In February, Middlebury lost the two-year-old Farmers Diner, which closed due to sluggish trade, according to owner Tod Murphy. “We couldn’t get enough traction in getting people to understand the value of paying $1 more for breakfast with eggs sourced from down the road,” he said at the time. Apparently they couldn’t keep their traction in Quechee, either: The Farmers Diner there closed last week. Murphy was unavailable to comment.

This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 5, 2011.

Corin Hirsch was a Seven Days food writer 2011 through 2016. She was also a dining critic and drinks columnist at Newsday from 2017 to 2022, and contributes to The Guardian, Wine Enthusiast and other publications. She’s spoken often on colonial era drinking and is the author of Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New England, published by History Press in 2014.