Restaurants (continued) on Vermont Trip
Continuing my post about the restaurants I visited on my trip to Vermont, the next place I visited was new but it really is not a restaurant. It is a deli where you order at the counter and then wait for your food. They have some tables outside but there are no tables inside. Therefore, although new to me, it does not qualify for my bucket list.
In the Marble Works in Middlebury, there is a place called Costello's Market. The lady behind the counter was very talkative and I told her I was staying on Weybridge Street. She said her mother use to live on that street. So I ordered a Classic Italian Sub. They had an 8-inch sub and for a dollar more, a 12-inch sub. I ordered the bigger one. I had soda in my new Yeti cooler so I walked over to the Middlebury Falls and had lunch at one of the tables. The first photo is my sandwich with the view and of course the second is the landscape view of a 12-inch Classic Italian Sub. Food always tastes great outside. This was great!
And then it was August 16, my 60th Birthday! I had visited Rob Fenn's home on Monday, and he said I should try the restaurant where he is the head chef. That would be Jessica's at the Swift House Inn in Middlebury. I made a reservation for my birthday and asked my brother Tom to join me. I was treating myself to a great meal on my special day. Rob said they only seat two tables every 15 minutes so I got a 7:30 PM reservation using the online system. We got there about 7:15 and walked into a small sitting area that happened to double as a bar.
I ordered myself a Captain & Coke and Tom ordered a Switchback draft. The bartender's topper on the rum bottle was not working right so I got a generous pour of 3/4 of the glass. I said that was a nice birthday treat. There was a small room for check-in to the Inn, and I could see from my chair into the other rooms. They make you feel like you are visiting their home. They call you by name and allow you to take your time. There was a fireplace next to the bar and a classic pink chair.
The menu was simple and from my understanding, they change it often. Here is a view of the salads and appetizers. We decided that we did not want wine so I ordered another drink. Our waitress was Jodi Collins, a neighbor back when we were kids. She recognized us.
I guess most people were outside, but it was turning dark and therefore cooler. We opted to sit inside which allowed us the choice of any table we wanted. I took a few photos of this inside dining room from my chair...
I told Tom that I wanted an appetizer and a salad. The appetizer I selected was the chicken liver pate. It was served in an interesting jar. The pate was served with assorted pickles including onions and capers. There were a grilled garlic bulb and plenty of toasted bread points. It was simply delicious and a great start to the meal. Oh, they also gave us some freshly baked bread with butter.
For my salad, I choose the Golden Beet Salad. After the wonderful Plaid salad I had earlier, I wanted to try some more of the beets. This time it was served with warm spinach, blue cheese, walnuts and covered with a maple balsamic dressing. Oh, My God, a salad has never been so good.
Tom opted for the house salad which also looked very appetizing. From my understanding, all the garnishes including the flowers are edible.
Tom ordered the pork chop for his main entree. He asked for the garlic mashed potatoes and the vegetable was an assortment of summer squash and zucchini. The menu said:
My choice for entree was the seafood special of the night. My nephew Josh told me to get the scallops if Rob was making them. When Jodi said sea scallops, I did not pay attention to her description of the presentation, I just said it is what I wanted. And it was Memorable. Again, I did not eat my flower, but nothing else was left on the plate.
Tom and I did order dessert but I did not get any photos. Tom got the salted caramel cheesecake and I got the Maple Creme Brulee. We finished the meal off with cups of coffee...
This was a new restaurant and was added to my bucket list as #17. I do not do this often, but I give this place a 5.0 (Memorable). Only the second time in two and a half years. Special thanks to Rob for making a great meal, to Jodi for being a wonderful waitress, and all the people at the Swift House who treated us like long lost friends.
One of my regular stops for breakfast, while I am in Middlebury, is Rosies. I snapped this picture of Tom's omelet. No, it does not belong to my brother, it is the name of the egg dish that is filled with corn beef hash. What a combo...
Tom had told me about this great seafood place that served large whole belly clams. It is located in Essex Junction and is called Ray's Seafood Market & Restaurant.
They are a market for every kind of seafood including lobsters of all sizes. Tom saw that they had the whole belly clams frozen and ready for cooking.
I was going to get a small order for $11.95 and Tom was getting a medium order for $16.95, so we compromised and got a large order for $18.95. I just let Tom eat more of them...
