sIDEdishes by ali ce levi t t & c Ori n hi rs ch
More Bite Than Bark
a DeFunct shelburne eatery sees new liFe as barkeaters
The Shelburne space that housed Bistro Sauce has been resurrected as an Adirondack-themed restaurant serving gussied-up American comfort food. Last fall, owners Jack and carolyn kovac and JEnnIfEr sInclaIr purchased and gutted the defunct restaurant at 97 Falls Road; they reopened it in mid-January as BarkEatErs rEstaurant. The 60-seat interior is decorated with odds and ends such as snowshoes and an old canoe behind the bar. “We pretty much love vacationing in the Adirondacks and that whole lodgy Adirondack feel,” says Sinclair, formerly co-owner of Colchester’s clovEr HousE rEstaurant.
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Pouring the Tropics
lattes, as well as cold maté based and fruit-infused sodas that they brew at their home in the woods outside Plainfield. The couple and their two children moved here two years ago from Nantucket, where Robert Walder worked as a barista for a caterer who delivered espresso drinks to special events. After a year, the pair began looking for an ideal place for a café — and found it when the former Plainfield Hardware became available. Café Verde showcases single-origin coffees such as a medium-roast Mocha Java and a light-roast Costa Rican. “[Robert] is a complete espresso snob,” says Yana. The sodas include a soursop-and-vanilla “frobscottle,” a thick soda named for a concoction in a Roald Dahl novel. The Walders also offer a range of “fizzleblitzes,” lighter, fruit-infused maté sodas in flavors such as triple citrus, passionfruit and tangerine, and mora berry. “It’s really fun tropical stuff
caFé verDe brings espressO anD exOtic sODas tO plainFielD
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In Wine We Trust
l’amante cheF gets certiFieD
It’s a rare honor for an Beginning this Wednesday, oenophile to be certified a January 26th, 8-10:30 pm master sommelier. It’s even & every Wednesday Night thru Feb. 16th less common to become a Mention this ad for 15% off master of wine through the your meal during the show! international Wine & Spirit Education Trust. kEvIn clEary, chef-owner of Burlington’s We’ve Gone Mad! l’amantE, is well on his way to Buy your Mad River Glen midweek ticket at the ‘Cake AND GET FREE FOOD!!! achieving that goal. $35 gets you a lift ticket and a bacon, egg & cheese Unlike sommelier crepe at the Skinny certification, which in$39 gets you a ticket & any crepe on the menu! volves familiarity with the Save $10? Oh, you can!!! intricacies of wine service, www.skinnypancake.com becoming a master of wine 60 Lake St., Burlington 540-0188 means knowing all about 89 Main St., Montpelier 262-2253 viticulture, vinification and the wine business. Over the last two years, Cleary has 8v-skinnymuffin012611.indd 1 1/24/11 4:41 PM studied from home and traveled eight times to New York to be tested with essays, case studies and demanding blind tastings. “If you want to learn about wine, it’s not for the casual learner,” he says. Earlier this month, Cleary and his wife, katHI, headed to the Wine & Spirit Education Trust’s home base in London to pick up his diploma. It makes Cleary’s achievements official but doesn’t declare him a master of wine yet: He still has a two-year course of study to complete before he joins the 288 current worldwide masters. Why go through the grueling process? For one thing, Cleary wanted the cred to offer wine education here at home. He has applied to the Wine & Spirit Education Trust to become a local approved program provider siDe Dishes
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FOOD 39
for the middle of winter in Vermont,” says Yana Walder. The soursop frobscottle was born from a trip the Walders took to the Caribbean last winter. “We met one of the last Carib Indians on Tortola, and that was amazing. That’s how
SEVEN DAYS
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The Joshua Panda Band Winter Waltz Residency
01.26.11-02.02.11
Drivers negotiating the sharp turn in the middle of Plainfield may find themselves distracted by a pair of purple-lit windows at 20 School Street, beside local PotIon. It may look like a head shop, but it’s the newly opened café vErDE, and the purple haze comes from grow lights trained on flats of wheatgrass that owners roBErt and yana WalDEr juice up for customers. The Walders, who opened tiny Café Verde in December, also sell a wide range of espresso drinks, Taza hot chocolates and dandelion
[Robert] got the idea,” says Yana. The sodas are pulled from a tap at the three-seat bar, which also displays small morsels including homemade truffles, goji-berry fudge and baklava infused with lime and orange-blossom water.
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At the kitchen’s helm is BarBara cotE, most recently the chef at lInks on tHE lakE rEstaurant in Alburgh. Her menu has “a little bit of everything,” says Sinclair. That includes hot sandwiches, salads and grouper tacos at lunch; blueberry pancakes, French toast and breakfast wraps on Saturday mornings; and a Sunday brunch spread with a choice of five “Bark Benedicts.” One is built on a crab cake; another is served atop prime rib with chipotle hollandaise sauce. During dinner, early adopters have been ordering lamb lollipops — an appetizer of grilled lamb, Vermont chèvre and arugula pesto — as well as two entrées: espresso-crusted pork tenderloin, and lobster-andcrab-crusted haddock. The Kovacs are oenophiles, and Barkeaters’ wine list has 16 selections by the glass — including two sparkling wines — as well
as several by the half bottle. The cellar list is heavy on heartier reds and full-bodied whites. Five Vermont beers are on tap, and the bottle selection includes a Flemish sour ale called Rodenbach Grand Cru. The term “barkeater,” a literal translation from the Mohawk, has sometimes been used as a slur against Native Americans, but Sinclair resists that association. Instead, she calls it a symbol of self-reliance. “It’s a name for Indians [who] used to live off the land and eat bark,” she says. “That’s our whole thing.” Compared with the traditional winter sustenance of last resort, the fare at Barkeaters seems pretty refined.
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9/30/10 12:44:21 PM