Hungry Shelburne Road commuters will need to find a new place to celebrate the impending weekend. Vermont’s sole T.G.I. Friday’s, located in the shopping plaza near Price Chopper, recently announced it will close its doors at the end of September. The restaurant is known for its chipper staffers and trademarked Jack Daniel’s sauces, slathered on meats of all descriptions.... Read more

TAGS: food, restaurant news, side dishes

Masha Stern moved to Burlington from Siberia in the 1990s to attend UVM. She’s a scientist by day and a cheese fanatic, well, around the clock. “During my everyday job I travel a lot, and I’m a foodie,” she explains. During visits to big cities, Stern seeks out cheese-tasting classes. Several years ago, she noticed that Vermont’s artisan offerings were more often cited than actually served. Why? The small-batch, artisan wheels and wedges are hard to come by outside the state.... Read more

TAGS: cheese, food, localvore movement, side dishes

Steve Bogart says he was a little embarrassed when the staff at Burlington’s A Single Pebble threw him a retirement party on Monday. Thirty-one days after leaving his acclaimed Chinese restaurant, Bogart, who is jobless for the first time since age 14, marvels at his newly relaxed state: “I can feel it moving up my back.”

But his back won’t be rested for long. After leaving the party, Bogart booked it to Brooklyn.... Read more

TAGS: food, restaurant news, side dishes

The road to New York City runs in both directions. That’s how Montpelier’s Three Penny Taproom landed its new chef: The aptly named Brett Champlain, 29, is a former line cook at The Spotted Pig and sous-chef at The John Dory, both acclaimed Big Apple restaurants owned by April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman.... Read more

TAGS: food, restaurant news, side dishes

Every summer Saturday, crowds pack City Hall Park to shop for juicy cuts of meat, fresh hummus and baby artichokes at the Burlington Farmers Market. When festivals coincide with the occasion, the grassy square fairly teems with bodies.... Read more

TAGS: agriculture, burlington, food, localvore movement, side dishes

August First, a new Euro-style bakery in Burlington’s South End, offers the lunch crowd skinny, homemade loaves layered with classy toppings. If you want a fresh, healthy baguette sandwich on the other side of town, though, Asian’s your best option.... Read more

TAGS: burlington, food, restaurant news, side dishes

It’s always exciting to scoop bigger publications, and on August 12, Seven Days staff writer Lauren Ober did just that. Her cover story “Buying the Farm” told the story of Ken and Carol Borland, dairy farmers who were forced to sell their cows and equipment when low milk prices kept them from making ends meet.... Read more

TAGS: dairy, food, side dishes

Brassy show-biz chef Emeril Lagasse usually spends the half hour of his Planet Green TV show, “Emeril Green,” teaching gardeners to use homegrown herbs in their cooking or adding pizzazz to date-night meals. But he’s planning an interesting departure: filming a handful of episodes and an hour-long special on the subject of food providers in Vermont, with a particular focus on the Northeast Kingdom.... Read more

TAGS: food, hardwick, localvore movement, side dishes, tv

Pancake-battered catfish fingers and smoky pulled pork may not often share space on a menu with tapas, but they soon will at

River Run in Plainfield. Jimmy Kennedy, owner since 1991 of the Mississippi-style restaurant — voted one of USA Today’s Top 10 Catfish Restaurants in the country — recently sold to Ignacio Ruiz. Kennedy will stay on as chef. TAGS: food, restaurant news, side dishes

Brian Rooney, owner of Rooney’s Café and Deli at the corner of City Hall Park on College Street, runs a bustling takeout business in soups and sandwiches that closes after lunch. That’s a common pattern, he claims, in a town lacking cheap evening dining options: “Burlington doesn’t have a good, affordable restaurant to eat dinner and not spend a lot.”... Read more

TAGS: food, restaurant news, side dishes