lt
OMEN’S
06B | april 09-16, 2008 | » sevendaysvt.com OF VERMONT
< food>
TIRED OF SHAVING? Skin Rejuvenation • Wrinkle Reduction Permanent Hair Reduction – bikini/legs/face/arms/underarms/back/chest Leg Vein Removal • Acne Treatment
Free “1 on 1” consultation with Dr. Noelle Thabault
20% OFF
Making Choices
(on 1st laser treatment or package w/ this ad)
368 Dorset Street Suite 2B, South Burlington, Vermont 05403 Call today for a free consultation: 802.862.7555
2/5/08 12:21:03 PM
PHOTO: JUSTIN CASH
Conveniently located on Dorset St. across from Hawthorn Suites
2x3-LaserCenterVt020608-3.indd 1
Chef Claude Blais has built a mainstay eatery in Killington
Noelle C. Thabault, MD, LLC
LASER THERAPY OF VERMONT
CHEF CLAUDE BLAIS
RISTORANTE 126 COLLEGE ST., BURLINGTON
802.863.5200 WWW.LAMANTE.COM
We will be closed for vacation Monday, April 7 thru Wednesday, April 16. We will Reopen Thursday, April 17.
SEE YOU THEN! 2x4-lamante040208.indd 1
3/31/08 9:46:55 AM
Dinner For
BY KIRK KARDASHIAN
T
he way he tells it, Claude Blais has never had trouble finding a job in a kitchen. Since opening Choices Restaurant in 1986, he hasn’t had trouble finding customers, either. For all the seasonal fluctuations of a resort town, and the shifting demographics of downhill skiing, Choices has been a culinary rock in Killington’s turbid economic waters. Yes, the throngs of
With 2 glasses of wine $40 With a bottle of wine $45 ENTRÉE
WINE
Los Cardos, Malbec Pistachio Encrusted Pork Tenderloin Pavao, Vino Verde Vegetable Risotto Grilled Salmon in a Saffron Sauce Chef’s Selection APPETIZER Soup of the Day FINALE Caesar Salad Espresso • Coffee • Tea Field Greens
Questions or Reservations 15 Center St., Burlington • 802-862-9647
Sun - Thurs 5 – 6 PM Seating
2x4-dailyplanet040908.indd 1
4/7/08 3:55:27 PM
REGULAR MARIJUANA USERS NOT planning on stopping their marijuana use wanted for UVM research study.
Up to $253 in Compensation. We are looking for regular marijuana users who are: • At least 18 years old • Available for study visits 2x/week for 1 month
If interested call 656-4848
(QJDJLQJ PLQGV WKDW FKDQJH WKH ZRUOG 2x4-UVMStudy(Marijuana)-010908.i1 1
1/8/08 2:27:58 PM
after two years to the New York campus of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), from which he graduated in 1975. The CIA served him well. “It was a quick stepping stone into the industry,” he says. With the ink still drying on his Associate’s degree in occupational sciences, Blais and a few friends set out for California, where, he recalls, “I found out right away that I was the first one that was employable.” He cooked at Hyatt Regency
whenever he had time off. One fall in the early 1980s, he found himself in his home state and decided to stay the year. So, starting at Jay Peak and working his way down Route 100, he submitted applications at every ski resort until he got to Killington. Though he got plenty of job offers, Blais liked Killington for its mix of development and opportunity: Well-known, the resort still had potential for growth. He took a chef
For all the seasonal fluctuations of a resort town, and the shifting demographics of downhill skiing, Choices has been a culinary rock in Killington’s turbid economic waters. weekenders keep Blais’ place humming during the winter, but it’s the locals that keep him in business all year long, and that’s the way he likes it. Blais, 55, has a head of gray hair, slightly droopy eyes and a gentle, almost phlegmatic demeanor as he chops vegetables on a sunny Thursday afternoon. He’s from Derby Line — one of the few people, he jokes, who had to move south to get to Killington. Blais studied at the University of Vermont but transferred
hotels, spending a few years in San Diego and six more in San Francisco, where he decided he preferred working at independent restaurants. Being on the coast, Blais racked up plenty of experience at seafood joints. To this day, he most enjoys preparing fish, “only because it requires a little more of a delicate touch to do it right,” he says. Though he was thriving in San Francisco, Blais must have left his heart in Vermont, because he hightailed it back
position at the now-defunct Alpine Inn and fell in love with the place. “After my first year here,” he says, “I thought, ‘Why would you want to go back to California?’” After a couple of years at the Alpine Inn, Blais heard about the Glazebrook condominium development being built by longtime Killington resident Horace “Red” Glaze. The first phase had already been constructed when Blais met the developer at an open house. “I saw his plans for all