They were fantastic and very tasty. I posted a picture and many people responded that it was their favorite spot for seafood. I guess the best-kept secret for seafood was everyone's secret! This became my #18 restaurant for the year. I give the place a 3.0 (excellent). The picture has me drooling for more.
What a vacation, four new restaurants in two weeks...but no! I was not done! I had never sat at the pub in the Waybury Inn. My new friend Laura, the wife of chef Rob, works as the bartender at the Inn. I promised to visit her last year and did not. So this year I headed over for a beer and ended up having dinner.
The front of the Inn was used on the Bob Newhart Show many years ago. It was kind of an iconic scene from the road but I took my photo from the parking lot.
Here is the bar area where Laura works. It is not huge but it did have a few bar stools which I promptly packed my behind into. Laura served me a Switchback and then I ordered a Captain and Coke. It tasted great at the meal the evening before so I treated myself.
I did take a picture of Laura and included it in a previous post. What was almost as beautiful as she was the Charcuterie Appetizer I got for dinner. On the left is slices of roasted duck, and the back right is smoked trout mousse. Both were great! A stack of toasted bread was provided with Vermont cheddar, salami, mustard and assorted pickles. There was also a slice of a watermelon radish which I had never seen but ate before the photo was taken. Look it up, it makes a beautiful garnish.
Again, I did not eat the flower....So this made it #19, the second one in a day. I give the Waybury Inn a 4.0 (Excellent) and plan to visit again. Our 40th class reunion was held here last year and I did not make it. I won't make that mistake again.
The last new place I hit on this trip (#20) was a visit to the Otter Creek Brewery. I did not realize that they now had a menu and I was there for some beer tasting, but it was lunch time and I was hungry. There on the sign across from me was the daily special. Smoked wings!
I had sat at the bar but they also now have tables too. I took a photo of the dining area...
You can watch the beer be brewed while you eat your meal and drink the samples. I will discuss the beers in a separate post, but let me show you the wings with blue cheese on the side.
It was Friday so they were crowded, and I talked to some people next to me who was on a quest to hit all the microbreweries in Vermont. I hit all the wings (my quest) and they were falling off the bone, just like I love them. I have to give the place a 3.0 (Great) for the wings and the very great service.
Overall, I say I had a very successful trip with plenty of great food. I added six new restaurants, leaving only six more to meet my minimum. No one said I could not do more than 26...
In the Marble Works in Middlebury, there is a place called Costello's Market. The lady behind the counter was very talkative and I told her I was staying on Weybridge Street. She said her mother use to live on that street. So I ordered a Classic Italian Sub. They had an 8-inch sub and for a dollar more, a 12-inch sub. I ordered the bigger one. I had soda in my new Yeti cooler so I walked over to the Middlebury Falls and had lunch at one of the tables. The first photo is my sandwich with the view and of course the second is the landscape view of a 12-inch Classic Italian Sub. Food always tastes great outside. This was great!
And then it was August 16, my 60th Birthday! I had visited Rob Fenn's home on Monday, and he said I should try the restaurant where he is the head chef. That would be Jessica's at the Swift House Inn in Middlebury. I made a reservation for my birthday and asked my brother Tom to join me. I was treating myself to a great meal on my special day. Rob said they only seat two tables every 15 minutes so I got a 7:30 PM reservation using the online system. We got there about 7:15 and walked into a small sitting area that happened to double as a bar.
I ordered myself a Captain & Coke and Tom ordered a Switchback draft. The bartender's topper on the rum bottle was not working right so I got a generous pour of 3/4 of the glass. I said that was a nice birthday treat. There was a small room for check-in to the Inn, and I could see from my chair into the other rooms. They make you feel like you are visiting their home. They call you by name and allow you to take your time. There was a fireplace next to the bar and a classic pink chair.
The menu was simple and from my understanding, they change it often. Here is a view of the salads and appetizers. We decided that we did not want wine so I ordered another drink. Our waitress was Jodi Collins, a neighbor back when we were kids. She recognized us.
I guess most people were outside, but it was turning dark and therefore cooler. We opted to sit inside which allowed us the choice of any table we wanted. I took a few photos of this inside dining room from my chair...
I told Tom that I wanted an appetizer and a salad. The appetizer I selected was the chicken liver pate. It was served in an interesting jar. The pate was served with assorted pickles including onions and capers. There were a grilled garlic bulb and plenty of toasted bread points. It was simply delicious and a great start to the meal. Oh, they also gave us some freshly baked bread with butter.
