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Saturday, July 27, 2019
Restaurant News Stone's Throw Pizza to Open in Richmond
Posted
By Sally Pollak
on Sat, Jul 27, 2019 at 4:19 PM
Stone’s Throw Pizza, which opened in a former bakery last November in Fairfax, will open a second restaurant this fall in Richmond. The new Stone’s Throw will also occupy a former bakery — the big red building at 39 Esplanade that was built in 2007 to house On the Rise Bakery.
The site, which is adjacent to Volunteers Green, comes with a big vegetable garden out front. Stone’s Throw owners — childhood friends Tyler Stratton and Silas Pollitt, who grew up together in Fairfax — plan to grow vegetables for pizza and salad in the plot.
“We think we’re going to do some pretty neat stuff with that location,” Stratton, 33, told Seven Days. “There’s a world of opportunity there.”
The site, which is adjacent to Volunteers Green, comes with a big vegetable garden out front. Stone’s Throw owners — childhood friends Tyler Stratton and Silas Pollitt, who grew up together in Fairfax — plan to grow vegetables for pizza and salad in the plot.
“We think we’re going to do some pretty neat stuff with that location,” Stratton, 33, told Seven Days. “There’s a world of opportunity there.”
Friday, July 26, 2019
Burlington / Business Ben & Jerry's Throws a Non-Dairy Party at ArtsRiot
Posted
By Sabine Poux
on Fri, Jul 26, 2019 at 12:30 PM
The greatest challenge I ran into at Ben & Jerry’s Dessert’d: A Non-Expected Culinary Experience on Wednesday night was that my hands were rarely free to take photos. From 5:30 to 8:30 pm, I constantly juggled in my sticky arms some combination of dairy-free hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and frozen treats, which regenerated ceaselessly on tables in the ArtsRiot show room like the heads of a Hydra. If the intended takeaway of the night was that there's no shortage of vegan options out there, message freakin’ received.
Dessert’d (pronounced "deserted") is B&J’s road-show celebration of its foray into non-dairy frozen desserts, and it is as glorious and indulgent as one would expect from a company known for its playfulness. Vermont's Queen City was the first of four event sites to host, each of which will feature the talents of a local chef in a live dessert cooking demonstration.
And each will feature heaps and heaps of vegan “frozen desserts” — the technical term for this cream-less treat — from non-dairy Cherry Garcia to non-dairy Peanut Butter Half Baked.
Dessert’d (pronounced "deserted") is B&J’s road-show celebration of its foray into non-dairy frozen desserts, and it is as glorious and indulgent as one would expect from a company known for its playfulness. Vermont's Queen City was the first of four event sites to host, each of which will feature the talents of a local chef in a live dessert cooking demonstration.
And each will feature heaps and heaps of vegan “frozen desserts” — the technical term for this cream-less treat — from non-dairy Cherry Garcia to non-dairy Peanut Butter Half Baked.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Dining on a Dime Dining on a Dime: The Crooked Ram
Posted
By Jordan Barry
on Thu, Jul 18, 2019 at 8:00 AM
What’s the going rate for 26 pounds of honey? At the Crooked Ram in Manchester, it’s a whole lot of store credit. And while that’s not how I paid for this Dining on a Dime adventure, if I ever come into a windfall of the sweet stuff, I know where I’ll spend it.
The taproom on Manchester’s main drag is a drinking destination — the only place in town dedicated to craft beer, cider and natural wine — and it doesn’t take much to be a regular.
“Most of our customers are from out of state,” said owner Peter Campbell. I’m no local to southern Vermont, but Campbell remembered me from my first visit a few months before. We’d ranted about the lack of beverage producers in Bennington County while I stood at the bar sipping a glass of Fable Farm Fermentory’s Fluxion III. This time, though, I was focused on eating, not ranting.
The Crooked Ram opened in early 2017 as a bottle shop, but during its annual “Mud Season Break” last year, Campbell renovated the space to offer on-premise consumption and a perfect-for-drinking food menu.
“We have limited room, so we’re just serving what we really love,” he said, pointing to the tiny kitchen hidden behind a stack of kegs. The chalkboard lists a selection of local cheese and charcuterie, classic bar snacks and a few heftier lunch items.
I ordered the housemade cheese scone, paired with smoked ham and fermented garlic honey ($9). The honey made my decision for me, after Campbell poured me a spoonful to taste. “One of the neighboring farmers showed up with 26 pounds of the stuff, all in huge mason jars,” he explained. The farmer meant it as a gift, but Campbell insisted on paying him in IPAs.
Like any good fermentation fanatic, Campbell added garlic and let it bubble away. The result was a savory-sweet shock, all garlic on the nose and mellow honey in the finish. It could have been an at-home cold remedy, and I wanted more of it immediately.
I spotted a sheepskin-laden bench in the open dining area and settled in. My meal arrived on a board; the scone, a hearty pile of ham, and the mystical honey were lined up and ready for me to DIY. As far as scones go, Campbell clarified that “it’s really one foot in scone and one foot in biscuit.”
Semantics aside, it was warm, and a perfectly melty combination of King Arthur Flour, buttermilk and Jasper Hill Farm’s Melting Blend. The ham, sourced from the Vermont Butcher Shop just down the street, was brined for seven days and smoked in-house. It could have passed for brisket with its dark, crispy edges. I slathered the scone with honey, slapped on a piece of ham, and marveled at its power to really make me want a beer. Thankfully, I was in the right place.
Dining on a Dime is a weekly series featuring well-made, filling bites (something substantial enough to qualify as a small meal or better) for $12 or less. Know of a tasty dish we should feature? Drop us a line: [email protected].
