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| FOOD ACROSS AMERICA: Burlington, VT In the past five years, there’s been a thrilling change in the American culinary landscape. Major metropolitan areas like New York and San Francisco no longer have a monopoly on innovative chefs, food artisans, mixologists and other talents. Now these men and women are as likely to turn up in smaller cities like Portland, Maine; Providence, Rhode Island; and Burlington, Vermont. This month, we kick off a year-long series on America’s lesser-known but truly dynamic food scenes. By Emily Kaiser Vermont road-trippers stop in Burlington for its crunchy college-town vibe and its beautiful location on Lake Champlain, not necessarily for its food scene. But over the past few years, chefs and artisanal producers have been using the state’s exceptional ingredients to turn Burlington and its outskirts into a bona fide restaurant destination. In 2005, chefs Eric Warnstedt and Craig Tresser opened Hen of the Wood in Waterbury, 25 minutes from downtown (92 Stowe St.; 802-244-7300). The two alums of Burlington classic Smokejacks do wonderful things with local produce. I loved the zingy salad of Vermont-grown beets from Pete’s Greens and the lamb shank from nearby Winding Brook Farm, served with a spiky, slightly sweet relish of parsley and Meyer lemon. Inside city limits, Kathi and Kevin Cleary opened L’Amante Ristorante (126 College St.; 802-863-5200) in 2003, with a bar offering some of the town’s best cocktails, like a Clementini made with fresh clementine juice and a lemony riff on a Cosmopolitan that’s called, intriguingly, the Mistress. Chef Kevin Cleary adds subtle twists to Italian classics, as in his juicy roast half-duck with a fricassee of artichokes and potatoes and his arancini (rice balls) stuffed with mozzarella from Maplebrook Farm in Bennington, Vermont. Burlington’s farm-to-table ethos also thrives in smaller spots, like Viva Espresso (197 N. Winooski Ave.; 802-660-8482), which opened last summer in the up-and-coming North End. Viva’s nutty, mellow-tasting coffee is made with fair-trade, organic beans from Vermont Coffee Company; the pastries come from nearby bakeries, like the chewy Montreal-style bagels from Myer’s. Before I headed home, I stopped at the five-year-old City Market (82 S. Winooski Ave.; 802-863-3659) to take a little piece of Vermont back with me. The shop is loaded with local breads, coffees, maple syrups and cheeses (so many cheeses, it’s no wonder the American Cheese Society has picked Burlington for its meeting this coming August). Ben and Jerry may be Burlington’s most famous sons, but at City Market I found what everyone in town has been raving about: the exquisite ice creams from nearby Strafford Organic Creamery (61 Rockbottom Rd., Strafford; 802-765-4180). The Fresh Mint flavor is made with herbs from a wild patch on the farm. The shop doesn’t carry ice creams from Lake Champlain Chocolates, so I made one last stop at the chocolatier’s Church Street shop (63 Church St.; 802-862-5185) for a cup of its ultra-Vermonty maple syrup-flavored butter-pecan. |
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© 2001 - 2008 Emily Kaiser |
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