Inside Seven Days

Vermont has garnered a national reputation for its award-winning specialty food and drink products and inventive, locally focused cuisine. For the last decade, Seven Days’ Vermont Restaurant Week has celebrated the state’s chefs, farmers, producers and others food-service professionals that have helped put the Green Mountain State on the map. The event has also raised $95,375.32 and counting for the Vermont Foodbank, the festival’s beneficiary. Seven Days is excited to announce the details of the 10th annual event presented by Vermont Federal Credit Union.

For 10 days, April 26 to May 5, 104 restaurants from Brattleboro to St. Albans will offer special prix-fixe dinners at three price points — $20, $30 or $40 per person. Lunch, brunch and breakfast specials at select locations will also be available. The diversity in cuisine and participating restaurants will whet the appetites of diners across the state. The full list of menus can be found at vermontrestaurantweek.com.

This year’s special foodie events include:

• The Sweet Start Smackdown: Dessert comes first at this Restaurant Week-eve kick-off battle, in which local pastry chefs from every corner of the state compete and foodies feast. Scores from celebrity judges and votes from attendees decide the winner of Vermont Restaurant Week’s Signature Sweet. Thursday, April 25, 7-9 p.m., Higher Ground in South Burlington.
• Cooking With WhistlePig: Students learn how to prepare a three-course meal featuring WhistlePig Whiskey from a Cook Academy chef at the Essex Culinary Resort & Spa. Friday, April 26, Wednesday, May 1, Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4, 5-8 p.m. in Essex.
• Pints & Poses Yoga: Join Corey Grenier for an all-levels foodie flow in the brewery. This hourlong vinyasa-style class will focus on digestion, detoxification and mindful eating. End your practice with a pint or a flight. Sunday, April 28, 11 a.m. to noon, Burlington Beer Company in Williston.
• Culinary Trivia Night: Feed your brain with foodie trivia and compete for delicious prizes at this rowdy event emceed by Top Hat Entertainment. The grand prize is a $500 gift card to Hen of the Wood. Monday, April 29, 6-9 p.m., Nectar’s in Burlington.
• The Sensory Social: Cider and cheese? Yes, please! Join Shacksbury Cider and Vermont Creamery for a fruitful and fraîche guided tasting that will make your senses sing. Tuesday, April 30, 5:30-7 p.m., CO Cellars in Burlington.
• The Dish — The Wild World of Fermentation: Hear from brewers, farmers, chefs and business owners about their experiences with fermented products while exploring reputed health benefits, opportunities for preservation of local food, and whether this food trend is here to stay. Wednesday, May 1, 5:30-7 p.m., ArtsRiot in Burlington.

Look for more information about events, participating restaurants and how to donate to the Vermont Foodbank at vermontrestaurantweek.com.

Vermont Restaurant Week is presented by Vermont Federal Credit Union and sponsored by Vermont Creamery, Burlington Beer Company, WhistlePig, City Market/Onion River Co-op, Shacksbury Cider and the Essex, Vermont’s Culinary Resort & Spa. Additional support is provided by Vermont Tourism, WNCS the Point, WCAX and Front Porch Forum.

More than 70 Vermont students who completed the 2018 Good Citizen Challenge gathered at the Statehouse in Montpelier on March 27 to be recognized for their accomplishment.

The Challenge invited K-12 students to earn points by doing a variety of activities related to civics, history, advocacy and media literacy — all crucial elements of being an informed citizen. These activities included attending city council meetings, picking up litter, reading local news articles, writing a letter to an elected official and naming the five freedoms specified in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Seven Days and Kids VT organized the initiative, with support from the Vermont Community Foundation. Its goal? To incentivize youth to educate themselves about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, using their communities as a classroom. Students finished the Challenge by earning 251 points, the number of towns in Vermont.

The Statehouse event was part of their reward. The Good Citizens met with Governor Phil Scott in his ceremonial office and posed for a group photo.

