05/22/2026
Opening weekend is upon us and the kitchen’s been stretching its legs a bit after a long mud season hibernation.
A few old favorites are finding their way back onto the menu alongside some new spring energy — a grilled Hillside Farm chicken thigh dish that disappeared pretty quickly during staff meal, Steak Frites with onion soubise using local beef from Snug Valley, lion’s mane mushroom fettuccini featuring mushrooms from 1000 Stone Farm here in Vermont, and a bunch of bright, beautiful salads built around whatever Breadseed Farms is hauling out of the ground this week.
This time of year always feels especially good in the dining room. Windows open again, lake light sticking around a little longer, everyone collectively crawling back out of winter and remembering how to be social again. Summer’s knocking at the door.
And while you're here, it feels worth mentioning that in a time where independent restaurants, farms, and small businesses are shuttering their doors left and right, supporting your local economy matters more than ever. Dining out feels expensive these days — produce costs more, paying a living wage costs more, utilities cost more — but places like this only exist because people choose to show up for them year after year. To eat local, drink local, support their neighbors, and keep small communities humming along. We’re incredibly lucky to be surrounded by producers, farmers, brewers, musicians, makers, and hardworking folks who care deeply about what they do, and we’re equally lucky for the people who continue showing up to enjoy this shared little corner of the Northeast Kingdom with us.
We can all feel it- Vermont is incredibly fragile ecosystem right now. It takes a whole lot of people working together behind the scenes to put good food on the table up here. And be nice to your bartender, or else.
