It still seems like talking about the skiing season under way in Vermont is courting a heat wave to come along and ruin our fun . . . so here's a halfway ski-related post, a visit to new restaurants in the greater Jay Peak area from University of Vermont Farm-to-Table Service Learning student Alton Deslandes.
I am a subject of the Kingdom. I was born there and visit often, but I have not lived there in quite a long time. So I have been wondering about the culinary experience these days. A brief search on DigInVT.com provided two places that I should check out during a planned weekend trip back home. Parker Pie Co in Glover sounded interesting, and I had heard of it from a number of different sources that all raved about it. My other choice would be up the side of a mountain - at Jay Peak’s Alice’s Table. The expansion plans for the region that the management of Jay Peak have been involved with had me curious, was their culinary portion of the growth going to keep up to the challenge of growth?
Jay Peak was my first stop, along with countless other people heading for the slopes. Squeezing my car into one of the few empty parking spots, I hustled in to Alice’s Table to meet with Chef John Carter. Chef, as everyone calls him, has been cooking since he was 13 years old and is a graduate of New England Culinary Institute, where he was introduced to the advantages of using fresh and local produce. He has since worked in a number of locations in Vermont, such as the Wildflower Inn and the Rabbit Hill Inn, where more networking with local producers has allowed him to expand his network of sources. Chef expounds the virtues of buying local, how produce is allowed to ripen to its full flavor, not picked as much as four weeks early just to make it to the kitchen in time. There are also no long travel times or harsh and bumpy rides to get it from the farm to the kitchen. Meat supplied from local farms also arrives in much better shape, and local value-added businesses, such as a local smoke house, broaden the spectrum of products available for the menu.
At this point I am treated to “Praline Encrusted Bacon”, a treat the Vermont ski association shares at travel shows promoting skiing in the east. This plate consisted of smoked bacon, from a supplier down the hill in Troy, encrusted with maple syrup and pecans on a slice of Granny Smith apple and Blue Cheese; Pecans being the only thing not from Vermont. If I was a true food critic, I would have the vocabulary to describe the mix of flavors at this point. All I can do is strongly recommend trying it for yourself.
Part of reason for belonging to the Vermont Fresh Network, Chef explains to me, is the help it provides in networking the sources of local products with the consumers. He is constantly going to local farmers markets to see what is available, to find new products and new sources, and to just see how crops are progressing over the summer. His menu is based on what is available, and what he can get. Fresh greens in the winter are not possible yet, but it will someday. Even the meats that are available are seasonal, so over the course of the year he has to redefine “Local”.
When you get to Parker Pie Co, in West Glover, it is not what you might expect to find. Some restaurants try to impress you with a fancy building, or intriguing theme, but some spend their time in the kitchen and the food is what impresses you. I met with Ben Trevits, who is the kitchen manager as well as one of the owners, and Ben described the history of Parker’s. It was started over eight years ago to fill a void in the area, and they were not sure if it would take off. Their main clients back then were the local farmers and summer residents. The day that I was there a fleet of snowmobiles were lined up outside with their riders inside enjoying the pizza.
Parker Pie started off using local produce and meats, mainly because it was better and readily available. The dairy farms were declining in the area, and the farmers had to find other markets to supply. The match between farmer and restaurant seemed to work and they have been expanded it ever since. A local dairy farmer has even built a greenhouse heated by the methane from his cows, so he is able to provide greens, onions, and a limited supply of other items almost all year round.
The salads and pizzas that are offered range from the classical to original, many of them are gourmet types rich with the produce from the area. Ben finds using local produce better in many ways, but the flavor is the best reason. He regrets using produce from further away during the winter months and hopes that new development will help to extend the growing season.
I enjoyed the food from both of these dinning places, but learning more about the local food purveyors and suppliers fed my curiosity. I am pleased to learn how contagious it is to use the local food system rather than just using the cheaper sources. People are experimenting with new processes, and networking to improve the system. There is more going on in Vermont with food than just what my happy palate knows!
