Leftover Food News: Woodstock Food Gets National Press; Locavore Group in Burlington

The Woodstock area has gotten big ups in the national press lately. In a January article on Forbes.com — “Tasting Vermont: The Best Eating and Drinking in the Heart of the State” [1] — writer Ann Abel implores Vermont-curious foodies to “forget the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour and Green Mountain Coffee visitors’ center.” Instead, she directs them to Woodstock and environs, where they’ll find a wealth of artisanal producers and “diminutive dining rooms pleasing loyal locals with both cheap burgers and brews and upscale Tuscan pizzas and intriguing wines.”

Her choices: the pizzas and wine at “Italian revivalist” osteria pane e salute; South Royalton’s burger-and-craft-brew mecca Worthy Burger, which Abel visited twice; and the “super-fresh fare” and “visually seductive dining room” at Quechee’s Simon Pearce Restaurant. Farther afield, Abel recommends Lincoln Peak Vineyard in New Haven for sampling Marquette, LaCrescent and ice wines; and the creamy, bark-wrapped Harbison cheese from Greensboro’s Jasper Hill Farm (aka Cellars at Jasper Hill).

Over on MarthaStewart.com, “A Winter Getaway to Woodstock” [2] talks up breakfasts at the Quechee Diner; cheese plates at the Red Rooster (inside the Woodstock Inn & Resort); cheese and maple syrup sampling at Taftsville’s Sugarbush Farm; and the plentiful local morsels (as well as pies) at the Woodstock Farmers Market [3] — plus that perennial writer’s dinner at Simon Pearce Restaurant.

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As writer Luc Reid and his family sought out more local foods for their meals, he was surprised to learn that a town as deeply committed to those principles as Burlington had no official locavore group. So he’s taking matters into his own hands: Reid hopes to organize a group called Champlain Valley Localsource to “champion the use of local foods and resources.” The inaugural meeting is Wednesday, February 6, at 6 p.m. in Burlington City Hall Auditorium. For more information, visit localsource.me [4].