Friday, July 12, 2019
Burlington / Drink Up Drink Up: The Beach House
Posted
By Sally Pollak
on Fri, Jul 12, 2019 at 9:32 AM
The bartender at the Beach House studies data analytics at the University of Vermont. She put her expertise to work the other day at her summer job at the North Beach bar, where she mixes and serves drinks for barefoot customers.
Christina McLaughlin, 21, didn’t need a spreadsheet or business intelligence software to assess the drinking preferences of the Beach House crowd. “Definitely the Painkiller,” McLaughlin told me, naming a $10 cocktail on the house list.
This was interesting to learn, because it pegged me as a conformist when it comes to Beach House booze. Before McLaughlin revealed the bar's analytics to me, I had ordered a Painkiller.
I’m not sure if I made the choice because it’s the first drink on the menu or because I’ve had my share of Tequila Sunrises. The day was moving toward dusk, and a Painkiller called to me.
The bar’s setting itself is likely to kill any pain you might have. I parked on the street by Burlington High School and walked downhill along North Beach Campground, passing through the culvert under the bike path. (Any time you can walk through a culvert to a bar, do it!)
The fenced-off space that forms the Beach House — a little tiki bar and a collection of tables — is about 30 paces from the water. The bar offers a view of the beach and all that comes with it: sunbathers, speedboaters, kids playing in the sand, grown-ups getting their analytics tracked by smartphones.
The people at the table next to mine had Rollerbladed to the Beach House on the bike path from south of downtown. They were barefoot, their Rollerblades set on the pebble-covered ground beside them.
Chris Butch, an ICU nurse and one of the bladers, was shirtless and color-coordinated. His towel, bathing suit and JammyPack all bore the stars and stripes. He was welcome at the Beach House without the usual restaurant attire and without spending a penny: He drank ice water.
“I don’t like to wear a shirt or shoes,” Butch said, “which is why I like coming here.”
His friends, who drank spiked seltzer, said they enjoyed having a drink option on the bike path, at the beach, in a casual and welcoming setting.
Back at my table, McLaughlin had delivered my cocktail and these words: “I hope you enjoy your Painkiller.” (I enjoyed it so much, I suggested Butch offer it at the ICU.)
The rum-based drink, a spiked fruit punch, is the color of a hazy sunset. It’s foamed up with a coconut cream and spiced with nutmeg. Served with an umbrella and a slice of orange, it's a hometown vacation in a plastic cup.
The owner of the Beach House, Sani Pasagic, pulled up a chair and talked with me for a bit about running a seasonal business, the rigors of being a restaurant cook and his son’s Church Street cheesesteak cart.
“People are finally finding out about this place,” Pasagic said of his beach business.
Maybe more people would find the Beach House if parking were permitted in the BHS parking lots. But signs warn that cars will be towed from the lots. My vote: Let people park in them for free. School’s out, and the parking lots are mostly empty. Shouldn’t people be encouraged to walk five or 10 minutes and through a culvert to a city beach?
Christina McLaughlin, 21, didn’t need a spreadsheet or business intelligence software to assess the drinking preferences of the Beach House crowd. “Definitely the Painkiller,” McLaughlin told me, naming a $10 cocktail on the house list.
This was interesting to learn, because it pegged me as a conformist when it comes to Beach House booze. Before McLaughlin revealed the bar's analytics to me, I had ordered a Painkiller.
I’m not sure if I made the choice because it’s the first drink on the menu or because I’ve had my share of Tequila Sunrises. The day was moving toward dusk, and a Painkiller called to me.
The bar’s setting itself is likely to kill any pain you might have. I parked on the street by Burlington High School and walked downhill along North Beach Campground, passing through the culvert under the bike path. (Any time you can walk through a culvert to a bar, do it!)
The fenced-off space that forms the Beach House — a little tiki bar and a collection of tables — is about 30 paces from the water. The bar offers a view of the beach and all that comes with it: sunbathers, speedboaters, kids playing in the sand, grown-ups getting their analytics tracked by smartphones.
The people at the table next to mine had Rollerbladed to the Beach House on the bike path from south of downtown. They were barefoot, their Rollerblades set on the pebble-covered ground beside them.
Chris Butch, an ICU nurse and one of the bladers, was shirtless and color-coordinated. His towel, bathing suit and JammyPack all bore the stars and stripes. He was welcome at the Beach House without the usual restaurant attire and without spending a penny: He drank ice water.
“I don’t like to wear a shirt or shoes,” Butch said, “which is why I like coming here.”
His friends, who drank spiked seltzer, said they enjoyed having a drink option on the bike path, at the beach, in a casual and welcoming setting.
Back at my table, McLaughlin had delivered my cocktail and these words: “I hope you enjoy your Painkiller.” (I enjoyed it so much, I suggested Butch offer it at the ICU.)
The rum-based drink, a spiked fruit punch, is the color of a hazy sunset. It’s foamed up with a coconut cream and spiced with nutmeg. Served with an umbrella and a slice of orange, it's a hometown vacation in a plastic cup.
The owner of the Beach House, Sani Pasagic, pulled up a chair and talked with me for a bit about running a seasonal business, the rigors of being a restaurant cook and his son’s Church Street cheesesteak cart.
“People are finally finding out about this place,” Pasagic said of his beach business.
Maybe more people would find the Beach House if parking were permitted in the BHS parking lots. But signs warn that cars will be towed from the lots. My vote: Let people park in them for free. School’s out, and the parking lots are mostly empty. Shouldn’t people be encouraged to walk five or 10 minutes and through a culvert to a city beach?
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