Do you agree with the Daysies?

[Alice Levitt]

Click here to see this year's Food and Drink Daysies winners. What do you think? I'm pleased that Trattoria Delia got so much love, but India House for Best Ethnic Cuisine, Non-Asian? Where do I begin..?

[vtrockdork]

For the most part, not really.  Shall I run the list?  (I'll concentrate on the "Inside Chittenden County" winners, as I don't go out much outside of the greater-Burlington area)

Best Place to Have Dinner
Winner:  Flatbread
My Comments:  People, going out for pizza and beer is NOT "having dinner," it's "going out for pizza and beer."
My Winner:  L'Amante

Best Special Occasion Restaurant
Winner:  Trattoria Delia
My Comments:  Meh.  I like the Trattoria ok, I guess.  They sure do have the atmosphere thing down, and their wine list is top-notch.  They make pasta ok, but L'amante does it much better, imo.  Their entrees tend to be over-priced and over-cooked (driest. boar. ever.), and don't get me started on the baby food they call a side of vegetables.
My Winner:  The Inn at Shelburne Farms

Best Asian Fare
Winner:  A Single Pebble
My Comments:  You'll get little argument from me here, though their fare tends to be a bit on the salty side (and I LOVE salt).   They'd better watch out, though.... Asiana Noodle House is coming up strong!
My Winner:  A Single Pebble

Best Ethnic Cuisine (non-Asian)
Winner:  The India House.
My Comments:  You. Have. Got. To. Be. Fucking. Kidding. Me. Seriously?
My Winner: Sauza's

Best Italian Restaurant
Winner:  Trattoria Delia  (and Three Tomatoes as the runner-up?  WTF, people?)
My Comments:  See above.
My Winner:  L'Amante

Best Veggie Fare
Winner:  Stone Soup
My Comments:  I am not a vegetarian, but I like Stone Soup.  Who am I to argue?
My Winner:  Stone Soup

Best Breakfast/Brunch
Winner:  Penny Cluse
My Comments:  While I like the Cluse, I haven't been there for brunch in ages.  I hate standing in line, and I hate being hot while I eat, two things that are unavoidable at Penny Cluse in the summer (place is damn busy in the am, especially on weekends).  Also, their coffee fucking blows, and coffee's and integral part of my brunch equation.
My Winner:  Magnolia

Best Place to do Lunch
Winner:  Leunig's
My Comments:  Again, I'm just not a big fan of Leunig's.  Overpriced, under-prepared, and generally patronized by those-i-do-my-best-to-avoid.
My Winner:  Penny Cluse (lest you think I'm contradicting myself, I LOVE the Cluse's chicken and biscuits.  BETTER than mom used to make)

Best Late Night Food
Winner:  KKD
My Comments:  While there was once a time, long ago, that I would eat their "food," those days are long past.
My Winner:  My kitchen

Best Pizza Restaurant
Winner:  Flatbread
My Comments:  Agreed.
My Winner:  Flatbread

Best Pizza Delivery
Winner:  Leonardo's
My Comments:  Nobody who has ever eaten real pizza can call the shit that Leonardo's makes "pizza" with a straight face.
My Winner:  Junior's or Donny's

Best Brew Pub
Winner:  VPB
My Comments:  It's really the ONLY brew pub, isn't it?  (While flatbread brews their own beer, they are not, in the strictest definition, a "brew pub")
My Winner:  VPB

Best VT microbrewery
Winner:  Magic Hat
My Comments:  Marketing wins again.  We all know their beer sucks, so I won't waste space listing the reasons.
My Winner:  Zero Gravity @ American Flatbread, or Lawson's Finest Liquids

Best Bar
Winner:  Red Square
My Comments:  If you like terrible music, obnoxious staff, douchey patrons, and overpriced drinks, this is the bar for you.
My Winner:  The OP  (it has most of the above, except it's cheap)

Best Apres-Ski
Winner:  Stowe Mountain Lodge
My Comments:  I do not ski, so I won't weigh in on this one.
My Winner:  n/a

Best Bakery
Winner:  Mirabelle's
My Comments:  Mirabelle's is good.  Really, really good.  But Panadero is sublime.
My Winner:  Panadero

Best Natural Foods Market
Winner:  City Market
My Comments:  Agreed.
My Winner:  City Market

Tastiest Take Out
Winner:  Tiny Thai
My Comments:  It doesn't matter whether it's the Essex or Winooski location, the food is always awesome, and they've never (in the 50+ times I've ordered from them over the years) screwed up an order
My Winner: Tiny Thai

Best Street Eats
Winner:  Skinny Pancake
My Comments:  Crepes have their place.  As street food?  No.  If I can't eat it with my fingers, it's not really street food to me.
My Winner:  Hong's!

Best Wine Cellar
Winner:  Cheese Traders
My Comments:  People, "cheap and bulk" does not mean "best," no matter what middle-American Wal-Mart culture tells you.
My Winner:  Dedalus and Heathy Living (tie)

[lagourmande]

vtrockdork - u rock!!  I love your comments on the daysies!  I agree with u on most everything... which is pretty incredible considering I'm the most opinionated person I know on these things!

I especially agree with u on L'Amante!!  People who don't know good authentic Italian food keep telling me that Trattoria Delia is so fantastic, but I think these people have never been to L'Amante!  I admit though I've never been to Trattoria Delia but I can't imagine that it comes anywhere near to L'Amante.

Dare I admit I've never been to Penny Cluse?  I used to think it was just another "diner" with a long line on weekends and didn't appeal to me, but recently I've heard such good things about it, I might try it for lunch like u recommend!  so thanks!

Near category for next year:
Most "localvore" restaurant for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (separate categories)
Best farmer's market (of course this might be tough b/c everyone's gonna vote for the one in their town and the town with the most residents is gonna win!

[Alice Levitt]

I'm assuming that you're also a New York-area native from your Fudgie the Whale post, vtrockdork. Therefore, like me, you just don't get Vermont pizza. I absolutely agree on Junior's and Donny's, with a slight edge to Donny's for their Sicilian, just like my childhood favorite and even better the second day. In my opinion, most other pizzas in the area are just puffy bread with ketchup on them.