Summer 2008
Inside VL: Our State of Food
Mary Hegarty Nowlan, Editor
I'll always be much better at drinking a glass of wine than describing it. That's OK with me: My immersion in the lively Vermont food scene over the last 15 years has convinced me that good food and wine don't need to be pretentious.
In Vermont, unlike many places in America, we have farm fresh food readily available. It is part of the fabric of everyday life. For me, morning often includes a stop at Red Hen bakery in Middlesex; for lunch, I'll grab a slice of artisan pizza at Positive Pie 2 in Montpelier; and on the way home, in growing season, I'll stop by Settlement Farm on Route 2 and pick up fresh produce for dinner. On summer weekends (especially during Little League season) you'll find me at Maynard's Snack Bar in Moretown (above). It has the juiciest hamburgers, straight-from-the-garden tomatoes, lettuce, onions and beans and hand-cut, homegrown potatoes for french fries. It's all served out of a renovated chicken coop, the most bucolic and well-kept spot you've ever seen.
Fresh and local and affordable is our daily bread, but Vermont can also compete on the world-class level. Food & Wine magazine just published its annual list of best new chefs in the country. They were from Boston, Seattle, Philadelphia and Waterbury, Vt., population, 5,000. Congratulations to Eric Warnstedt and everyone at Hen of the Wood!
We hope you enjoy this special issue of Vermont Life. It's our tribute to the passion that exists in Vermont for bringing good food from the field to the table.
- This issue also introduces a new department to the magazine: Downtowns. The world our parents and grandparents knew has changed dramatically, and yet in many Vermont towns you would hardly know it by walking down Main Street. Beginning on page 92, photographer Daria Bishop and writer Susan Reid take an in-depth look at Richmond.
- We've also introduced a new way to help you find books that we write about in the magazine. Just visit the special page on our catalog website and click on an image of the book cover to get additional information and ordering instructions from our marketing partner Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center. We're excited to provide this service, and that we were able to join forces with a nearby, local, independent business. It's the Vermont way.
Email: mary.nowlan@state.vt.us
