Antonio Petri. Now 33 years old, Petri grew up next door to the Waybury and waited for his school bus in front of the inn, he said.
He became executive chef at the Waybury two years ago. Before that, he cooked professionally in Ithaca, N.Y., and Chicago, as well as at the renowned, Israeli-influenced restaurant Zahav in Philadelphia.
In July, Petri told Seven Days that he planned to keep Waybury favorites such as its beefy, mashed potato-crowned shepherd’s pie ($20) while also broadening the menu’s global flavors.
Upon entering the inn, I was disappointed not to spy Larry, his brother Darryl or his other brother Darryl, of “Newhart” fame. But the rustic brick fireplace and warm wood touches immediately established a comforting atmosphere.
The Waybury offers two menus: one called “fine dining” and one dubbed “tavern.” The fine-dining menu is exactly what you’d imagine, featuring elaborate dishes such as filet mignon with whipped potato and confit of mushroom ($39) and Moroccan-spiced rack of lamb with apricot sauce ($46). They sounded delicious but would bust my normal dining-out budget. I’ll save that menu for birthday or anniversary celebrations.
The tavern menu, meanwhile, offers dishes with lower price tags. The Waybury’s burger ($17), served on a brioche bun with fries, is in the ballpark of what I’d pay at several casual Middlebury restaurants that my family frequents. But in the spirit of trying new things, we decided to skip the burger and branch out.
Steak frites ($26) silenced my teenage daughter’s usual snarky comments. Her mouth was too full of crisp roasted potatoes and bites of tender steak draped in a silky peppercorn-brandy sauce. She was a little disappointed that the potatoes were not the fries that usually come with this classic.
I opted for the vegetarian Wellington ($24), a generous pastry wrapped around roasted portobello mushroom, spinach, soft chèvre and leeks. It was brightened by a pair of sauces: marinara and basil pesto.
My husband picked the smoky fried chicken leg and thigh ($25), served with mashed potato, braised kale and gravy, then finished with hot honey. The menu said the meat was smoked, something I don’t expect with fried chicken. But the flavor nicely permeated the beer batter and complemented the meat’s sweet, tangy, buzzy marinade of pineapple juice and Aleppo pepper.
I later learned that chef Petri smokes chicken and ribs on-site. Even the eggplant for his eggplant Parmesan ($24) starts in the smoker and ends in a pool of Parmesan cream.
Though not smoked, the surprise hit of the night was the small plate of za’atar carrots ($15) that we all shared. The sweetness of the root vegetable balanced the kick of spicy feta, citrusy sumac and smoky heat of harissa.
Happily, it was Margarita Monday: We sipped $6 cocktails made with a good shot of tequila and house-squeezed sour mix. Other nightly deals include $2 oysters on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by 75-cent wings on Sunday.
As Petri said, the specials are part of the new owners’ play to lure in locals. The chef knows that Vermonters help keep the lights on, especially during slower tourism months. “We’d like the Waybury to be a comfortable space for all,” he said.
After all, why should tourists have all the fun?
The original print version of this article was headlined “The Waybury Way | Under new ownership, East Middlebury’s 200-year-old inn stretches its culinary wings”
This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2024.
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