Bite Club

Vermonters Mount Impassioned (Online) Defense Of State Cheese

by Corin Hirsch Posted on January 16, 2013 at 1:55PM

Yesterday, a pithy post appeared on Jezebel.com pointing out that Vermonters have more cats per capita than any other U.S. state. But as the post wends its way around social media, it's not comments about felines, but rather cheese, that is riling the 802 rank and file.

Chef Michel Mahe to Open New Eateries in Vergennes and Middlebury

by Corin Hirsch Posted on January 15, 2013 at 4:13PM

Chef Michel Mahe has found a novel way to make the grey winter months pass quickly: He's working on two new eateries, one each for Vergennes and Middlebury, that will open in coming months.In Vergennes, Mahe — who already owns three restaurants, in Shelburne, Bristol and Vergennes — is busy transforming the former Park Squeeze on Main Street into a 60-seat burger, flatbread and local-beer joint that he expects will be open by April under the same name.The place will be similar in feel to his Bobcat Café & Brewery in Bristol, sans an on-site brewery. "I think what the Bobcat has shown me is if you create a local place that is affordable, accessible and casual enough, people will show up in droves," he says. "This will be a sort of 'let's go out and not make a big deal about it' kind of place."

Alice Eats: Seoul Chako and Kamela Restaurant

by Alice Levitt Posted on January 15, 2013 at 11:47AM

It's been a while since I've shared cheap-eats picks from Montréal. Following a weekend in the city, I'm ready to reveal a double dose of deliciousness from a very full Sunday of eating. And, of course, both of my recommendations have no equivalent in the Green Mountains.Soeul Chako, 1824 rue St-Catherine Ouest, Montréal, QC, 514-989-8886Seoul Chako is downtown's latest addition to the world of all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue.Sunday at noon, the restaurant, sister to all-you-can-eat Crescent Sushi, was packed with large parties grilling up meats, downing sushi and slurping soup for a single price of $14.99.

Grazing: No Breakfast-Food Rut at Stowe's Café Latina

by Corin Hirsch Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:14PM

Having the same weekday breakfast over and over again can be a drag. How many egg-and-cheese wraps or bowls of oatmeal can one person eat in his or her lifetime?Yet when it comes to breakfast, Americans seem caught in their own particular egg-cheese-bacon box.

So Long, Noble Pig; Hello, Local Grind

by Alice Levitt Posted on January 11, 2013 at 10:18AM

Sarah Moran and Luke Stone, owner and chef, respectively, of Cloud 9 Catering, have formed a sister company.It's called Vermont Feed Company and is the parent organization for the pair's mobile eateries.Late last year, I reported that their Noble Pig hot dog cart might have to change its name. Indeed, a cease-and-desist letter from Noble Pig Winery in Oregon has forced the cart to adopt a new moniker, the Local Grind, making a collector's item of the snazzy shirt Stone is sporting above.

Pistou 'Grapes Up'

by Corin Hirsch Posted on January 8, 2013 at 2:30PM

On Pistou's Facebook page, the Main Street restaurant says that it's "closed for winter vacation." Nuh-uh — don't believe it.Pistou may be closed for a week, yes, but it's hardly a vacation.

Alice Eats: 3 Squares Café

by Alice Levitt Posted on January 8, 2013 at 1:15PM

221 Main Street, Vergennes, 877-2772Perhaps you miss Burlington's Waiting Room. Or you just want to gobble up breakfast prepared by a NECI-trained chef who also happens to have worked in the kitchens of New York's Rainbow Room and Boston's Aquitaine.3 Squares, an unassuming little café in Vergennes, is the place.

Grazing: Smoothies, Lattes and a Haircut, All in One Place

by Corin Hirsch Posted on January 4, 2013 at 3:57PM

With electric-blue walls, shelves filled with skin products and the buzz of a juicer mixing with house music, Eco Bean and Juice defies categorization — other than its focus on healthy (and sometimes caffeinated) insides.Justin Cruz, who used to run Salon Cruz on Saint Paul Street, opened the salon-slash-juice bar in December in a cavernous space that was most recently a Meineke Car Care Center.On one side of the space, Cruz and his staff run a salon and sell organic and natural beauty products; on the other is a kitted-out juice and coffee bar with an exhaustive menu featuring wheatgrass shots, fresh vegetables juices, and even house-made almond milk for lattes and mochas, all dreamt up by Cruz and barista Angela Talbert."There was no place in Burlington to get wheatgrass shots," says Cruz, though I reminded him of the Juice Bar in Burlington Mall that offers them on Wednesdays. "All week long," he clarified.

Eat Less Kale? ConAgra Foods Spoofs Bo Muller-Moore's Iconic T-Shirt

by Alice Levitt Posted on January 2, 2013 at 4:41PM

First Chick-fil-A, now ConAgra Foods. In the advertisement above, a fad dieter finds her salvation in Healthy Choice's new Greek Frozen Yogurt.

Alice Levitt's Best New Restaurant Dishes of 2012

by Alice Levitt Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:00AM

In revealing my picks for best new restaurant of 2012, I already expounded on my unholy affection for the salsa-verde-drenched tocino taco at El Cortijo Taqueria Y Cantina and, well, pretty much everything at Bluebird Barbecue. Clearly, those are a couple of the best things I ate this year.

Seven Days