Apr 18-24, 2012
Vermonters Can’t Get Enough Local Meat — and That’s good News for Beef Farmers; Middlebury Students’ Bug Bars; Joan Rivers (Still) Rips It; A Fresh Tart in the Kitchen
Cover Story
Steak Holders
Vermonters can’t get enough local meat — and that’s good news for beef farmers
Menus Posted: Blue Paddle Bistro and Tourterelle
We’ll travel far for delicious seafood. Fortunately, during Restaurant Week, we need only to head to the islands — the Champlain Islands, that is — or down to New Haven to do so. The $35 dinner menu at South Hero’s Blue Paddle Bistro is dense with delicious seafood, from a sushi-grade tuna tartare with pickled ginger,…
Menus Posted: Junior’s Italian & L’Amante
Craving Italian? During Vermont Restaurant Week, you’ll have plenty of choices, including two very different spots in the Burlington area. The $25, three-course menu at Junior’s Italian in Colchester will transport you to the tip of the boot via New York. A garden salad and freshly baked, cheesy focaccia starts the meal. It’s followed by…
Menus Posted: Big Picture Theater & Café and Hourglass at Stowe Mountain Lodge
It looks like it might rain all week. For the ski towns and those in the Mad River Valley, it’s part and parcel to mud season. Luckily, a smattering of eateries along the Route 100 corridor are offering up hearty fare for the drizzly start to Restaurant Week. At Hourglass at Stowe Mountain Lodge — just…
Menus Posted: Bluebird Tavern & Kismet
There’s no lack of creativity on this year’s Restaurant Week menus. At two popular spots, that outside-the-box thinking extends burgers. Burlington’s Bluebird Tavern’s goat burger got its 15 minutes in this week’s issue of Seven Days. But that’s far from the only reason to try the $35, three-course menu. Seafood options are also notable, including…
House Speaker Agrees to Move Marijuana Decrim Bill …Next Year
Happy 4/20, dudes! Just in time for the pot smokers’ high holiday comes this toke-tastic news from the statehouse in Montpelier. A bill to decriminalize possession of less than an ounce of marijuana — which was blocked this year by House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Buzzkill) — will finally get a hearing. Next year. Smith blocked…
Menus Posted: La Villa Bistro & Pizzeria and Starry Night Café
It can be fun to eat and compare the same dish, two different ways. Since local chefs follow the seasons so closely, we often get the chance to do just that. But how often do you see two delectable but very different takes on that classic Italian sauce, ragú? At Shelburne’s La Villa Vistro &…
Movies You Missed 35: Coonskin, aka Street Fight
This week in movies you missed: a film about race in America from the great animator Ralph Bakshi that, according to the warning label on an early VHS release, “offends everybody.” What You Missed We open with a live-action sequence: In a rural prison, Randy (Philip Michael Thomas) and Pappy (Scatman Crothers) wait for Randy’s…
Menus Posted: Union Jack’s & Connie’s Kitchen
Whether you’re in Burlington or Hardwick, we could all use a great fresh-baked cookie every now and then. Restaurant Week is the best time to do so at Union Jack’s or Connie’s Kitchen. At Union Jack’s in Burlington, the tastes of the British empire stretch beyond the eatery’s not-to-be-missed fish and chips. Specially for the…
Rep. Olsen Takes Merger Fight to Citizens United Debate
Ever the clever amender, Rep. Oliver Olsen (R-Jamaica) on Thursday took his fight against a proposed utility merger to — of all things — a resolution condemning the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. What would Olsen’s amendment do? It would prevent U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies from contributing to domestic political campaigns or “any fund…
Menu Posted: Piecasso Pizzeria & Lounge and Positive Pie 2
They both belong to the Rovetto family and both Piecasso Pizzeria & Lounge in Stowe and Positive Pie 2 in Montpelier are offering way more than pizza this Restaurant Week. Piecasso, located right on the Mountain Road, gives the choice of a personal pizza among its entrées. However, locally inspired dishes such as a vegetable…
Healthy Living Responds to Encroaching Trader Joe’s
Seven Days reported earlier this week that Healthy Living Market and Café’s landlord, Malone Properties, is in talks with Trader Joe’s to open a branch of the California-based chain right next door to the South Burlington store. At the time, we were unable to reach Healthy Living owner, Katy Lesser, for comment. This morning she…
Menus Posted: Daily Planet and The Wooden Spoon Bistro
Our hometown chefs are doing us proud during Restaurant Week, rolling out some creative menus that capitalize on the best the season has to offer. We’ll have a hard time choosing between these two — so we may have to eat at both! At The Daily Planet in downtown Burlington, the hearty $25 dinner menu…
