(Published in 7 Nights 2007-08)

(Published in 7 Nights 2006-07)

(Published in 7 Nights 2005-06)

Everybody wants a seat on the front porch at the North Hero House Inn and Restaurant — and it's not just for the winning waterfront view. The cheery, flower-filled dining room is a window on Champlain Islands history that has been perfectly preserved here, on a scenic stretch of Route 7. Along with the post office, courthouse, library and general store, the North Hero House is part of the town's "old and improved" 19th-century strip.

(Published in 7 Nights 2006-07)

The Mad River Valley has plenty of historic inns, but few go beyond bed and breakfast to pamper walk-in gourmands with first-class dinners. 1824 House, a lovingly restored, white-clapboard farmhouse in Waitsfield, serves cozy, candlelit meals in its eight-table dining room and large-scale banquets in a newly renovated barn. John Lumbra and Karl Klein run the place. Klein is the carpenter/wine steward; his partner Lumbra, a professional chef, presides in the kitchen.

(Published in 7 Nights 2006-07)

A nine-foot wooden canoe suspended over the bar captures the spirit of South Hero's Blue Paddle Bistro: local flavor with a sense of fun. In an historic white house that has been a parsonage, a post office and, most recently, a chocolate factory, co-owners Mandy Hotchkiss and Phoebe Bright have created a cozy, unpretentious spot where upscale dining pulls up a chair alongside down-home comfort food.

(Published in 7 Nights 2007-08)

There’s only one problem with Winooski’s favorite Asian place. Getting a parking place and a table. Luckily, there’s a second Tiny Thai, in the Essex Shoppes & Cinema complex, just a short drive away.

(Published in 7 Nights 2009-10)

The bacon cheeseburger isn’t exactly kosher — and neither is the owner, Glenn Walter — but for Jews in the Burlington area, Sadie Katz Delicatessen is a godsend. With specialty items shipped in regularly from New York City, the diner-turned-deli supplies the Queen City with whitefish salad and lox, H&H bagels and Dr. Brown’s sodas.