For my salad, I choose the Golden Beet Salad. After the wonderful Plaid salad I had earlier, I wanted to try some more of the beets. This time it was served with warm spinach, blue cheese, walnuts and covered with a maple balsamic dressing. Oh, My God, a salad has never been so good.
Tom opted for the house salad which also looked very appetizing. From my understanding, all the garnishes including the flowers are edible.
Tom ordered the pork chop for his main entree. He asked for the garlic mashed potatoes and the vegetable was an assortment of summer squash and zucchini. The menu said:
Frenched bone-in loin, caramelized sweet onions, apple bourbon brown sauceHe let me taste the onions, they were excellent.
My choice for entree was the seafood special of the night. My nephew Josh told me to get the scallops if Rob was making them. When Jodi said sea scallops, I did not pay attention to her description of the presentation, I just said it is what I wanted. And it was Memorable. Again, I did not eat my flower, but nothing else was left on the plate.
Tom and I did order dessert but I did not get any photos. Tom got the salted caramel cheesecake and I got the Maple Creme Brulee. We finished the meal off with cups of coffee...
This was a new restaurant and was added to my bucket list as #17. I do not do this often, but I give this place a 5.0 (Memorable). Only the second time in two and a half years. Special thanks to Rob for making a great meal, to Jodi for being a wonderful waitress, and all the people at the Swift House who treated us like long lost friends.
One of my regular stops for breakfast, while I am in Middlebury, is Rosies. I snapped this picture of Tom's omelet. No, it does not belong to my brother, it is the name of the egg dish that is filled with corn beef hash. What a combo...
Tom had told me about this great seafood place that served large whole belly clams. It is located in Essex Junction and is called Ray's Seafood Market & Restaurant.
They are a market for every kind of seafood including lobsters of all sizes. Tom saw that they had the whole belly clams frozen and ready for cooking.
I was going to get a small order for $11.95 and Tom was getting a medium order for $16.95, so we compromised and got a large order for $18.95. I just let Tom eat more of them...
They were fantastic and very tasty. I posted a picture and many people responded that it was their favorite spot for seafood. I guess the best-kept secret for seafood was everyone's secret! This became my #18 restaurant for the year. I give the place a 3.0 (excellent). The picture has me drooling for more.
What a vacation, four new restaurants in two weeks...but no! I was not done! I had never sat at the pub in the Waybury Inn. My new friend Laura, the wife of chef Rob, works as the bartender at the Inn. I promised to visit her last year and did not. So this year I headed over for a beer and ended up having dinner.
The front of the Inn was used on the Bob Newhart Show many years ago. It was kind of an iconic scene from the road but I took my photo from the parking lot.
Here is the bar area where Laura works. It is not huge but it did have a few bar stools which I promptly packed my behind into. Laura served me a Switchback and then I ordered a Captain and Coke. It tasted great at the meal the evening before so I treated myself.
I did take a picture of Laura and included it in a previous post. What was almost as beautiful as she was the Charcuterie Appetizer I got for dinner. On the left is slices of roasted duck, and the back right is smoked trout mousse. Both were great! A stack of toasted bread was provided with Vermont cheddar, salami, mustard and assorted pickles. There was also a slice of a watermelon radish which I had never seen but ate before the photo was taken. Look it up, it makes a beautiful garnish.
Again, I did not eat the flower....So this made it #19, the second one in a day. I give the Waybury Inn a 4.0 (Excellent) and plan to visit again. Our 40th class reunion was held here last year and I did not make it. I won't make that mistake again.
The last new place I hit on this trip (#20) was a visit to the Otter Creek Brewery. I did not realize that they now had a menu and I was there for some beer tasting, but it was lunch time and I was hungry. There on the sign across from me was the daily special. Smoked wings!
I had sat at the bar but they also now have tables too. I took a photo of the dining area...
You can watch the beer be brewed while you eat your meal and drink the samples. I will discuss the beers in a separate post, but let me show you the wings with blue cheese on the side.
It was Friday so they were crowded, and I talked to some people next to me who was on a quest to hit all the microbreweries in Vermont. I hit all the wings (my quest) and they were falling off the bone, just like I love them. I have to give the place a 3.0 (Great) for the wings and the very great service.
Overall, I say I had a very successful trip with plenty of great food. I added six new restaurants, leaving only six more to meet my minimum. No one said I could not do more than 26...
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