Cover Story
7 Nights: The ‘Seven Days’ Guide to Vermont Restaurants and Bars (2014-15)
Serious eaters know that Vermont is the place for craft beer, award-winning cheeses and flavorful maple syrup. But salami? While meat-curing rooms are still more common in Italy than in the Green Mountains, they’re the reigning trend at an increasing number of Vermont restaurants. At Hen of the Wood in Burlington — the award-winning Waterbury…
In Burlington, Pizzeria Verità’s Neapolitan Pies Are Wood-Fired and Wonderful
For a quarter-century, the wood-fired pies of American Flatbread defined what Vermont pizza could and should be. It was hard to believe anything could rival them — that is, until Pizzeria Verità opened a block away on Burlington’s St. Paul Street. Verità’s pizzas are also wood-fired, but the bubbling and blistered pies that emerge from…
Café Mediterano Cooks Up Turkish Delights and More in Essex Junction
Vietnamese restaurants have cropped up all over Chittenden County. African markets, too. But Vermont’s Bosnian contingent still flocks to one village for its favored flavors: Essex Junction. Café Mediterano is the only restaurant in the 802 that serves up a full menu of Mediterranean street food. Café Mediterano 60A Pearl St., Essex Junction, VT 802-878-9333…
Ludlow’s Downtown Grocery Offers Offbeat Dishes Close to Okemo
It used to be that prime rib, pesto and the rare bowl of French onion soup were the best you could expect in rural Vermont, where people generally “ate to live” rather than vice versa. Chef Rogan Lechthaler offers proof that era is over. The Vermont native earned his culinary stripes in Boston and the…
Great Beer Meets Great Food at Morrisville’s Lost Nation Brewing
Most breweries aren’t known for their victuals. If they serve food at all, it’s usually burgers, nachos or wings — all stuff to soak up the main attraction. Lost Nation Brewing 87 Old Creamery Rd., Morrisville, VT 802-851-8041 website The owners of Morrisville’s Lost Nation Brewing take a different approach. Those who manage to locate…
Find Fusion Food and Big-City Flair at Montgomery Center’s INN
People still talk about a kitschy Montgomery Center restaurant that closed a dozen years ago. Zack’s on the Rocks was less celebrated for its food than for its namesake, a purple-robed proprietor who presided over the dining room wearing a crown and ermine-lined robe. The Inn 241 Main St., Montgomery Center, VT 802-326-4391 website Jon…
Newport’s Brown Dog Bistro Nails Québécois-Style Comfort Food
Five years ago, Newport was designated one of two Vermont “food deserts,” meaning its residents lacked access to fresh, affordable food. It was a gentle call to arms for the passionate farmers, chefs and activists of this city on the shores of Lake Memphremagog. Brown Dog Bistro 150 Main St., Newport, VT 802-334-1791 website A…
Soul Food Meets Stellar Beer at Woodstock’s Worthy Kitchen
For a town that teemas with tourists by day, Woodstock can seem a little deserted after dark, save for a few sedate restaurants. That could explain why Worthy Kitchen created a splash when it opened last summer. Inside this industrial-chic spot on the edge of town, Motown blares as neighbors mob the bar, grab their…
Stowe’s Flannel and the Roost Modernize Mountainside Dining
Some resorts haven’t changed their après-ski dining since Betty Grable sipped hot chocolate with her catch in 1953’s How to Marry a Millionaire. But with last year’s major renovation, Topnotch Resort has pulled mountainside dining into the 21st century. Flannel 4000 Mountain Rd., Stowe, VT 802-253-8585 website Flannel, the resort’s more upscale restaurant, trades in…
Choose Your Own Dining Adventure at Choices Restaurant and Rotisserie in Killington
Walk into Choices Restaurant, and there’s dinner: golden-brown chickens spin temptingly in a rotisserie oven right by the front door. Yep, you’ve decided — roasted chicken it will be. Until the giant dinner menu arrives, and Choices’ moniker suddenly makes sense. The all-purpose Killington eatery offers a dozen seafood dishes, 20 meats, 10 pastas, seven…
Cornerstone Pub & Kitchen Brings Barre Together
The city of Barre has had its ups and downs, and it was certainly down during Keith Paxman and Rich McSheffrey’s youth there. At the time, the bustling burg that built the Barre Opera House and Hope Cemetery had an ominous nickname: “scary Barre.” Cornerstone Pub & Kitchen 47 N. Main St., Barre, VT 802-476-2121…
Cake and Ice Cream Hit the Sweet Spot in Waitsfield
In 2008, food critic Mark Bittman ordered the coconut cake at Waitsfield’s Green Cup Café and described it as “stunning, unbelievable” in the New York Times. Three years later, though, the place was gone, claimed by the floodwaters of Tropical Storm Irene. The Sweet Spot 40 Bridge St., Waitsfield, VT 802-496-9199 website You could say…
At Vergennes Laundry, Find Flaky French Pastries in a Former Laundromat
Handmade nougat and canelés fill the display case. The wood-fired oven turns out crusty baguettes. Even the small Vermont city that hosts this unique bakery-café has a Gallic name. The Vergennes Laundry is already so French, there’s no need to shout it from the rooftops. Vergennes Laundry by CK 247 Main St., Vergennes, VT 802-870-7157…
