A pair of chefs opened Scrag & Roe in the heart of Waitsfield, near the covered bridge, on December 18. Co-owners Nathan Davis and Caleb Pearce named their restaurant in honor of nearby Scrag Mountain and fish roe. Its menu features globally inspired, mostly small and shareable plates, such as a bright and elegant scallop crudo with grapefruit, garnished with pistachios and salmon roe.
Scrag & Roe took over the space at 40 Bridge Street most recently occupied by the Great Eddy, which closed in late August after one summer season.
Davis, 42, and Pearce, 33, met when they overlapped briefly while working for the Waitsfield-based Mad Taco restaurant group. Davis is a Middlebury native who most recently worked at La Boca Wood Fired Pizzeria in Burlington. Pearce, who hails from the Washington, D.C., area, was the sous chef at Peasant, which operated in the 40 Bridge Street spot from 2012 to early 2023.
Scrag and Roe’s menu shows the influence of the chefs’ varied résumés and the six years that Davis spent working in Shenzhen, China, and traveling throughout Asia. Dishes range from Middle Eastern-style lamb kofta with yogurt and mint oil to chilled, sliced beef or pork with cucumber, leeks and Sichuan chile oil.
“Sichuan food is my favorite to cook,” Davis said. An avid snowboarder, he noted that the Mad River Valley “is where my heart is” and that good friends recently bought Waitsfield’s Village Grocery and deli.
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This article appears in Jan 24-30, 2024.
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