Yes, this is a crappy iPhone photo, but see the beer in that glass? That's Hill Farmstead Amarillo single-hop ale. And the nigiri sushi in back? Those are curls of nairagi — or striped marlin  — and yellowtail, topped by dollops of roe.

Sushi as a bar snack is a brilliant stroke, and happily it's served within 10 minutes of my house — at Blackback Pub & Fly Shop, Rick Binet's subterranean pub on Waterbury's Main Street.

A ripple of concern passed through fans of Stebu Sushi when they saw that the tiny eatery was closed early this summer. Over the past year and a half, chef Stephen Shaefer had built up a fervent following for his imaginative rolls composed of raw fish shipped weekly from Hawaii — mahi-mahi, pumpkin swordfish, kaku (open-water barracuda) and barramundi, among others. Though one could order all of the standard bearers here — salmon, eel, avocado, carrot, etc. — what made Shaefer's sushi doubly creative were the unusual accouterments he wielded, morsels such as mango, shiitake mushrooms and pickled vegetable, or fukujin zuke.

30 Route 15, Jericho, 802-899-1730

There aren't many places to get brunch after 2 p.m. There are even fewer once you eliminate diners that serve breakfast all day, every day. Driving through Jericho this weekend, I hit the motherlode for late-rising, brunch-craving folks like myself. Especially if those brunch-craving folks want a hearty baked good at the end of the meal.

For a first-timer, the brunch procedure at the Village Cup is a little confusing. There's table service at dinner, so I stood around inordinately long before realizing I was supposed to order at the counter. A server brought the food to my table when it was ready.

The single-page menu, which changes each weekend, offers plenty of tempting choices. The French toast stuffed with blueberry-and-honey cream cheese, and the Benedict with smoked salmon, lobster mushrooms, and kale sounded good, but I chose the old-timey "eggs in a frame."

This version, topped with tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella was a far cry from the Wonderbread recipe I've seen in 1950s cookbooks. Thick slabs of baguette held seemingly cantilevered eggs in a hollowed-out nest. 

While the dish was visually stunning, not to mention an impressive feat of engineering, it also necessitated I do something I have almost never done at a restaurant — add salt. Even the mozzarella tasted under seasoned. Once I added a pinch, though, the sweet tomatoes, almost entirely absent of acid, really sang with the basil and egg yolks, which burst into their own sauce.

Deep in central Vermont is an old farming town, and in that town is an alley-like street, and along that street is a dim, sparkly space, and inside that space is a copper bar and along that bar, recently, was a bowl of garlicky white-wine-butter broth, and in that broth were warm kernels of sweet corn, wedges of heirloom tomatoes, a smear of tangy pesto and wilting baby lettuces... and then, in a few bites, the broth and the corn and the pesto were inside me, and it was happiness.

Sometimes when I'm heading south, I take exit 4, wend down into Randolph and take a seat inside the Black Krim Tavern. Situated on Merchants Row, it's sort of hard to find, but it's magnetic: dim, sexy, friendly and reasonably priced, with small plates of simple but creative fare, turned out by talented hands.

Owners Sarah Natvig (front of the house) and chef Emily Wilkins have a reverence for the farmers around them. Natvig is married to one: Chip Allen, who runs Pebble Brook Farm (and took the photo at right), which provides some of Black Krim's produce. Other booty, like the delicate sweet corn, comes from a constellation of local farms. Wilkins uses it all — plus other nonlocal ingredients — to turn out tiny explosions of deliciousness: fish cakes with lemon aioli; poached shrimp over rice noodles with a coconut-lime sauce; braised chicken crépes with napa cabbage and cremini mushrooms; you get the idea. The menu rotates constantly, too, as it should. I had an amazing lentil salad there a few months ago that is no longer on the menu. I trust it will come around again. In the meantime, I have a lot left to try.

I consider any chef who thinks to muddle corn and lettuce in a white wine broth a kindred spirit. Ditto for a bartender (Natvig) who offers samples of her hand-selected wines until you find one you like. She pours craft beer and sake martinis, too. I only wish Black Krim were closer. 

miserylovescopresents.blogspot.com, 802-825-1909

It's long been my goal to have real-live down-home barbecue available nearby. Much as I love the competition-style ribs at the Belted Cow Bistro, the atmosphere there can feel a little formal for such finger lickin' cuisine. I harbor no such feelings about my own couch.

That's why Misery Loves Co. answers a yearning from deep within my heart. Last Friday, I arrived home from work to find the paper bag at right waiting on my deck. It was packed with the stuff of my wildest dreams, namely two kinds of smoky meats and all the sides I could want.

22 Main Street, Winooski, 802-655-7888

There's Vermont pizza, then there's New York pizza. For those of us from the New York area, this difference is life and death. The puffy crusts and too-sweet sauces of most Vermont pizzerias might taste just fine, but to us, they're not really pizza. Give me a thin, foldable crust and tangy sauce. The options for such pies are limited in the Burlington area. Junior's Italian in Colchester and Mimmo's Pizzeria in Essex are reliable choices, but when other former tri-state denizens ask for my recommendation, I always send them to Winooski to try Donny's NY Pizza & Sports Bar.

This comes as a surprise to many. The little pizza shop at the bottom of Winooski's Main Street is easy to miss, unless you travel West Canal Street and see that the restaurant covers an entire block, with plenty of seating and a full bar with TVs. Sometimes crowds gather to take in some football. Usually, the folks behind the counter are doing what they do best — making pizzas, rolls and calzones.

Owned by the Michaelides family, Donny's also delivers its fair share of Greek flavors. I already knew that they made some of the best pizza around, so on my last visit, I decided to test the Mediterranean dishes on offer.

1068 Williston Rd., South Burlington, 802-863-6363

Every so often, I'm lucky enough to report a food discovery far more special than a great pizza or sandwich. This is definitely one of them.

I've never heard anyone complain about a lack of Peruvian food in Vermont the way folks often do about Ethiopian, Russian or Korean barbecue. It's a cuisine that tends to fly under most diners' radar, so much so that no one knows they can get it on request at Harper's Restaurant at the Holiday Inn in South Burlington.

Chef Ana (Holiday Inn employees didn't know her last name), a native of Peru, spends most of her time preparing a range of dishes, from garlic-bacon meatloaf to Switchback fish and chips. However, if asked, she'll bring in her native spices and do some real home cooking. When I requested my Peruvian meal, I didn't know to ask ahead for her to bring her special supplies, so she made do with what she had in the kitchen.