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View ProfilesPublished May 2, 2023 at 1:27 p.m. | Updated May 3, 2023 at 10:23 a.m.
In June 2021, my husband and I sandwiched a hike up Paine Mountain in Northfield between morning and afternoon stops on the same downtown block in the town below.
Heading to the mountain, we picked up thick, chewy chocolate chip cookies and coffee made with freshly roasted beans from Carrier Roasting at 17 East Street. On the way home, we sat outside on stools in the wooden keg-ringed seating area in front of Good Measure Brewing's tasting room, located one door down from Carrier but at the same address. The two storefronts were painted with "COFFEE" and "BEER" signs in similar white capital letters, hinting at a connection.
We quenched our thirst with glasses of the brewery's signature Social Club New England pale ale and distinctively funky, fruity Trim Tab dark American wild ale. Soft pretzels from the small menu of bar snacks took the edge off our hunger.
A couple of weekends ago, we planned a return trip to Northfield to hike and revisit the block to check out the third in what is now a trio of signs. The newcomer, painted over the door of the not-quite-year-old Good Measure Pub at 21 East Street, promises "FOOD."
Pouring rain kept us off the mountain, but it did not deter us from making the 50-minute Sunday afternoon drive to the pub. We were far from the only people seeking a convivial, cozy spot on "a good day for ducks," as I heard one patron describe it.
An opening in the wall between the "BEER" and "FOOD" venues connects the brewery's original small tasting room with the pub. While each retains its own vibe, they offer the same wide-ranging menu, with everything from nachos and wings to hefty hot sandwiches and burgers — plus, of course, the brewery's beer.
The common denominator of 17 and 21 East Street is Scott Kerner, co-owner of Carrier Roasting with Ross Evans and Matt Borg and of Good Measure with its head brewer, Andrew Leichthammer. Kerner's wife (who is Evans' sister) grew up in Northfield, and the couple settled there in 2017, a year after Kerner and Leichthammer opened Good Measure with a small tasting room. Carrier Roasting's café followed in 2019.
The café recently reopened after a renovation prompted by the relocation of Carrier's roasting and shipping operation to a different Northfield location. It now has more seating and a sleek new interior where patrons can enjoy coffee drinks and baked goods from entrepreneurs such as West Danville's Belladore Gluten-Free Bakery and Woodbury's Local Donut. Sliding doors open into the Good Measure tasting room, so all three spaces are physically connected.
Kerner, 47, previously co-owned Three Penny Taproom in Montpelier, Mule Bar in Winooski and the Mad Taco, which was founded in Waitsfield. Before the pandemic, Kerner and Leichthammer had discussed taking over the 21 East Street space from Cornerstone Burger, which had operated there since 2016.
When Kerner sold his stake in Three Penny in 2021, he recalled, it was the first time in 13 years that he hadn't owned a restaurant, and he realized he missed that. "This is what I do. This is what I know," he said.
Buying the restaurant building next door to the brewery and coffee shop felt right. "I live here. I'm gonna raise my kids here. I'm invested in Northfield," Kerner said.
In the pub on our Sunday afternoon visit, a constant flow of customers circulated among the high-top tables, the bar and a few regular tables in the back of the restaurant. Hockey, football and motocross played on the three bar TVs; country music crooned over the speakers.
Among the diners were students from nearby Norwich University, locals meeting friends and a family with young children. They sipped house brews and dug into elaborately sculpted trays of nachos and stacked burgers and fried chicken sandwiches on glossy, dark bronze buns, served with slender fries piled like golden pickup sticks.
Two couples from Northfield caught up over drinks, wings and nachos. The latter, Donna Norris joked, are "why we come back." Her husband, Brian, put in his vote for the hot dogs and noted that he appreciates the locally brewed beer. Their friend Jeff Thurston registered his sole quibble: "I wish they'd beef up their French fries," but Donna protested that she loved them thin.
The four friends said the brewpub's food and ambience bring a lot to downtown Northfield. "It's a great place for the community," Kathy Thurston said.
