Mar 28 – Apr 3, 2012
An Alternative Presidential Itinerary in the Bluest State; Peter Galbraith Shake Up the VT Senate; Mike Daisey Talks Apple Agony; Jarvis Resurrects Monty Cliff; Texas-Style Ribs in Rutland
Cover Story
Heady-Topper Wins Inaugural Vermont Brew Bracket
The first Vermont Brew Bracket has come to a close. And the winner is… The Alchemist’s Heady-Topper! The Waterbury brew defeated another fine double India pale ale, the Double Sunshine IPA from Lawson’s Finest Liquids, in the final round by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent. In the final round, 1151 people cast…
Menu Posted: Salt
Want a snack? How about duck-sausage steamed bun with apricot-cardamom sauce, Maine mussels in herbed oil with white-beer mustard or local bean and veggie terrine with pickled shallots? All of the above share space on the snack plate, one of the appetizers on Salt’s three-course $35 menu. The Montpelier restaurant’s options also include ultra-seasonal dishes…
Mike Daisey Returns to the Stage in Burlington
An anecdote in “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” the monologue about Apple by Mike Daisey, took on a new resonance on Saturday night. It’s the part in which Daisey is in China, planning out his visit to a Foxconn factory in Shenzhen where electronics are built for Apple and other electronics companies.…
14 Questions for Miro Weinberger Before He’s Sworn in as Burlington’s Next Mayor
Tonight at Nectar’s is “Metal Monday,” where for $5 you can hear the skull-splitting sounds of Boatman’s Lament, Skrogg and Brave the Vertigo. The opening act? On the big screen, Miro Weinberger’s inauguration as Burlington’s 38th mayor. Weinberger will be sworn in as the Queen City’s new boss — the first Democrat to occupy the…
Sweet Start Smackdown
Sorry, this event is sold out! Thursday, April 26 (Restaurant Week Eve!), 5:30-8:30 p.m. Higher Ground Ballroom, 1214 Williston Road, S. Burlington, 802-652-0777. Tickets: $8 advance, $10 day of. Proceeds benefit Vermont Foodbank. Sorry, this event is sold out! Dessert comes first at this Restaurant Week-eve kick-off where 10 pastry chefs from every corner of…
Booze ‘n’ Brews: Meet the Beer Cocktail
Friday, May 4, 6-8 p.m. Red Square, 136 Church St., Burlington, no cover. Beer cocktails are the hottest bar trend you might never have heard of. If you’ve never sipped a Michelada — or even a Black Velvet— then join Otter Creek head brewer Mike Gerhart and Red Square mixologists as they blend Wolavers ales…
Menu Posted: Barkeaters Restaurant
Back for a second year, Barkeaters Restaurant in Shelburne is offering a great value with its $25 menu. Start with sautéed mussels or the beet and goat cheese salad at right. Entrées include upscale options such as grilled quail and pasta with rock shrimp and lobster. There’s a bistro favorite steak frites, too. But save…
A Food Salon: Unlocking the Food Chain
Monday, April 30, 5:30-7 p.m.New Moon Café, Burlington$5 suggested donation benefits Vermont Foodbank Last year, acclaimed food writer Barry Estabrook’s book Tomatoland ignited a national dialogue on industrial agriculture. In her books and nationally-syndicated food column, food writer Marialisa Calta has explored the food we bring home to our families. Together, they’ll discuss the surprising,…
Foodie Flick: Eat Drink Man Woman
One night only: Sunday, April 29, Palace 9 Cinemas, South Burlington. Cocktail hour with dumpling tasting: 4:30 p.m. Movie screening: 5:30 p.m. $7. In Ang Lee’s 1994 Taiwanese classic Eat Drink Man Woman, a widowed top chef’s life revolves around the opulent Sunday dinners for his three adult daughters. The catch — he’s lost his…
Menus Posted: The Village Cup & Caroline’s Fine Dining
Jericho has two great Restaurant Week options, both in the same building. VTRW veteran Caroline’s Fine Dining is joined this year by its adjacent bakery and cafe, the Village Cup. Don’t expect fare like Mom used to make. Dishes on the Village Cup’s $25 menu include tea-smoked salmon, mahi mahi in blood-orange-beurre-blanc and spring ratatouille…
Obama Ba-Rocks Vermont (VIDEO)
President Barack Obama didn’t milk a dairy cow or take a dip in the Connecticut River hot springs on his swing through Vermont on Friday. But he did give thousands of screaming fans at a Burlington fundraising rally a show well worth the $44 price of admission. On his first trip to Vermont as president,…
Last Call for the Vermont Brew Bracket: Double Sunshine IPA vs. Heady Topper
It’s time for last call in the Vermont Brew Bracket. The Final Pour was largely free of drama, as both winners jumped out to big early leads and held on the entire time. In yet another upset for the tiny Mad River Valley brewery, Lawson’s Finest Liquids and its Double Sunshine IPA defeated Long Trail…
Movies You Missed 32: Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel
This week in movies you missed: Celebrate the start of drive-in season (the Sunset is open!) with a documentary about the king of good old bad B-movies. What You Missed He gave Jack Nicholson his first screen roles. He gave Ron Howard his first directing gig. He helped Joe Dante, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron and…
Menu Posted: Farah’s Place