“I think it’s important for all of us to get involved and be good citizens, be public servants,” said the two-term Republican. And anyone can run for office, he said. “I certainly didn’t envision myself being in the position I am today when I was your age, not by a long shot.”
Speaker of the House Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) also addressed the group.
Representative Peter Conlon (D-Cornwall) introduced the students from the  House chamber floor; legislators gave them a round of applause. Afterward, each student received a medal, a T-shirt, a sticker and a pocket-sized U.S. Constitution, donated by Phoenix Books.
Seven Days Deputy Publisher Cathy Resmer congratulated the Good Citizens. “You have just as much right to be in this building as anyone else here,” she told the students in the Cedar Creek Room. “I hope that’s something you’ll take away from your experience today. This might be your first time here, but I hope it won’t be your last.”

Find more information and sign up to receive updates about the 2019 Good Citizen Challenge at goodcitizenvt.com. The Statehouse event is the subject of the April 4 episode of Eva Sollberger’s “Stuck in Vermont” web video series. Find it at sevendaysvt.com.
Other Challenge partners included: Front Porch Forum, the Young Writers’ Project, Vermont State Parks and Historic Sites, GameTheory, Phoenix Books and the Winooski Peace Initiative.

Here is a list of students who completed the Good Citizen Challenge, organized by town:

Barre:
Tyler Graves

Burlington:
Bella Olinger and Sam Reilly

Cabot:
Alan Moody

Charlotte:
Henry Bushey and Lila Bushey

Clarendon:
Ethan Bishop

Colchester:
Chris Palagonia and Ben Palagonia

East Montpelier:
Harvey Neddo, Joseph Neddo and Arthur Neddo

Essex:
Jack Dragoo

Essex Junction:
Isaac Dodge and Sawyer Kless

Jericho:
Henry Swisher

Manchester Center:
Lindsey Treat

Middlebury:
Henry Weston

Milton:
Hannah Smiley

Montpelier:
Thea Boyles, Teagan Brennan, Zoe Keuhl, Lily Meyer, Anna Newara, Somerset Pierce and Lachlan Pierce

Moretown:
Grace Heller

Morristown:
Hazel Longe

Morrisville:
Mabel Huard

Quechee:
Michael Leavitt

Rutland:
Jackson Kitts

Salisbury:
Riley Amerio, Thomas Bishop, Sophia Boise, Channing Brush, Meredith Cameron, Kayla Charbonneau, Keenan Chicoine, Ethan Delorme, Owen Flanagan, Josie Gaiotti, Chris Gile, Natalie Gillette, Vance Larocque
Jameson Maguire, Addison Moats, Emma Morrissey, Luke Nuceder, Yankee Rheaume, Sutton Rubright, Mercedes Sheldrick, Pela Slater, Makyliah Tellier
Tyreese Tucker, Gabe Velez, Cody Warner, Ada Weaber, Matt Whelan, Mykayla White and Holly Whitney

Shelburne:
Grace Warrington and Peter Warrington

South Burlington:
Rosalynn Manalo

St. Albans:
Ethan Oszurek and Sophia Oszurek

St. Johnsbury:
Phyler Holt

Stowe:
Lada Salida, Noah Vandenburg and Evangeline Vandenburg

Underhill:
Aly Dorman

Waterbury Center:
Janelle Hoskins

West Burke:
Ella Switser and Lucas Switser

West Rutland:
Miles Robbison

Winooski:
Graham Resmer, Ivy Resmer and Alia Ross

Award-winning journalist Courtney Lamdin is joining the Seven Days news team as a reporter covering the city of Burlington. The native Vermonter has been working at local newspapers since she graduated with a B.A. in journalism from Saint Michael’s College in 2009. She grew a cub reporting gig at the Milton Independent into a six-year stint as editor of the community weekly, then served as executive editor of that publication, plus the Colchester Sun and the Essex Reporter, for three more years. She is currently news editor of the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus.

On Monday, the national trade publication Editor & Publisher featured Lamdin in its “25 Under 35” list of next-generation newspaper leaders.