"It's a great little eatery," Donna agreed.
Kerner said he felt comfortable taking on the new restaurant venture at a tough time for the industry because of his strong team, including executive chef Todd Cassell. The two have worked together since the early days of Three Penny Taproom and Mad Taco. Their goal at the new pub, Kerner said, was to make "food that everybody would like."
Affordability is also top of mind, he said. Even though the burger features Vermont beef and a locally baked La Panciata bun, the no-frills version with fries costs $9. If you go for a similarly "plain Jane" hot dog and fries ($6), you can even squeeze in a pint of Good Measure's Riser American cream ale ($4) for a total of $10, Kerner pointed out.
The hot dogs, he promised, are extra special, from a Las Vegas-based, chef-founded company called Snap-O-Razzo that makes maple wood-smoked linked dogs the old-school way. "I love hot dogs," Kerner said.
I regret not ordering one of those dogs, but I don't regret what we did order. We had a hard time choosing, tempted by the pork schnitzel sandwich with mushrooms and gravy ($16); the fried fish tacos with pickled jalapeño and lemon mayo ($10 for two); and the Rhodey hot dog ($8) topped with meat sauce, shaved onions, tangy mustard and celery salt. (If I'd known how special the hot dogs were, I would have gone for that last one.)
In the end, we settled on the Sweet Tom smash burger ($15), topped with housemade sweet tomato jam, Swiss cheese, red onion and pickled jalapeño; and the Nashville Hot chicken sandwich ($16), layered with caraway slaw, garlic pickles, Fresno hot sauce and hot honey Dijon.
The latter definitely fell on the spicy side, though it wasn't as hot as those in Nashville, my husband observed, where "They're so hot, it's a dare." Both burger and sandwich came with the excellently crisp, well-browned fries. (Sorry, Jeff, but I agree with Donna.)
We also shared the fried local oyster mushrooms ($11), which I strongly recommend. The savory, meaty (but not actually meaty), crisp-coated fungi come scattered with herbs and Parmesan. Kerner said he adds them to sandwiches and burgers, and I can see how they would take everything up a notch.
If you crave something green, as we did, the harvest beet salad ($15) with beets, apples and goat cheese, is plenty big enough for two.
Naturally, we paired our meal with beer. My husband repeated his 2021 order of Social Club ($6 for 16 ounces) and had a pint of Sine Wave, a New Zealand pale ale ($7). I created a tasting flight of three four-ounce pours (each $3): Barn Coat, a very light, slightly sweet American farmhouse ale; the fruity, tart and yeasty Such a Delight sour ale created by assistant brewer Clara Walsh; and Proper, a warm, toasty American brown ale that drank like a hug from an old friend.
Kerner said Good Measure has always been about making beers in approachable styles with lower alcohol levels and high flavor — "balanced beer that doesn't overwhelm the palate," in his words. The brewery's flagship brown ale, cream ale and extra special bitter, he said, "are not the sexiest styles, but if you do them right, they last the test of time."
A pair of Norwich University student-athletes sitting near my husband and me said they sometimes drink beer at the pub, but that Sunday was a margarita day for a belated birthday celebration.
Josh Skelley, a senior from Buffalo, N.Y., always gets the Cubano sandwich ($16): "It's a party in your mouth," he said. His friend Garrett Field, a junior from Florida, said he usually indulges in the GMPB burger topped with peanut butter, bacon and pickles ($15), which he described as "the best thing ever." But today he wanted a double patty, which would have added $4, so he saved a couple of dollars by settling on the Think Fast ($17), with two patties, American cheese, pickles, onions and special sauce.
Cost is a factor for them, Skelley and Field said, but on that score they find Good Measure competitive with the closest chain restaurant, which is 20 minutes away.
"It's much better food, and it's also got good vibes," Field said. "I'd much rather go here."
The original print version of this article was headlined "Measure of Success | Good Measure Brewing's new pub serves convivial eats in Northfield"
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