Bite Club

Dining on a Dime: Maxi's Restaurant

by Sally Pollak Posted on April 19, 2019 at 2:52PM

In the half hour that I sat at the lunch counter at Maxi's Restaurant in Waterbury, I went from being called “sweetie” to “sweet pea.” To top it off, the waitress who brightened my day with these easy-flowing endearments was named Angie! (If there’s a better song than “Angie,” I can’t think of it right now.)

Pork belly on pita (left) and Thai grilled chicken

Dolce VT Food Truck Owners Open New Restaurant, Poco, in Burlington

by Sally Pollak Posted on April 17, 2019 at 4:17PM

In addition to its chicken sandwich with pickled veggies, sriracha, herb aioli and chipotle honey, Poco serves pork belly tucked into a warm pita and dressed with house-made kimchi, cucumber, scallions, mint and more. The menu, which will rotate on a weekly basis, on opening week features Thai grilled chicken with rice noodles, red cabbage and carrots, herbs and sesame dressing, sprinkled with fried almonds. Dessert is butterscotch pudding with smoked whipped cream.

Ryan Kang (left) and Phong Shin of Hissho Sushi

Hissho Sushi Arrives at City Market's Two Stores

by Sally Pollak Posted on April 12, 2019 at 2:28PM

The menu includes about 20 types of sushi combos and rolls, with varieties such as tempura shrimp, lettuce and avocado; salmon, tuna and avocado; eel, carrot and cucumber with Japanese barbecue sauce; and a veggie roll of avocado, carrot and cucumber. In addition, Hissho (hee-sho) will offer starters including spring rolls, seaweed salad and edamame.

Left to right: Yu Fei Cheng and Ann Wong at Morning Light Bakery

Morning Light Bakery Opens in Winooski

by Sally Pollak Posted on April 11, 2019 at 11:55AM

Morning Light Bakery serves cookies, pastries and cakes, including chocolate- blueberry cake and cheesecake. Ken recommends the bakery’s pineapple bun, which he said is “crunchy and sweet and tastes amazing.”

Chris Kayhart with his 10th free ice cream cone

It Was Raining Cones at Ben & Jerry's in Burlington

by Sally Pollak Posted on April 9, 2019 at 7:00PM

He said the lousy weather worked in his favor because it shortened time spent in the line. Two years ago, when it was slushy and cold out, it took Kayhart two and a half hours to go through the line 10 times for his free cones.

Jeff and Brooklynn Goller with raspberry kolache

Dining on a Dime: Easy as Cake

by Sally Pollak Posted on April 9, 2019 at 1:20PM

Goller and his wife, Nicole, opened Easy as Cake in December in the spot that most recently housed Malletts Bay Diner & Bakery. Jeff is a landscape architect and cook; his kolache recipe comes from his grandmother, who emigrated from Slovakia at age 16.

Vietnamese Street Food Coming to Downtown Burlington

by Sally Pollak Posted on April 7, 2019 at 5:54PM

A Vietnamese restaurant will open in downtown Burlington next month, when Pho Son takes over the space at 213 College Street. The location was vacated last January by Bueno Y Sano.

School Daze: A Throwback Dinner at Butch + Babe's

by Sally Pollak Posted on March 1, 2019 at 5:10PM

Grace White, 9, ate the caf-style meal that her mother, school cook Holly Thompson, helped serve. At Malletts Bay School in Colchester, where Grace is a fourth-grader, she said she's guided to make healthy food choices by signs that illustrate food groups.

Honey Road's Chigazola Tobin Is a James Beard Semifinalist

by Sally Pollak Posted on February 27, 2019 at 3:23PM

The James Beard nomination is a form of validation, she said: “Oh, cool, people notice." But Chigazola Tobin added there are other forms, too.

Hummus sandwich and chili at Red Hen Baking Co.

Dining on a Dime: Red Hen Baking Co.

by Sally Pollak Posted on February 22, 2019 at 12:21PM

I carried my food to a counter seat with a view of the production bakery, where half a dozen people were making bread. One baker welcomed me to this viewing zone with a wave, and I watched him work at the mixer by the window. After lunch, I noticed a blackboard in the café that illustrates Red Hen’s trajectory since it opened in Duxbury almost 20 years ago.

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