After chef-owner Sissy Hicks sold the Dorset Inn early last year, she planned to make ends meet by hawking some of the specialty products she’s developed over the years: Think roasted-tomato salad dressing, Concord grape jelly and cheddar cheese straws.... Read more

TAGS: food, restaurant news, side dishes

Last weekend, Vermont Pub & Brewery co-creator and owner Greg Noonan, age 58, passed away of natural causes, according to Mick Bowen, who describes himself as “Greg’s best friend.”

Noonan is famous for fighting to get brewpubs legalized in Vermont; they had been outlawed since Prohibition. Once that effort succeeded, he founded the VP&B, one of the first brewpubs on the East Coast, on November 11, 1988.... Read more

TAGS: beer, food, side dishes

When the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program was created in 1974, it was designed to battle the crisis of “underweight and malnourished kids,” says Donna Bister, Vermont’s WIC director.

But times have changed. Today, Bister notes, “That’s not the problem in this country anymore. The issues for most families — not just WIC families — are not enough fiber, too much fat, not enough fruits and vegetables.”... Read more

TAGS: food, side dishes

On September 14, just six days before his birthday, Matt Nadeau, owner of Rock Art Brewery in Morrisville, received an unusual email. Attached to it was a PDF full of legalese in which an attorney for the Hansen Beverage Company — maker of Monster brand energy drinks — demanded that the Vermont brewery “cease and desist” its use of the name “Vermonster” for a high-test barley wine.... Read more

TAGS: beer, food, side dishes

When Savitri Bhagavati and Iliyan Deskov — a restaurateur and chef, respectively — decided to escape the bustle of Los Angeles County, they sought a home that was “sustainable, had more of a community life, a place with more greenery outside,” says Bhagavati. They found it in the localvore-friendly town of Waitsfield.... Read more

TAGS: food, side dishes, taste test restaurant reviews

When Monica Mead — owner of the popular Tamale Girl stand at the Burlington Farmers Market — let people know she was planning to leave town, she was surprised to learn how many people coveted her spot on the corner of St. Paul and College. “An amazing number came up and said, ‘Hey, I want to talk to you about the business,’” she dishes.... Read more

TAGS: food, side dishes

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: After 10 years of red tape, disagreements and construction, Waitsfield’s cow underpass is finally complete.

Now, instead of driving their herd of 50 milkers across busy Route 100 twice a day, dairy farmers Doug and Sharon Turner have their very own concrete crossing underneath the roadway.... Read more

TAGS: agriculture, food, side dishes

If you’re a trio of dudes living on Nottingham Lane and your wives happily tolerate your homebrewing projects, it only makes sense to refer to yourselves as “Ye Merry’d Men.” At least that’s how it seems to Scot Barker, Jean-Andre De Bedout and Charles Baah.... Read more

TAGS: beer, food, side dishes

Generally speaking, a restaurant that loses its liquor license is . . . out of business. When Burlington city councilors voted last Monday night to revoke the one at

Avenue Bistro in the New North End, because the owners were behind on their taxes, co-owner and operator Susan Luce made the tough decision to shutter her restaurant for good. “I owe the city $3900 and they closed me down. I’m out of business. TAGS: food, restaurant news, side dishes

Local food undoubtedly comes with a higher price tag. But, thanks to a collaboration between NOFA Vermont and 50 area farmers, more than 1400 low-income residents and families were able to buy half-priced farm shares in 2009.... Read more

TAGS: agriculture, food, restaurant news, side dishes