Cover Story
7 Nights: The ‘Seven Days’ Guide to Vermont Restaurants and Bars (2016-17)
What does it mean to eat in Vermont today? To many diners, it means demanding local, seasonal, responsibly raised food. Others crave meals with a…
Creative Cocktails Go Down Easy at White River Junction’s Elixir
From the 1840s to the 1960s, White River Junction thrived as a rail town. But when those industrial glory days faded, residents were forced to reinvent the place — and they got creative. Home to two professional theater companies, a cartoon school, the new River Roost Brewery and countless artists, the Junction is surprisingly hip…
Pittsfield’s General Store Serves Up Intimate Dinner Parties in its Backroom
Old-fashioned general stores still thrive in Vermont’s small towns, where populations often number in the hundreds and main drags stretch only a single block. By necessity, these eclectic enterprises stock everything from eggs and milk to lotto tickets and live bait. So it may come as a shock that one of Vermont’s most exciting dining…
A Greasy Spoon Goes Gourmet at Middlebury’s Diner
Since the 1930s, the little yellow building next to Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater has gone by many names: the Val-Do-Mar, the Park Diner and Steve’s Park Diner. In 2014, it became known simply as the Diner. Under new owners Caetlin Harwood and Carl Roesch, the greasy spoon is decidedly less greasy — and more gourmet.…
An Isan Native Cooks Up Exotic Thai Food at Randolph’s Saap
Randolph is a long way from Isan, a once-impoverished and not particularly touristy part of Thailand that borders Laos and Cambodia. Dishes from that region are often spicy and pungent. Because wood for cooking is scarce there, raw and pickled items abound. Saap 50 Randolph Ave., Randolph, VT 802-565-8292 website The married co-owners of Saap…
Dining at Brattleboro’s Award-Winning Duo Is a Locavore Delight
Stephanie Bonin and Keith Arnold might have been referencing their own partnership when they opened a restaurant in Denver and called it Duo. Nine years later, the couple made it a perfect pair when they moved with their kids to southern Vermont and opened a second location in funky, food-loving Brattleboro. Duo Restaurant 136 Main…
Down Home Kitchen’s Southern Soul Food Charms Montpelier
At Down Home Kitchen, the inspiration is unmistakably southern, a cuisine central Vermonters have been craving since Plainfield’s River Run closed its doors. The cooks here turn out flavorful soul food and perfect biscuits, and owner Mary Alice Proffitt greets guests warmly at the door. Down Home Kitchen 100 Main St., Montpelier, VT 802-225-6665 website…
Waterbury Brewpub Prohibition Pig Invites Diners to ‘Meat Here’
Locals were devastated when Tropical Storm Irene submerged much of Waterbury’s downtown in August 2011. The area took years to recover — local state offices didn’t reopen until December 2015 — and many businesses never rebuilt. One of the more crushing casualties was the Alchemist brewpub on Main Street. Prohibition Pig 23 S. Main St., Waterbury,…
Stowe’s Edson Hill Serves Elegant Meals at the Manor
When arriving after dark at Stowe’s historic Edson Hill inn, it’s easy to let your imagination run wild. As you follow curving, well-lit paths to…
Craft Beer Meets Community at St. Johnsbury’s Kingdom Taproom
There’s more to St. Johnsbury than meets the eye. The town has had its challenges — evidenced by some empty storefronts — yet a quirky community vibrancy prevails. You’ll find it at the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium, home to the world’s largest collection of taxidermy hummingbirds, and at Gatto Nero Press, a printmaking studio and coffee…
Consider the Cream Puff at Evelyne’s on Center in St. Albans
Consider the cream puff: A cloud of just-sweetened, tongue-tickling froth tucked into a petite pastry shell, the confection is just big enough to supply a few sublime bites. Depending on the season, Evelyn Martin fills hers with fruited cream or paints their lids with maple glaze. Evelyne’s on Center 15 Center St., St. Albans, VT…
Food Is Art at Shelburne’s Rustic Roots
Human nature is such that what is rare tends to be tantalizing. Rustic Roots in Shelburne works that psychology to its advantage. Although the intimate restaurant serves breakfast and lunch Wednesday through Sunday, it limits dinner to a brief window on Friday and Saturday evenings, between 6 and 7:30 p.m. Rustic Roots 195 Falls Rd.,…
In Burlington, Butch + Babe’s Serves Something for Everyone
When Butch + Babe’s opened in Burlington in January 2015, the concept was ambitious. Named for owner Kortnee Bush’s grandparents, Rich “Butch” and Marlene “Babe” Lelko, the restaurant strove to straddle the line between beer-forward neighborhood pub and multicultural eatery. Its food would reflect Bush’s midwestern heritage, her chef’s Thai roots and the Old North…
Find Mediterranean Tastes and Treasures at Manchester Center’s Depot62
At first glance, Depot62 in Manchester Center looks like an eclectic home-furnishings store. Marrying funky antiques with sleek modern designs, its contents range from a handful of tables and mismatched chairs to a lamp constructed from old baseballs. On one wall hangs a shiny objet d’art made from flattened industrial-size metal food cans. On another,…
