Down in the Upper Valley, the restaurant scene is a little sleepier than up near Burlington, and any new opening is broadly noted. So when Pi Brick Oven Pizzeria opened in Woodstock a few weeks ago, it caused a few ripples in the UV pond. It was also a brave move in a town where the streets tends to be ghostly by 6:30 p.m., and on a block where, a few steps away, chef Caleb Barber turns out sublime pizza at osteria pane e salute.

It can be hard to get a seat at pane e salute, though, unless you reserve in advance. Not so at Pi, at least thus far; during a recent weekday evening, the restaurant was hushed inside — not exactly because it was empty but because the tables are pushed to the edges of a spacious interior whose center is curiously empty, almost like a dance floor or event space in waiting. 

The rest of the plush vibe is sort of a Vermont-Tuscany mashup: terracotta-colored walls, comfy banquettes, low pendant lamps, and stone arches across the back wall. A massive farm table fills one front window.

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.