Tuesday, July 29, 2014
When Guild & Company opened in 2012, the steaks were great. But in my review at the time, I voiced my concern that in pragmatic Vermont, a steakhouse focused on local, dry-aged flesh that rang in at $40-plus might not be a sustainable business model.
Fast forward two years. Guild & Company is now Guild Tavern. The steaks are still the big-ticket item that draws diners for birthdays and anniversaries, but burgers, salads and other, more casual fare are bringing in diners, too.
What lured me back was Sunday's new $10 burger night. The same people (namely, chef-partner Philip Clayton) who brought you Farmhouse Tap & Grill's beloved patties are behind these burgers made from local beef, dry-aged at the Guild Commissary. Put into perspective, given the top-shelf ingredients, $10 is basically a McDonald's price.
Better yet, the restaurant's summer menu includes five barbecue items. Sunday seemed like the perfect time for a mini reappraisal of a restaurant that has changed much since my last official visit.
Tags: guild tavern , burger , barbecue , discount , Image , Web Only
Although I generally love the results, baking is not usually my thing (I blame the dishes it creates).
But occasionally a recipe comes along that is so simple, so tasty — that I can't resist the pull of the oven. And when I find myself with an excess of fruit (often bought on purpose to force me to bake), I'll do it for a special treat.
I used to work at a charming little bistro in New York's East Village where the pastry chef made a wonderful clafoutis — a custardy French dessert, classically studded with cherries.
It's an elegant dish, gorgeous to look at, smooth in the mouth and delicate in flavor, and I'd always assumed it was beyond my skillset ... Until I stumbled on a recipe and read how easy it is.
Last weekend, I picked a boodle of blueberries at Adam's Berry Farm, so ... blueberry clafoutis.
I pretty much co-opted Julia Child's recipe wholesale from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, swapping her cherries for my blueberries and adding a pinch of lemon to keep it tart. With French cookery, and especially with baking, I find it best to stick to trusted sources for recipes.
Apart from the baking, preparing the dish takes a fairly foolproof 10 minutes.
Tags: Blueberry clafoutis , Blueberries , Adam's Berry Farm , Clafoutis , Clafouti , Julia Child , Baking , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
This past weekend, I found myself in Barre reporting a story at the farmers market. I'd never been to this market before, but I was wholly surprised to find one of the best spreads I've seen all season.
Maybe we've crested the summer arc (I fear we have), when farms tip away from growth and toward harvest, producing in almost comical abundance — when fruits hang and ripen on tree and vine; when the tomatoes start to come.
I couldn't stop. First, at Bramble & Berry Farm (of Plainfield), there were golden currants and gooseberries — gooseberries! I left the currants for next week (and swore I'd return) and grabbed a box of super-tart, plump goosers that make me pucker to just think about.
Tags: Barre farmers market , Bear Roots Farm , Bramble & Berry Farm , chopped salad , Gooseberries , grapes , lemon cucumbers , LePage Farm , recipe , red basil , snap peas , Image , Web Only
A "parklet" designed by Vermont Tech students is right out front. A few seats away from you, a dead ringer for comedian Bruce Vilanch with a facial tattoo sputters in what might be a nasty smokers' cough. The hot drinks are sized as "conservative," "moderate," "liberal" and "radical." If you guessed I'm talking about Vermont's capital city, you're right.
Last year, longtime Montpeculiar fave (and perennial Daysies winner) Capitol Grounds Café did something to further solidify its status. The café began serving a fairly substantial menu of locavore fare. That's definitely a good thing, but dining at Capitol Grounds still means, well, eating lunch at a coffee shop.
Counter service was a bit scattered during our visit, and we got two items that were not served as requested. But when we asked the baristas to do what comes more naturally, they excelled.
The hot chocolate aficionado in my party was more than pleased with his rich "liberal" cup. I wouldn't have minded a more substantial chocolate flavor, but I couldn't argue with the drink's full body or the dark chocolate shavings sprinkled atop a mountain of whipped cream.
I wasn't as wowed by the homemade lemonade. Sure, it was optimally cool, but its refreshment quotient far exceeded its thin flavor.
Tags: alice eats , capitol grounds , hot chocolate , lemonade , chili , quiche , gelato , montpelier , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Sometimes, you feel like brunch at Shelburne Farms. But that craving can't be satisfied last-minute — reservations are necessary well in advance. And not all of us want to pay $14 for a veggie hash, anyway.
