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Thursday, June 22, 2017

Dining on a Dime: Burlington Bay Market & Café in Burlington

Posted By on Thu, Jun 22, 2017 at 5:19 PM

Pastrami on rye at Burlington Bay Market and Café - SALLY POLLAK
  • Sally Pollak
  • Pastrami on rye at Burlington Bay Market and Café
After 17 years of eating creemees at Burlington Bay Market & Cafe, I decided it was time to expand my horizons.  To kick off summer, on a recent visit I ventured past the creemee window and headed to the lunch counter inside. From there, I would travel even further, to the high deck overlooking the marina and lake beyond.

As a rookie at the lunch counter, and with a $12 dining limit, I sought advice: Reuben or hot pastrami sandwich? The cashier told me the pastrami on rye was "pretty popular." That was all the persuading I needed: I hadn't eaten a pastrami sandwich in Burlington since 2011, when Sadie Katz deli shut down. At $10.99 ($12.20 with tax), I figured I'd grab a glass of water and forego the creemee.

Despite a morning downpour, I found a dry table and chair on the outside deck, thanks to a server who took time to squeegee.  My sandwich soon was delivered.
The meat — hot, salty, fatty and chewy — dripped over the edge of the grilled rye swirled with pumpernickel.  Just the right amount of  Dijon mustard spiced up the proceedings.  There wasn't a even dill pickle to interfere with the main event.

Sandwich. Period. And that's OK with me.

So OK, that despite the slick of grease and mustard on my fingers, I didn't want to part with my fast-vanishing food to hustle inside for a napkin. I have a deep-seated mistrust of the seagulls that swoop past human feeding grounds at the Burlington waterfront. We lost a Beansie's hot dog — snagged right out of its roll in my daughter's hands — when she was in kindergarten. She's in college, and I've never lived down the moment.

Fourteen years later, I use a piece of paper from my reporter's notebook for a napkin rather than leave my sandwich alone. I'm loving the cloudy sky view, I'm digging the meal, I'm watching for birds.

Then, at a nearby table, a family of four finishes lunch and gets up to leave. I decide I have to talk with them (duty calls) for this story. I've eaten half my sandwich when I dash across the deck for a quote.

I was savoring the second half of my pastrami on rye even as James Clancy, a 12-year-old from South Burlington, engaged me in conversation. Soon I'm talking with his stepsister, Savannah Werner, also 12. She had something to say about her taco salad and the lovely setting.

"I feel like it's really good," Savannah said. "And clean."

James announced his summer vacation plans —  "camp and creemees" —  and told me what he thought of his crab cake sandwich: "Love it."

As they descended to the creemee window with their grandmother, I returned to my sandwich.
Savannah Werner and James Clancy of South Burlington eat creemees at Burlington Bay on the second day of summer vacation - SALLY POLLAK
  • Sally Pollak
  • Savannah Werner and James Clancy of South Burlington eat creemees at Burlington Bay on the second day of summer vacation
The man at the neighboring table had sobering news: "A bird came, flew right in, took your bread."

"You're kidding?" I said. But he wasn't. The proof was on my plate.

He and his wife tried to defend my meal, he told me, but the bird was too quick. Didn't even alight, his wife added, just grab and fly.

The couple, Joey and Susan Ward, are from Hattiesburg, Miss. They're visiting Vermont for the first time and fell quickly in love with it. On their second day in Burlington, they'd already had two lunches at Burlington Bay.

"This is an awesome place,"  Joey Ward said. "We like to be outside when we can."

"For sitting and relaxing," Susan Ward added, "this is the spot."

They recommended the Philly cheesesteak and fish tacos, also the crab cake sandwich. "It's all fresh and reasonably priced," Joey Ward said. "Outstanding."

The Wards gave me their bag of sweet potato chips as reparation for the seagull's sin. And I violated the $12 limit on my meal, and bought myself a maple-vanilla creemee.

Dining on a Dime is a weekly series featuring well-made, filling bites (something substantial enough to qualify as a small meal or better) for $12 or less. Know of a tasty dish we should feature? Drop us a line: food@sevendaysvt.com

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Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Hong's Dumplings Says Goodbye to Church Street

Posted By on Tue, Jun 20, 2017 at 5:15 PM

Hong Yu and Lisa Li at Hong's Dumpling Cart - SALLY POLLAK
  • Sally Pollak
  • Hong Yu and Lisa Li at Hong's Dumpling Cart
Hong Yu, who cooked and served dumplings on the Church Street Marketplace for 17 years, made her final appearance there Tuesday. She was at her food cart, Hong's Chinese Dumplings, to say hello and goodbye to the countless people who have eaten her dumplings over the years.

Yu is planning to open a year-round dumpling shop at 77 Pearl Street, site of the former Radio Deli. The family is trying to raise money to open the business in about five weeks, her daughter Lisa Li said. They need $20,000 to $30,000 for a hood system and permitting, she said.

"It sounds really expensive, between the different requirements," Li said. "But we're doing our best."