At Press Conference, Shumlin Clarifies Position on Utility Merger — Kind Of
One of the key questions in the debate over Gaz Metro’s proposed acquisition of Central Vermont Public Service is this: Is it ever okay for the legislature to stick its nose into a regulatory process governed by the independent Public Service Board? As we reported in this week’s Seven Days, Gov. Peter Shumlin’s answer last…
Sanders and Welch Raising Big Bucks for Reelection, Despite Lack of Strong Opponents
One is facing a longshot challenger. The other is facing none at all. But U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) are raising serious cash for their 2012 reelection campaigns nonetheless. The reason? Both say that Citizens United changed the game, leaving them vulnerable to attacks from monied interests who would…
Menus Posted For Lunch: August First and City Market
Mmm, lunch. While Restaurant Week has us thinking about languorous dinners, we’ll still be spicing up the workday with delicious midday morsels. Luckily for us, a handful of eateries are offering lunch deals, including some delectable sandwiches. At August First Bakery, fresh loaves emerge hot and crusty every morning — as do a new bakery…
Menus Posted: Black Sheep Bistro and Bobcat Café and Brewery
Chef Michel Mahe has three restaurants, all serving $25 prix-fixe menus for Vermont Restaurant Week. We’ve already written about the Bearded Frog in Shelburne, but today it added a vegan menu item: Rosemary-balsamic-marinated fried tofu. Further south, in Vergennes, the Black Sheep Bistro is more focused on meat and fish dishes. Start the meal with…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again Police had no trouble catching Chester Michael Schaffer, 30, who they suspected of robbing a convenience store in Hampton, Va. “He was located immediately,” police Cpl. Mary E. Shackelford said, trying to make his getaway on a moped. (Norfolk’s WVEC-TV) Ambush of the Week Part of a cell tower disguised as a…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You had to take the test before you got a chance to study more than a couple of the lessons. Does that seem fair? Hell, no. That’s the bad news. The good news is that this test was merely a rehearsal for a more important and inclusive exam, which is still…
Letters to the Editor
Obama Trauma The Obam-Applause-O-Meter [Fair Game, April 4] is a perfect model to show the idiocy of Obama supporters. Under Obama we now have 1.9 million fewer jobs in America, our economy has continued its plummet, gas prices are at their highest ever, and he has not been able to bring his “change” to the…
![Our Body: The Universe Within [264]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/episode264.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
Our Body: The Universe Within [264]
WARNING: Contains graphic images 4/13/12: A new exhibit, “Our Body: The Universe Within,” opened this weekend in the brand-new Lakeside Pavilion at ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center in Burlington. Actual human bodies and organs are on display after undergoing a polymer impregnation preservation process, revealing the mysterious inner workings of our bodies to the…
Menus Posted: Prohibition Pig & The Reservoir
After last summer’s upheaval, we’re always looking for a way to help revitalize Waterbury. A sign of good things brewing — several of the town’s restaurants are serving delicious Vermont Restaurant Week meals, including a pair of popular pubs. Brand-new Prohibition Pig has two menus — one for $15, another for $25. Both feature Southern-style…
Air Force Releases Draft Environmental Report on F-35 “Beddown” In Burlington
Feeling the need for speed? Cue Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” and roll the testosterone-releasing Top Gun video montage. The U.S. Air Force has just released the results of its draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for its proposed “beddown” of F-35A Lightning II fighter jets at Burlington International Airport sometime in the next five years. The Air Force’s executive summary…
Menus Posted: ¡Duino! Duende and Three Penny Taproom
Some eaters like to savor a familiar dish each time they visit a restaurant, while others crave constant change. For those with a sense of adventure — or even just culinary ADD — ¡Duino! Duende and Three Penny Taproom will answer the call during Restaurant Week. Vermont chefs building their menu around seasonal ingredients is…
Burlington’s Flynn Center Announces New Artistic Director
Steve MacQueen is headed north. Way north. The director since 2007 of the 7 Days of Opening Nights Performing Arts Festival in Tallahassee, Fla., has been selected as the new artistic director of the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington. MacQueen follows the 15-year tenure of Arnie Malina, who retired this spring. Stylistically,…