Luckily, there's a lower-cost but equally ultra-local option. In front of the Farm Barn, a food-truck-style set-up known as the Farm Cart offers a menu of sandwiches, salads and soup. And since seating is at gnarled wood picnic tables in an open field, you may be joined for lunch by a chicken or two, as I was.
Tags: alice eats , shelburne farms , shelburne , burger , beef , strawberries , Image , Web Only
Last week’s recipe grilled a rack of lamb, and I can think of few finer accompaniments to that dish (or any fire-roasted meat) than grilled broccoli rabe — at this time of year, why bother working in the kitchen if you don’t have to?
Short is the season for outdoor cooking…
One recent Thursday, fate found me in Plattsburgh reporting a story for this week's Adirondack Issue. I stumbled into a farmers market, where the friendly folks from Fledgling Crow Vegetables in Keeseville had tubs and tubs of gorgeous greens and one chock-full of some of the finest broccoli rabe I’ve ever seen.
But instead of giving it the usual sauté treatment, I threw it on the grill. It was so good, I’d be surprised if I ever cook this beautiful bitter green another way again.
Tags: Broccoli Rabe , Grilling , Bitter Greens , grilled vegetables , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
It’s hard not to feel tender when cradling a lamb by the ribs — even if that lamb has been dead for longer than it ever lived, slaughtered just weeks after entering the world, living in vacuum-sealed plastic in various states of freeze since death. Even if it’s doomed to be charred in the hellfires of an oven, or, as was the case one recent evening, grilled over hot coals, a lamb's tiny ribcage compels one to cradle it.
Until fairly recently, I avoided sheep meat, scarred by my grandmother’s minted-mutton dinners. But in recent years, I’ve warmed to eating lamb, and now it’s one of the first things I’ll order when I see it on a menu. So when my husband brought home a rack of lamb from Duclos & Thompson Farm near Middlebury, I was overjoyed. (The farm has a self-service farmstand and you can buy meat anytime; it also raises pork and beef. Go get it!)
Tags: Rack of Lamb , Grilling , Herbs , Duclos & Thompson Farm , Image , Web Only
It debuted in 2011 as Muzo’s Cay Bahce. Three years later, Muzo Vurgun's Church Street cart is still going strong, but under the name Café Istanbul.
My other half was long obsessed with Vurgun's red-lentil-and-bulgur lettuce wraps, but the work-intensive small-plates menu on which that dish appeared has been replaced. Now a succinct bill of fare makes it easier to get a full meal at the cart. The one I had on Sunday burst with flavor and freshness and, better still, was an impressive value.
It's still possible to grab a small plate or two, though the particularly laborious lettuce wraps have been discontinued. Now, cigar-shaped börek are $2 apiece. Dolmades are five for $4 or $1 for one.
But I can't imagine ordering anything but the Istanbul Plate. Here's why:
Tags: turkish , gyros , falafel , dolmades , burek , church street , cart , muzo vurgun , café istanbul , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Anticipation had built to a fever pitch since Seven Days announced the upcoming "adult" arcade in March. The usual new-restaurant holdups ensued, slowed by the major renovations to the space involved in creating Tilt's two floors of arcade games in just 12 weeks
"It's been a series of unfortunate events," says co-owner Thom Dodge, of the weeks and days that led up to opening.
Last week, the fire department was called to the space to help with wiring concerns in the hood system. Following a longer-than-expected wait for approval from the fire marshall, Tilt opened at last evening after a brief false start of a promised 3 p.m. debut.
What did gamers find?
Tags: arcade , tilt , street fighter , south burlington , video games , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
At this point in the season, greens really start to proliferate — at the market, and in the home garden, they're everywhere and growing faster than anyone can eat them — visit a friend with kale, chard, collards or bok choy planted in his/her plot, and you'll be hard-pressed to escape without a bag full of leafy something. In this, summer is truly a time of excess.
Last weekend, I was at my mom's place and missed the market. But she keeps a bountiful garden and wouldn't let me leave empty-handed. We stashed the greens in the fridge and, when I started to leave without them, she chased me down the driveway with a full bag of crisp bok choy (in purple and white), and another stuffed with kale: Red Russian, Lacinato, and a curly purple variety, as well as radish greens and collards.
This morning, I was thankful: These cute little greeny bird's nests made one hell of a healthy power breakfast and tasted absolutely lovely.
Tags: Bird's Nests , Chard , Eggs , Kale , Radish Greens , recipe , Image , Web Only
