Posts Tagged ‘NECI’

• Simon Pearce Restaurant: Local Eats on the Ottauquechee

  Date: 01.22.2010 | Category: Restaurant Beat | Response: 0

  This restaurant’s location overlooking the falls of the Ottauquechee River is so picturesque, they could serve TV dinners here and you’d still be smiling. Happily, the food at Simon Pearce Restaurant, housed in a historic mill in Vermont’s Upper Valley, rises up to its remarkable setting. Executive Chef Joshua Duda sees to that.

  A Quechee native and NECI grad, Chef Duda has been heading up the acclaimed kitchen at Simon Pearce since 1995. His culinary influences extend well beyond Windsor County however, touching on classic French and Mediterranean cuisines with some Asian accents for good measure. He believes in rustic country-style foods with big bold flavors. His signature horseradish-crusted blue cod or the not-your-mother’s meatloaf made with local venison and pancetta served with a pomegranate-rosemary sauce are mouth-watering testimonies to those beliefs.

  Chef Duda and his culinary team strive to source as many local ingredients as possible. A quick look at the winter menu shows that a better part of the ingredients come from within a 100-mile radius of the restaurant, including:

  • Pork and beef from Northeast Family Farms, a small supplier that connects independent producers with local chefs based in Woburn, MA
  • Chicken from Misty Knoll, a family-run farm on the opposite side of the Green Mountains
  • Fresh produce from Tim and Janet Taylor at Crossroad Farm in Post Mills, VT
  • Dairy products from McNamara Dairy in Plainfield, NH
  • Vermont’s own Strafford Organic Creamery ice cream

  The restaurant has always been mindful of its carbon footprint. The hydro-powered turbine that generates the electricity for the glass-making operation downstairs at the mill also provides power for the restaurant. All waste products are recycled, even grease from the Fryolator. Chef Duda drives a Mercedes to and from work that runs off leftover canola oil.

  SPECIAL EVENTS
  Wine-lovers and lovers in general should make note of two special events taking place at the restaurant in February:

  Thursday, February 4
  Wine dinner hosted by Rebecca Haas of Tablas Creek Vineyards in Paso Robles, California. Chef Duda will prepare a five-course meal, with each course paired to a specific wine.

  Sunday, February 14, Valentine’s Day
  Chef Duda will prepare a lovely, romantic three-course menu.

  Call 802.295.1470 to reserve. Diners may also reserve online.

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• Ringing Mirabelles’ Praises

  Date: 12.18.2009 | Category: Restaurant Beat | Response: 0

  Mirabelles — the melodic word means ‘plums’, the small, round golden yellow kind that make delicious tarts, preserves and a killer French plum brandy. In Burlington-ese, Mirabelles translates into the best pastry/breakfast/lunch spot in town.

  Two NECI grads, Alison Lane and Andrew Silva, opened Mirabelles nearly 20 years ago, establishing the shop as the place to order a wedding cake, the place to stop for a slice of gateau ‘Opera’ and a cup of coffee and the place to run into somebody interesting. Ten years later, Lane and Silva doubled the size of the restaurant to make way for a bigger kitchen, more seating and, best of all, a full breakfast service.

  The Mirabelles menu has been expanding and evolving as well. Its roots are still American and French (le croque monsieur est toujours excellent!), but now there are more Southwest dishes showing up as daily specials, like last week’s quesadilla with adobo-spiced Vermont steak, chiles and jack cheese. One of the biggest changes is that customers are seeing the word “local” more and more on the menu board.

  “Thank goodness people are over the health thing–we don’t get requests for egg-white-only omelets like we used to,” says Lane. “Now all our customers want local. Local meat, local salad greens, local cheeses.”

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• One Sweet Weekend

  Date: 11.19.2009 | Category: Coming Up | Response: 0

  Master chocolatiers and amateurs alike can learn, shop and best of all indulge at the Festival of Sweets this Saturday and Sunday at South Burlington’s Doubletree Hotel. The festival, formerly known as the The Vermont Chocolate Show, showcases world-class confectioners working in Vermont today.

  Culinary students from NECI and St. Johnsbury Academy compete for prizes in sugar and chocolate sculpture.

  Presentations include Kim Greenwood on Vermont beekeeping, Ken Hastings on making maple candies, NECI chef Adrian Westrope on making a decorative chocolate cake, Drew Emory on making a great cheesecake and lots more.

  The festival runs from 10-6 on Saturday; 10-4 on Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults, $6 for children.

  More Regional Events

  Thursday, November 19

  As part of a Sustainable Living in Vermont series, Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center hosts Alan Benoit of Sustainable Design who will discuss how passive solar technology can be incorporated into new and existing structures. The talk begins at 7 pm.

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