kfo

Since it's feeling like fall here whatever the calendar says, and we'll soon hit leaf season and the annual deluge of queries about food around Burlington, I thought I'd mention that the most delicious sweet thing I have eaten recently in Vermont are the still-warm apple-cider doughnuts at the Shelburne Orchard, located a mile or two off Route 7 near the Shelburne Museum. They're lighter than their typical compatriots, sanded with a crunchy layer of cinnamon sugar, and have a beguiling diversity of textures: sugar, slightly resistant outside crust, fluffy interior. (Yankee purists can buy them sans sugar, though I think this is a mistake.) Delicious, when fresh; but to get them that way, come in the a.m., as their half-life at peak is short. Six bucks a dozen, and worth it. The orchard, by the way, is worth a visit -- especially at the annual "local food festival" in early September. It's this sort of this hobbity fantasyland for Nick, the proprietor, what with treehouses, swings, a doughnut truck and a million-dollar view of Lake Champlain. The apples are "ecological" (eg, some spraying to dampen the endemic scab) not organic, but are as tart, lemony and delicious as you'd expect. They grow multiple varieties, but picking-wise, I've only been directed to Macs, though this may be a function of the timing or my innate lack of assertiveness. They also sell mediocre apple pie, and excellent unpasteurized cider. On the other, weightier, end of the cider-doughnut spectrum, I also find the sinkers at Boyer's Orchard (in Monkton, off Silver Street) to be stand-outs among the half-dozen or so cider variations I've tried around here. They're heavier (but not leaden), with more textural integrity. The lack of topping makes the flavor of the crumb easier to divine, and it's good. But now that I have started, I want to continue my orchard education with more, more, more. So tell me, what other Vermont orchards are serving great doughnuts these days?

The thrill of seeing my little state -- with an exclamation point, no less -- up top on the egullet forums list was enough for me to chuck my treasured anonymous lurker status in exchange for the opportunity to pontificate about the glories of American Flatbread and the miseries of Burlington restaurants for an audience of, well, tens. I've already given away my core point: While there are a lot of great food things going on in Northern Vermont, restaurants aren't generally among them. The best meal in Burlington is the one that a friend cooks for you; restaurants, generally, are disapointing. What's wonderful and immediate about food in Vermont mostly relates to bread and cheese. (Well, OK, also agricultural practices like grass-fed, "natural" beef, lamb, etc.) And that, bread and cheese that is, takes me to American Flatbread. Go, definitely. I'm told a new outpost (more related to the original than the splinters in New Hampshire and, I believe, Portland, Maine) has opened in Middlebury; I have no idea if it matches the standard of the Waitsfield original. The Waitsfield AmF is wonderful... beautiful spot, smoky crackly crisp pies, inventive specials using wonderful local chicken, sausage and other vegetables. Plus stepping inside is a 60's folk art explosion--the owner's mad paens to organic food and childhood wisdom and god knows what are painted everywhere in cramped script. Since I've bagged on Burlington resaturants, and I owe people another piece of genuine news, I should point out that "A Single Pebble," the Barre-based strip mall Chinese restaurant praised above, has opened a branch in Burlington, in a space formerly occupied by truly horrid faux Vietnamese place. I know that no one visits Burlington to eat Chinese food; nonetheless, it's one of the better places in town. More in the New England/American mold is Smokejack's, located at the base of Church Street. The menu is timid and the cooking is sometimes inconsistant, but the owner is smart and has assembled a fine Zinfandel-heavy wine list and a superb cheese list. Sitting outside sampling obscure farm cheeses while the city hums around you is wonderful. Where else? Penny Cluse is a San Francisco-inflected breakfast cafe. You know it, you've been there: Hipsters, excessively large omlets, a menu gag or two, crowds, strong cooking. I love it personally, but there's nothing unique there. They have lately begun serving dinner. It's fine, but breakfast is better. Burlington restaurants that you may hear about or see in guidebooks that I would avoid include Leunigs, Trattoria Delia, NECI commons. All are mediocre; I've also had frustrating problems with service at each of them. Outside of town, I'd treat the Starry Night Cafe with some skepticism. I've eaten well there, but the chef left and the food has apparently declined. Pretty room and spot, though. There's some hope around town that restaurants are getting better. A local artsy design impresario type has opened an elegant, visually striking seafood restaurant near the waterfront called 'o.' (Burlington is part of that Berkeley/Boston/bobo-hipster axis where restaurant names have to be typographical symbols, addresses, or evocative words ripped completely out of their context in the style of those poetry refrigerator magnets.) I haven't been there, but a discerning friend said he ordered a perfectly lovely, perfectly cooked piece of fish that was almost eerily devoid of flavor. The plate was gorgeous, ringed with carrot emulsion and other geegaws, but the taste wasn't there. He suspected salt. Perhaps more promising is the Waiting Room. It, too, perhaps suffers from an excessive devotion to trend, but I know several people who say they have had wonderful meals there. The menu, one of those deals with foie gras everywhere that reads like a shopping list or food thesarus, struck me as being "interesting" in the same way that "interesting" restaurants are everywhere, e.g. not very. But that may be cranky. Then again, you jaded city-types with your cosseted palates may opt for the simpler pleasures of Smokejack's. Or Al's French Frys. I've nattered on at embarassing length, but before I slink off, I want to suggest that Vermont visitors check out the restaurant at the Inn at Shelburne Farms. It's in a spectacularly beautiful location, especially in early summer when the lilacs are out, and the food is often lovely. I particularly enjoy breakfast and weekend brunch, which is much more affordable than the steep dinner prices and, I think, shows off the restaurant's strengths to better effect. kfo PS: Despite being the state's largest population center, Burlington has only 40,000 residents. That's small. The local paper therefore feels like it can't afford to offend anyone with its restaurant reviews -- so, instead it commissions "Dining Profiles" like the one linked above. While the deliberate absence of real evaluative langauge makes this approach limited at best, there's maybe a lesson there for real reviewers. The discipline of reporting on the restaurant, the chef and where all the food coming from--rather than just describing and judging a few meals--can make for a more informed and informative approach. I find that I respond more to restaurant reviews with context and atmosphere; but then again, I'm not trying to sort out the hundreds of options in a huge city.