We had lots of yummy food & local beer during our recent visit to Vermont. These were some of the highlights.
Prohibition Pig
This little pork-obsessed restaurant in the small town of Waterbury was recommended to me by a former colleague who grew up in the area. She suggested eating there as a reward following a morning kayaking trip; however, we decided to eat there as a reward for surviving our flight to Vermont on a plane with a cracked windshield.
We sat in the bar area & sampled some local favorites: Heady Topper, The Alchemist’s famous Double IPA, brewed right down the street & only served on tap at Prohibition Pig; panko fried pimento cheese (all made from scratch in-house); & the main event: a lot of meat. B had the brisket sandwich, I had the pulled pork sandwich. Each pile of meat came with some of its own sauce, with ample sauce bottles on the table ready to douse the sandwiches with (B liked the BBQ bacon, while I preferred the tangy-vinegar based-North Carolina sauce.
The atmosphere was lively & friendly. The chef made his rounds on a quiet Friday afternoon, chatting with customers while unashamedly sporting his pig speckled chef’s pants. Note: Prohibition Pig is only open for lunch on Friday’s, Saturday’s & Sunday’s; dinner every night.
Hourglass Bar at Stowe Mountain Lodge
Prior to our stay, I was chatting with the PR folks at Stowe Mountain Lodge & mentioned that I’m a huge fan of drinking local beer when traveling. They told me about a fun local beer tasting they occasionally do at the resort’s Hourglass Bar & I was sold.
Friday night, after traveling all day, we cozied up to a table in the rustic, warm wood bar & settled in for a feast of beer & flatbreads. James & Liz, our waiters, brought out tiny glass after tiny glass of locally brewed beer. I enjoyed the Lost Nation Vermont Pilsner, a newer brewery that’s cranking out just-hoppy-enough beer. B liked the Long Trail Lemon Pepper Klosch, which was very light in color & taste – it reminded us of our favorite Barbados beer. Shed Brewery Mountain Ale, a super dark, malty beer, was the opposite of what I usually drink, but we both surprisingly enjoyed it.
To absorb all those good beers, we also enjoyed a variety of Vermont flatbreads. Flatbreads & pizza are a very big thing in Vermont – it seemed like every corner we turned, there was a pizza shop. Stowe Mountain Lodge’s flatbreads didn’t fall short: the Carnivore was a meat lovers dream (just what we needed a few hours after Prohibition Pig!), but we both really loved the Vegetarian Verde, a light, fresh, crispy pie with basil pesto, zucchini, broccoli raab, argula, white sauce & truffle oil. In fact, we liked the Vegetarian so much, that we ordered one to-go the next night for dinner & dined in our room in front of the fireplace. How perfectly Vermont-y.
We finished up with an amazing trio of all the resort’s best desserts: creamy creme brûlée, a panna cotta s’mores & chocolate mousse. We were stuffed to the brim by dessert, but ate most of it anyway.
If you’re looking for a more casual meal at Stowe Mountain Lodge, I’d highly recommend a flatbread & a few local brews from the Hourglass Bar.
Other great places we ate it during our trip…
– Farmhouse Tap & Grill: a great farm-to-table restaurant in Burlington. Make sure & get the Vermont cheeseboard. Put your name in & enjoy walking around the pedestrian square while you wait for your table.
– Leunig’s Bistro & Cafe: a French bistro transported straight from Paris to downtown Burlington. Reservations are a must.
– I.C. Scoops: cute, authentic ice cream parlor in downtown Stowe
– Burlington Bay Cafe: home to the best creemee in Vermont (creemee: what us yankees call soft serve). It is impossible to be disappointed by the maple-black raspberry twist.
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