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Thursday, June 15, 2017

Folino's Pizza to Open in a Former Burlington Funeral Home

Posted By on Thu, Jun 15, 2017 at 4:51 PM

Scallop and bacon pizza at Folino's - FILE: SUZANNE PODHAIZER
  • File: Suzanne Podhaizer
  • Scallop and bacon pizza at Folino's
Make way for Folino’s.

The popular Shelburne  pizzeria is expanding to Burlington. Folino's owner John Koerner leased a 5,000-square-foot space inside the former Corbin & Palmer Funeral Home building on South Union Street, he told Seven Days.

It’s still very much a work in progress. On Thursday Koerner and two other men were gutting the place, which is now empty. Koerner plans to use the rear portion of the building, which faces the City Market/Onion River Co-op parking lot, as his entrance, which will give him an opportunity for outdoor seating and plenty of parking. He also has an extra 1,800 square feet of space that he wants to make available to a brewery, much like his arrangement with Fiddlehead Brewing at Folino's Shelburne location.

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Tuesday, June 13, 2017

'Blended Burger' Tempts in Northfield

Posted By on Tue, Jun 13, 2017 at 1:41 PM

Blended burger and  beer at Cornerstone Burger Co. in Northfield - SALLY POLLAK
  • Sally Pollak
  • Blended burger and beer at Cornerstone Burger Co. in Northfield
Driving 96 miles round trip for a burger to celebrate its sustainability is probably counterproductive, or at least not a very practical idea. But that's what I did Saturday night when I drove to Northfield to eat a "blended burger" at Cornerstone Burger Co.

The blended burger mixes ground beef with mushrooms to reduce the amount of meat consumed and add whatever benefits are conferred by a little mushroom filler.  The burger ($13) is on the menu through July at Cornerstone, which is participating in a nationwide contest organized by the James Beard Foundation.  The idea behind the Blended Burger Project, in its third year, is to help the planet (and yourself) by limiting beef consumption, and to win the competition by making the top-rated blended burger. (The public votes.)

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Farmers Market Kitchen: In Praise of Breakfast Salad

Posted By on Tue, Jun 13, 2017 at 12:09 PM

Breakfast salad with egg, radish kimchi, sautéed radishes and greens, and butter-grilled bread - HANNAH PALMER EGAN
  • Hannah Palmer Egan
  • Breakfast salad with egg, radish kimchi, sautéed radishes and greens, and butter-grilled bread
Despite my deep love for all things meat, I eat more like an herbivore when I'm cooking for just myself.  One of my morning go-tos is the breakfast salad. Loosely speaking, this calls for the following, any of which you can leave out if it's not your jam:

  • Garlic and oil, butter or animal fat
  • Fresh veggies that cook quickly
  • A bit of sausage, bacon, ham, etc. (optional)
  • Salad greens
  • Kimchi or kraut
  • One or more dairy product: feta, chèvre, mascarpone, blue cheese,  plain yogurt
  • Hot sauce
  • Bread or tortilla

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Monday, June 12, 2017

New Brewers Festival Coming to Killington

Posted By on Mon, Jun 12, 2017 at 5:21 PM

Vermont Brewers Festival on the Burlington Waterfront - COURTESY
  • Courtesy
  • Vermont Brewers Festival on the Burlington Waterfront
The Vermont Brewers Association announced on Monday afternoon that it will host a brewers festival at Killington Resort next March, to be called — wait for it — the Vermont Brewers Festival at Killington.

The VBA hosts the annual Vermont Brewers Festival at Waterfront Park in Burlington in July (this year Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22). The organization that represents 52 Vermont craft brewers has been considering for some time adding a second festival to its lineup, according to marketing and festival director Amy Cronin.

"We wanted to play into Vermont being so beautiful," Cronin said. "And offer something in another part of the state, and make it special."

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Thursday, June 8, 2017

Burlington Bartender Wins Most Imaginative in Northeast at Contest in Boston

Posted By on Thu, Jun 8, 2017 at 1:42 PM

Eddie DiDonato at Leunig's - SALLY POLLAK
  • Sally Pollak
  • Eddie DiDonato at Leunig's
Six years after he graduated from Saint Michael's College, Eddie DiDonato pulled an all-nighter. The bartender, who works at Leunig's Bistro & Cafe and Waterworks, was up until 4 a.m. Monday to prepare for a cocktail competition in Boston.

After a few hours' sleep, he loaded his gear into his car, stopped at Tomgirl Juice Co. to pick up some wildflower-cashew milk, and drove to Boston to compete in the Most Imaginative Bartender contest. The annual event is presented by Bombay Sapphire gin,  which is a required ingredient in the competing cocktails.

The cashew milk — and gin — were key ingredients in DiDonato's drink, a cocktail he concocted called Tiger's Milk. With it, he bested a field of 10 bartenders from around the Northeast to win the regional contest.  DiDonato will compete in the North American Most Imaginative Bartender (MIB) final in late August in London.

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