Slow Food Vermont‘s membership drive just ended with tiny Vermont among the top four chapters in Slow Food USA to attract the most new members. But that’s not the organization’s only big news. Local restaurants are going slow with a new designation and a series of dinners.

Last year, just before the biennial international food conference Terra Madre, in Turin, Italy, Slow Food Vermont announced it would introduce the “Snail of Approval” to award to Vermont restaurants. The first two have finally been chosen.

The symbol at right is used worldwide to denote restaurants that adhere to Slow Food’s ethic of “quality, authenticity and sustainability.” The first two restaurants in Vermont to gain the honor are Mary’s Restaurant at The Inn at Baldwin Creek and Hen of the Wood—Waterbury.

According to Mara Welton, Slow Food Vermont leader and Slow Food USA regional governor for New England, the restaurants were selected using an extremely exacting process. “That’s the point,” says Welton. “We’re not just handing these out willy-nilly. We spent an enormous amount of time vetting.”

Got something to say?

Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!

AAN award-winning food writer Alice Levitt is a fan of the exotic, the excellent and automats. She wrote for Seven Days 2007-2015.

One reply on “Slow Food Vermont Awards its First ‘Snails of Approval’”

Comments are closed.