From Paris to Tehran, Vermont Restaurant Week takes you around the world in 8 days. We’re excited to have three Persian menus, all from Farah’s Place in Burlington, for $15, $25 and $35 per couple. That’s right, even the $15 deal feeds two people with three courses including salad, the Persian rice dish tahchin and…
Menu Posted: Leunig’s Bistro
Ever wanted to have one of the prix-fixe steak frites dinners that exist at every great little bistro in Paris, but without leaving Burlington? During Restaurant Week, Leunig’s allows you to do just that, for $35. If beef steak isn’t your thing, perhaps you’d prefer one made out of cauliflower. There’s beef Wellington, too. Appetizers…
Shepard’s Pie Restaurant
5817 Woodstock Rd., Quechee, 802-281-4585 map & directions | website This family-owned eatery specializes in comfort food, from eggs and corned-beef hash at breakfast to sandwiches, burgers, fish ‘n’ chips and chicken pot pie at lunch and dinner. Sumptuous desserts and a salad bar round out the menu. More information Reader reviews on 7 Nights…
Menu Posted: Charlie’s Rotisserie & Grill
Vermont Restaurant Week isn’t just about formal nights on the town. The menu at Charlie’s Rotisserie & Grill proves that Restaurant Week can also mean awesome deals at casual favorites. The South Burlington spot, better known as Chicken Charlie’s, is offering two menus, a $10 lunch deal and a three-course $15 dinner. At dinner, start…
Shumlin Running For Democratic Governors Association Chairman — And Maybe For Reelection?
While Gov. Peter Shumlin hasn’t yet announced whether he’s running for reelection, he apparently has his eye on a D.C. post that would require him to win a second term as governor. Shumlin told Politico on Wednesday he is seeking to succeed Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, the Washington-based…
Tax Storm Still Brewing for Vermont Tech Businesses
Vermont’s tech “geekosystem,” as Union Street Media founder and president Ted Adler termed it today, are still rallying to knock down a controversial tax on cloud computing. I wrote about the debate — which pits the tax department against the state’s up-and-coming software and technology industry — for Seven Days in mid-February. It’s a complicated…
Team Kale Hits A Speed Bump
“Eat More Kale” t-shirt artist Bo-Muller Moore is having a roller coaster of a week. On Sunday night, he was thrilled to discover that the Kickstarter campaign to raise money to fund a documentary film about his legal tangle with fast-food giant Chick-fil-A had raised roughly $86,000, exceeding the original goal by $11,000. Two days…
The Vermont Brew Bracket: Introducing the Final Pour
After an ugly third round, the Final Pour is set in the Vermont Brew Bracket. In the marquee matchup, unstoppable force Woodchuck Amber Cider faced off against immovable object the Alchemist Heady Topper, and the double IPA squeaked out a late win in what can only be described as a bar fight. Once again, Woodchuck…
Menu Posted: Two Brothers Tavern
Where and when can you get shepherd’s pie, beef stroganoff and chocolate porter cake, all made from local ingredients for $25 or less? That would be Two Brothers Tavern during Vermont Restaurant Week. Middlebury’s bastion of elevated pub food has a $15 menu and a bill of fare for $25, both available for lunch or…
WTF: What’s the story behind the sculptures at the Costello Courthouse?
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: We just had to ask…
Pulling the Plug: St. Mike’s Goes Offline for Tech Fast
Tracking down students and faculty “fasting” from technology this week at Saint Michael’s College is easier said than done. Email? Nope. Cellphones? They’re out, too. In a neo-Luddite’s take on Lent, the school is encouraging students, faculty and staff to unplug for a few days. This week’s “Disconnect to Reconnect” event kicked off Monday night…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again After Michele Grasso, 27, was convicted of drug dealing in 2008, he disappeared and eluded Italian authorities until this February, when he posted photos on his Facebook page of himself at London’s Madame Tussaud’s wax museum posing with a model of Barack Obama and working as a waiter. Italian police contacted British…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): A few months after America invaded Iraq in 2003, soldier Brian Wheeler wrote the following to help us imagine what it was like over there: “Go to the worst crime-infested place you can find. Go heavily armed, wearing a flak jacket and a Kevlar helmet. Set up shop in a vacant…
Crumbs
Side Dishes: Bangkok Bistro owners open new café; Blue Donkey plans upscale spinoff
Letters to the Editor
John and Yoko, Right? Why does the cover of last week’s issue bother me so much? Is it the sense of déjà vu? Possibly. I immediately turn inside to check photo credits. Nice photo, Matthew Thorsen, as per usual. Then I see the cover is “designed” by Diane Sullivan. OK, cute takeoff. I get it.…
Menu Posted: Pulcinella’s
The latest menu is from an eatery new to Vermont Restaurant Week. Pulcinella’s is coming out of the gate with two strong menus — one for lunch and one for dinner. The authentic Italian spot is serving up three courses for $15 at lunch, including soup, one of nine delectable panini and housemade sorbet. The…
