(Published in 7 Nights 2007-08)

(Published in 7 Nights 2005-06)

The elegant Kitchen Table Bistro is a bit of a misnomer. And the fact that the Richmond restaurant used to be a bar-food joint doesn't simplify the PR challenge. Fact is, Lara and Steve Atkins have transformed the Route 2 farmhouse formerly known as Chequers into a fine-dining establishment with black-clad waiters, white linen table cloths and a menu featuring local seasonal meats, cheeses and produce.

The Charlotte-Essex, NY Ferry offers a good glimpse of Vermont’s gold coast. Drive to the dead end of Ferry Road, hop the ferry, and twenty minutes later, you’re in Essex, New York, a historic little village with its own leafy charm. You can explore the downtown on foot, but the better way to go is by bicycle. The whole area, from Westport to Willsboro Point, is a two-wheeler’s paradise. Not as much traffic on that side of the lake, either.

When it gets really hot in Chittenden County, the locals head for the Bolton Potholes. Running alongside the road up to Bolton Valley Resort, Joiner Brook tumbles downstream to make five separate waterfalls. The stream’s curviness, and distance between individual potholes, makes the swimming area seem bigger and more private than it is. You can hang upstream, far from the madding crowd, or watch adolescent boys diving through an impossibly narrow chute of rock into a deep pool.

(Published in 7 Nights 2006-07)

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)

Over the past few years, Asian restaurants have blossomed all over Chittenden County like lotus flowers on a pond. The Queen City recently gained a pan-Asian noodle bar, and another is on the way. Where once there was a single source of Vietnamese pho in the Greater Burlington area, now there are seven.

There’s no better example of the area’s Far Eastern obsession than the mile-square city of Winooski, where five Asian eateries serve a population of 6300.

Since 1980, we have made a fine "farmhouse" cheddar according to traditional methods, using only the raw milk from our purebred herd of Brown Swiss cows. The cheese is rGBH- and rBST-free and contains no artificial flavors, colorings, or preservatives. Visitors to Shelburne Farms are welcome to view our cheesemaking in process at the Farm Barn from mid-May to mid-October.